Is it safe to buy "off Plan"
Is it safe to buy "off Plan"
I am hoping to move to Hua Hin in the next 6 months or so. My house is on the market in the UK. I belive there are some good savings to be made by buying off plan and renting when i arrive. Has anybody got any experiance of this good or bad. Or is the safer option to buy a house that is already built.
Most the new builds are off plan just ask the people allready living on site if they are happy get as many opinions as poss and have good look at build I purchased off plan and very happy.It would probably be just as cheap to buy ready built probably get furniture thrown in if they want quick sale Good luck
Good advise Magnum.
I believe that it's possible for a buyer to get a house cheaper than normal these days. Right now I believe it's "buyers marked" and some projects are sold to a reduced price.
How the marked in December will be like is however difficult to predict.
I believe that it's possible for a buyer to get a house cheaper than normal these days. Right now I believe it's "buyers marked" and some projects are sold to a reduced price.
How the marked in December will be like is however difficult to predict.
I intend to live forever - so far so good.
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huahinsimon
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off plan
I tried off plan twice. One was and is a complete disaster. The second caused more stress and anguish than it was worth. The European developers will tell you how easy it will be to communicate with them. They understand your needs. They will build to European standards. Horse Pucky!
My experience is once a developer has any of your money, your goose is cooked. You will get the house he wants to build, not the house you contracted for and he agreed to build. European standards you say. This is Thailand they will respond. It helps to have a strong contract but even then these developers say, sue me. It will cost you lots of money, take years, and in the end, I wont pay anyway.
Buy a completed home after a bull dog of a home inspector has given it the three times over and hold 10% back for snags for the first year.
My experience is once a developer has any of your money, your goose is cooked. You will get the house he wants to build, not the house you contracted for and he agreed to build. European standards you say. This is Thailand they will respond. It helps to have a strong contract but even then these developers say, sue me. It will cost you lots of money, take years, and in the end, I wont pay anyway.
Buy a completed home after a bull dog of a home inspector has given it the three times over and hold 10% back for snags for the first year.
HHSimon Why didnt you learn by your first problem?
It sounds like you could do with the services of the gentleman referred by gaijin in a recent post.
Maybe he should open an office in HH. Plenty of work by the sound of all the problems.
I do think though that we should not expect Euro standards and only be prepared to pay Thai prices. From what I have seen they just dont have the expertice compared to qualified tradespeople that we are familiar with.
It sounds like you could do with the services of the gentleman referred by gaijin in a recent post.
Maybe he should open an office in HH. Plenty of work by the sound of all the problems.
I do think though that we should not expect Euro standards and only be prepared to pay Thai prices. From what I have seen they just dont have the expertice compared to qualified tradespeople that we are familiar with.
You only live once.
Weejimmy,
would you give a bloke you dont know from adam a shed load of money to build you a house -------sometime. I think not. The only reason people buy off plan is the " Developer" hasn't the money to build the house until you give him a lump. It works like this.
Guy buys a lump of land and advertises houses off plan. He has some nice computer plans drawn up which is what you choose from. You come along and pick the house you want. You then give the " developer " around a third of the cost of the house. He then builds the founds and walls, roof etc. Once its out of the ground you then pay him another third. which fits the house out. Once its fitted out you pay the last instalment to the guy and he walks away happy. Hes had no outlay to build the house as youve paid for all work. He's just factored in all work and his 33% or more profit. The biggest problem having a house built is if you are 1000's of miles away. You have to rely on them keeping you up to date and them keeping the builders up to speed. If you want off plan then buy a plan and build it yourself.
Me I would rather go look at a completed house, have it checked and if I was happy then buy it. That way you know exactly what you are getting.
Just remeber Off plan means you are paying to build your own house and paying the " developer " for the privillage.
would you give a bloke you dont know from adam a shed load of money to build you a house -------sometime. I think not. The only reason people buy off plan is the " Developer" hasn't the money to build the house until you give him a lump. It works like this.
