Art on the Hill condo debacle in Pattaya

[bcpattaya]

hi guys,

 

I'd like to to introduce myself. I have just purchased a resale condo on Art on the Hill and I'll soon be living there so I do my best to keep you updated with anything new on the ground.  I bought the place after reading this forum, time will tell if this was a wise decision but for me the location is great and the condos are pretty well laid out. 

 

Fingers crossed that all of your issues are eventually resolved and you can enjoy your long awaited units.

 

Let's keep in touch and make AOTH the best it can be.

[JAI DEE MAK]

Welcome to the board.

 

JDM

[KittenKong]

I have just purchased a resale condo on Art on the Hill and I'll soon be living there so I do my best to keep you updated with anything new on the ground.  I bought the place after reading this forum, time will tell if this was a wise decision but for me the location is great and the condos are pretty well laid out. 

 

 

I'm curious. Did you buy someone's contract before completion or do you actually have a chanote with your name on it? Or something else again?

 

Good luck with your purchase.

[RabbitRun]

Came across this "sample" contract for AOTH , apparently written by Z.E. Company. Is this representative of what most buyers at AOTH have signed? I'm posting it as a useful guide for the uninformed potential purchaser. No time to go into the specifics now, but I thought I'd post it for others to comment. http://propertyfinderrus.com/pdw_file_browser/img/Thailand_Properties/Art_On_Hill/art-on-the-hill-draft-cotract-en.pdf

[whooshbang]

tis pretty much this for me!

[jerry]

hi guys,

 

I'd like to to introduce myself. I have just purchased a resale condo on Art on the Hill and I'll soon be living there so I do my best to keep you updated with anything new on the ground.  I bought the place after reading this forum, time will tell if this was a wise decision but for me the location is great and the condos are pretty well laid out. 

 

Fingers crossed that all of your issues are eventually resolved and you can enjoy your long awaited units.

 

Let's keep in touch and make AOTH the best it can be.

 

So you where aware of this thread , read 25 pages of negative posts and decided to buy one ...   . 

[Frenchguy99]

So you where aware of this thread , read 25 pages of negative posts and decided to buy one ...   . 

lol, maybe fake account created by a desperate owner who wanna sell.

[Evilfriar]

Or he got a bargain that he just couldn't resist, time will tell if he's made a good decision.

 

Cheers

[jerry]

lol, maybe fake account created by a desperate owner who wanna sell.

 

After reading the OP again (still only 1 post 2 days later) i think you might be right or it's someone from Matrix trying to make us believe , 'no problems , buy a cheap re-sale unit now' . 

[chris2004]

So you where aware of this thread , read 25 pages of negative posts and decided to buy one ...   . 

 

Yes it's hard to believe that with the thousands of other condos available he took a risk on buying at AOTH.

[Ihatematrix]

After reading the OP again (still only 1 post 2 days later) i think you might be right or it's someone from Matrix trying to make us believe , 'no problems , buy a cheap re-sale unit now' . 

Not sure about this one yet it but it reads Matrix, but Matrix will certainly be posting crap, reading, evaluating, so put plans together away from the public eye If you want a good model for AOTH talk to the now knowledgeable people at The View, could save a lot of wasted time and effort.

[Swinga]

My mate was just about to buy in city center and I showed him this thread. Needless to say he didn't go through with it. A company like Matrix can only blame themselves. Ripping people off, you get what you deserve.

[TigerWoods]

I was in Pattaya whole November and finally Matrix finished my room at SSB2. A few co-owners got together and had a meetings with Raz where we addressed our concerns and he promised than our concerns get looked after. He has one Russian Lady from Customer Service permanently there, because they are handing over the rest of the units. My impression is that things are moving a bit better than before. I would say the building got from unlivable to semi livable now and it doesn't take much more to have it livable.

 

Since I have never been to AOTH, but will do in January, I would like to know if things are improving there ? How would the state of the building compare with SSB2 ?

[LRanger]

Ok so I had not seen this topic at all.

 

Back in July ex-tgf whizzed me around to her apartment on new motocy paid for Brit bf, to the 1br apartment apparently on monthly rent - 12 month lease - paid for by bf from Portugal.... 11000B per month no less.

 

So I had sort of expected something quite nice.

 

Looked like one coat of paint on the interior courtyard walls and it certainly did not look like a completed establishment.  A shabby air - and I'd never heard or seen it before.

 

I would never buy off the plan here in Australia, never mind Pattaya....at least with established places you can inspect and do some due diligence. OFPs are thin air speculation for sure....

 

Hope buyers eventually get what they paid for, or paid in kind.

