Property buyers and sellers can be overwhelmed by the sheer range of property investment options that Thailand has to offer. As with any emerging market there are many opportunities presented to savvy investors, however the uninitiated could encounter a confusing process.
Mark Bowling, Senior Manager of Colliers International Thailand Pattaya office, has created a comprehensive Buyers Guide to Condominium Projects that outlines what you should look out for and what questions you should ask.
The full guide can be downloaded from http://www.colliers.co.th/images/agency/HDrNvjALResidentialBuyersGuide_2012_re.pdf
Early bird investors maximise their investment potential by buying in the pre-launch stage of a newly introduced project. By moving in quickly on the prime units within a building, they carefully select the units that everyone else will want at a later date. This is a smart way to achieve excellent returns for very little investment, but it can be risky if things go wrong.
As an example and for the sake of this exercise let’s say an investor (A) buys a prime unit during the pre-launch stage for THB10million in a brand new development. He pays a deposit of 20 percent and then starts paying his 30 percent stage payments over the construction period of two years.
After the first year buyer (B) expresses an interest and specifically wants this prime unit, by which time the developer has already increased his prices by 25 percent.
Investor (A) has paid THB3.5million or 35 percent of the original selling price in the first 12 months, but now the property is worth THB12.5million according to the developers price list.
Buyer (B) agrees to buy the property and pays investor (A) THB6million which includes payments already made to the developer and the 25 percent price increase.
By investing in the very early stages of the project investor (A) has cleared over 70 percent profit in just one year. This however is a gamble and you need to research the market fully or ask for assistance from a reputable real estate agent before taking on this kind of investment strategy.
A badly chosen project or poorly selected unit can make all the difference between a successful resale deal or being stuck with a property you had no intention of seeing through.
You may even find yourself out of pocket if you’re unable to make the final payment to the developer.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, edited this story which is reproduced with kind permission of Mark Bowling of Colliers International.. To contact Andrew about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
