Buying a house in Hua Hin

Ask here about the pleasures and pitfalls of buying, selling or renting property and real estate in Hua Hin. Building, design and construction topics welcome. Commercial or promotional posts for real estate companies or private properties are forbidden.
petercr
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by petercr »

Sydney Guy......................It's a fact that many people have been burnt....................Problem is that they have not been held properly accountable by the legal system in Thailand. The only reason that most of the dodgy developers are now finding it difficult to continue ripping people off is the power of the internet and exposure on a few sites that are prepared to take them.

Unfortunately HHAD forum rules do not allow any naming and shaming of these developers, and perhaps with good reason as those that have openly opposed these people in the past have been subject to violence and worse.

IMHO if you buy on a completed development and talk to people living there first your investment in property should be reasonably safe.

As has been said on previous posts, some agents are less than professional and indeed some of these agents still knowingly represent the remaining dodgy developers. Be equally careful which agent you choose to assist you in a purchase!!

:wink:
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StevePIraq
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by StevePIraq »

@Sydney guy
"i see a lot of negativity here, i suspect some people have either been burnt buying property in a dodgy deal or scared off by all the negativity."
What you say is not correct. The housing and condo market is flooded in and around Hua Hin, Thais do not like used properties as they fear there is a ghost in them, sounds ridiculous but is fact.
Go to Century 21 near the Hilton, I was there yesterday loads of properties at vastly reduced prices, 14m down to 9, 17m down to 12 and so on. I inquired why the answer was "no one wants a used house so after trying to get a realistic price the seller drops just to get rid of it".
You can go to many new development both house and condo and see the huge number of properties available as there is no take up.
Of course renting long term can be money lost, but owning also comes with many costs.
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by SydneyGuy »

Rule no.1 i never use an agent, they are for lazy people that dont have the time to research the property market themselves and are happy to charge a high commission. As many of you have already highlighted there are many dodgy agents out there so beware.

StevPIrag, as i said in my post its all about LOCATION, i wouldn't consider buying a condo unless it was near the beach.
Not interested in Soi 102/88/94 etc.

The Soi i live on in Takiab has only 3 completed condo projects, the Autumn, the Sanctuary and Baan View Viman.
The condo block i live in BVV has 106 units of which there are less than 10 still for sale, the Autumn (Sansiri project) up the road has 192 units of which less than 5 are still for sale, ditto for the Sanctuary which has 92 units and less than 6 for sale.

Houses are a different story, as they are more difficult for us falangs to purchase unless you trust your wife implicitly.

I guess i should have read the thread title first which is buying a house in Hua Hin:)
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by caller »

I bought a property in HH recently (yet to move in) via a well known agent who first took me around HH looking at property 10 years ago! As a consequence I got access to a property that he was the sole agent for and was not advertised via a sign on the front of the house. I was pleased with my purchase and the service I received throughout.

I don't know about estate agents elsewhere, but in the UK they are not surveyors, engineers and the like, they sell properties, that's all. In any case, a survey only get's an expert to cast his eye over a property, check for damp courses, stick their head in the loft, whether it's obviously on the point of collapse etc. I sometimes wonder how valuable they really are?

On the other hand, I do think the game could be raised here. The first thing I became aware of at a variety of agents is that the photos on the website or in the window didn't always correlate to what was on offer. I spent a day with a different agent to the above and of the various properties I wanted to view, only two were still available. I actually got taken to a development that I knew from all those years ago and actually said I'm not interested in, but still had a very cursory look at two houses.

I also think they should consider what is now provided elsewhere as standard, if only because of customer expectations. It did come as a surprise to realise that even such basics as floor plans as well as room dimensions are not available here (or at the least with the agents I liaised with and on their websites).
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crazy88
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by crazy88 »

Rule number 2. Never go to a restaurant they are for lazy people that can't be bothered to cook and they charge you for cooking, recommending dishes off the menu, serving you at the table, washing up. Why should we pay for their staff, utilities, advertising, rent???

