Finding a place in the sun

[Mahalo]

I can see that this is a harsh place socially, and you must have had other people abuse this forum in some way.

Obviously there are legal issues and professional advice but none of that gives me any idea how it FEELS and WHO are the people I would meet living in a place. When it comes to practical decisions, there can be so much information, and so little taste of the real experience.

There is a lot of bitterness in this, and other posts here. Is this the kind of person drawn to Hua Hin, or how people end up when they stay there?

Another wind up merchant.
Nobody in their right mind would consider buying a property because it is "in the sun" and he has heard a few good things about HH!!!!!
He only wants it for a few months of the year.
Give me a break.
OK you might ask your friends for advice before you part with hard earned cash, but no sensible person would ask for that sort of advice on a forum such as this.
We members are very quick to get sucked in and offer our naturally varied advice and it often ends up with bitterness.
If someones wants investment advice they should see a professional.
The legal situation for property purchase in Thailand is well known and has been discuussed AT LENGTH on this and every other Thai forum.
From now on when someone asks a stupid question like this or What is Avalon like I am NOT going to get sucked in!!

Please, if you have nothing better to say, there is no need to be sucked in. Why don't you suck off, instead!

Nothing personal.

[DawnHRD]

I can see that this is a harsh place socially, and you must have had other people abuse this forum in some way.

Obviously there are legal issues and professional advice but none of that gives me any idea how it FEELS and WHO are the people I would meet living in a place. When it comes to practical decisions, there can be so much information, and so little taste of the real experience.

There is a lot of bitterness in this, and other posts here. Is this the kind of person drawn to Hua Hin, or how people end up when they stay there?

Another wind up merchant.
Nobody in their right mind would consider buying a property because it is "in the sun" and he has heard a few good things about HH!!!!!
He only wants it for a few months of the year.
Give me a break.
OK you might ask your friends for advice before you part with hard earned cash, but no sensible person would ask for that sort of advice on a forum such as this.
We members are very quick to get sucked in and offer our naturally varied advice and it often ends up with bitterness.
If someones wants investment advice they should see a professional.
The legal situation for property purchase in Thailand is well known and has been discuussed AT LENGTH on this and every other Thai forum.
From now on when someone asks a stupid question like this or What is Avalon like I am NOT going to get sucked in!!

Please, if you have nothing better to say, there is no need to be sucked in. Why don't you suck off, instead!

Nothing personal.

If you want a true idea of the people drawn to Hua Hin or how they end up when they come here, either come & see for yourself or research more on the forum. When you've read a bit more, you'll see how many people come on here to wind members up & maybe see why the members are understandably cautious. There are a lot more things to think about than whether you can lay down 40,000 quid for a house or not, especially if it will be a full-time home, not just a holiday home. That's what people were trying to tell you.

Nothing personal

[Ralphsandbag]

This is my first post here. Hello.

I'm from the UK and looking for a place in the sun, somewhere to stay for a few months each year. I've heard good things about Hua Hin, and plan to come over to see it for myself mid June or so for a few days. I heard about Hua Hin, and then I found a company that builds "thai holiday villas" for sale with land and pool from about £40,000.

Are there any hidden problems I should know about? And how can I get a realistic idea of what it is like to live in Hua Hin when I come to visit?

Ciao for now,

Mahalo

Plan a 2 week visit purely, with the sole intention of house searching. This site has adverts to start you off. There are numerous Estate Agents in HH..
Just like purchasing a house anywhere you need to do back ground checks. For legal issues again there are several on the web with live feed back for your questions at no cost.
Do as much web work before you come this will save time and leg work.
As with all properties the old saying Location Location equals price. along with quality and size of course.
Only you can be the judge of a good deal, and does it tick all the boxes for your situation.
Take time to plan, time to investigate all the plu and mius points to each property.
All adds up to common sense and taking the plunge using all the information you have gathered, to suit your situation....

Best Of Luck
Sandbag

[matthew80]

Mahalo just wanted some general information on HH - the kind of info one would ask of a forum like HHAD, if one had never been to the place but was planning to visit. Seems to me the response to the opening post and the subsequent one, was damned unkind. I don't think you should assume off the bat that you have a trol or a "wind-up" artist. Benefit of the doubt and a hearty 'welcome" to all first time posters.

[Mack111]

I agree, your best bet is to get yourself over for 2 weeks and have a scout about

HH is great place for a vacation home, I’ve got one there and use it about 2 months of the year and it’s a great place to unwind and its still reasonable cheap if your from the UK and used to UK priices.

Not so sure how much 40K GBP will get you nowadays but once you’re here you can hook up with real estate guy to show you about, JW is as good a bet as anyone for helping you look for a house and he has the added benefit of having a good friendly pub as well for a beer afterwards. There is some legal differences about buying a house here and you need to get advice and make your own decision based on facts.

HH as loads of bars and restaurants, reasonable beach, western hypermarket if you need things from back home all be it anything from Thai, Indian, western food available in most bars / restaurants

Driving here there is a bit different from back home but you kind of get used to it after a while

Thais are nice people all be it some things take a bit longer than expected but that life over in Thailand

Anything else you want to know?

[da]

Mahalo take more than two weeks if you can. If real estate is on your mind don't operated under a time constraint. Even if you are don't tell anyone.

You would be well advised to do some research maybe check out some past posting threads.

[Burger]

And you're a moderator on here WL

'Money to burn" !?!? People who have bought quality properties in Hua Hin have made money to date.

Wreckless and naive at best mate.

