Should you buy a condo or rent when retiring to Thailand?

Buy, make it yours, decorate how you want, sell it in 10 or 20 years and get your money back, renting is for fools!

I personally wanted a home 🏠 not a rental.

I Like to know it’s not sold under me and I like stability.

Each to their own.

Renting is cheap and offers flexibility for sure and totally agree with the comments here. 👍

Why would I ever buy? I have a great house with month-to-month contract, great price and great landlords. I've been a wandering type all my life, usually staying in any given location about three years, then hitting the road again. So I rent.

Buy a condo dont watse your money on rent even if you decide to sell if it takes a while to sell least you get your money back

People fail to understand that owning a condo there are annual fees for the upkeep, security etc... these are not always figured into the payment plan or even if it's a cash buy. Renting gives you flexibility. With all the current changes happening in Thailand it's a big gamble to invest in the long term. Just my opinion

My wife already own 2 houses and additional land in Thailand and we are still working in the U.S. building our retirement funds together, will retire in 3-4 years !!

Rented for 15 years then built a house. It's great having your 'own' place, but you must be confident it's where you want to settle and with someone you've known for many years and trust.

Rent first for a minimum of 12 months. You need to know so much about where and what it you are about to buy. Take your time.New build - 1st world prices- 3rd world build

Thai and foreign developers are expert at making that swanky new condo look super desirable. Be warned

I'm married to thai and I retired to Thailand 13 years ago at age 63. The prior three years we rented a new, very nice 38sqm 1 bedroom Sukhumvit condo for 20,000 baht per month. If I had kept renting and the rent never went up, I would have spent 3.1 million on rent since 2013. I'm glad I designed and built my own 600 sqm meter home back then for 6.7 million baht. When I planned my retirement I planned for the worst, making my retirement income streams last to 100 years old. Still have a ways to go but the last chapter of my life is so much more enjoyable than living in a 35sqm condo. Skyline views in a condo are nice but I enjoy so much more seeing lush green out of every room in my house, including all bathrooms and closets. And the house is my wife's social security worth a lot of money and costs only utilities and 100 baht per year in real estate taxes. I would say build or buy a house, build a new life, if you can.

Rent

Renting is better. You can move anytime you want if there's any problem with the building or if they open a better place in the area, which happens many times.

Bought a condo 10 years ago. Nice to be in your own space, can always lock the doors and leave. Don’t look for a rise of value

I built a house in the village for my wife and I rent in the city to escape 😁

How much do you plan to spend?

US stock market at a flat 8.5% annual return on $100,000 invested:

100,000×0.085=8,500

That would be:

$8,500 per year on average

About $708.33/month averaged out

About $23.29/day averaged out

I'm renting since I'm sort of new and I don't know where I want to set down roots. So many areas of Bangkok to explore. A house would be nice to create my palace, but I don't want to live in the country and have to travel an hour to reach my favorite skybars and nightclubs. A penthouse condo would be awesome but mostly already designed so I'd not be able to alter it as easily. Wait and see how things go.

Bought 5 condos when the £ was at 74 baht and also when they were built at a decent size , one to live in and rest to rent , this was 20 years ago and all 5 have more than paid for themselves , 2 bed 2 bath over 100sq … never looked back, people who rent seem to say the same thing ( don’t buy ) because they can’t afford to buy.

Built a house, purchased hard wood furniture, planted trees in the garden and walled it off ! Years before retiring, now no rent and minimal maintenance ! Everyone in the village knows me and life is good ! Rent for suckers !

Rent 100% too many downsides in owning here

I leased a land and built a house 14 years ago, 180 m2 on 2 floors, that cost me totally over a 30 years lease periode less than 4000 baht a month including leasing cost, i also have 3 condos in addition. Never regret

Initially renting atleast 6-12 months is my recommendation.. explore..compare...talk...and price shopping

My nephew married a Thai woman who sells apartments. I bought an apartment through her in a new build apartment in a very nice part of Jomtien. She managed to get a good discount. I am not living in it, but renting it out, fully furnished, through the development for baht a month. It will be an option for me to occupy in the future. I didn't know about the 30 year rule, but I don't expect to be around after that time frame!

My wife came fully equipped with 3 houses

Rent. The speed they are still building huge condo complexes despite low demand is good news for tenants and bad news for owners/investors

Condos - easy to buy, hard to sell.

