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benlovesnuk

5-8k will get you a guesthouse in chiangmai city of small space and about 2-3 km out as well. Though there is a sliding scale, you're suggesting there are only people wanting to be living on the river and wanting to just pay for being in a condo.....no i know I get what what you mean?

I see what your saying but it seems a bit narrow to think there isnt a wider audience or market, which there are many in chiangmai (in my opinion), to not make a good go of it! Of course this will be something i can check out when im next there/!?!?!?!

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im hot its so hot today.......milk was a bad choice!

benlovesnuk

loytoy it sounds good so far......................

I know that everyone is saying there is always places that cost nothing but have you stayed in them they tend to be shit holes!

Even good guesthouses have flaws and places that they could improve on and these are 5-7000 badt a month in the city. I have stayed at a lot of guesthouses and appartments and i have to say there is always something lacking!

I am wanting to fill ths gap for locals in the area i am in and try to produce something for a small number to live somewhere slightly different from everywhere else. I think it is possible and figure wise i can drop down to 4500k a month.

I would offer is possible to planning etc and funds;

1 large bedroom
with tv UBC
diner
terrace
ensuite
microwave
full views of doi saket mountain
free wireless
internet room
shop
washing area
car park under residence
gated
in a unique concept building that will stand out for those wanting that something different!

i hope it can work please tell me if im wrong or mad, but i think i feel good about doing it so we shall see!

plorf

^Sounds like a good deal really, but since you probably know Chiang Mai Condos too the important thing is additional costs like electricity etc.
In that price range you also get air-con, you didn't write if you want to install it too. And car park & gated etc sounds more like the 6k+ Bht range. You do get ok rooms with fridge, tv and a bed, balcony and community swimming pool for 4500 in CM, but all other things cost extra, like parking lot, electricity expensive, internet extra etc. Might not be true a bit outside the city, but certainly is when you want to stay central.

splitlid

will you be making it out of old car tyres or paddle pop sticks?

DrAndy

You really have to identify your market. From your posts so far, that does not seem to be the case (sorry if I am wrong)

If you are near the International school, for instance, your customer base from there will be, in general, well off execs

so you would need to build an appropriate luxury type development

if you want Thais as your customers, you have to decide what class, and what are the likely rents

so on and so forth

you then have to decide how many apartments can be built to whatever specs, work out the probable rents then see if it all makes sense

a 10% return pa would be reasonable considering the risks in Thailand

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keep 'em coming

SandMike

It may well be worth talking to the guys in city hall who give building permission - you may well find that somebody in there will do a set of building plans for you. This may be a bit more expensive, but guaranteed to get approval first time.

I believe this is the case in another major tourist city.

Thai 'apartments' at the 3,000 bht level are around 4m x 8m overall, that may help you work out how many rooms you can get in the space you've got. Can you go higher than 3 floors ?? This may help to keep the building cost per room down.

150 Talang Wah at 39 metres long is about 15 metres deep. at the room size above and 3 floors should get you space for 27 rooms - then there is clearance from the land perimeter, and clearance from the road to consider.

benlovesnuk

well guys thats all really good information so let me digest and respind accordingly to try and unearth some more stuff!!!!!!!

Plorf - I think that as it will probably be somewhere i will live predominantly to make sure everything ticks over and the saving of that cost to me i might run a special starting season where electric and water is free up to a limit and anything over will be charged accordingly per month(kind of like broadband charges). I think that i will probably have balconies as their are some fantastic views of doi saket (literally thw whole mountain), so it would be a shame for rentee's to miss them. I think these features + the style of the building will reall pull in people, thank you for your positive contributing thoughts, nice one mate!

splitlid - i will be making it only out of car tyres and paddle pp sticks that way making a new aesthetic for thai's to woe and dribble in ore over. I'll call it post eco friendly modern traditionalism. I hope this answers your question!?????

Dr.A - well as ever you are spot on! It is something i hope to outline on my next visit within the next week or two. I have seent there is a massive construction there called the central??? or something 134 rooms at an amazing price so that kind of lines up with what you were saying about the exec types! I hope and think we can appeal but i would really love to by a bit more land next to and open up the building to allow about 10 rooms that are alongside what this market would go for. more space more convenience parking great views somewhere to unwind etc etc plus we are almost right ontop of superhighway no2 so we shall see??????

Anyway thanks i also hope to see your outcome in the city nearing its conclusion, and thanks again for the advice!

Sand mike - some really great advice and calculations there, very useful indeed, i think i wouldnt like to pack in so many but provide a little more space and luxury if i can establish what DR.A is saying about the market being slightly more top end(however still providing a good value place to stay) and see what that says to me in terms of numbers. If not maybe a uni rental for international school students???
cheers anyway much appreciated!

well thank salot look forward to some more hopefully i can give a bit more awy in the next week when im up in the city!

cheers all!

lob

ok.. as you're very enthusiastic . and little else , to my take. some rough figures. no offense meant by the way , but u need a hell of a lot more for business than enthusiasm. luck being the most important after all the business plans. a meterage figure of 7500 bt a meter = 2160000mill baht for 9 rooms times the floors as u go up times three floors= 6480000 bt. now we know the bank rate is shit so currently you stand to make more money with the rooms than said money in the bank. for a fact you wont be running at full capacity, personaly i always work at two thirds for projections. i did similar over a year ago when the bank interest was 4.5%. i was better off with the rooms as i did actualy let more than two thirds, quite close to full capacity. now with the bank rate at zero i'm quids in. now the figures ive given will not be exact as time place and standard play the rolls. the price per mtr given = a very nice but basic room with fan and mossie nets, tiled and security grills over windows. hope this is of some use . mine are two floors = 14 rooms= 3mill bt. regards lob.

benlovesnuk

hey lob, thanks for your estimates very interesting read!

im not sure about the ..."very enthusiastic, and very little else" but fair play!

