[The Bachelor of Arts]

I'm in Phuket at the moment learning to kite-board as part of my summer holiday. I was accosted today by a local girl selling property. In return for going to a 90 min seminar, I will get a prize (a camera or something like that), and she will get $70 commission. I'm keen to go for two reasons:

1. I want her to get a commission, as the people here don't earn much, have a work ethic that we would be ashamed of, and are very nice.
2. I know about economics, bubbles, credit contraction and of couse HPC. So I want to chat with these estate agents.

I'll go over the next couple of days, so if anyone is interested in the resultant conversation, then post/bump and I'll give you an update.

My thoughts so far:

I've driven around the island in a hire car, and gone to some out of the way villages near the coast. All of these areas have new developments on them, which on their own are OK, but they are so generic when a group of 'villas' are put together in a gated village next to a local (v poor) one.

Most of the people here are Aussie (with a spattering of UK) holiday makers, and so I guess must be the target market for these 'developers'. The locals can't afford the $500k for a basic villa so it is reliant upon the foreign market to keep this new housing market buoyant. This is the same (or similar) foreign buyers who would MEW, and buy on credit. I think we all know the movie here.....

So my tactic is the following:

Find out who the market is.
Find out how the villas/flats are financed buy the buyers.
Find out how the property developers are financed.
Ask the estate agents to convince me why this isn't a repeat of Eastern Europe, Miami, or Spain.
Sit back and watch these wide-boys get flustered.
Tell them that I'll buy in 3 years time, for cash. Either from a distressed seller, or from the bankruptcy court when their company goes under.
Claim my free gift.
Ensure local girl gets her $70 commission.

Anyone fancy watching the fireworks???

[this_prisoner_is_opting_out]

You're unlikely to get a prize - I've worked in this "area". The girl is unlikely to get her "commission" either - want to help? Give her a fiver for shopping.

[athe]

If I remember rightly it is difficult or impossible for a non-Thai to own property in Thailand, so that probably scews things too (as in I imagine that you are buying a right to use the property rather than the property itself).

I went to one of these things in the Dominican Republic once, just to see if they are as bad as you hear. They are. Very high pressure, often several salesman per client. Don't expect the 'prize' to be much.

[Rachman]

this_prisoner_is_opting_out, on Jul 23 2009, 03:45 PM, said:

You're unlikely to get a prize - I've worked in this "area". The girl is unlikely to get her "commission" either - want to help? Give her a fiver for shopping.

she won't get the commission - it's part of her patter to appeal to reasonable people. If you want to give her $70 for doing something else, she'll see the money. Otherwise, it's blollocks.

[Discopants]

I did this in Phuket a few years ago. As like you, I wanted the nice girl from Laos to get the cash which was $50 at the time, but it was high season. So long as you sit through at least an hours worth of hard sell she will get the cash. I got a few beers from the salesgirl the day after .
I'll bet you win a baseball type cap with the companys logo on it (or maybe a T shirt) and you'll also get a voucher for a weeks stay in one of thier resorts, which must be taken within 1 year, and as part of the terms and conditions you also have to sit through another hours hardsell.

You can't buy free hold property in Thailand as a farang. but you can get lease hold.



edit to add last sentence.

This post has been edited by Discopants: 23 July 2009 - 03:20 PM

[bkkandrew]

Having lived in Thailand now for 10-years and speaking fluent Thai, I can assure you of two things:

1. The girl won't get any cash.

2. You won't any free gift of any worth.

You will also be bored shitless and if you expect for them to listen to any of your views on the property market (or any other subject) you are delusional.

[BROF]

Under Thai law, it is illegal for a foreigner to own land in Thailand.
That on its own should be enough to put anyone off

[GordonBrownSpentMyFuture]

I can only agree with the others.

They won't thank you for not buying anything and you won't thank yourself for wasting nearly 2 hours of your holiday there.

Go to the beach or have a nice lie in instead.