Guy buys a lump of land and advertises houses off plan. He has some nice computer plans drawn up which is what you choose from. You come along and pick the house you want. You then give the " developer " around a third of the cost of the house. He then builds the founds and walls, roof etc. Once its out of the ground you then pay him another third. which fits the house out. Once its fitted out you pay the last instalment to the guy and he walks away happy. Hes had no outlay to build the house as youve paid for all work. He's just factored in all work and his 33% or more profit. The biggest problem having a house built is if you are 1000's of miles away. You have to rely on them keeping you up to date and them keeping the builders up to speed. If you want off plan then buy a plan and build it yourself.
Me I would rather go look at a completed house, have it checked and if I was happy then buy it. That way you know exactly what you are getting.
Just remeber Off plan means you are paying to build your own house and paying the " developer " for the privillage.
I never forget a face but in your case I'll make an exception!
Well said.ozuncle wrote:I do think though that we should not expect Euro standards and only be prepared to pay Thai prices. From what I have seen they just dont have the expertice compared to qualified tradespeople that we are familiar with.
We bought off plan after seeing other completed houses by the same developer. Sure, it was stressful and there were plenty of frustrations & disappointments during the year it took to complete (twice as long as in the contract) but ultimately we have a nice holiday home for not a lot of money and have really enjoyed the times we have spent there. It gets better every time as the place matures and now I say "it was all worth it."
Be prepared though - things usually take longer than promised and you often don't get what you think you paid for.
Personally I don't believe you can hide in the contract - they are pretty meaningless as a means to getting things done day to day in Thailand. Who wants to go to court when by talking to people 'on the ground' you can get things done the way you want? Eventually, that is!
You need to establish good relationships with at least the following people:
1. the sales representative on the site (if there is one)
2. the owner/developer
3. the builder sub-contracted to build your house.
You must be firm but fair in dealings with all of them - in Thailand you must do things the Thai way. Talk straight, with a smile, and give a little every now and then.
Obviously it is much easier to do all this if you are in Thailand during the build - and from my experience that is by far the best way to minimise heartache and misunderstanding. I would recommend that to all buyers who are looking to purchase off plan. If you can't be there the whole time then try and be there for significant periods of it or at least at key stages of build, such as first fix of services and finishes.
Good luck to all those embarking on a house purchase!
Jaime
I agree that you really should be there during the build. I have a friend who is experiencing many problems at the moment, and he WAS on-site everyday.....
From the very start, If he hadn't of been there, he would now be having a two bedroom place built instead of a three bedroom. (the plots either side were marked out for two bedrooms, which he knew already, and his in the middle was planned as a three bedroom place - but when he saw the staking out for the foundations they were all the same!!!)
Then the usual go slow workmanship, as with yourself he was estimated 6 months for completion, but it is now 9 months and they expect another 8-10 weeks before completion........but hey still want the payments on the scheduled dates - (which he obviously told them to poke, as well as threatening them to pay his rent while he is unable to move in!!)
Another debacle was when they plastered the interior. He saw the plastering gangs beasting on in the morning, all looked nice and smooth, then when he came back in the evening they were using a hammer action drill to fit some fittings / fixtures on the window frames...He went crazy at the Thais, told them to stop - which they did, until he had left the site again, then obviously just started again, because when he came the following day the fittings were done and the plaster was fucked!! He tapped the walls a few days later and you could hear the hollow spots where it had all peeled away from the wall.........So he complained and yes, they rectified it but more delays etc. etc.........and what if he hadn't of noticed, i suppose in 6 months time he would have been having the plasterers in after he had moved in!!!
Just be very Careful, and put in the effort if possible to basically "site manage" your build.
And as someone else has mentioned, if you are going to this effort then why pay for a developer to do something you are doing yourself!!
Good Luck!
I agree that you really should be there during the build. I have a friend who is experiencing many problems at the moment, and he WAS on-site everyday.....
From the very start, If he hadn't of been there, he would now be having a two bedroom place built instead of a three bedroom. (the plots either side were marked out for two bedrooms, which he knew already, and his in the middle was planned as a three bedroom place - but when he saw the staking out for the foundations they were all the same!!!)
Then the usual go slow workmanship, as with yourself he was estimated 6 months for completion, but it is now 9 months and they expect another 8-10 weeks before completion........but hey still want the payments on the scheduled dates - (which he obviously told them to poke, as well as threatening them to pay his rent while he is unable to move in!!)
