Are estate agents the "new" beer bar?

[PattayaDaz]

Guess the days of moving to Thailand and opening a beer bar/gogo are numbered...seems the latest "sure fire" sucess for sad Northerners from UK is to open a real estate business...Judging by the profusion of new businesses in BKK and Pattaya....Suppose the "housing boom" is to blame but in reality how many "farangs" are coming to buy property in Thailand (even though the law says they can't except condos) or is the whole market just supported by speculators and Thai developers with easy to get loan money to spend?

[inamorato25]

I was in Jomtien / Pattaya for work all last summer and I went into a few realtors who were, as PattayaDaz says, all Brits, and they didn't inspire any confidence at all. I don't know if I'm ready to hand over $50,000 to a "realtor" who sits at his desk shirtless and unshaven, with a few empty Chang bottles sitting in the corner of the office. (I did, however, like the Thai-run business at FairProperties in Jomtien, near the View Talay complexes. I might buy through them next year.)

[CiaranM]

I've long thought to myself that Pattaya is the new Spain...

how many times have u been told ... don't think it's dangerous !!

[robbie36]

Suppose the "housing boom" is to blame but in reality how many "farangs" are coming to buy property in Thailand (even though the law says they can't except condos) or is the whole market just supported by speculators and Thai developers with easy to get loan money to spend?

Much to the surprise of most Thai property developers there is something of a housing boom going on in Pattaya at what seems, by thai standards, ridiculous prices. Northshore, a mid-rise condominium with average prices of Bt63,000sqm (the same as mid sukhumvit) is sold out. View Talay Villas - with 150sqm villas selling for Bt13m+ - is also almost sold out.

The buyers of both projects are almost exclusively farang and the developers behind both projects are farang (well Raimon is semi farang). It is all a bit of a mystery but it appears the lure of Pattaya is somewhat irresistable and I guess US$200k doesnt buy you a chicken coop to live in, in the UK.

There are even some Brits working the time share scam down there. Still if these mugs are happy to buy a bar girl, one can presumably sell them anything.

[sadoldred]

I have seen my fair share of sad Southerners in the Pattaya real estate game too, and Pattaya in general.

[inamorato25]

It is all a bit of a mystery but it appears the lure of Pattaya is somewhat irresistable .

Excellent comment, Robbie, as always!

I think I know why people go for Pattaya / Jomtien (and no, not only for the eye candy, which gets very annoying very quickly). First, the weather there is fantasic -- every morning I'd wake up and see this gorgeous view of the ocean from my window. Second, it's like having most of the conveniences of BKK、albeit on a smaller scale, without the congestion and with a BEACH! Yeah! There's great shopping, movie theathers, restaurants and coffee shops, language schools (I was taking some Thai lessons), a few good gyms -- everything you need to live and work in a normal life. Oh, and there's plenty of eye candy

[CiaranM]

The buyers of both projects are almost exclusively farang and the developers behind both projects are farang (well Raimon is semi farang). It is all a bit of a mystery but it appears the lure of Pattaya is somewhat irresistable and I guess US$200k doesnt buy you a chicken coop to live in, in the UK.

There are even some Brits working the time share scam down there. Still if these mugs are happy to buy a bar girl, one can presumably sell them anything.

i was under the impression that 51% of condos in a complex had to be thai owned is that not still the case .... and yes i know there r ways round this, but they don't really appeal to me.

i know some of the mugs actually do "buy" the bar girls, but usually they r just rented/leased out .... maybe condos in pattaya should be viewed in the same way ??

[farangnbkk]

Is money laundry a new word in Thailand, my guess for the high prices in Pattaya, which is known for being a place with a lot of bucks from business that normally don't run in the daylight

Ahhh, a very fine art indeed. Laundry. It takes a delicate touch not to break the fabric and keep the weft. One strand out of place. One complaint to the wrong department. Then your laundry business gets raided. And raided. If you're unlucky, the "better business bureau" might catch you with a whole lotta unexplainable holes in the fabric and they will run you out of town. Then your laundry shop has to close (at the very LEAST change locations). Even though it seemed popular with people.

The buyers of both projects are almost exclusively farang and the developers behind both projects are farang (well Raimon is semi farang)

Whoever said it before me is correct, they still have to be majority Thai owned.

Raimon Land is not a farang developer. It is one of the few large Thai companies though that is run on the "Western business model" versus the standard thai "Family" business model.

It's a retail property developer that fell on hard times during the crash. It is now majority owned/controlled by Seamico Securities. Top Management is largely Farang oriented. It's done a great turnaround job and I don't think it's been given a fair shake in market value. But that's a totally different story.