Housing Projects

[BobHelm]

& I do not disagree with a word of what you say rct.
As I clearly said in my previous post I fully believe that people should be allowed to spend their hard earned money as they please.
My objection to your prior post was that it was implying that the houses on the Le Cellini Estate represent good value for money. They do not. To pay that much money for a property in Udon Thani is ridiculous.
If you are worried about your family's future after you are gone then there are far better ways of assuring it than landing them with a large albatross around their neck that consumes cash every month.

Yes,thank you TB, you had my meaning exactly.

[Dublin Tony]

Certainly the houses on Le Cellini are beautiful.Mind you they should be because for 10m you could get a villa in a beach front location in Phuket with its own swimming pool.
rct is to be commended on getting what he thinks is the best and safest location for his family =D>
However,is it really necessary to post these views every week or so.We all get the point you are trying to make.There is no need to keep repeating it,surely ?

For myself it seems a very large sum of money to spend on a property that can never be yours but up to you,as they say.
Do you think your security guard,paid around 100 baht a day,is going to pull out all the stops to protect your wife and property and keep the mob at bay ?



Mod Note* Removed comments about the Monarchy.

[BkkBill]

I find it extremely gratifying to hear so many people so concerned over the welfare of someone who has stated many times the reasons for purchasing a nice house for his wife and family and is quite happy with the amount payed. I believe what a person pays for his house cars and toys it his business and don’t feel approval from other members is necessary.

I wonder just how adequate a house in the price range of 650,000 to 2 million really would be for someone who can afford and is living in a 10M Baht home. Maybe it’s just me but that seems to be more like walking off a cliff than stepping down. If you are happy with a price payed then it is good value for you. Hopefully when your taken to the Wat for the last time you would have been perspicacious enough to leave a few Baht for your loved ones so they would be able to continue living the same lifestyle.

Anyone here who has bought a house for their wife has put faith in them and the future. If you purchase a house that is in your price range that could seem like a very large sum of money to spend on a property for some or rather paltry to others.

Interesting how a safety issue gets wrapped into civil war and mobs. Do be careful crossing the street now.

[wazza]

This issue of "house not in ur name etc " What happens to your money after u die, If your will says it goes to your wife, then whats the probloem.

Sounds like some here what to give it back to some shadowy pasts ???

[KHONDAHM]

Certainly the houses on Le Cellini are beautiful.Mind you they should be because for 10m you could get a villa in a beach front location in Phuket with its own swimming pool.
rct is to be commended on getting what he thinks is the best and safest location for his family =D>
However,is it really necessary to post these views every week or so.We all get the point you are trying to make.There is no need to keep repeating it,surely ?

For myself it seems a very large sum of money to spend on a property that can never be yours but up to you,as they say.
Also as regards the safety issue.I would be just a little concerned that when ****** ends there could be a civil war in Thailand.
Do you think your security guard,paid around 100 baht a day,is going to pull out all the stops to protect your wife and property and keep the mob at bay ?

Co-signed.

Being a returnee to Udon with plans to buy/build in 2010, I personally do not see why one would go pre-built for that kind of money on so little land in Udon. It seems contrary to the reason WHY expats relocate to Udon. Good luck with that, though.

I am concerned about the aftermath of a change in the ******. VERY concerned. So much so that I would be willing to wait and see, but the wife "assures" me that we need not be concerned in Udon, unlike places such as Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket. I am not so sure given that there is a military base and airstrip in town...

[lee]

I would like to ask members to avoid discussions about the Monarchy on this forum. If you have any questions please pm me. Thanks for your understanding. Lee

[trubrit]

I would like to ask members to avoid discussions about the Monarchy on this forum. If you have any questions please pm me. Thanks for your understanding. Lee

OOPs . You just have Lee

[BKKSTAN]

I find it extremely gratifying to hear so many people so concerned over the welfare of someone who has stated many times the reasons for purchasing a nice house for his wife and family and is quite happy with the amount payed. I believe what a person pays for his house cars and toys it his business and don’t feel approval from other members is necessary.

