Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

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Shado
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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by Shado » March 1, 2011, 6:35 pm

pmize86, any comments to the answer's you've received so far? Any more questions?



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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by tony525 » March 1, 2011, 7:43 pm

I'm 27 and I'm currently living in USA with my Thai wife. I have inherited approx. $350,000 USD. I have been to Thailand about 20 times and I really love it. I really want to move somewhere in Thai possibly Udon and would like to invest this money there. Although my Thai wife likes USA more. I'm havin a hard time convincing her.

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by BarnicaleBob » March 1, 2011, 9:33 pm

Pmize86,
I guess by now you may be feeling a little discouraged about starting a business here. Might I suggest another plan?
You could put most of your money in CDs or somewhere else safe where it will earn a little interest, come to Thailand with a small nest egg to start you off and live cheap for a few months to learn more about what is what here. As your doing so you could take advantage of your teaching experience and look for an English teaching position here. This would give you up to about 20,000 baht a month income if you have your government Instructors Certificate (in any field) or any kind of a college degree (in any major), (maybe more if you have both) that would cover at least half if not more of your living expense here. So say you had a 30,000 baht budget; your monthly dip into your savings would only be about 10,000 baht a month. So for about 120,000 baht a year you could live here and explore possible business opportunities at a slow pace. That way if you failed to find a good business to invest in you would still have the bulk of your three million baht left to go to a plan B, which could be anything you want it to be.
PS, I had a little experience with Dyncor back in the 90s. I also heard about the military taking over the police training there, sorry you lost out on the deal.

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by KHONDAHM » March 2, 2011, 2:24 am

trubrit wrote:Don't really know much about internet shops but being logical I can see that charging 10bht an hour really isn't going to buy a lot of rice at the end of the day. I do know a couple of Farang "owners" that would snatch your hand off if they thought you would buy there's, even if they were losing half their investment . :lol:
True words. As an example, I am sure most of us remember when it was THB 200+ per hour. That was what - barely 10 years ago back in the days when there was 1 pay phone for an entire village. I would not be surprised if in 10 more years access is free. Not so good for internet shop owners.

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by Prenders88 » March 2, 2011, 7:55 am

Use the money to buy property in your own country and rent it out.
Look at an area that has good transport links, and nearby airport.
There will always be jobs there, and tenants.
Buy in the right area, and at the right price, and you can acheive a yield of 7 to 9%.

Keep the bulk of your money and assets out of Thailand.
We are not wanted here.

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by jimboLV » March 2, 2011, 9:47 am

Pmize, you've gotten a lot of advice on here, some good, some not so good. Be aware that some (not all) farangs on here were failures or social misfits in their own country, so not really in a position to give advice. Others are quick to pontificate even when they have no clue as to what they are talking about, witness the laughable comments about internet shops. It's up to you to sift through the comments and decide.

I would not recommend that anyone come to Thailand without a solid outside income, either pension, trust fund, etc., that is sufficient to live on in the style to which you wish to become accustomed. Very, very difficult for a farang to make a decent living here. However, if you've got extra cash after living expenses, there can be a lot of good investment opportunities in Thailand, much better than becoming an absentee slumlord back in the US, as has been suggested. Most Thais don't have much cash, so if you have money in Thailand you can make money. The approach I took was to look for an existing going business (Thai-owned) that is in need of cash to upgrade or expand.

I found a little internet shop where the owner was eking out a meager living for the past 5 years, but recognized that she needed to expand and upgrade, So we started discussing an investment where I would be a silent partner and she could expand. For example, most internet shops don't make much money by renting computer time at 10 baht per hour. They make it on printing, copying, binding, faxes, etc. I saw her turning away customers because her ancient copy machine was breaking down constantly, the printers were slow and had limited capability, etc. So I invested some cash and she upgraded her equipment. That, and a little advertising, and her revenue doubled in just a few weeks.

An unintended consequence was that during the course of discussing all this, we found that we were personally compatible and ended up getting married, but that's another story for another thread! The point is that there are opportunities here, but don't count on getting rich or even supporting yourself. Unless you're happy working 7 days a week, 12 hours a day, sleeping on the floor in the back of the shop and eating noodles cooked on a hot plate.

So, there are lots of choices and you've got a lot of advice, so the ball is in your court. Choose wisely and good luck!

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by KHONDAHM » March 2, 2011, 5:31 pm

"...an absentee slumlord back in the US, as has been suggested..."

Put your belt on. Your ignorance of the HUD Section 8 program and the current and projected state of the US housing situation and general economy is showing...

