12 Common Condo Rental Mistakes in Thailand

Renting a condo could come with some costly mistakes. I’m going to give you the top mistakes most people make when renting a condo. And at the end of this video, I’m going to show you my condo, how I got this condo, and why I specifically chose it. But let’s get straight into it.

Mistakes One and Two Booking Too Early and Paying Too Much

Mistake number one that most people make. I’m going to be moving to Bangkok next month, and many people have said to me, “Have you got a condo sorted?” And my answer is no. The mistake is booking a condo before seeing it. One of the biggest selling points of a condo is where it is.

You could have the most amazing condo ever with all the facilities that you want, but if it’s in a terrible area that’s loud, it’s full of street dogs, and the traffic is busy 24/7, the condo is worthless. So, the first mistake is don’t book in advance. It’s okay to have a look at certain areas, but do not put any money down or commit anything until you’ve actually been there at the condo.

Finding a condo can take all of a few days, to be honest. This is what I’ve done every single time I’ve gone to an area, booked a hotel for about 5 days or a week, and within that time, I’ve secured a condo.

The second mistake I see people make is they come to a city and they immediately start looking around at the condos, and they go into the sales office. Most big condos will have some sort of a sales office or people you can speak to about renting the condos here.

This is perfectly fine and is probably the safest way to get a condo, but you’ll be paying likely 20 to 30% more on the price because they are doing the rentals for the landlord, but they’re putting a fee on top. If you want the cheapest price, then the best place to go is to look online. Now, you have the websites like RentHub or PropertyHub, but in my experience, the best way is just through Facebook groups. I’ll link it in the description.

So, the one in Pattaya, for example, has rentals going up every minute of people advertising. And this is how I found all of my condos before. And on Facebook, you have legitimate agencies who are companies set up to find tenants. Then you just have individual freelance estate agents. These are the ones which are going to offer you the cheapest price, but we’ll get into that later.

Mistakes Three and Four Contracts and Electricity Costs

Now, mistake number three is signing a contract rental agreement without a Thai person present. Now, I’ll admit, I have done this myself and made this mistake and it’s turned out to be nothing.

You may be presented with two contracts. One is in Thai and one is in English. Who knows if the wording is exactly the same on both. That is why you should hopefully have a Thai friend present to just look through the Thai version of the contract. And make sure you read through the contract. It’s sometimes a little bit pressuring when the contract is slapped in front of you. Take your time. You are well within your rights to sit there and read that contract for half an hour if you want.

And if you really want to summarize it, take a picture of each page and upload it to like Chat GPT and say, “Summarize this. Is there anything that stands out that I should be aware of?” Not that you should rely on that and you might have missed something that it won’t. You can even do this with the Thai version as well.

Mistake number four is not checking how much it will cost for the electricity. You can simply pose the question, “How much baht is it per unit of electric?” The government rate for electric is about five baht. So, if they say, “Oh, it’s eight baht per unit,” they’ve added on a little bit extra.

That might not seem like a lot, but that could almost double your electric bill at the end of the month. And another point is to check out the AC units. Are they old AC units? In my old condo three or four years ago, this had an AC unit that was like built into the ceiling and this was very old. An old unit is going to consume more electric to get a temperature of what you want.

Mistakes Five Through Nine Terms Deposits and Practical Checks

Now, the next mistake is if you’re wanting to stay somewhere for three months or six months and all you’re seeing is listings of one year, one year, one year, do not ignore those listings. You can still negotiate a smaller contract term, but the fee will likely be a little bit more. Spoiler for all of you guys, this condo right now I’m in is 14,000 baht a month. That is for a six-month contract. If I was to do a year contract, it probably will be 13,000. If you want to rent a condo for less than a month, the majority of condos it’s actually illegal to do so because most condos don’t have hotel licenses and it has to be more than 1 month. In my condo it even advertises that there are hefty fines if you are caught, so just be careful if you’re using the likes of Airbnb with a condo such as mine. Just get a hotel if you’re staying less than a month.

