Luxury condo in Bangkok negotiations

@jubbeske

I've been living in BK for past 7 years in Phrom Phong/Thonklor area, so I'm familiar with the condos you mentioned. A friend just bought in the Strand. One, thing to know is that the listing sites are basically advertising sites. The agents do not have exclusive listing contracts with the developments. The same units will show up on many sites at the same time, and some may be old listings. The sites leave them up so the agents can get leads to sell you something else. So, it's best to deal directly with the onsite sales office instead of getting an outside agent from one of these sites.

Now, back to your question of discounts. Once you tour the building and decide on a unit, just ask the sales staff straight-up if they offer any discounts, and what is the least they would take if you're ready to buy today. Once they respond, then you can maybe make an offer for them to take up the ladder. Keep in mind, you are dealing with sales staff who have no authority to negotiate. I always asked to see their price list of units available so I can see the difference in price from floor to floor. Many times the developer will hold back some of the best units, because the building has to remain 51% Thai ownership, so he will keep them for rentals. So, keep that in mind if you're planning to rent yours out. You will be competing with the developer and his onsite rental staff. Also, they will not tell you this, but usually there's a lower price list for Thais, because if the developer doesn't want to keep all 51% of the units for rentals, he will sell at lower prices to Thais. My wife and I went to a trade show in March 2023 on the first day which was supposed to be for Thais only, and we got the price list for the building we were looking at. We went to the onsite sales office afterwards and after deciding on a unit, they presented us with a higher (foreigner) price quote. After we showed them the price list we had from the show, they said that was the Thai price. I told them we were putting it in both of our names, so they agreed to honor the price quote from the show, only after us mentioning we could just simply go back to the show to sign the reservation agreement. Good luck...

Thanks for the elaborate reply.

Some questions about your reply.

• Does the onsite sale office typically only sell "empty/new" condos or does it also rep resales?
• Is the pricelist you mention negotiable? For example I see condos asking prices of, for example, 40M Thb. Given the market, I don't see why they would not sell for 10% or more off. Is that a reasonable assumption given the number of available units (not counting the duplicates)? Here in the US if the market would be similar to BKK, I'd offer 20% off to start. Given the culture difference (lose face), I'm not sure if it would offend them and hence close the door to that sale...
• In theory I could buy Thai quota by putting it in my wife's name, but we prefer foreign quota to make life easier for my son if he inherits the place at some point. Does that make sense? Would putting both of our names on the sale help?

In general, my Thai wife knows what's "going on" in Thailand, but this is the first time buying a condo so we're really in the dark. Lots of online info on rent and a bit cheaper condo's but very little or nothing for what we're looking for. Thanks for the help!

@jubbeske

I'll do my best to answer, see below:

Does the onsite sale office typically only sell "empty/new" condos or does it also rep resales? They will typically do everything, from selling the new units, leasing the developer's units, leasing private owner's units & listing the private owner's units for resale. They may have different staff assigned to each group.

Is the pricelist you mention negotiable? For example I see condos asking prices of, for example, 40M Thb. Given the market, I don't see why they would not sell for 10% or more off. Is that a reasonable assumption given the number of available units (not counting the duplicates)? Here in the US if the market would be similar to BKK, I'd offer 20% off to start. Given the culture difference (lose face), I'm not sure if it would offend them and hence close the door to that sale... I don't think it would offend them if you present it in the right way. But, the key is finding the right person with the authority to negotiate. The sales staff typically only show the units, give you the price or price lists and sign you up. In my experience, it seems like they don't mind sitting on the units forever, unlike the developers in the US who want to sell fast and are willing to negotiate. I never figured that one out. I looked at 15 to 20 developments over the past several years and they act like it's take it or leave it. If you find the right person who has the authority, and he says 500k off if the best he can do, then you know 20% or 8MM off is out of the question. But, I would give it a try.

In theory I could buy Thai quota by putting it in my wife's name, but we prefer foreign quota to make life easier for my son if he inherits the place at some point. Does that make sense? If you put it in your name, you could pass it on to your son, if you put it in your Thai wife's name, you may not be able to pass it on to him because of it being in the Thai quota.  Would putting both of our names on the sale help? I wouldn't think it would help putting it in both your names because it will be under the foreign quota and they will want to get the most they can for those units in the foreign quota. Just my opinion, for what it's worth.

Great advice from zeus.

Was interested in Strand as well end of March. Unfortunately, not much room for negotiation beyond what they actively offered as a discount. But maybe it was just me.

At least they were very transparent in mentioning that a highrise will be built soon adjacent to The Strand. So factor that in for North facing units there.

If you‘re buying in that luxury segment I can suggest a good agent.

I looked at some units at the Bangkok Thonglor as well, but was not so impressed. But might have been personal taste.

There are indeed a couple of interesting alternatives of newer developments in Thonglor/Ekkamai, Phrom Phong and Chitlom

Pricewise it is indeed a bit puzzling. Private sellers may very well leave units unsold rather than discounting. But I had the impression that a few years after completion the developers are more readily giving discounts on the unsold units, downside being that those are the leftovers…

A sweetspot to me would be new units where the buyer has to bail out before final payment and transfer for whatever reason and you kind of take over the purchase agreement. Negotiations could benefit both sides limiting Sellers losses and giving you a de facto discount.

Thank you all so much for your detailed answers! Better than i could have hoped for.

Guess there’s something in the bkk condo economy that can’t be understood by foreigners   Lol,  it’s a mystery to me how they are willing to sit on property iso giving a non-trivial discount. Especially given the number of luxury condo buildings still being built or planned.  In addition, from what i see, the rental market is not great neither… so it’s not like they’re making bank renting out their places.

In fact many are not renting out at all and sitting in the units empty. I toured a unit at Magnolias Riverfront (one of the IconSiam residential towers) that was as empty as on the day of transfer 3+ years ago.

In the past years many Chinese (who make nearly 50% of foreign condo buyers) seemed to have bought Thai condos mainly with the intent to bring money out of their country, making a profit may have been secondary. This may have changed which is why I also thought this year may be an opportunity for investing.

As to many luxury condos being built, I am not sure if that holds true for what I counted as prime locations for me, which is in walking distance (<500m) of central BTS stations, Ratchathewi to Ekkamai or Saphan Taksin and (most important) freehold.

There's Mulberry Grove near Ekkamai, ROMM Convent and Noble Embassy Wireless are borderline distance to BTS. The big projects Dusit Residences and One Bangkok are leasehold.

Interesting. Wasn't aware Dusit residences (and i assume Dusit parkside) and One bangkok are leasehold. Scrapping those from my list then

Why anyone would get a leasehold is another thing  that’s beyond my comprehension. So many of them in the prime locations. likely a hard sell?

There seems to be a market, though I kind of don‘t understand as well.

At some prime locations there‘s nearly no freehold available like Langsuan and around Lumphini Park because it‘s Crown Property. So, if you absolutely must have something there for whatever reason, it‘s take it leasehold or leave it.