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by KHONDAHM » March 2, 2011, 6:39 pm

Here is a good article written from a renter's perspective in 2008. As you read it, do so from an owner's perspective and it should become immediately clear that an investor investing in properties with the intent of serving Sec 8 voucher holders can make out like a bandit.

http://mostlywater.org/section_8_the_my ... me_housing

What you, as an investor, would do is find the zip codes within a state with the highest HUD subsidies (HUD publishes a list annually). Then you plug that zip code into, say, Realtytrac.com (one of several resources) and find at least a two bedroom (for families) and/or single story (for elderly) home. Buy it and personally visit the local PHA (Public Housing Authority). The PHA counselors will ALWAYS have "special" lists of good responsible people they really want to put into good housing. Let them know about your unit(s) and you can build a good relationship with them providing immediate "pre-screened" tenants anytime you have a vacancy. I could go into depth about other ways to work the system, but I will stop here as this approach would ensure you are always in the profit and would rarely ever have a vacant unit.

If you really want to work the system for fast growth and maximum profit, you would then sell that occupied unit to other investors at a very generous profit - and never have to deal with rental problems - or use the income to qualify for a loan to buy more properties. Rinse and repeat.

Your time required in the US would be something like a month or so total yearly looking at properties or approving tenants once you have a few properties under your belt. Initially, it may require a few months or more to get things rolling, but once it is rolling, you will find things will happen really fast. I used to do it before I sold everything and semi-retired to Thailand a decade ago (pre-bubble, unfortunately). I recently tried my hand at building/selling in LOS, bit the market is terrible these days. So, I suspect I will soon go back to doing what I am suggesting to the OP. My timing sucks, but my approach is sound and proven.

Cheers!

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by jimboLV » March 2, 2011, 9:52 pm

KHONDAHM wrote:Your ignorance of the HUD Section 8 program and the current and projected state of the US housing situation and general economy is showing...
KD you read me wrong. I am very familiar with the HUD Section 8 scam, and know a few people that are making money with it. I didn't' think that was what the OP was after, he was looking to make a living in Thailand. If he was interested in making money in the US, there are a lot better ways of fleecing the American taxpayers, Section 8 scammers are bottom feeders. However, beware, the times are changing as taxpayers are becoming aware of where their tax dollars are really going, and the situation may change, although it may take a few years to materialize.

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KHONDAHM
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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by KHONDAHM » March 3, 2011, 2:53 am

Fair enough. An opinion is an opinion, and I can respect your opinion. I just do not like when facts get twisted. Cheers!

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old-timer
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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by old-timer » March 3, 2011, 4:46 am

jimboLV wrote: For example, most internet shops don't make much money by renting computer time at 10 baht per hour. They make it on printing, copying, binding, faxes, etc. I saw her turning away customers because her ancient copy machine was breaking down constantly, the printers were slow and had limited capability, etc. So I invested some cash and she upgraded her equipment. That, and a little advertising, and her revenue doubled in just a few weeks.
quote]
Easy then, buy a printer and copy machine, a binding machine and fax machine (not sure what that is) and you have instant success.
OT just done a double back flip over the back of his chair with laughter.
My kids have had none of those things, not even the fax machine and binder, whatever they are. The youngest is now 7 years old and runs around with a 8gb flash drive and a laptop.

OT.............. \:D/

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by harmonyudon » March 3, 2011, 7:55 am

jimboLV wrote:
For example, most internet shops don't make much money by renting computer time at 10 baht per hour. They make it on printing, copying, binding, faxes, etc. I saw her turning away customers because her ancient copy machine was breaking down constantly, the printers were slow and had limited capability, etc. So I invested some cash and she upgraded her equipment. That, and a little advertising, and her revenue doubled in just a few weeks.


Add an extra service like:
Buy a nice camera with a semi pro printer and you are also a photographer selling
pictures (with different kind of backgrounds). Kids and even adults like it :D

You can even sell photo's for pasport or visa.
Don't be a loser, don't comment on others if u haven't achieved a thing.
Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by jimboLV » March 3, 2011, 10:28 am

That's a great idea, Harm. =D> In fact a high quality photo printer was high on her list. Not so much a camera, as everybody and their Momma has a digital camera and a flash drive loaded with pics, but not many have access to a good printer. So they come in with their flash drives and she can crop, enlarge, enhance, make collages, etc. She can even print labels on Cd's. Fits in nicely with all the other internet and computer services. It goes back to my original point. If you've got even a moderate amount of cash you can find something that's lacking in the Thai community due to lack of cash. Forget about the falangs, they're all loaded with cash, and tend to spend it all on food, booze and women. But the Thai are a ready market. :-"

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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by harmonyudon » March 3, 2011, 10:41 am

Buy cheap (small) pictures frames, shoot and print pictures put it in the frame...and Voila.....your sales will increase :D

You make margin/profit with the frames also :D
Don't be a loser, don't comment on others if u haven't achieved a thing.
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Re: Moving to Udon Thani. How much money do I need?

Post by stargate » March 3, 2011, 11:29 am

the question starting this topic was posted four days ago, many of you have given some sound advice, not a single post from pmize. i have put my cynics hat on.

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