When a client walks into our office and shows me a property they have fallen in love with, my first reaction is rarely to start talking about contracts, ownership structures or lawyers.
First, I want to understand why they like it.
That already tells me something important about the person sitting opposite me.
Properties are a little like fashion
Property styles change.
Twenty years ago, what buyers considered a desirable Pattaya villa was quite different from what many younger buyers are looking for today.
Part of that is simply taste. Modern, minimalist and contemporary architecture has become increasingly popular.
But Thailand has changed as well.
The availability and quality of building materials has improved enormously. There are far more choices, more imported products, particularly from China and elsewhere in Asia, better kitchens and bathrooms, improved glazing and insulation, and increasingly sophisticated technology such as home automation.
So when somebody shows me a house they love, I am already learning their visual language.
But that is only the beginning.
I then start looking beyond the house itself.
Where is it?
Who built it?
What is the developer’s track record?
How is the construction quality?
Does it represent value for money?
And perhaps most importantly: does this property actually fit this person’s life?
A home is not an isolated object.
I want to understand whether my client travels frequently, plays golf, has children, keeps pets, enjoys nightlife, wants peace and quiet, works from home, goes to the beach regularly or spends six months of the year overseas.
I try, as much as possible, to be them.
Because a beautiful property can tick every technical box and still be completely wrong for the person buying it.
Don’t allow the showroom to make the decision for you
Buyers naturally become emotional.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. A home should make you feel something.
The danger starts when emotion causes somebody to stop asking questions.
A very charming sales representative, an impressive showroom and a beautifully decorated show villa can be extremely persuasive.
Stay yourself.
Stay focused.
And establish exactly what you are buying.
Many show houses in Thailand have been heavily upgraded. The kitchen you are admiring may not be standard. Neither may the air-conditioning, swimming pool, landscaped garden, furniture, curtains, lighting, decoration or other finishing touches.
Suddenly the house that appeared affordable requires another substantial investment before it resembles the one you were shown.
That additional cost matters.
I have always believed buyers should avoid overstretching themselves simply to secure a particular property.
After you move in, you still have to live.
The same applies to spectacular offers and guaranteed opportunities.
My father could probably have said it just as easily as I can:
If something looks too good to be true, it often is.
And think beyond the immediate excitement.
If you have pets, can you actually keep them there? In a condominium, does the juristic person allow them?
If you regularly travel home to Europe, who looks after them while you are away?
If you are buying with a partner or spouse, make sensible arrangements while everybody is happy. Relationships and personal circumstances can change.
And always look outside the property.
That beautiful empty land beside your swimming pool may not remain empty forever.
Ask what can legally be constructed there.
Today’s uninterrupted view can become tomorrow’s condominium construction site.
Sometimes the warning signs appear before the paperwork
There are certain situations that immediately make me more cautious.
A very large development with surprisingly few sales deserves investigation.
So does a project that was launched a long time ago but appears to have made very little progress.
That does not automatically mean something is wrong, but I want to understand why.
The people representing the project also tell you a lot.
A salesperson who talks continuously but does not listen to the buyer worries me.
Someone saying, “I need to check that for you,” is perfectly acceptable. Nobody knows everything.
But if basic questions repeatedly cannot be answered, confidence starts disappearing.
Communication matters enormously in property.
If somebody promises information tomorrow and several days later nothing has arrived, I notice it.
Poor documentation, unclear information and weak communication can turn relatively simple transactions into unnecessarily complicated ones.
And when a developer has absolutely no previous track record, I become considerably more cautious, particularly when buyers are being asked to commit substantial funds before construction has been completed.
Sometimes the first warning sign is not hidden in a contract.
It is simply in the way people conduct themselves.
The asking price is only the beginning
Price per square metre is useful, but it is not how I decide whether a property represents value.
We look at competing properties.
We look at current market conditions.
Then we look at what additional investment is required to turn that particular property into the right match for the buyer.
A supposedly inexpensive house that requires a new kitchen, bathrooms, landscaping, pool renovation, furniture and air-conditioning may no longer be particularly inexpensive.
The real question is:
What will this property have cost by the time it becomes the home you actually wanted?
And I always think about the future.
I don’t only want to know whether my client can buy it sensibly today.
