Are Condo’s a Good Investment?

However there are many advantages to investing in a condo rather than a house. An important issue to consider is Thai people often prefer to buy condos rather than houses. More than 95% of the condos in our area are owned by Thai people. It may be that the reverse could be said for the houses on the new developments. It is a strange anomaly. Why don’t the Thais prefer to own the houses with land, (without any need for company forming or leasing), and why don’t the foreigners prefer condos, (without any need for company forming or leasing). Some Thais use condos purely as investments rather than relying on bank interest rates, but another reason they choose condo’s is the proximity of many developments to the sea. Thai’s use their condo’s mainly for weekend and holiday visits. They can escape from the burden of work and the chaos of the city. The sea offers friendly fresh breezes and peaceful calm to sooth away the stress and worries of daily living. Of course foreigners love the sea also, but they live here full time, and the lure of spacious homes with private gardens, sometimes with nice swimming pools, overrides the attraction of living so close to the sea.

Prices for houses next to the sea are too inflated for many prospective buyers, but good bargains can still be found in the second hand condo market. A nice two-bedroom condo with classic uplifting balcony sea views, living room and kitchen area can be found for as little as 3.5 million baht. Some people say that to live comfortably in a condo full time, a couple needs at least 100 square meters of living space. It’s still possible to find excellently maintained condos of this size for less than 5 million baht.

There are many other great reasons for owning a condo. Most condo buildings have excellent facilities, such as fitness rooms, huge designer swimming pools, sun lounge areas, tropical gardens, snooker, tennis, table tennis and restaurants. If you live in a condo like this, during weekdays, there is no need to share these facilities with too many other people. You can have the fitness room all to yourself, play snooker with your friends undisturbed, splash in the pool, sunbathe or take a stroll in the gardens or along the quiet beaches. You get the feeling that this paradise you are living in was built solely for you! Then of course you have 24 hour security, a reception area and in most condo resorts, room service.

If you only want to stay in Thailand part of the year, condos are easy to rent out, and easy to keep safe. Many professional investment brokers suggest condo prices are ready to soar in the Prachuabkirikhan and Phetburi areas, as foreigners realize the benefits of condos over houses. New executive condo developments are currently being built, such as Tropical Ocean View and The Boat House. By virtue of the kings wishes, there are restrictions on high rise buildings directly on the beach, therefore available good second hand beach condos are rare. Astute developers, aware of future demand, are building executive condo apartments inshore. Developments such as Tira Tirra, Manor Park and The Park are selling fast “off plan”. It is believed these condos will make excellent rental investments.

In places such as Pattaya, condos are almost too popular with foreigners. The rule that 51% of condo units in a building need to be owned by Thai nationals has meant that leasing to foreigners is quite common. Luckily, that scenario is not evident over here and the necessity of leasing condos is still a long way off , but many experts predict the ratio of Thai to foreign ownership will get a lot closer in the years to come.