So, moving on to deposits. Typically deposits are around about 2 months’ worth of rent. So, if it’s 10,000 baht for your rent, your deposit is going to be about 20,000. So, on day one of moving in, you’re going to need 1 month’s rent and then 2 months’ deposit. So, that’s 30,000 baht. Just be prepared for that. But, the mistake people make is not taking a video of everything. Now, I’m talking meticulously go around and take a 5-minute video of like every wall, every crevice. This video could prove very valuable if you try to get your deposit back and they say, “Oh, this scratch was not there or you’ve caused this like dent in the wall or something.” If you have that video evidence, you are covered. But, remember deposit can be negotiated. If you have a 2-month deposit, you can say, “I would like to move in. I agree on the price, but I’d like a 1-month deposit if possible.” Sometimes they’ll say yes. The next mistake is not checking that the landlord, when you sign the contract, files your TM 30 at immigration within 24 to 48 hours of you moving in. This is the legal notification that you are staying in this property. It’s also used for immigration purposes. If you’re on a DTV visa and your landlord hasn’t submitted your TM 30, when you go to immigration to go and check in every 90 days, they’re going to be like, “What? Your landlord didn’t do that? Come back another day when it’s sorted.” That is a headache. So, make sure to let them know.

The next mistake is for those who want fast internet is to do a speed test while you’re here. Go to speedtest.net on your phone while you’re in the apartment and do the speed test. And additionally, if you want Wi-Fi, connect to the Wi-Fi and then do the speed test there and then. If it’s not good, or you want your own internet, not the shared internet, ask them if cables have been fitted. My condo didn’t have cables, and it cost me 4,000 baht to actually install them to have my own Wi-Fi.

Mistakes 10 Through Twelve Viewing Beyond the Apartment

Now, like I mentioned before, another mistake is not negotiating the price, not negotiating the deposit, and also not negotiating other things. A friend of mine moved into this condo, and one of the terms he wanted was a washing machine on the balcony. He agreed with the price, agreed with the deposit, but he said, “I’ll only move in if you install a washing machine.”

Now, you might think, “Oh, they’re not going to pay for that.” But to be honest, it’s only adding value to the property itself. So, sometimes a landlord will be like, “I don’t really want to, but you know what? It’s probably going to help me in the future anyway, so okay, let’s go do it.” This is something I should have done when I moved into our apartment, but hey, that’s the mistake I made.

Now, the next mistake is not leaving the condo after you’ve finished viewing it. If you see people walking around, or there’s like a swimming pool area, and there’s people lounging, just go up and say, “Hey, sorry to disturb you. I might be moving into this condo next week. I just thought, what’s your opinion? You know, what’s the noise level like? Does it get busy? How are the elevators? Are the communal places well kept?” And just have a chat. It might bring up something that could change your mind.

Now, the next mistake is very similar to my first one, where not considering the location. There’s certain things you’d like close to your condo, such as a 7-Eleven, laundry, and food as well. If you don’t have any food in your apartment, and you want a quick snack, is there street food vendors that locally come by? Or is there restaurants which are very good? It’s worth a big consideration.

Another mistake is kind of niche, but let’s say you was 99% certain you’re going to go rent a condo. It’s to visit the condo again a different part of the day to see what it’s like. Go swing by at 2:00 a.m. Is there loud music? Is it at 5:00 a.m.? Are there roosters and chickens making a stupid noise outside your window? If you’re a light sleeper, this could be a deal breaker.

Now, this is not a mistake, but it’s just a top tip if you’re moving into any kind of condo, or even if you’re coming here on holiday. Get yourself some of this ant gel. I’m like 20 floors up in this condo, and I have had an infestation of ants twice. And I did it terribly wrong the first time because I was just killing the ants, and then that means the ants split off and then create nests here and there. This stuff, you leave a few little drops down, the ants consume it, take it back to the queen, all the ants die, job’s a good ‘un. It’ll save you a headache, I can promise.

Choosing Low Season for a Better Rental Deal

Now, if you are coming to live in Thailand, then you might be considering whether to come in low season or high season. Low season, you’re probably going to get a better deal when it comes to long-term rentals. If you lock in a deal in low season, you’re going to be paying that monthly rate even all the way through high season.

And also, overall, low season, I feel is better than high season. If you don’t believe me, watch this video here, where I go over various topics of why low season is much, much better.