Agents are a bit different. Very handy if you want to sell something but the cheeky bastards want paying by the seller; Not the buyer. What did the last one do for me? Granted they advertised on the internet network they have as well as print advertising and are of good reputation inspiring customer confidence. Brought me several potential buyers, entertained the buyers, showed them around town for several days and sold my property. Took care of the contracts, dealing with land office etc. Sent regular reports to the buyers with photographs during the build which is only 2 hours work and fuel twice a week. Dealt with the due diligence and the transfer. Don't know why I paid them really. Could have just slapped up a couple of posters in beer bars rather than targeting an international audience.

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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by SydneyGuy »

crazy88 wrote:Rule number 2. Never go to a restaurant they are for lazy people that can't be bothered to cook and they charge you for cooking, recommending dishes off the menu, serving you at the table, washing up. Why should we pay for their staff, utilities, advertising, rent???

Agents are a bit different. Very handy if you want to sell something but the cheeky bastards want paying by the seller; Not the buyer. What did the last one do for me? Granted they advertised on the internet network they have as well as print advertising and are of good reputation inspiring customer confidence. Brought me several potential buyers, entertained the buyers, showed them around town for several days and sold my property. Took care of the contracts, dealing with land office etc. Sent regular reports to the buyers with photographs during the build which is only 2 hours work and fuel twice a week. Dealt with the due diligence and the transfer. Don't know why I paid them really. Could have just slapped up a couple of posters in beer bars rather than targeting an international audience.

Crazy 88
Agents maybe handy when selling but definitely not buying, if you are happy to pay a commission then its your choice and thats fine:)

We tried to sell our condo using a reputable agent (dont laugh) in Hua Hin, after 3 months without any luck we decided to try and sell ourselves and did so within 2 months. As a result we actually sold the condo for more than what the real estate agent had as the advertised selling price, and paid zero commission:)
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by crazy88 »

So SG your statement "I never use an agent" was incorrect? Or as a politician would wriggle out of it. " I said I never use an agent on a wednesday. My statement has been misquoted by the media"

Sounds like you had a crap agent though if they undervalued your property and still did not get you any potential punters.

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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by SydneyGuy »

[quote="crazy88"]So SG your statement "I never use an agent" was incorrect? Or as a politician would wriggle out of it. " I said I never use an agent on a wednesday. My statement has been misquoted by the media"


Agents maybe handy when selling but definitely not buying, if you are happy to pay a commission then its your choice and thats fine:)
Last edited by SydneyGuy on Sat Aug 27, 2016 6:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Lev
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by Lev »

Agents are also welcome to advertise their services on this forum instead of surreptitiously attempting such in other members' topics.
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crazy88
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by crazy88 »

SG

Appreciate your point of view but the sales manager and the staff/ management company at any development are getting a commission whether it be a large condo managed by the likes of San Siri or Knight Frank or an individual developer.

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StevePIraq
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by StevePIraq »

Back to topic, as interesting as this is this thread is not about property agents

:offtopic:
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by kirkyboy »

Just been told by the agent that the owner wants to sell home with company. Have heard not a good idea by quite a few on the forum. Owner said they will take responsibility should anything happen!!!! Can I buy with company and then offload the company later, as stated before, I want to buy in my Thai girls name and have an agreement done.
Appreciate any information.
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by HHTel »

I guess the house is an asset of the company so would have to be 'bought' from the company.
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by Nereus »

Owner said they will take responsibility should anything happen
Yeah, the cheque is in the mail, I won't **** etc., etc.
Why buy something that is only going to cost you more money and hassles? If the company sells the house, which is probably the only asset it has, it is up to the directors to do what ever they want with the remains, not pass the proceedure on to you.
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Re: Buying a house in Hua Hin

Post by migrant »

In the US, if you buy the company, you buy any past legal issues, even if they come up after the sale. If you buy the asset, and get a clear title, you don't have the issues, that's why I always advised asset sales to my clients buying a business. Not sure if it's the same here, but I would think so.
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