I think my enthused approach is what business people need at the mo, as i am not by anyway business trained or minded though i am capable of grasping most concepts and ideas, this is slightly above my general undertakings!

I understand what your saying about the cost but as i said i only want 10 rooms your price for 9 is relevant (although you stated basic) i am unaware of what materials your relating your building costs to? However i do appreciate the comment and the matter of a facts and experience you've supplied. It is going to be hard to to total a winning formula with my lack of experience, but i like my concept(which for the moment i want to keep to my chest- but doesnt undermine the rest of the plan for general conversation) and i hope that i can make something of it because im prepared to work hard to achieve results(not just wait for people to trip over the building to get business!

I think that as you say our money is not worth putting into a bank, and id rather try to gain capital investment aswell as yearly taking in this business. I know that business can be slow which is why a guesthouse or similar was thrown out and instead monthly rentals brought in. It will be hard but if we capture the imagination of some people i hope it will set out as a few more building here and there. one must sometimes make the mistake in business to learn(i hope i can avoid them) but if i make an expensive shell i still have outs like holding on to it or selling.

i hope this either confirms your feeling of me being inept to run such a plan or gives a little more indication towards maybe a little luck and some sense will get me somewhere to where we want to be?

thanks for your input regardless! cheers

blackgang

I hope that you are not depending on this view to much as both times I have lived there, there has been smog and dirty air from regular smog to forest fire smoke and from burning garbage and a friend that lives there now was telling me the other day that it was in the danger zones again as to smoke and dust in the air, that limits the view of the hill to less than half the time, in fact, most of the time for months on end.
I can't live there because I have emphysema and my lungs will not take the pollution.

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lob

hi ben, thanks for not taking humbridge. your enthusiasm will kick in when you turn the room over/around. my advise keep them cleaned , well maintained, this means no leaks,no smells ect, rather as you indicated ref the shit holes you've, seen/stayed in. well same same for me . theres no need for a cheep room to be dirty or no maintanance. i guess we all start off with high standards and end up pissed of as tennants realy know how to test your temperment . as ive no idea what you have in mind its all academic anyway. ive been doing this and similar for 40 yrs plus, theres little i aint seen or done in/on the letting scene, with that in mind i doubt very much theres anything new out there. as for what my prices give you , well it gives you a basic thai biuld. dont compare to farangland, too many variables that we dont have in farangland, if you feel the need to talk it over on a more one to one pm for phone. up to you.lol. regards.

Attilla the Hen

Dealing with Thais? Have fun trying to collect the rent every month.

benlovesnuk

hi there, thanks once again for your earnest comments!

LOb - I appreciate your directness adnd i thank you for your invite to rack the brains of so much experience , i might just take you up on that!

blackgang - no im not expecting too much from the view just enough and im sure the locals wont either but it is as a subsidary to location a nice bonus when out and revealed! but i thank you for your opinion and i will take into into consideration.

atilla - then we will have to arrange upfront payments, but i hope to have a more respectable lot as the area suggests anyway. we wshall see i suppose?

DrAndy

In my own experience, I have had less problem with Thais than with farang

so justify your racism

so Ben, don't worry, it is normal to get the months rent in advance, plus a deposit. I have had the pleasure of tenants coming to my wife and asking for the rent bill (the electricty/water makes it different each month) as she had not given it by the 3rd or 4th

benlovesnuk

cheers DR.A i didnt think that there was a specific problem with rent, as you have atested.

Like i say, i hope to provide my rentee's with something slightly different from the norm, shall we say a historical journey, maybe a night at the museum experience!

Of course i dont mean valuable relics lying around, or that dinosaur bones will magically come alive, or tiny men battling against each other...........does it sound like ive lost my mind?

no i mean something of interest in building design and atmosphere!

anyway all thanks for some great replies, off to chiangmai we go.

DrAndy

I had an apartment like that in Rio, it was interestiing

benlovesnuk

Thanks for everyone's comments it has given me something to think about and concentrated my mind to things i had not thought about.

I'm just wondering to something that sandmike said about overhangs and perimeters, does anyone know or can give an accurate understanding of these things especially in the city of Chiangmai?? By this i mean from your property and boundary lines if you have multiple stories/levels is there any situation that allows the higher floors to jut out over said boundary ie; on public curbs roads etc etc?

If not i suppose i will have to take this into acount, thanks once again!

DrAndy

no, you can't do it, no overhangs, no jutting and especially no incursions

I have had a couple of problems with neighbours as my balconies get too near the boundary for them

sorted now, with a bunch of flowers and the installation of guttering (not on the balconies)

benlovesnuk

What do you mean by clearance can i not build up to the perimeter, as in to my side of the line?

I would not have a bottom floor but be raised 1 floor, does having this make a difference ie to butting up against the imaginary plot line vertically?

Thanks!

stewart888

Build some of those one room apartments, not many of those around.