I also want to know whether somebody else is likely to want it when my client eventually decides to sell.
Resale potential should be considered before purchase, not discovered afterwards.
When buying a condo, you are also buying the building
A condominium unit can be beautiful.
That doesn’t automatically make the condominium building right for you.
I want to understand the community.
Who lives there?
Is it predominantly families, retirees, Bangkok weekend owners or international residents?
A pool filled with children every Saturday afternoon may be fantastic for one buyer and precisely what another buyer is trying to avoid.
I also want to know what really happens with short-term rentals.
The official rules may say one thing. Daily life inside the building can sometimes tell another story.
Visit on different days if possible.
What is occupancy like during the week?
What happens at weekends?
Look at the lifts, corridors, gardens, parking, swimming pool and common areas.
The visible upkeep of a condominium tells you a great deal.
And if you plan renovations, understand the building’s regulations before purchasing. Working hours, contractor access, structural restrictions and renovation rules can all affect what you are allowed to do.
Some older developments in Na Jomtien, including buildings such as VIP Condochain, Kritsada Golden Condotel and Sunset Heights, can be remarkably quiet for long periods.
That does not necessarily mean they are unsuccessful buildings.
Many units were originally bought decades ago by relatively young Bangkok families as weekend beach properties. Their children grew up, family routines changed and some of those units are now rarely occupied.
Understanding the history of a building can explain what you see today.
The question is whether that environment suits you.
With houses, look beyond the front gate
When viewing a villa, one of the first things I notice is something you cannot renovate:
the neighbours.
You can replace a kitchen.
You can rebuild a swimming pool.
You cannot remodel the people living next door.
With resale properties I also like a very simple question:
Why are you selling?
Usually the answer is perfectly reasonable.
Occasionally, it leads to another question.
If the house is situated within an estate, study the rules and regulations.
Can you change the exterior colour?
Can you extend the house?
What restrictions apply to parking, pets or renovations?
Good estate rules can sometimes feel restrictive, but they can also protect the appearance and long-term value of the entire development.
Then calculate the real monthly overhead.
Common-area charges, pool servicing, gardening, security, repairs and general maintenance all become part of your lifestyle.
And never forget that Thailand has a monsoon season.
An estate can look absolutely perfect during a sunny viewing.
Ask what happens after several hours of heavy rain.
Has the development ever flooded?
Where does the water go?
Those are considerably easier questions to ask before buying than after your furniture is standing in water.
Sometimes my advice is simply: don’t buy yet
Years ago, a Swedish gentleman in his mid-thirties walked into our office.
“Do you sell guesthouses?”
“Yes, we do.”
“I am looking to buy one.”
“Certainly. What is your budget?”
“Thirty-five million baht.”
“What locations are you interested in?”
“I don’t know. I arrived yesterday. I’ve never been to Thailand before.”
He was ready to spend THB 35 million.
We could have immediately started showing him businesses.
Instead, I told him:
Come back and see me if you are still interested after spending one or two weeks in Pattaya.
He never came back.
And that was fine.
Sometimes the biggest risk in a property transaction is not the property.
It is somebody making a major financial decision before they properly understand where they are.
Sometimes the best advice an agent can give a prospective buyer is simply:
Not yet.
By the reservation stage, the major questions should already be answered
People often ask what somebody should check immediately before paying a reservation fee.
My answer may surprise them.
By that stage, I don’t want major roadblocks left to discover.
We should already have looked at the property, location, value, development, lifestyle fit and the important practical considerations.
A reservation should not be the beginning of the thinking process.
It should come after it.
For me, that is also part of building a long-term real estate business.
I don’t want a client simply to buy something from Town & Country Property today.
I want that person to come back to us years later when they want a larger home, decide to downsize, need to sell, want to invest again or have a friend who needs advice.
A business built strongly on referrals only survives when clients remember the experience positively.
So I don’t measure a successful property transaction simply by the day the reservation fee is paid.
I measure it by whether that client still wants to call us years later.
About the author
KC Cuijpers is Managing Director of Town & Country Property Co., Ltd., serving the Pattaya, Jomtien, East Pattaya and Bang Saray property markets since 2003. His experience spans residential sales and rentals, property development, investment property and decades of working directly with Thai and international buyers, sellers and developers.