[righttoleech]

prepare to be shafted

[Secure Tenant]

Stop off here...



And pick Scaramanga's Solex Agitator please.

Don't leave your seaplane unattended and beware of a very short man in bowler hat!

This post has been edited by HostPaul TAFKA Rover2000: 23 July 2009 - 05:06 PM

[swissy_fit]

The Bachelor of Arts, on Jul 23 2009, 03:18 PM, said:

I'm in Phuket at the moment learning to kite-board as part of my summer holiday. I was accosted today by a local girl selling property. In return for going to a 90 min seminar, I will get a prize (a camera or something like that), and she will get $70 commission. I'm keen to go for two reasons:

1. I want her to get a commission, as the people here don't earn much, have a work ethic that we would be ashamed of, and are very nice.
2. I know about economics, bubbles, credit contraction and of couse HPC. So I want to chat with these estate agents.

I'll go over the next couple of days, so if anyone is interested in the resultant conversation, then post/bump and I'll give you an update.

My thoughts so far:

I've driven around the island in a hire car, and gone to some out of the way villages near the coast. All of these areas have new developments on them, which on their own are OK, but they are so generic when a group of 'villas' are put together in a gated village next to a local (v poor) one.

Most of the people here are Aussie (with a spattering of UK) holiday makers, and so I guess must be the target market for these 'developers'. The locals can't afford the $500k for a basic villa so it is reliant upon the foreign market to keep this new housing market buoyant. This is the same (or similar) foreign buyers who would MEW, and buy on credit. I think we all know the movie here.....

So my tactic is the following:

Find out who the market is.
Find out how the villas/flats are financed buy the buyers.
Find out how the property developers are financed.
Ask the estate agents to convince me why this isn't a repeat of Eastern Europe, Miami, or Spain.
Sit back and watch these wide-boys get flustered.
Tell them that I'll buy in 3 years time, for cash. Either from a distressed seller, or from the bankruptcy court when their company goes under.
Claim my free gift.
Ensure local girl gets her $70 commission.

Anyone fancy watching the fireworks???

Something tells me she's a stunner.
Have you cut a deal - I go to the crap seminar and listen to the hard sell, you have dinner with me?
Then YOU go for the hard sell.

[Dave Spart]

They're running the same scam in Pattaya and Bali.

Lemme guess - a couple of nice girls come up to you in the street and offer you a glossy envelope you rip open along the sides? Inside it says you've won a prize but have to go collect? Wise up.

Think back to a few weeks ago while you were still slaving away in your job dreaming of your holiday.

Remember what you imagined you'd be doing and go do those things. Don't let them take control and ruin your trip.

This post has been edited by Dave Spart: 23 July 2009 - 05:41 PM

[Dave Spart]

BROF, on Jul 23 2009, 04:24 PM, said:

Under Thai law, it is illegal for a foreigner to own land in Thailand.
That on its own should be enough to put anyone off

Yep, you can own a condo but not land.

[JoeDavola]

HostPaul TAFKA Rover2000, on Jul 23 2009, 06:05 PM, said:

Stop off here...



And pick Scaramanga's Solex Agitator please.

Don't leave your seaplane unattended and beware of a very short man in bowler hat!

Whereabouts in Thailand is this?

[Dave Spart]

JoeDavola, on Jul 23 2009, 06:37 PM, said:

Whereabouts in Thailand is this?

From wikipedia

Quote

The scenes featuring the island hideout of Scaramanga were filmed in Phang Nga Province in Thailand, northeast of Phuket on the island of Ko Khao Phing Kan (Thai: เกาะเขาพิงกัน) and the adjacent Ko Tapu (Thai: เกาะตะปู). Scaramanga's hideout is on Ko Khao Phing Kan, and Ko Tapu is often now referred to as James Bond Island both by locals and in tourist guidebooks.[10] Both islands are significant tourists attractions in the area. The site was hit hard by a tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.[11]

Link