ceejay wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:57 am
I bought property and do not regret it at all.The exchange rate was about 52 baht/pound when I did so and now it is around 40. If I had been renting, that would have increased costs by about 25%. I have been protected against that, at least as far as housing costs go.
ceejay,
This is definitively one of the key advantages of owning...being able to control your own costs.
I have lived in 3 long-term rental apartments in Jomtien and Pattaya over the years which were great at the beginning but then turned to shit:
The first one in Pattaya was great but the rental charges kept increasing year-after-year to the point that it was just too much over-the-top. Ironically, only the farang residents were receiving these increases.
The second one in Jomtien Complex was also a nice place but the building was sold and the new owner decided that he wanted my apartment for his own residence which forced me to move.
The last apartment I had was back in Pattaya and I lived there happily for 6 years. A new building manager came on board and the place went down the tubes almost overnight. It went from a clean, well-managed, peaceful and secure building to a place filled with yaba addicts, large dogs barking in the night and covered in filth.
A rather trivial point all-things-considered, but the fact that these building owners routinely overcharge their tenants for electricity is a thorn that's always been sticking in my side. Most building owners (thieves) charge their tenants double, if not triple, the actual cost of the electricity they are using and stuff the balance in their pockets which always pissed me off. Now, having my own place, I get a bill directly from the electric company for exactly the correct amount which is the way it's supposed to be. I save at least 1,000 baht per month by not being scammed by these idiots.