Can anyone offer some really good advice on buying a house in LOS?

I am due to retire in two and a half years and intend to retire to Los with Wan my wife

The problem as I see it is that considering the state of the economy in the West and the consequences of a world reccession, are house prices in LOS going to rise ,fall or remain stable?
Should I buy now or wait to see what developes.

Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks from Harvey and Wan

Hi Harvey

Some idea about where you're thinking of buying would be helpful to those who may be able to answer your question. I don't think you'll get a definitive answer to "are house prices in LOS going to rise, fall or remain stable" but educated opinions will vary from place to place and from "in the sticks" to "near a city centre".

In Khon Kaen city, for example, house prices in the major estates have risen gradually over the last few years. That said, if I was moving here in a couple of years time I'd wait until then before I bought regardless of price. Standards of build have improved over time and are likely to continue doing so. Houses built here 5 years ago are lacking in many aspects the newer ones have; 3 pin sockets / earthed electricity for example.

If you're not VERY familiar with the area, rent for a while and shop around for somewhere to buy while you gain more knowledge of the place. Renting is very cheap and you'll give yourself time to make a more educated choice on the location you're about to spend the rest of your days in.

I started scouting for property 5 years before I moved here, just over 2 years ago now. I've seen many people arrive here on holiday with little experience of the city and make hurried decisions on a place, only to discover a few months after moving in they'd have probably preferred another location.

My tuppence worth for starters.

Regards

quote:

If you're not VERY familiar with the area, rent for a while and shop around for somewhere to buy while you gain more knowledge of the place. Renting is very cheap and you'll give yourself time to make a more educated choice on the location you're about to spend the rest of your days in.

Very good advice.

Other thing is whilst renting you could go the route of buying land and getting a house built to your specification, where we are cost of materials and labour has not increased much if any over the last 3 to 4 years.

I purchased a house in Hua Yai, off plan, 20 mins from Jomtien/Pattaya, off plan last year. They are building more now on-site, price has risen £20,000 already.

i will be renting for a while when i ever get over to live there, also from posts and freinds, NEVER buy a house in the jungle next to the family, as i am sure you would not be able to stay for long periods there, especialy retire there. thats just from stories ive heard, why waste a lot of money on something you could lose as you can never own land in LOS.

quote:

price has risen £20,000 already

I'd be expecting to build one for that, plus the land and any infill, power, water, etc. There's houses around Pattaya been for sale for years, prices are not going up, there's more likely to be a crash.

BigRed

Thanks to all the guys for your imput on this post and sorry for not replying earlier but we are on holiday in LOS at this time.

Wan and I are looking for a house in the Bang Chang /Pattaya/ Sattahip areas.

We already have a nice town house in one of the Chock chai villages off Sukumavit in Pattaya, which, we have either rented to friends or used ourselves if free when we are on holiday. However We are finding Pattay itself a little too busy these days and would like to have a home where its a lot quieter, hence the areas I quote above.

My main reason for asking in the first place was because of the world economic situation.

If prices in LOS this next two years are going up then obviously we would be better buying now but if as I suspect the west suffers a major reccesssion then surely there must be knock on effect in house values in Thailand where the prices must also go down.
So what should we do?

Your comments would be appreciated

Thanks Wan and Harvey