Apartment Finder Apartment Guide

in a Master-planned (part One) Estate BuyingThen a few days later your neighbour to the right is scheduling a large version of an English miners-cottage, with neat flowering cottage garden, climbing Cecile Brunners, complete with ubiquitous gnomes. Thinking on it, perhaps it is your home, which is going to look entirely foreign. Just imagine; you have just bought your dream home online. It has style and panache and is exactly what you have wanted for many years. These plans map out the type of development that will occur on a site and where, and can establish design standards, view-sharing principles, landscaping and even lawn maintenance. The Japanese garden though relatively small, is beautifully landscaped, and demands to be noticed with discretion and pride. The English miners-cottage, on the other hand, is going to be very much out of place with its single frontage, built on a much larger scale of course, and with a fussy, high maintenance garden. Not that I have anything against the Parthenon; it is a truly beautiful and awe-inspiring building, but best left in Greece. It is neat, two story, elegant, and very modern. A few months go by and you learn that your neighbour to the left is planning a replica of the Parthenon, complete with concrete front yard, and Aphrodite set in a large fountain with water streaming from an orifice near her navel. The best way to avoid this sort of architectural surprise is buying a home within a master-planned community. Just by registering free and submitting all the search criteria for the property you want to view, you can search for a home anywhere in Australia. Master-plan communities can be seen on Ozfree Real Estate section who boast at being Victoria’s leading home builder. Perhaps neither of these homes are the type that you are searching online for, so it may be that you need to browse through the thousands of properties at OzFreeOnline.com where you can search real estate property listings. Now its not just any house. On entering their site you can visit their display homes online.

