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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Welcome to www.samuipropertyonline.com,
the online version of Koh Samui Property, an independent monthly property &
real estate newspaper published by Siam Map Co. Ltd., Koh Samui,
Thailand.
Koh Samui Property offers impartial, objective
news articles, stories, legal advice & information, zone maps, photos,
classified adverts and features about real estate, property, villas,
developments, homes, house and land for sale and other real estate
related items on Koh Samui.
Please come back every month for fresh
news and information on the Koh Samui Property & Real Estate Market.
Biting The Bullet
There’s never been a better time to buy property on Samui. And the risks are low.
It’s easy to understand why some real-estate buyers and investors may be deterred from buying property at the moment. The financial crisis has seen many people lose significant amounts in shares and in capital value. Certain jobs no longer seem as secure as they did a year ago and everybody seems to have less money to spend in general.
On top of any financial concerns, there are other factors, including the political situation in Thailand and the legal issues surrounding foreign ownership of property and land. When faced with these facts and assessing them at a glance it’s no surprise that sales are currently down.
But sales are taking place all the time and, if you’re prepared to look a little deeper, you may feel that the sentiment in the market should be far more positive. Buying now can be very advantageous. Obviously there are risks, but we take risks everyday in just about every decision we make.
Whatever your circumstances, if you sit down and consider all the issues which specifically affect you, you might be surprised at what you find. Now might not be a bad time to buy after all.
Those who have lost money may be looking for a safe and secure asset in which to put what’s left. For others, the lifestyle, work and stress levels in their own countries may be reaching unbearable limits. If the thought of continuing as you are for the foreseeable future with little to show for your hard work and endeavour concerns you, then early retirement to a tropical island may be a life-saving decision.
Selling up and moving here could lead to a mortgage-free lifestyle, lower bills and lower expenses, no commuting to work, a better standard of living, an enjoyable climate and healthy affordable food. All of this not only saves money but it can also improve your general health.
You may have less to spend, and the current exchange rate makes that figure shrink even more. But sellers are beginning to realize the situation and many are willing to adjust the price accordingly; everybody knows that it’s a buyers’ market.
There’s a lot of competition, meaning you have some considerable bargaining power. Some sellers will not want to lose a sale by arguing too much over the price; buyers are hard to find and therefore a reasonable offer is more likely to be considered now than in previous times when buyers were plentiful and queuing up to buy.
The increasing pace of modern living has now made holidays an almost essential yearly expense. Getting away from it all has become far less of a luxury and more of a necessity for the majority of people. It would be unthinkable to consider a year without having a holiday during which you can get away from the rat race.
Samui is a location which has traditionally attracted return visitors. In fact, it’s not uncommon to meet people who have been every year for the last 5, 10, 15 or even 20 years. If Samui has that attraction for you then buying a property now will provide you with free accommodation for life, and it’s also likely to gain you an income which could help fund your own holiday. Not all properties will have fantastic rental returns and you may not want to let it to strangers at all. But just by renting it out for a small fee to friends, family and people you trust could cover the costs of your own flights for your next visit.
At the moment, prices on Samui are frozen and most are flexible; this is rare on an island which has seen such incredible growth over the last few years. Property prices had risen beyond all expectations and a high number of potential buyers were beginning to be priced out of the market.
Your available budget may well be less than it was two years ago, as the equity in your own property may have reduced. But, with prices being lower here and buyers being in the minority, you could actually end up being in a better financial situation than you would have been before.
In fact, even with more equity and better exchange rates the reality for some is that they may not have been able to afford a holiday home on the island previously. Now the situation is different and they may get more for their money than they thought possible.
A few months ago several international real-estate experts were highlighting Samui, along with other emerging markets, such as Brazil, as exciting locations to invest in property. If anything, the worsening financial climate and political tensions here have improved that investment potential, as prices are likely to be even lower now, representing even greater growth potential.
At some stage, the financial problems will ease; some areas are already showing small signs of recovery and Asia is predicted by many to be the least affected and the best positioned to recover quickly.
The more localized political issues in Thailand have caused concern and continue to present a possible flaring of tensions. Well, what’s changed there? Thailand has undergone several changes in government over the past few years and stability has never been a common term used to describe the political situation here. The fact is that the country is resilient, strong and passionate about how it is run and throughout all the problems the wheels of industry have kept turning and Thailand has managed to push to the top of the tourism industry as well as become a major destination for foreign investment and a leading Southeast Asian nation.
Throughout the whole period of Samui’s metamorphosis from a backpacker retreat to a five-star luxury destination, there have been political rumblings in the background. People have still invested, bought and profited from real-estate on the island.
Life goes on and Samui’s position as a favourite worldwide destination is not in jeopardy. The tourism industry here is key to everything else on the island and it has proven to be resilient in the extreme. Natural disasters, legal issues, political chaos, pandemic diseases, like bird flu and now swine flu, and of course the worldwide recession have and continue to impact on numbers of visitors. But Samui has survived them all and still looks ahead optimistically.
Whenever there’s light at the end of the tunnel a new problem raises its head but tourists still come and business continues as normal. Any problems there are at the moment are merely temporary obstacles to be crossed. Tourism will return to normal, the real-estate industry will survive and prosper and therefore property prices will rise again.
If you’re prepared to bite the bullet and go for it now, in a few years you may be sipping cocktails next to your pool in the sunshine, looking back and applauding your decision. Or you could be sitting in the cold somewhere looking on the internet at homes on Samui being sold for way over your budget and imagining what might have been. |
