Building a House

[rufusredtail]

Gid aye , to all , My question to you is if one is to build a house in thailand , what are aspects to look for , i have 4 in australia , with not much trouble , but looking at the quality of houses in buriram , some great, but most have problems , what has your experience been , what problems have you had if any , are tradsmen available , here in aus , mostly word of mouth , word soon gets around who is bad , and who does the job right . Be interested in any details of what HAPPENED to you /

[olavhome]

Most important is to stay there ALL the time. Also check by yourself. And even if they say "understand" -dont belive before you really see its true.
But- that being said - guess quality vary- same as in the rest of the world. You can get a lot of stories on "build sites" as  "coolthaihouse" or other.  Give you a lot information for free.
Good luck with your build.

[Nobby]

Please note that a Thai's definition of good quality  is........ CHEAP
Most westerners use that description to indicate the quality of finish.

[CO-CO]

If quality is a major concern - don't build in Thailand.


This is part of my story  -  starting on 3rd May:-

Today is the 3rd of May and our 'lucky day' for starting our house build. However, I need to go back about 3 weeks.

I blame myself, of course !

If you are going to build in Thailand then I am sure that the most relaxed way is to pick your design, find a Falang builder (like Alan the Builder), agree a contract, price and sit back and wait to get the keys at completion.  Pretty much 100% stress-free.

Anything else isn't.

I am building a 96 sqm under roof 'holiday' home that has 64 sqm of living accommodation (the rest is balcony/terrace). No snooker room!  We have called the property 'Mountain View'.

I decided that to do this I needed to accept a Thai standard build to minimise the costs. I set a 500k budget, with elasticity to 600k for slightly
uprated fittings and things I had overlooked - like nails and smart Board fofr eaves and gable ends. . based on other local builds I worked on 30% for labour and 70% materials. This would put labour costs at circa 150,000 Baht

We had a hell of a job finding a 'builder' (read rice farmer who can throw  house together off season) but eventually found a guy in the missus' village who was a friend of her sister. Good start, I thought, he might make an effort to to do the job and give a fair price - afterall, he was nearly family !

After about 10 days (7 days later than first stated) he came back with a labour only quote for the 'first stage' of 80, 00 baht - less than 2,000 Sterling.

I did ask the missus if there would be a contract .... , or a schedule of work ?

No - but we ascertained that he would take 20 days and pay 4 workers plus himself. Fair enough - I calculated 20 days x 2,000 Baht ( 4 workers @ 300 Baht per day + him at 800 Baht).
broadly = 40,000 or approx half of what he had quoted.

His figure, out of the ether, for stage 2 was 150,000 Baht and I suspect equally un-justifiable.

[rufusredtail]

Interesting on the costs associated with the build , so for 1 to 2 million thb , one would get a very nice house, the farang houses i have seen so far , look quite nice on the outside , any books on the subject at al.

[urleft]

We have been building it by winging it with the builder.  We describe what we want, the builder SWAGs (scientific wild ass guess) a price, and we begin.

Completely remolded a bedroom, remolded the store, added a wall, adding a kitchen, added a car park and other little things.  I am fairly satisfied with the process.  It helped that we live right there so check daily (or hourly).  Main problem we had was we exceeded the power availability, had to revise things and go to 3 phase power after all was completed. 

My recommendation is do use relatives to do the work.  And if you are not there to supervise daily, go with the someone like Alan. 

[Nobby]

I am building a 96 sqm under roof 'holiday' home that has 64 sqm of living accommodation (the rest is balcony/terrace). No snooker room!  We have called the property 'Mountain View'.

I was going to call my house "The Last Resort" but I lost that one in a divorce so I'm now contemplating "The Next Resort" but that is neither as funny or an Eagles tune!

Maybe i will stay renting, its far safer and less stressful.

[finnomick]

What a minefield... We had our house built by a team led by a family member 4 years ago. It was the wrong time of year to build because of the rice crop, but we agreed on 300 baht per head to get things going. 2 days work in the first 15 days -- where are the team ? In the rice fields came the answer. So, don't agree extra money because you don't get refunds. As Olavhome said, BE THERE ALL THE TIME, because if you're not, you'll not get what you want. We were away for a couple of days and came back to find the bathroom/showeroom window had changed elevation. Why ? Because it looked better and in line with all the other windows came the reply. Because the misses wanted a shop at one side, they put in roller-shutter doors. Ah, we need extra money for that. Well I said, take it out of the money you would have earned by building a wall. Err, no, can't do that, extra work is extra work. And so on... Of course, they under-estimated the cost of the build so came with hand outheld for more which caused all sorts of problems as these were family. And you'll no doubt get the ' we need money up front ' mainly to buy beer and whisky so we can all get pi++ed up at your cost. Oh yes, and they also put the footings in the wrong way. I wanted 1 metre deep by 50cms wide. They put them in 50cms deep and 1 metre wide ( probably so the pi++ed up brickie could have more space to weave around ). What a nightmare ( and I guess all professional builders are rolling around on the floor by now -- and rightly so ) but after 4 years the building is still standing but what exactly we'll do when we want to alter and extend is another storey ( oops, story. Sorry, my little joke ).