You really want to rent first until you know where to settle and you know the real estate market.

I rent. Rents are so inexpensive that it doesn’t make sense to me to buy. I’ve moved 4x in 10 years. I’m glad I had the flexibility of a renter.

There is no right or wrong absolute choice.

It all depends on your personal preferences, your situation and finances.

Those who say "never buy, only rent" are wrong.

Those who say "don't rent, just buy" are also wrong.

The "right" decision depends on each person differently.

But there still are general rules : before considering buying, rent first. Try out/explore the different provinces, cities, neighbourhoods.

If you want to buy, don't think of it as a financial investment. It COULD generate profit, but that's certainly not something you should risk doing if that's your goal. If you buy a place, it should be a lifestyle decision which aligns with your financial situation.

Rent never buy

30 year lease on land and build to suit. Cannot be beat. There is no second best.

If interested in buying i have my condo for sale in jomtien ,pm me if you would like more information and photos

I've built my own small organic farm

As always, pro’s and con’s for both options. If your an owner you can do the place up to your specifications and have permanency although if you want an investment it is normally better to do that in your home country (depending on where that is) as condos tend to loose value over time. Renting gives you more freedom to move but you have the landlord and deposits to consider. As well as looking for options and negotiating if you decide to move. There’s no real protection for renters in the way there is in the uk. It will also depend on your financial situation. I rent in Bangkok as I’m not sure of my future yet and I want the flexibility but might consider buying in the future.

nothing like owning your own home or condo. i bought in Chiang Mai over 10 yrs ago. did a major renovation to suit my needs and built my dream home. however, you also can't go wrong w renting as its so affordable.

Buy if you plan to live in it for a long time. If you want the stability and the ability to make it your own, go for it. Financially, it makes no sense. It is cheap enough to rent. If you eventually decide to sell it, you will probably lose money.

When you own only one property , this is not an investment but home. I bought my own Lux condo in phrom phong, took about 3 months to renovate and furnished it well. Now that’s what I call real retirement . Not some cheap, run down, awful landlord apartment that many call home. Well if have the means , why not enjoy for the last🦵?

As ex banking and current investor , don’t invest in Thai properties .. invest in SG - yes - biased lol

Rent

Rent .. invest the 3 or 4 million baht equivalent in your home country to offset rent.. keeping all your capital

Property doesn't seem to increase in value and there are many who spend months and sometimes years trying to sell property they bought that for one reason or another is no longer suitable. We rent - we did long stay hotel accommodation the first three months trying different locations in Hua Hin and in the end - 3 years ago - found a lovely small cottage that is beach front an hour south. We were lucky and found landlords that allow us to treat our home as our own and change / renovate it to suit our needs - to them it is a win / win - they have stable tenants and get improvements to their home and for us, it is a win because we get to live in a space that suits our needs. You do need to be careful as some landlords are not as good as ours are, but if you are lucky enough to find some that are as good, even paying for your own repairs or renovations (which we do since we tend to want the higher end replacements or more frequent maintenence) it's still cheaper than buying.

Bought (never do), now renting.

I bought a condo in Jomtien 9 years ago, and no regrets at all, have met many expats happy with their 5000bt a month rooms so there’s no wrong decision.

Looking at a condo it's rent or buy 16.6 years if the rent never rises is the break even point. Seems to be around that for a house too. This is in Rayong.

It's a personal choice, depending on what you are after. I was 72 when I purchased my condo five years ago. I wanted my own place done the way I want and financial considerations were secondary as it will see me through until my death. It was a lifestyle decision rather than financial. Loving where I live. I would have maybe thought differently if only 50 or 60.

Even if you want to buy eventually, I strongly recommend renting for a while in the province/city/neighborhood/condo building, to see what long term life is like, and other things like do neighbors have loud parties or barking dogs, do the streets flood, what's air quality like, etc.

I have no interest in owning in retirement. Especially in a foreign country. I want the freedom to be mobile. And renting is so cheap in Thailand.

I bought and never looked back absolutely love being a owner decorate to my style, no 2 months deposit never waiting for landlord to fix things and a fantastic kitchen to cook accasionaly.

Rented a stand alone house for a few years.House was for sale and it would take me 64 years of rental to get to the purchase price of 3.5mb. Would only buy if u have a thai family here.