Another debacle was when they plastered the interior. He saw the plastering gangs beasting on in the morning, all looked nice and smooth, then when he came back in the evening they were using a hammer action drill to fit some fittings / fixtures on the window frames...He went crazy at the Thais, told them to stop - which they did, until he had left the site again, then obviously just started again, because when he came the following day the fittings were done and the plaster was fucked!! He tapped the walls a few days later and you could hear the hollow spots where it had all peeled away from the wall.........So he complained and yes, they rectified it but more delays etc. etc.........and what if he hadn't of noticed, i suppose in 6 months time he would have been having the plasterers in after he had moved in!!!
Just be very Careful, and put in the effort if possible to basically "site manage" your build.
And as someone else has mentioned, if you are going to this effort then why pay for a developer to do something you are doing yourself!!
Good Luck!
I have problems deciding how to approach having a house built in Hua Hin. From the experience of friends and from what I have read on HHAD it is obviously better to supervise the build in person. That is fine if you’re retired but I’m not and considering the nine months to a year that it often takes, the loss of earnings are going to be too great in comparison to the value of the completed house.
We already have a plot of land and wouldn’t be using a developer, so I’m left with the problem of finding a trustworthy sub-contractor and this is not easy.
One idea I’ve had is to contract the build in stages so that if any part is unsatisfactory I could get someone else in to put the thing right and carry on from there. Has a anyone tried that approach?
We already have a plot of land and wouldn’t be using a developer, so I’m left with the problem of finding a trustworthy sub-contractor and this is not easy.
One idea I’ve had is to contract the build in stages so that if any part is unsatisfactory I could get someone else in to put the thing right and carry on from there. Has a anyone tried that approach?
As has been posted in the last few posts buying off plan is a gamble. If you want to buy something with peace of mid then buy a pre built house. If you are sure you want to buy in Hua Hun then ask people who have been through the process and have had their house delivered. For me Hua Hin is now way too expensive to consider buying any property there. There has been a large influx of " developers " moved into HH to make a quick buck. I lived in HH for about a year but moved a bit further south and found doing so saved a fortune. If you need Tesco and all things farang then stay looking in HH. If you can survive without those then get the hell out of HH and save yourself a fortune. Here we have better beaches, Excellent diving, Good cheap housing and very nice people. The house we have here would be 3-3.5 million baht in Hua Hin. Here it is 1.6 million. Now you can see what I mean. Take your time and look about this beautiful country. Just dont believe everything the " developers " tell you.
I never forget a face but in your case I'll make an exception!
That's really true in any developing country. Get in first to a relatively undiscovered place and you'll reap the rewards. Wait too long and you'll get hammered. Probably in 5 years time H2O's 1.6 place will be worth 6 or more.H2ODunc wrote:Here we have better beaches, Excellent diving, Good cheap housing and very nice people. The house we have here would be 3-3.5 million baht in Hua Hin. Here it is 1.6 million. Now you can see what I mean. Take your time and look about this beautiful country. Just dont believe everything the " developers " tell you.
I weep as I recall I had a chance to buy about 100 yards of Beach Road in Pattaya back in 1970 for about 20K USD. I was 20 and all I did was smile because I didn't even have 2K. I should have borrowed.
Pete Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
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huahinsimon
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- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:43 am
off plan
The oft stated wisdom is not to buy anywhere in the world until you've lived there for a year. gone through all the weather seasons. dealt with the local rules, ie visas, personal registration, how buy a car, drivers licenses, learn the tax system, learn about the bribing system, listen to all the sad stories you can to profit by others mistakes who didnt take that advice. LIKE ME. You may not like it here. It aint anything like you think it is on a short holiday.
Well said HH Simon, When I first came here I listened to a lot of people telling me I had to do this and I couldnt do that. When you evenually settle down you find you can do a lot of things. Living here is not the same as having a holiday here. This is a beautiful country with a lot of wonderful people. Do it right and its so good. Try to cut corners or not listen it will cost you a lot of money. As the saying goes " ITS UP TO YOU " Enjoy
I never forget a face but in your case I'll make an exception!