Burger

[Wanderlust]

I believe that had already been laid to rest, but if you insist on bringing it up again Burger I will argue my case to make such a comment until you leave the forum in a huff again! It is my opinion that it is a risky proposition for a farang to buy property here - I am not saying it can't or shouldn't be done, but a buyer should do detailed research and be totally clued up before they decide to do it. There are so many things that could go wrong, or things that an average farang wouldn't even think might happen because of how tightly regulated the property business is in most western countries, and also how tightly regulated the legal profession is outside of Thailand, and someone could easily walk into a whole load of trouble, depending on who they are dealing with. There are some dodgy lawyers, developers, real estate agents and builders out there, as well as simply incompetent ones, not to mention the fact that a lot of people are not aware of the law regarding land ownership. There are also a lot of hard working and honest people here involved in property, but it only takes one rotten apple to cause a problem. Many people who decide to buy a holiday or retirement home here are ploughing their life savings into it and do not have money to burn, so I believe my comment is completely valid. If I had said 'do not buy property unless you have money to burn' I would understand the reaction, but I didn't say that; I just said to be extremely careful if you don't. It is my opinion and you ain't changing it!

[Wanderlust]

P.S. And the fact that I am a moderator means I am not allowed to voice my opinion? Give me a break! Being a moderator is not anything except making sure the rules of the forum are adhered to, nothing more nothing less.

[HHTel]

I first heard about Hua Hin from friends. "You must take a look" I was told. I had a house more than half built elsewhere and had never heard of Hua Hin. Took friends advice, asked others about HH and I've lived here for over 5 years now. Lost money on the first house but that's life. Don't regret it for a moment. However, the original poster here was asking similar questions to myself those years ago. Where I got constructive replies, it seems that he's been slated by some of the members here. If I had had the same responses some years ago, maybe I'd never have got to Hua Hin. Grow up you guys!!!

[DawnHRD]

Mahalo just wanted some general information on HH - the kind of info one would ask of a forum like HHAD, if one had never been to the place but was planning to visit. Seems to me the response to the opening post and the subsequent one, was damned unkind. I don't think you should assume off the bat that you have a trol or a "wind-up" artist. Benefit of the doubt and a hearty 'welcome" to all first time posters.

I'm sure we shall bear that in mind, next time. Apologies if we mods are occasionally a little suspicious of obvious & (possibly) inflammatory questions being asked by first time posters. There have been 2 of them in the last couple of weeks. Different subjects, though.

So, many apologies. A hearty welcome to all, esp those old friends in their 51st incarnations, all of which have ISPs linked to laptops under bridges!

BTW, not one question was asked in the OP that couldn't have been more than answered by an hours' reading of the appropriate sub-forums. And what advice would you guys like to give, seeing as you still don't know some of the pertinent points - like whether he can get a bloomin' visa to be here, for one thing!

[DawnHRD]

I believe that had already been laid to rest, but if you insist on bringing it up again Burger I will argue my case to make such a comment until you leave the forum in a huff again! It is my opinion that it is a risky proposition for a farang to buy property here - I am not saying it can't or shouldn't be done, but a buyer should do detailed research and be totally clued up before they decide to do it. There are so many things that could go wrong, or things that an average farang wouldn't even think might happen because of how tightly regulated the property business is in most western countries, and also how tightly regulated the legal profession is outside of Thailand, and someone could easily walk into a whole load of trouble, depending on who they are dealing with. There are some dodgy lawyers, developers, real estate agents and builders out there, as well as simply incompetent ones, not to mention the fact that a lot of people are not aware of the law regarding land ownership. There are also a lot of hard working and honest people here involved in property, but it only takes one rotten apple to cause a problem. Many people who decide to buy a holiday or retirement home here are ploughing their life savings into it and do not have money to burn, so I believe my comment is completely valid. If I had said 'do not buy property unless you have money to burn' I would understand the reaction, but I didn't say that; I just said to be extremely careful if you don't. It is my opinion and you ain't changing it!

Well said, WL

[Jim]

I think we all - mods, regulars, expats, newbies, etc - can all agree that the sentiment "be careful" is the crux of dealing with very large items of expenditure anywhere. Thai property has its many bizarre and bewildering idiosyncracities (but so does every property market) and any investor runs the risk of being led astray or cocking up of their own accord. But if you go into it as a consenting adult, being aware of as many facts - local and legal - as possible, you just may end up being in possession of your dream home in paradise.

I declare my vested interest. My Thai company owns a beautiful property in a beautiful place. Time may change things and I may lose the lot, which will hurt, a lot, but its the risk we take.

And to put that into perspective, if I leave my house in England uninhabited for 6 months, the council is legally entitled to take possession, sell all my belongings, let others move in and I don't even have a right of appeal. And I have a British passport.

It is also proposed that the UK introduces a universal suss law, whereby the police will have the right to stop and question me without reasonable suspicion of anything. So much for human rights and natural justice in our beloved Blair's England. It's the same the whole world over......

[buksida]

I've purposely stayed out of this one but can only add to the earlier comment about reading certain sections of this board namely the Property and Real Estate one, the Thailand News one and the Visa section. Its all there il buono, il brutto, il cattivo.

[big jimmy]

I think all this fuss has come about because of our individual interpretation of the words " money to burn ". To me those words mean throwing money away, never getting a return on your money, a complete waste of money...... I have invested money in property in Hua Hin and although any investment carries a risk I do not consider it "money burnt ".

Sometimes I think many correspondents here are in two camps..those who can afford property and are willing to take the risk that goes with any investment....and those who may be able to afford to buy but choose not to and join the merry go round of dealing with Landlords.....Personally..I prefer to be my own landlord...but we all make our own bed and lie in them...