I wonder just how adequate a house in the price range of 650,000 to 2 million really would be for someone who can afford and is living in a 10M Baht home. Maybe it’s just me but that seems to be more like walking off a cliff than stepping down. If you are happy with a price payed then it is good value for you. Hopefully when your taken to the Wat for the last time you would have been perspicacious enough to leave a few Baht for your loved ones so they would be able to continue living the same lifestyle.

Anyone here who has bought a house for their wife has put faith in them and the future. If you purchase a house that is in your price range that could seem like a very large sum of money to spend on a property for some or rather paltry to others.

Interesting how a safety issue gets wrapped into civil war and mobs. Do be careful crossing the street now.

I certainly agree with you,however Truebrit makes some very good points also!''Standing out'' for a falang creates security issues that that are real ,especially where their is comparative poverty,resentment,jealousy and a lack of community support if you are victimized!Although ,if you are real rich,you might be able to ''buy'' security and justice,maybe maybe

[fcbforever]

@rct

I couldn't agree more with what others are saying: spending anything north of 3-5 million anywhere in Isaan is a complete rip-off and far too expensive even for the nicest house imaginable. Just to give you an idea, we were buying 22 rai of land in 2009 (just for our house-to-be-built) near my wife's village in an amazingly beautiful spot not too far from the nearest fast growing town for THB 650k !! Can't wait to be semi-retired and spend 6-8 months a year there. I won't tell you where exactly though, otherwise prices will quadruple in the area

Sorry to say but people like you thought a USD 2 million McMansion in some dried out dusty place in the Nevada desert was a good buy! So much for the perceived safety of real estate assets.

Nevertheless, enjoy!

[rct]

Dublin Tony, I promise to reduce repeating myself on this particular project, you are absolutely right.

The fact is I have little else to do as I sit here reading udonmap, no home maintence issues, nothing to repair, not busy reinforcing the iron bars on the windows etc. just relaxing and staring out the window at the nice view and stylish homes... (except bad view toward phase two, though they did begin cleaning it up to start building, maybe they were inspired by my writing).

Funny though, we seldom actually see specifics about other housing projects, the point of this thread, this is why I keep trying to keep it alive. Perhaps need one thread for projects under 2 MB and another for the higher end. Friends are looking for projects in the midrange eg 5-7 MB, though I believe it is currently in sort of a no-man's land, everyone wants either very low cost, or DIY at the high end.

Meanwhile please show me a beach front pool villa in Phuket for 10 MB, provide the website link here is fine. I'm going to Phuket this week (seriously, to check on my properties, I moved to Udon from Phuket). No worries at home in Udon while away. Please don't prove me wrong on this too....

[KHONDAHM]

IMHO, the perfect place to buy would be a development where each plot has 1 rai and the developer would build to plan (versus pre-mades or limited plans). I would select a plot, hand them my plan, and move in within 6 months. All for a fair price of, say, no more than 2x the going rate (not jacked up rate) of surrounding land plus a decent builders profit of no more than 50% above materials at cost plus labor at cost.

Pipe dream, I know.

Otherwise, as others have mentioned, better to spend a mill or two buying up land, custom build a 250 sqm house for 2-3 mill, and develop your rice paddies over time. Plop a high-spec house or two down every year and price to sell it for 2-4 mill/year income. Rinse and repeat. Great investment for retirement and great investment for the wife and kids.

No way my wife would go for paying a monthly fee for a house we already paid for. If I kicked the bucket, she'd want to sell and get something smaller for just her and the kids nearer family. Thais are not like us in that we can stay anywhere, but Thais prefer to be near family. She would be stuck with an expensive house unless she sold it for less than we paid. That being the more likey scenario, rather than toss that money, it makes more sense to buy land and build rather than pay so much to live in prestige. Put the savings in gold or more land.

