Development, or lone wolf??

[migrant]

I work with a lot of developers here in southern California, doing their tax and accounting work. Thailand is, of course, not California but I believe there are always parallels.

The main profit they make is generally on the land. As SJ rightly points out, the building side of the equation is full of variables so profits can be good, or not.

I've always been a lone wolf guy but that is because of controls and rules. Prices are basically what you choose to accept.

Personally my druthers are always to live outside a town ~ 30minutes or more. I have generally found prices are more reasonable, the area tends to be quieter, and it's still not to far to get back and forth to town. Of course if you don't have transportation, that's an important part of the equation. Also if you do spend every evening in town at a pub, then it may be too far.

For me I like to live in the quiet area and travel to amusements

[Spitfire]

Many reasonable/sensible ideas have been forwarded here from many different sources that generally inspire confidence.

Of course, it's 'horses for courses' etc, but would like to point out that the above advice is sound but would like to throw in that too much isolation would be somewhat concerning even though the estate option is not final either. Being isolated in general and especially in lonely areas would also be a concern, so I think 'six of one and half a dozen of another' rings somewhat true perhaps here, maybe.

As we all know, no situation is perfect of course.

[STEVE G]

To be honest, unless you go way out of town, it's filling up alot anyway so not being on a development doesn't have to mean being isolated either. I'm presently building a house some 8 km to the west on what was a pineapple field and I've got two neighbours already and am likely to get more pretty soon.
My primary reason for going it alone and out of town are financial in that to buy on a development with a plot large enough for a decent garden would cost far more money than I'm prepared to put into Thailand at the moment.

[Hezze]

I believe the prices on land is very high on the real-estate agents ads. When I (the wife) started actively asking/listening to thai people around me I had many options in a matter of days that were priced way better with better location than the majority of what I saw online. Ended up paying 2 mill. for 3 rai just west of town.

[Johan]

There is 30% up for grabs,...

I work in an industry where 5% profit is considered excellent!

In mine 80% profit is just normal, but the expenses are very low.

[Johan]

As i said, they are making most of the profit on the land. Here is an example :

My 1 rai land cost arround 480 000 bahts a few years ago to someone who bought it to another guy who had it for free. Then lots of developments came here and two years ago the price was 950 000 bahts. Then 6 months ago 1 200 000 bahts and today the price is 1 700 000 per rai.

These people are buying every land they can arround here, the market is going up everyday. When they sell their properties they up the price again, and the same story continue. I believe in a few years my land will cost 3 millions.

The market can also go down, we are in a bubble. I bought it at a reasonnable price so i wont loose much money anyway. Make good deals when you buy, not when you sell.

[Super Joe]

As i said, they are making most of the profit on the land. Here is an example:
My 1 rai land cost 480 000 bahts ... today the price is 1 700 000 ... I believe in a few years my land will cost 3 millions.

I've shortened some of your text Johan to make it clear, hope that's ok, I haven't taken it out of context at all.

What you said before that I queried was: "Also in developments land area is very small because they are selling the land for 5 to 8 times the price."
Now you seem to be saying they sell the land at current market value, plus a final increase to give them their final sale price. My hunch is they've adjusted market value to account for expenses, then marked it up with overheads & profit. Sneaky b'stards.

Do you have a rough idea of how much this final increase is, because without it I can only assume they are selling the land for '0 times the price'. Sure they made a big gain on the seperate, and unrelated, initial land purchase but that's history, this paper gain is already accounted for, budgeted for & allocated.



Now I see you're fully on board with what's going on, and as you say your land has increased by 3.5 times, so when you say things along the lines of...
"they are making loads of money on the land"... "they are selling for double the price"... "they increase the prices again when selling",
.
What's really happening is...
You're all (developers, yourself, other owners) making loads of profit on your land (when sold obviously).
You're all charging 3.5x or more of the initial investment, for your land.
You're all putting the prices up when it comes to selling it (where they've increased from today).
You're all benefitting from your land gains when/if you obtain borrowing or rent the property out.
You're all cool

These people are buying every land they can arround here, the market is going up everyday

Yes, we know you/us/we all are, don't underestimate your own role in this you don't normally. To me it wouldn't be as nice an area if it were just developments, individual houses, houses with large plots and lots of greenery is what makes an area, variety and all that. You're all driving up prices, nowt wrong with that

So come on, how much is their final sales mark-up on land values, my bet is they're actually making a loss on the land sale... based on your figures

SJ

[johnnyk]

I would never buy in a development/estate in my own country, just not my style. But I did in HH mainly for security reasons. After talking with quite a few expats in different places in Thailand I concluded that a falang-owned house on its own is a target for thieves.

[bluelagoon]

I would never buy in a development/estate in my own country, just not my style. But I did in HH mainly for security reasons. After talking with quite a few expats in different places in Thailand I concluded that a falang-owned house on its own is a target for thieves.

not to mention no hassle for monthly maintenance garden/pool. included with electricy/water makes the monthly fees (around US$ 200.-/month roughly)...it also avoids the risk of falling in some land dispute from the land owner (leasehold) if you buy an isolated home. I may be wrong, but if suddenly the land owner decides to get back his land despite a 30 year leasehold, as a farang, I doubt having a chance in a Thai court. Security is also an issue as new developpments have their guards , CCTV and are walled all around the complex.

[Name Taken]

Development/estate houses do provide better security but the houses in a development/estate typically cost as much as a house in the U.S. and if I could afford a house that cost that much money then I would just go back to the U.S. and buy a house in the U.S. and live in the U.S.
Logic.

[caller]

Development/estate houses do provide better security but the houses in a development/estate typically cost as much as a house in the U.S. and if I could afford a house that cost that much money then I would just go back to the U.S. and buy a house in the U.S. and live in the U.S.
Logic.

Maybe they're not thinking about folk from the US as their target audience? For others, housing in Thailand is cheaper than their home Countries.

[laphanphon]

Out of town guy myself. As not neighbor friendly, and can be taken both ways, either you don't want me to be or me to have.

Land prices an added plus.

[hhfarang]

With the party houses now springing up all over Hua Hin I think it would be better to buy a large plot of land and build your house in the middle as far from neighbors as possible.