Condos 2016

Post by **TigerCrystal** » January 12, 2016, 5:53 am

Any new Condo buildings getting rdy in 2016 ?

Post by **waanjai** » January 15, 2016, 11:06 pm

New Condos getting ready in 2016 is one - legitimate - question. But are all newly built Condos sold/occupied already?

One wonders why some Condo buildings seem to favor daytime photos. This is an example only.

But in the evenings, when people need light to live in a Condo, they don't look very crowded. Except where the escalators are.

Post by **Jing Jing** » January 16, 2016, 8:01 am

I have noticed the same lack of lighting and wonder what's up. Also the traffic exiting the condo in the morning appears to be nil. Who would want to live in an empty building? I think the housing market in this area is saturated. The rent on a small room in this area is between 2500 and 3000. How many pepole can afford the rent on a condo?

Post by **FrazeeDK** » January 16, 2016, 9:21 am

when they originally went up the word was that a variety of folks were buying them as speculators with no intention of living in them, just to sit on them and make a profit later... Supposedly it was all about the Asian Economic Community changes that were effective 1 January 2016 that would bring a flood of trade and investment across ASEAN's borders.... Funny, I haven't seen nary a bit of comment on that in the media...

Post by **FrazeeDK** » January 16, 2016, 9:22 am

and I reckon if you're truly interested you could walk into their sales office in the complex and ask how many places are for sale..

Post by **lassebasse** » January 17, 2016, 7:00 am

FrazeeDK wrote:and I reckon if you're truly interested you could walk into their sales office in the complex and ask how many places are for sale..

Did that a few months ago. There are plenty of apartments for sale at huge discounts compared to the original prices. We took a look at a couple of these apartments but declined. These apartments are 20 + sqm, which they try to devide into 1 bedroom, one livingroom and a kitchen + bathroom. 20 sqm is like a small hotelroom!! It all looks very funny and at least I would not try to live like that.

Post by **FrazeeDK** » January 17, 2016, 12:30 pm

I seem to remember seeing some 68m and 80+ meter two bedroom places advertised too although there were a much smaller number of them.

Post by **BillaRickaDickay** » January 17, 2016, 4:22 pm

I've been watching the progress of the Condo's going up around Udon and I've always thought about who is going to occupy these units, I am thinking they are aimed at Falangs to either rent or buy, maybe I've got it wrong. I can see the appeal for some one who wants to be located in the city centre and maybe live there part time but the sizes of the rooms, the cost to rent or buy and the unknown factor of who your neighbors might be must be a big turn off.
They remind me of the failed high rise apartments built in the sixties in the major cities of the UK and maybe even worse the concrete tenement blocks in the eastern European cities such as Sofia and Bucharest, I think high rise blocks are great in the right location such as by the sea or some where with a view such as on the Mekong but Udon?

Post by **kopkei** » January 17, 2016, 4:56 pm

condo's in udon ?, (indeed rooms) are way to over priced , i do not know where they all get these ridiculous prices ? , that is probably why non of them are selling and staying empty, unless they can sell to the ignorant farang whom is comparing prices with his home country, this also go's for many homes in moobaans....

Post by **ting_tong** » January 17, 2016, 5:19 pm

what kind of prices were they asking?