[urleft]

My recommendation is do NOT use relatives to do the work.  And if you are not there to supervise daily, go with the someone like Alan. 

Oops, left out NOT   
 


 

[olavhome]

I am building a 96 sqm under roof 'holiday' home that has 64 sqm of living accommodation (the rest is balcony/terrace). No snooker room!  We have called the property 'Mountain View'.

I was going to call my house "The Last Resort" but I lost that one in a divorce so I'm now contemplating "The Next Resort" but that is neither as funny or an Eagles tune!

Maybe i will stay renting, its far safer and less stressful.

Why not "New guy in town" ?

[Nobby]

Why not "New guy in town" ?

Good one or it could be 'Lying Eyes' or maybe 'Take it to the limit' with reference to the ATM!

[rufusredtail]

I would like to know THE LEGAL side of ownership , from what i gather a falang CANNOT own the land but can own the building is this correct or not ?

[Admin]

I would like to know THE LEGAL side of ownership , from what i gather a falang CANNOT own the land but can own the building is this correct or not ?

Correct, but read more links in the forum here and you will see there are some ways to own a property and land in Thailand under some conditions.

[Happylarry]

I would like to know THE LEGAL side of ownership , from what i gather a falang CANNOT own the land but can own the building is this correct or not ?

Correct, but read more links in the forum here and you will see there are some ways to own a property and land in Thailand under some conditions.

No there are not!

[Admin]

I would like to know THE LEGAL side of ownership , from what i gather a falang CANNOT own the land but can own the building is this correct or not ?

Correct, but read more links in the forum here and you will see there are some ways to own a property and land in Thailand under some conditions.

No there are not!

I guess its too complicated to give a sharp answer like yours or mine.

 
- BKK Post 2012-06-29

PROPERTY

Ombudsmen urge draconian new law
 
BANGKOK: -- Thai ombudsmen is drafting a carrot-and-stick law to protect Thai lands from illegal foreign nominee ownership, while developers and consultants suggest more legal transparency, a longer leasehold period and higher foreigner property taxes to prevent nominees.
 
Ombudsman Siracha Charoenpanij said the new law would comprise punishment for companies offering advice to foreigners on how to hold Thai property by disguising their legal transaction. This would include law firms and consultants.
 
The existing law enforced by the Lands Department requires foreigners found holding Thai property to transfer the plot to someone else or sell it within 180 days.
 
"The new law includes a reward to anyone providing information about foreigners owning land through nominees. They will get 20% of the market price of that piece of land as a reward after the plot is sold," he said at a seminar on foreign property ownership yesterday held by the Thai Appraisal Foundation.
 
Deportation
 
The new law would also deport foreigners found guilty of holding land plots in Thailand illegally.
 
Ombudsmen will submit the draft to parliament this year, and Mr Siracha thinks there is backing for the bill.
 
"Anyone related to the property business may be unhappy with this bill as it will make the market rigid. But this law can help protect the land for the next generation of Thais," he said.
 
Will there be any land left for our Thai children?
 
He pointed to a new scheme where foreigners disguise their ownership similar to multi-level marketing, where they are buying shares of an agricultural company that grows rice on large plots in the northeast.
 
"I've heard there was a broker buying land plots throughout a tambon in Surin to cultivate Hom Mali rice," he said. "If such an act is not prevented, will there be any land left for our children?"
 
Suphin Mechuchep, managing director of property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) (Thailand), said any new law should not weaken Thailand's competitiveness. Yet too free a market would lead to a bubble, so balance is needed, she added.
 
"We should have transparency if we want foreigners to comply," she said.
 
She suggested clarity in regulations so foreigners could estimate their investment. Longer leasehold periods such as 50 or 90 years would lower their risk from the current 30 years, she added.
 
Higher tax on foreigner property transactions
 
When laws are clarified, she accepted Thailand may charge higher taxes on foreigner property transactions than on those of Thais.
 
Atip Bijanonda, president of the construction and real estate business department of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, agreed there needs to be balance while still welcoming foreign investment.
 
He suggested the government set guidelines for foreigners, forbidding their purchase of land banks, farm land, property in border areas, and locations related to the country's security.
Foreigners are permitted to buy land in industrial estates because they generate income and employment. Residential units near industrial estates are allowed for foreign investors or executives working there to bring their compatriots to visit Thailand.