Anyone Know A Good Real Estate Agent in Phuket?

[natalie8]

We have a gorgeous property in a great mooban, land only which we are interested in selling. It's in Baan Charoensuk in Thalang area. Can anyone recommend a good agent for us?

[ltnt]

No such animal exists in Phuket or else where. Market it yourself. Use the local news rags and put a sign out front. Thalang? Not a good area, but there's some interest from newcomers. Muslims crowd that area. Post on here and TV.

[natalie8]

Thanks for your reply. I think the DIY route is the best way too. It's not in the town of Thalang, just in name. It's closer to the huge Chinese temple and the large Thai temple and it backs on to a rubber tree plantation.

[ltnt]

Difficult times in the property markets. Been trying to sellout for a year now. Ferang are battered and bruised from all the property bashing, deservedly so btw, and the Thai's want it for free or have terms. 3% loans for K.Thais btw. Over built, over priced and over populated. Not much of a selling point anymore. I bought another one out of the island paradise and moved on. Still hopes that floods will drive the northerners/Bangkokians to this island.

[Lostandfound]

Thanks for your reply. I think the DIY route is the best way too. It's not in the town of Thalang, just in name. It's closer to the huge Chinese temple and the large Thai temple and it backs on to a rubber tree plantation.

Agree. Commission some decent photos and a floorplan, six consecutive ads in local glossy property mag, set up a URL with all the pics, floorplan and google map location on blogger.com. Include URL in your ads. Use it to link banner ads on selected websites, you might even try a google adword account. A days work and a fifth of the cost of using a broker

[natalie8]

LAF, that's a great idea too. I'll consider that as well.

[nigelandjan]

PM to LT Nat ,,, I know hes a bit oop north from Fhuket but Ill bet he's in the know

[nigelandjan]

Coming over to the other side of the bay Nat ? cmon join us in Cha am

[natalie8]

I'll PM LT.

Naahhhh, not looking in that area. If it's in Thailand, it will be in the Takua Pa region.

[Loy Toy]

Thanks for the PM Nat but the only people I know there who buy properties do so in places like boat lagoon, with sea views and or large pieces of land they then develop into residential estates.

Best you do as others have suggested and advertise yourself in the upmarket property mags and local newspapers. If you contact any real estate people I would concentrate on those that cater for the Russians.

Seems to be a lot of Russian money still around.

[FailSafe]

There's no reason not to offer it to any local agencies- you can still market it yourself on the side.

Figure out how much you want to see out of it, tell the agents your net price (that means the taxes and fees come out of the buyer's share) and don't offer a commission- if the agent can manage to find a buyer where he'll still make money after giving you your net number, your property will sell fairly quickly (that means if you want, say, 5mil, the agent might find a buyer at 6mil- he'll eat the taxes, give you 5mil, and he'll keep the rest)- a straight 3% commission on 5mil or less isn't going to get much action with the big agents who can actually sell your property, but the chance to make 500K or more on it certainly will. If your property is big $ (50mil-100mil) then 3% means real money to an agent and it's a different story.

This is of course completely dependent on whether you have a realistic price expectation for your property- many foreigners don't.

My wife works in real estate (though not in your area- if I had an agent to recommend I would, but I don't know of anyone I trust enough to mention) and this is often how it works.

[ltnt]

^Agents get 6%.

[natalie8]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

If you contact any real estate people I would concentrate on those that cater for the Russians.

That's a great idea!

FS, I like your ideas too. We'll consider that.

This is of course completely dependent on whether you have a realistic price expectation for your property- many foreigners don't.

It's been my husband, who's from Phuket, who has been tracking the value since we bought the property in December 2006. It was his idea to sell it now because is has increased quite a bit.

I'm of two minds in selling it because our goal was / is to build a house on it that we could rent out to tourists and to use for ourselves when we go to Phuket. We would only sell it if we get our price. If not, we'll juat hang on to it and then build.

The problem now, with the aftermath of the floods is that building materials have become really expensive. It's a catch-22.

[FailSafe]

^Agents get 6%.

Generally a sales commission (for a deal between Thais- foreigners who don't know better might agree to more) is 3% from the seller's end- if the land is being brokered rather than sold, the commission is generally 5%.