When making a decision to buy anything anywhere, in my case, I cannot be so selfish as to not consider what my wife would do if I am not around. To those who want it, good luck with that.

Just my song-baht. Cheers!

[parrot]

If I win the jackpot, I'm buying that 8.5mil home on the Mekong that's up for sale in the classified section.

[rct]

Khondahm, you are right, I may buy into your idea too.

Come look for me in our now infamous project, and I will show you exactly where to go within 5 minutes of the ring road, where two farangs bought 12 rai and intend to do exactly what you say, in what are actually very nice surroundings with many nice houses nearby on rai plus plots. I am considering doing the same with another 10-15 rai plot (only no money today), except not be a builder, only divide the land and put in the road and build my own house and then sell plots either fast or slow, it would not matter.

Meanwhile rest assured my wife will be able to afford our 3000 baht per month common fees if I happen to check out early. The only way I will live in Isaan is in a nice house and surroundings, period, maybe seems selfish to some but seems natural to me.

All the naysayers in this forum are very funny to me. If people say "I looked there, and no way is it worth it" then their comment has more credibility. Hope to meet each of you when you come.

[Dublin Tony]

Dublin Tony, I promise to reduce repeating myself on this particular project, you are absolutely right.
Meanwhile please show me a beach front pool villa in Phuket for 10 MB, provide the website link here is fine. I'm going to Phuket this week (seriously, to check on my properties, I moved to Udon from Phuket). No worries at home in Udon while away. Please don't prove me wrong on this too....

rct,
The first site I looked at has villas with private pools in Phuket for up to 10m baht.A few selections for you.

http://www.phuket.net/property/villas-houses/-

click on house/villa for property type and value of up to 10m.

On my travels around South East Asia and South America I have found that people who flaunt their wealth are setting themselves up as targets.Please accept this peace of friendly advice and enjoy your lovely home at Le Cellini quietly

But I think I have said more than enough on this subject.I hope you and your family really enjoy this part of Thailand.

Tony

[KHONDAHM]

All the naysayers in this forum are very funny to me. If people say "I looked there, and no way is it worth it" then their comment has more credibility.

I think this may be, in part, because there are not any real or current pics on the one page website. Just a brochure cover with computer generated images and professional photos of the model taken the day after the furniture was placed. Most posters are well aware that websites like that in Thailand generally mean there is a deception going on at some level. We see it all the time with hotels and shangri-la resorts. Perfect pictures on the site, but not so perfect when you show up to check in. That's strike one.

Why would such a champagne development at a caviar price have such a beer-budget website? There should be an upmarket website complete with full virtual tours of the grounds, model unit, and in-progress unit showing and describing the effort put into construction. Le Cellini's website should put something like lower budget competitor http://udonhomesales.com/ to shame, but it doesn't. That's strike two.

A previous poster pointed out some of the shortcuts and poor materials choices. I mean, really...what is the point of making the trip to visit if you know that is what you will find? You need to show-and-prove to refute what others are saying and that hasn't happened yet. Post some real and current pictures and You-Tube videos. That's strike three.

From what I have read so far in just this thread, it sounds like you are pumping it rather hard. Which may mean you are probably not just a delighted resident who feels compelled to tell the world how great it is to live there. With the limited number of falang there now, it may be that just the partners are stuck living there with few, if any, takers.

True or not, I think I can safely say that is the perception. Someone else please correct me if I am off base here.

If you are marketing the development, or can get in touch with the person marketing the development, the above need to be addressed before you can expect to see qualified people (the serious, not the curious) making the effort to visit. If the developers expect to set a high expectation of quality, there needs to be an equally matched quality of marketing. Champagne-budget marketing begets champagne budget customers...

Just my song-baht.

Cheers!

By the way, what is the name/website of the company that actually supplied the labor to build the place?

[KHONDAHM]

Le Cellini's website should put something like lower budget competitor http://udonhomesales.com/ to shame, but it doesn't. That's strike two.