Post by **tudorandpim** » January 17, 2016, 6:06 pm

I went for a tour of Lumpini a few months ago. Memory fades and I can't remember exact figures, I'm sure those better informed will correct me. These are my recollections.
Occupancy - On a midday, one hour long visit I saw less than a dozen people, all of them staff. No signs of life and it felt silent and almost eerie. The few air conditioners visible externally for the number of units claimed sold tend to confirm what the night photo suggests.
Size and scale - Three huge blocks. I was told 1200 plus units, of which 400 plus then still unsold. (Figures kept shifting during the sales pitch and have probably shifted in my memory since). I was offered a choice of 2 sizes units, about 27 sqm single and double that, being 2 adjacent units put together to make a large. Small, about the size of a decent hotel room and is hard to imagine anything longer than a brief holiday stay. The very low ceiling height adds to the sense of compression. Indeed you do have to shut the bathroom door before you can get into the shower. It's bijou. Combining two units into one gives a wierd floor plan. The fit and finish of kitchen, bathroom, windows and doors didn't impress me much.
Price - Hazy memory again here but I believe I was quoted a 'special discount price' of B1,150,000 and B2,750,000 respectively. My hard stare caused him to reduce that immediately to 1.1M and 2.5M, at which I smiled. When I pulled out my wallet and said I might consider a straight 1 Million I got a No, then a hesitant, "I need to phone my boss." So prices have been drastically reduced and are negotiable.
Cheekily I asked if I bought 3, might I get one free? He didn't say No.
Investment- Lots of optimistic figures quoted here. Quite dizzying in fact. Rental 8K month for small and 18-20K for large. Easy to rent out. Management fees of a month on a full year contract. Offer all sorts of services to owners, and charge for them. I see day rates are already beginning to appear on Airbnb.
Snags - I pointed to the fire sprinklers in each unit and queried how they were triggered. Salesman explained developers were "Forced by law," to install them (not for comfort and safety then) and that a fire alarm anywhere in the block would set off sprinklers everywhere. Given what I know about Isaan flash-bang wok cooking, I suggested that an accidental fire alarm was highly likely and resultant rain inside each apartment would make a hell of a mess for each occupant to clean up. Reply was a shrug and, "We have insurance." So that's okay then.
On a minor note the parking spaces are very tight, the lovely pools lack shade or seating and the gym room equipment is only home user quality. Not that I saw anyone in there to wear it out.
As for the future, well anyone with any experience of condo maintenance can guess what the place is going to look like after the fresh smell of new paint has worn off and the plush carpets have worn in.
Conclusion- When Lumpini announced the development we asked a respected Thai businessman for his opinion? "You're in Udon, not Bangkok. Why would you want a condo?" Good point. I do know someone who bought off plan, at full price, as a second home/investment, rented it out for a year immediately, for more than the going rate, and tells me he's very pleased with it. Would I buy one? No.

Post by **FrazeeDK** » January 17, 2016, 6:32 pm

so it looks like that place is going nowhere fast.. If I were new to Udon and didn't want estate living, a stand-alone place or the limited apartment choices, I think I'd look at some of the row townhouses being built in different places.. You'd have to get in on it during or prior to construction to ensure it was up to snuff and built to your custom desires.. A Townhouse with a garage in a decent neighborhood could be something a person could lock the door on and not have to worry about a large yard or much in the way of issues if you decide to go back to your homeland for a few months.

Post by **kopkei** » January 17, 2016, 6:33 pm

you all have these town house style condo's in udon ,the ones with a garage door as shutter ground floor and 2 floors above , on road 22 just past the pea office you have some like this at 2 sides of the road , we have phoned for one unit and the price was 5,4 mil...

, crazy, when you drive from thai watsadu all the way to the airport , when coming on the ring road to go right they also have condo's for sale , they are even advertising , if you buy this condo you will win lottery

, maybe when you do not buy , because most of all the build condo's this style are standing empty (and staying empty) , surely not because they are a bargain, and wasn't the price at lumpini condo at start 60.000 baht/m2 ? , completely nuts ...
about same as a certain moobaan with homes from 15 mil...

, i think people buying these homes have no clue what you really can build for that price, but than again it is a case of you being happy and more important staying happy.. , good luck to all ...

Post by **Jing Jing** » January 17, 2016, 8:08 pm

The real estate market is crazy because like the car market there is a total lack of info. The normal rules of salary to the price of the unit don't apply. A doctor and a vendor buy the same housing.

Because of the lack of information people spend way more than the property is worth. The only exception may be the professional speculator who is able to flip properties by making small cosmetic improvements and quickly reselling the property to the next sucker.

Most of the townhouses or shop houses I have seen are poorly maintained. The townhouse developments often lack adequate parking. The designated space is often too small and gets turned into a room. The shop house has the same problem. The space is to small so whatever business occupies the ground floor uses the intended parking space to expand the business.

The new shop houses proposed on Nitayo Rd are priced at 4 million. What type of business could you operate that will give you a significant return on your investment? I am sure the parking will be inadequate just like every other commercial development in Udon.