On a really big deal (in the hundreds of millions or more) the seller can sometimes negotiate a commission of less than 3%.

[FailSafe]

It's been my husband, who's from Phuket, who has been tracking the value since we bought the property in December 2006. It was his idea to sell it now because is has increased quite a bit.

I'm of two minds in selling it because our goal was / is to build a house on it that we could rent out to tourists and to use for ourselves when we go to Phuket. We would only sell it if we get our price. If not, we'll juat hang on to it and then build.

The problem now, with the aftermath of the floods is that building materials have become really expensive. It's a catch-22.

So toss out a big number to a few agents and see if they're interested- if they bite, you'll know you have a shot- you've got nothing to lose.

[natalie8]

True.

[Mr Earl]

Given the rate of development in Phuket. I can see no downside to hanging on to property in phuket. But the three principal tenants of real estate investment still apply; location, location, location.
If the location is questionable, sit on it for a while.

[natalie8]

If the location is questionable, sit on it for a while.

The location is the most attractive part of the deal. I wish I knew how to post either a Google Map of it or my marked Google Earth location of it. Can anyone help me out?

[petercallen]

It's been my husband, who's from Phuket, who has been tracking the value since we bought the property in December 2006. It was his idea to sell it now because is has increased quite a bit.

I'm of two minds in selling it because our goal was / is to build a house on it that we could rent out to tourists and to use for ourselves when we go to Phuket. We would only sell it if we get our price. If not, we'll juat hang on to it and then build.

The problem now, with the aftermath of the floods is that building materials have become really expensive. It's a catch-22.

So toss out a big number to a few agents and see if they're interested- if they bite, you'll know you have a shot- you've got nothing to lose.

The agents have hundreds of overpriced properties already listed
some for over 5 years, some even expect the owners to supply photos of there property and there commission rates are far to high

[ltnt]

^Agents get 6%.

Generally a sales commission (for a deal between Thais- foreigners who don't know better might agree to more) is 3% from the seller's end- if the land is being brokered rather than sold, the commission is generally 5%.

On a really big deal (in the hundreds of millions or more) the seller can sometimes negotiate a commission of less than 3%.

You must be a broker or a brokers buddy?

[Phuketrichard]

when i put my house up for sale in 2008 i listed it with 6 or so agents ( phuket land in Patong is the best an oldest) they charge anywhere from 6-10% and I also put a sign on the road near my house, ( kamala)
3 months , zero inquires via the agent's ( and that was during the high season) and then sold it to a guy that saw the sign on the road!!
as to Russians, i listed mine with one Russian agent and got quite a few calls but every one wanted to be on the water for 5,000,000!!

Renting a house in Thalang to tourist would seem an ill though out plan. Most tourists if they rent want be near the water or if there long term near a school ( if they have kids)

Problem here is there are too many homes for sale at inflated prices and they do not sell. Have seen homes for sale for 5 years ++here

[FailSafe]

You must be a broker or a brokers buddy?

Wrong on both counts, but it's not necessary to be either a broker or a broker's buddy to know that information.

As I said, my wife works in real estate, and I got the numbers from her.

[FailSafe]

when i put my house up for sale in 2008 i listed it with 6 or so agents ( phuket land in Patong is the best an oldest) they charge anywhere from 6-10%

That's insane- even the thieves in Pattaya advertise a 5% commission (usually negotiable) on their websites.

I just told my wife those commission numbers- now she wants to start working with foreigners if she can charge that high of a rate.

[Lostandfound]

In London we used to take managers chairs away on fridays until they'd called every one of their client listings to update on progress. Of course they hated doing it as they would have to explain why they'd failed to secure any viewings on some properties that week. It made them work harder and conditioned owners to understand the actual real value of their properties.

In Thailand I've visited agents looking for houses and condos to rent / buy where the property had been let or sold 18 months earlier and the agent still didn't know.

[natalie8]

One interesting point is that the mooban used to have several empty plots in patches all around. Now it's nearly full of houses.

If this is going to take more work and require me to be there, I might just book a flight. I'm getting a bit fed up of the cold grey weather here.