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Land prices
- Thread starter rob.doc
- Start date
alanthebuilder
Administrator
What would you class Surin as ?
FarmerJohn
Active Member
There seems sense in that comment as land where we live is much cheaper than most of the prices I have seen in this thread which I suspect is for land around Surin.
alanthebuilder
Administrator
A bit like London is more Expencive than
Newcastle , or Bagkok than Roiet !
Newcastle , or Bagkok than Roiet !
isanbirder
Surin Dinosaur
These days, for land in Isaan, the best policy is Don't buy, don't sell. Our land was purchased a few years ago for 35,000 per rai; the latest offer was 150,000. But we're hanging on.
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AussieBill
Guest
So, if you are hoping the value will continue to rise, why should we not buy?
FarmerJohn
Active Member
House prices fluctuate and are dependant upon the region. The biggest problem in Isaan is finding land which is free of encumbrances and not in hock to a relative or to the bank, as mentioned before in this thread.
Where we are, I would not consider paying more than 40,000 baht per Rai for solid undisturbed grazing land or 30,000 per Rai for a rice field. Building land is averaging around 80,000 a Rai. The problem is that numerous farang estate agents try to muscle in like hyenas to the carcass to make big profits from doing nothing and the local Thai start dreaming about being multi-millionaires overnight - sometimes not turning up for work until we have a heads-up meeting and I bring them back into reality. Except for the sane few, everyone is a loser – especially the estate agents.
Building prices also are hugely different dependant on the cost of local labour, building supplies and the building company’s overheads relative to their workload. Again, where we live, labour is much cheaper than say Surin or Sisaket. We (as a family) have built 5 houses over the past few years. The latest this year was for mum-in-law, which is a 2 bed 2 baths which took 4 months from start to finish in the dry season. I have photos which I can post if there is any interest.
Obviously if you bring in professionals like ATB it will cost you more but you are paying for the expertise and the peace of mind that all is good and guaranteed and you are not worrying about it. So don’t build your own unless you know exactly what you are doing – and even if you think you do – still get a builder in to advise, help you and inspect the work for a pre-arranged fee.
Where we are, I would not consider paying more than 40,000 baht per Rai for solid undisturbed grazing land or 30,000 per Rai for a rice field. Building land is averaging around 80,000 a Rai. The problem is that numerous farang estate agents try to muscle in like hyenas to the carcass to make big profits from doing nothing and the local Thai start dreaming about being multi-millionaires overnight - sometimes not turning up for work until we have a heads-up meeting and I bring them back into reality. Except for the sane few, everyone is a loser – especially the estate agents.
Building prices also are hugely different dependant on the cost of local labour, building supplies and the building company’s overheads relative to their workload. Again, where we live, labour is much cheaper than say Surin or Sisaket. We (as a family) have built 5 houses over the past few years. The latest this year was for mum-in-law, which is a 2 bed 2 baths which took 4 months from start to finish in the dry season. I have photos which I can post if there is any interest.
Obviously if you bring in professionals like ATB it will cost you more but you are paying for the expertise and the peace of mind that all is good and guaranteed and you are not worrying about it. So don’t build your own unless you know exactly what you are doing – and even if you think you do – still get a builder in to advise, help you and inspect the work for a pre-arranged fee.
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toddmeister
Guest
yes please
isanbirder
Surin Dinosaur
At Farmer John's prices, you wouldn't find anything decent here.
It's Thais that are buying, not farangs. Another Redshirt stoppage in Bangkok, and the prices could well go up further. If things settle down, they will move more slowly. IMO it's got to a level where the chance of a further rise is problematical... but we're gambling!
FarmerJohn
Active Member
OK this is mother-in-law's house. These photos were taken the day after the monks gave their blessing. Taken in the evening, so not the best photos. It looks a lot better now as the outside and garden has been tidied up. We built this for her for roughly one million baht. It was built on the site of the original old wooden place which we took down and rebuilt elsewhere - so we already had the land. I have some work in progress shots, but not with me. As I said in my previous post it took 4 months to build.
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toddmeister
Guest
Thanks for that FarmerJohn. Very nice. Can I ask how much was the land originally in addition to the build cost?
Cheers
Steve
Cheers
Steve
FarmerJohn
Active Member
No idea what the original land would have cost Steve, as it has been in the family for years. However a similar piece of land in the same area will cost 70-80,000 per Rai.
You can find land for sale by questioning the locals. The little village shops or roadside eating places are the best bet as they know all the village gossip. Get the other half to do it as if they know a farang is involved, the price goes up by as much as 20% and if farang estate agents are involved - the sky is the limit!
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toddmeister
Guest
Yeah I know what you're saying. I started another thread about land prices recently. We'll be looking to buy some next year, probably in Korat or Maha Sarakham. The wife (we're UK based) plans to put the feelers out before we go over. I was trying to get a "feel" for what we should be aiming/budgeting for. We'll have around 100k thb maximum for land. No plans to build in the near-mid term so will probably be looking at rice land
Cheers
Steve
isanbirder
Surin Dinosaur
Yes, of course the other half must do it. Mine is on one of the local Government committees, and has worked part time in the local land office, so I reckon his information is as good as it gets. If you're lucky, you find someone who is keen to sell; if you are known as a buyer (your other half, that is), the asking price will be higher.
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AussieBill
Guest
Certainly a very nice house. Obviously a much-loved mother-in-law!
FarmerJohn
Active Member
We could have done the house for a lot less, but we put solid granite worktops in the kitchen and in both bathrooms. The bathrooms have baths not just showers and also bidets. All rooms are wired for TV, phones and hi-fi and there's a lot of solid wood inside. Maybe we could have shaved off 275,000-300,000 by doing it differently. Yes of course if you shop around you can build perfectly good houses here in Thailand for very low prices. Especially compared to Europe and Scandinavia.
As a family this is the fifth house that we have built and we learnt the hard way as the first house was a serious learning curve. If you have never built before, you definitely need to get some good advice from a recommended builder. There are also websites that offer approved plans and all kinds of goodies - just tread very carefully and pick people's brains - and stay away from the cowboys!
Your biggest problem will be getting the right piece of land which has all the permissions you need. Avoid old rice fields unless they have been refilled for years together with the surrounding land, or you'll have to build on rafts and maybe also need piles.
Roads can be a nightmare especially with shared access so try and get a piece of land that is in the local village or on its main road. It will give the house a better resale value because of the location and additional security if you need to leave it to visit the old country. Not least, costs of water, electricity and phone line connections are cheaper when you are close to other properties.
Land fill
We have just built a house near Prasat . There is a big hole in the land behind the house maybe 20 metres square and 3 metres deep . I want to fill this in and make it garden . Does anyone know how best to do this ?
We have just built a house near Prasat . There is a big hole in the land behind the house maybe 20 metres square and 3 metres deep . I want to fill this in and make it garden . Does anyone know how best to do this ?
Speak to Alan the Builder. He has the manpower and equipment at hand.
mario299
Surin Founding Father
Good suggestion to contact AlantheBuilder, your alternative is to hire truckloads of fill dirt at about 175 baht per (varies on time of year and where they must obtain fill dirt), and after filling, a tractor to level and spread the dirt at about 500 baht/hour.
You should definitely be there to count the truckloads, as that is how they will charge you, and as a matter of fact you should always be there to watch what is being done.
You can trust AlantheBuilder completely, in my opinion, so the decision is yours as to whether it is possible to oversee the project or not....Up to you.
Chok dee
mario299
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