This ranges between 20 - 45 bht per square metre. Do you? Another advantage in renting a house is, apartments tend to put a high surcharge on your electricity and water bills. I also do not know anyone who has been burgled personally because they were living in a house. 2) Air conditionersCheck to see how many rooms have air-conditioning; and how old the air-conditioners are. Thailand is cheap! 3) Most people want to live in town, close to the city centre, CBD or near a BTS/MRT station. And most 12,000 bht houses Ive seen are usually in serious need of repair and maintenance, and the really nice ones are located way out in whoop whoop district. However, if you try negotiating on the rent, then more often than not, the landlord will exclude this from the rent and make you pay for it, so check to see what your rent includes when you are signing the contract. Depending on the location, size, dcor, facilities etc. Common sense would also tell me to explore the neighbourhood a little and have a chat with shopkeepers and a neighbour who might be willing to share some information with you. Welcome to Thailand! Another option would be to opt for houses or townhouse within a moo baan. There are plenty around and majority of them have tight 24 hour security. If you want something new and modern but lack the budget, then move further away from the city centre. Most people prefer something a little brighter and contemporary. 5) MaintenanceHouses within a secured compound will have what they call moo baan fee or community fee which goes into the maintenance of the estate i.e. these can go up to anything from 150,000 250,000 baht per month. If you enjoy wide open spaces, appreciate some green in your life - a garden perhaps, have pets, a large family or simply want to maximize your budget, consider renting a house instead. Thats ridiculous you say and believe it or not, I agree! No telephone lines = no internet. As you may already know, Thailand (more accurately, Bangkok) is not the cheap haven many foreigners once thought it to be, especially when it comes to housing. More often than not, it is also a cheaper option (per square metre) compared to renting an apartment or condo, which are getting smaller in size these days! Just search the various property website in Thailand and you will see that the minimum range for houses are 25,000 - 30,000 bht, where the search usually returns 0 - 5 results. Where do I look? 5) If a house is nice and decent with an asking rent of 25,000 bht or less, some agents mark it up! Im sure youll have no problems getting a friendly neighbour to spill the beans on the house, its previous tenants and probably things you dont need to know about your landlord. These houses usually offer much better value than stand alone houses, and are a good place for the house hunter to start his/her search. Which also means further away from the BTS line. Then check the water pressure on the upper floors to make sure the pump has enough power to deliver a decent jet of shower. But hey, I dont make the prices and if you think agents benefit from that higher commission, thats only true when clients actually think these houses are worth the price and that isnt always the case. Not many agencies deal with houses below 25,000 bht. 4) Apart from location, houses below 25,000 bht are usually older (thus old fashioned) and not very well-maintained, which makes it very hard to rent. For that price, please do not accept anything less than a spectacular, resort-like villa with a private pool! Try areas like On Nut between Sukhumvit 77 103, Bangna, Rangsit, Ramintra, Phayathai, Mo chit etc. Property prices and rental have gone up considerably and thats the way it goes everywhere around the world. Rent a house in BangkokWhen I first moved to Bangkok, I rented an apartment like most newcomers to Bangkok do, but as I became more familiar with my new home town, I decided to be a little more adventurous and rented a house. The very same 2 bedroom unit I rented 5 years ago (in Silom) has gone up by 30% in rental and hardly any refurbishment has been done to it since! Concerns and other issues1) SecurityHonestly, I know of many farangs, including myself who have lived in single houses and existed peacefully without any disturbances or trouble for years. Our negotiators have long established relationships with landlords, which means you will always pay the best rate when we negotiate for you. That would mean newer houses between 1 5 years old and these start around 45,000 bht. 3) Water PressureNow this is important. Generally, if you go further towards the end of the BTS line and beyond i.e. Thus, its hard to find nice, decent houses at 25,000 bht or lessRegardless, there are plenty of cheap houses as low as 12,000 bht for rent, but remember, and I stress again - you get what you pay for! It is also unlikely that the landlord will install new air-conditioners for you unless they are completely dead (even then they will always try to revive the monster before even considering replacing it), so make sure that they are serviced and cleaned before you move in or if you got a good deal on the rent, invest in some new airconditioners! These old air-conditioners consume a lot more energy than a new one, and would greatly increase your electricity bills. No, but seriously, you do get what you pay for so be realistic when it comes to expectations and budget. If you are looking to rent a house in the the Sukhumvit, Silom or Sathorn area, then the very minimum rental you are looking at is 30,000 bht for a BASIC 3 bedroom house. 2) If there is, it is usually way out of town, far from any BTS/MRT station. Is it possible to find a house for 15,000 bht? Ive learnt from experience that size does not necessarily mean power when it comes to a water pump, and sometimes a 2nd pump needs to be installed to ensure constant deliverance of water into the house. Unfortunately, we cannot have it all and somethings gotta give. Always check that there is a water pump. At Bangkok Finder, we specialize in properties for rent. Many apartments have a minimum charge of 1000 bht for water alone. Also, older houses above 10 years old tend to be on the old, analog system which when faulty, cannot be replaced unless the whole area is re-cabled. That is a significant amount considering my water bill never cost me over 500 bht living in a house with a family of 5, and we do A LOT of washing! Electricity can be anything between 5 7 baht per unit compared to the actual 3.75 baht charged by the MEA. I currently pay 3,500 baht per month for my moo baan fee (I got a 5000 bht reduction in rent, so it works out) and we have 24 hour security, a well-maintained common garden and a superb pool that is regularly cleaned, so I am happy. security, pool and garden maintenance etc. These usually have a guard posted at the entrance and are situated all over Bangkok. If you are considering renting a house and security is a main concern, rent a house in popular areas like Sukhumvit, Silom and Sathorn where there are many nearby apartments and condos with security. Several reasons for that:1) There are a lot less decent and rentable houses at < 25,000 bht than there are at say, 50,000 bht. This is usually included in the asking rent. I dont care as long as rent is cheap. Living in a house can save you up to half your utility bills compared to living in an apartment, and believe me it is A LOT of difference! Thus, the larger your house the more you pay! It usually takes months of driving around moo baan after moo baan, which would mean having your own transport and knowing your way around. If you are looking at an older house, chances are it will have those big, old blocks that rumble every time you turn them on. Even then, they are few and far between in that range, and more often than not are above 15 years old, with dark parquet flooring and lots of wooden built-ins which many people find dark and depressing. That way, you can benefit from the dense security in the neighbourhood. The word Moo Baan translates to village in Thai, but the term housing estate would be far more accurate. 4) Telephone linesAgain, from experience it is in your best interest to check the phone lines to make sure that 1) you have one and 2) it is working, because some areas (and this includes many areas in the Sukhumvit, Silom and Sathorn) do not have anymore available numbers and you will have to join a looong waiting list to apply for a new one. Home rental is our only business and that gives us all the time in the world to help find you that perfect house within your budget when you move to Bangkok. Mo Chit, Phayathai, Phrakanong, On Nut, Bangna, Srinakarin, Rangsit etc. prices drop significantly and you get much better deals which are sometimes worth the extra time commuting. Having lived in houses over the past five years now, Ive found that renting a house in Bangkok not only offers more space and privacy, often it is also much better value compared to apartment living. You dont ever want to be caught in that situation! Again, you wont find any agents to help you there and finding that perfect yet cheap and nice house is undoubtedly the hardest step. Renting a house in Sukhumvit, Silom or Sathorn. Our website http://www.bangkokfinder.com features hundreds of houses and apartments for rent, and is updated daily with quality rental homes.House in Bangkok Rent a

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