Retiring abroad to Thailand and looking for house for sale or rent

If you are considering retiring abroad to Thailand and are looking for the right location, the best value for money, and the best investment for the future, then forget Phuket, Koh Samui, Hua Hin and Pattaya and take a good look at Thailand’s Golden Coast from Rayong to Klaeng. The jewel in the crown of Thailand’s Golden Coast is Laem Mae Phim, which boasts the best mainland beach along the entire Eastern Seaboard of Thailand, with fine white sand and safe gently sloping beach.

Resorts along the Rayong coastline have long been popular with the Thais, especially the resort area of Mae Phim beach, but not just for it’s beautiful beach, but also because of the popular beach side Thai seafood restaurants which serve a wide variety of delicious seafood at value for money prices, and the lack of over-development in the area and the fact that it still retains much of it’s countryside charm.

At just under 2 hours from the international airport, just over 2 hours to the city of Bangkok, and just over an hour to Pattaya for those who want to party once in a while it’s the perfect central Thailand location to settle down for your retirement. But apart from the handy location, natural beauty and great food, it’s also renowned for it’s friendliness and low crime rate, making it one of the safest and friendliest areas of Thailand to retire and for families to visit.

For these reasons Thailand’s Golden Coast is becoming increasingly popular with foreigners and somewhat of a real estate hotspot. Large and small developments are springing up along the coast, but choosing safely between them is a minefield which our experience and local knowledge of the developers can help you through.

There have been several successful housing and condo development projects along the coastline in recent years, but, as with other areas of Thailand, there have also been a number of other developments which have failed to complete anywhere near on time, and some which are still struggling, and some which may never finish having run into financial difficulties because they lacked the proper funding and relied too much upon off plan sales. The latter is the worst case scenario because it leaves the customer having paid a substantial amount of money to the developer, yet they are left with an incomplete property on an abandoned construction site.

We have been asked by several new construction development projects to help them promote and sell their houses and condo units for top dollar prices, offering tempting commission payments which other agents and so called agents (those foreigners selling real estate without a work Thai permit to do so) would be happy to accept disregarding any integrity or professional responsibility in respect of the risk on behalf of their customers. But we, on the other hand, make a careful and professional assessment of the developer in terms of their finances for the development and experience in construction and sales and marketing of such developments, and if they do not come up to par, or are not forthcoming with any information that we request, then we will not promote their construction project until it reaches a point when we can be sure that it will be a success and will reach completion.

Alternatively, for a safer bet, there are some real bargains to be found amongst the more spacious mature developments, which have already reached completion and have a proven track record of management and maintenance. Not only that, but some of the mature developments were the luxury developments at some point in the past, with spacious plot sizes and communal areas and extensive communal facilities, and they occupy prime ocean front real estate locations along the coastline, leaving second best to the newer luxury developments which nowadays have a tendency to cram as many houses and condo apartment blocks into the available land area as possible.

For those who are looking to buy, we have a wide range of houses and condo apartments for sale, and you will find that the prices are still very good value in comparison with the more well known tourist areas such as Phuket, Koh Samui, Hua Hin and Pattaya, and because of the low crime rate you don’t have to live in a walled off fortress. At present we have houses for sale from around 1.5 million to around 30 million baht, and condo apartments for sale from around 1 million baht to around 12 million baht.

A visit to the area is essential before you buy, to ascertain whether or not the area and properties therein meet your needs, dreams and budget, but for those who are a little more cautious, or who might wish to wait a while before they sell their house or apartment in their home country in order to help fund their retirement, then renting a house or apartment in the area is a sensible first step and may place you in a position which will allow you to grasp any new property coming onto the market which is right for you.

We have a number of short term holiday let properties as well as medium to long term rental properties available, so please with your requirements if you are looking for somewhere to stay in the area and we will do our best to meet your needs.