Oops! posted wrong link. This is the correct one: http://www.nyjhouse.com/eng/

Cheers!

[parrot]

I've taken the Celini tour three times, once during early construction, and twice since completed. While I wasn't impressed with the construction phase (brick rather than smartblock and gauge of electrical wiring that looked like it was on the short end of the scale), the furnished model homes are spectacular. Too fancy for my taste, but there's no denying that they top anything else I've seen offered in Udon (subdivision wise). Doors, cabinets, bath fixtures, lighting, etc all look first class. But the furnishings in the model home will cost you a cool million baht++ on top of the cost of the home. While the homes were under construction, I didn't see any insulation added to the ceilings or radiant barrier under the roof, although they may have added it later.
Would I buy one? Nope, nor a Mercedes, even if I had the money to burn. But to each his own....and that's what's nice about living in Udon. Check out the massive mansion behind the Shell Gas Station across from the Napalai Hotel. The guy has stained glass windows throughout, 2" thick aged wood flooring, fountains, etc. Know what's 10 feet away in his backyard? A recycle-collection point. t.i.t.

[rct]

Tony and others, responding to your warm wishes and good advice and pondering the future. If I build a 5MB house on rice fields surrounded by farmers and labor workers, would I blend in? I certainly would not blend in at a housing estate that cost 1-2 MB. Not because I am showy, I will never have a Benz or BMW in this country, and I wear old t shirts and shorts like most of us. But some things are obvious.

Note where I live I indeed blend in, and do not to flaunt anything and could care less if anyone ever sees my house, just living comfortably. All my neighbors have more money than I do. And the developers do not live here, at least not yet, they can afford bigger and better. Their target market is more Thai, not really farangs, though some farangs buy.

Anyone considering investing say 7-10 MB for a house in Udon, would be smart to at least have a look before committing to the hassles of buidling on rice fields, even if the internet does a poor job of showing Le Cellini (I am almost afraid to write the name anymore, now so infamous). Note I may build on rice fields too, so I am not totally opposed to it, this is because I do have comfort level after 16+ years in the country.

The builder is the biggest construction company in Udon, that builds govt buildings, schools, roads, airport, etc. This is their first attempt at high end, perhaps they were a bit too soon. The labor is from "Rice farmers R Us" which is why nobody is workiing at present, though they do have skilled tradesmen for the important parts. I have also long old them to post actual photos of the finished product (the houses on the street, clubhouse, new showhouse) as what is found of the first showhouse indeed falls short and looks way too showy. My house is not like the showhouse at all, inside (and it is not perfect, has some unfortunate defects though not many), though is even better outside due to best and bigger land plot, my early bird special. We have two toddlers and they are destoying the furniture real fast.

A lot of the price anywhere is for location. If I buy well situated 15 rai for 15 million baht, divide it, double the price, will Khondahm come pay 2 million baht for a rai? Or does he have in mind a project a bit farther out, that cost the "developer" 250,000 baht per rai and he pays 500,000 baht for a rai? What is your budget? It is all relative.

Location location location. I am confident any land along Srichumchen road is worth similar per square wah to what I paid, only it is being held until the owner can fill it up with more shophouses on 25 wah each, for at least 1-2 million baht just for the land cost, and another 2 million for the building and profit.

Add to going rate for land cost the basic house per square meter, then a premium to make it all nice, et etc OK I won't repeat it all again.

[KHONDAHM]

The builder is the biggest construction company in Udon, that builds govt buildings, schools, roads, airport, etc.

What is the name of the company that actually supplied the construction labor?

[Galee]

If we all liked the same, life would be pretty boring. A bit like a communist state, where we all live in Government housing. Fortunately, we all have the freedom to make individual choices.

As for my preference, I've looked at the housing estates and find the buildings are too close together. I like my space and peace and quiet. Some might say, that not wanting neighbours close by makes me a miserable sod. You might be right.
I have my 1 Rai just outside town, all I need now is someone to lend me 2M to build my little bungalow and I'll be very happy.