[banksy35]

Hello all,

finally got my key and have moved into art on the hill, but not before one last debacle. I did the key handover with Will in February, and none of the defects were fixed and they were not ready to hand over they key. Partly my stuff up as I should have emailed them a few weeks before I came. For those arriving over Xmas make sure you double check with them that you can pick up key. There's a russian girl Yulia doing customer service now, and she is doing a good job. Anyway, so far I really like the complex. I got a studio on 7th floor. I was worried it would be to small, but it's a perfect size for me. what I like most about the complex is the location and how quiet it is. I've had all facilities to myself, as it appears most people are using units as holiday crash pads. I think the atriums awesome, and looks really good at night. I think they should, put the reception lady in the coffee shop, and she can do reception and coffee. I don't think there's demand to have 2 separate reception and coffee people and we could then get coffee shop up and running. I was showing my friend from oz around, and he is going to live in pattaya, he said he prefers art on the hill to some of the mega complexes. His reasons location, rental price and quiet complex. I have also bought in mega complex, so have a foot in each camp. I'm gonna rent for 8000 baht month to him. Which is a good price for him and believe it or not, as the oz dollar has crashed will still give me 10 per cent return. I think there's many ways to improve the complex without too much money and turn it into something even better. it's only early days though, will report more as time goes on.

[banksy35]

Even a bigger mystery to me than art on hill is the building opposite. It's been finished for two years. Looks to be a beautiful building, but has never been occupied. Anyone know what's going on there? Maybe they built too high as well. I heard the tall building near Walking Street has stopped construction for building too high as well. The other thing I like here is the view from top, at night it's great to have a drink and look at Buddha hill and you have full 360 view. I gonna go through the building top to bottom and make list of improvements, I'll post here for feedback.

[Ihatematrix]

Even a bigger mystery to me than art on hill is the building opposite. It's been finished for two years. Looks to be a beautiful building, but has never been occupied. Anyone know what's going on there? Maybe they built too high as well. I heard the tall building near walking street has stopped construction for building too high as well. The other thing I like here is the view from top, at night it's great to have a drink and look at Buddha hill and you have full 360 view. I gonna go through the building top to bottom and make list of improvements, I'll post here for feedback.

Dont know but there are many examples of dodgy Pattaya developers hoping to pay off City hall because of non-compliant constructions but failed when caught out. Result, the guy at City hall gets moved on and the developer cant complete title deed transfer. For example Emerald Palace at Cosy Beach, 8years old and counting but no Chanotes issued, why, one floor too many. Simple mistake I guess but try taking one floor off the building!

Waterfront near walking St is different, this is some political bullshit, the building complies with City hall but some prominent Thais have looked at it going up and decided they dont like it, it is too high for them. Seems they cant see the Admiral anymore, WTF. 

Prominent Thais have enough clout to hold up foreign developers/developments is seems.

[likeaking]

^ The "Admiral" is a was a king.

[Ihatematrix]

^ The "Admiral" is a was a king.

Who told you that Matrix! 

As his statue is on Admiral Hill I suspect I am right. You were close though, he was a Prince, that is almost a King.

However he was better known for his sea-faring antics so rather than call him Prince I will stick with "Father of Royal Thai Navy" aka The Admiral.

[banksy35]

My mate was just about to buy in city center and I showed him this thread. Needless to say he didn't go through with it. A company like Matrix can only blame themselves. Ripping people off, you get what you deserve.

Tell your friend from oz to save his money and wait for the oz dollar to rebound, in a year or two. He can then look at a finished city center condo or another condo and pick up a good deal. No point buying off plan with the oz dollar low at the moment in my opinion.

[Ihatematrix]

This is interesting, I gu

 

Tell your friend from oz to save his money and wait for the oz dollar to rebound, in a year or two. He can then look at a finished city center condo or another condo and pick up a good deal. No point buying off plan with the oz dollar low at the moment in my opinion.

This is interesting, I have dissuaded at least a dozen people directly and maybe dozens more indirectly through conversations and writings about a certain developer.

Multiply this by the number of disgruntled buyers and that is a lot of custom lost in a poor property environment. But I guess there is always another sucker out there ready to buy off the plan.

[banksy35]

This is interesting, I gu

 

 

This is interesting, I have dissuaded at least a dozen people directly and maybe dozens more indirectly through conversations and writings about a certain developer.

Multiply this by the number of disgruntled buyers and that is a lot of custom lost in a poor property environment. But I guess there is always another sucker out there ready to buy off the plan.

Yes I agree, I won't be buying off plan again here or overseas again. It can have some benefits if you think property will rise and you want to pay off over a few years. However, best to be patient.

[KittenKong]

I bought my first house off-plan in the UK about 40 years ago. No problems at all.

 

Would I buy anything off-plan here? Not in a million years.

[Ihatematrix]

Yes I agree, I won't be buying off plan again here or overseas again. It can have some benefits if you think property will rise and you want to pay off over a few years. However, best to be patient.

Agreed, I've bought off the plan twice, once overseas in a first world country and once in Pattaya. The lesson learned is that nothing is as it seems in Thailand, artist impressions that give no information about surround buildings or developments, its pot luck with the build quality,  the finish product is often different to the original concept, no committee looking after the owners interests for a couple of years, arguments with developer for 5 years of his warranty etc. 

If you want a relatively trouble free time in Patts and you feel you must buy and not rent, pay a bit more and buy into a mature development and do your homework first. Too late for some of us but handy advice for newbies.

[bcpattaya]

Hi,

 

I'm now here at Art on the Hill and yes I'm a genuine owner who is living here. I joined the forum after seeing this thread on Google hence 1 post.

 

I bought only because allot of these issues were pre handover and pre Chanote therefore buying at this late stage I avoided those problems. Of course it's impossible to avoid the other issues such as shoddy workmanship and future management problems. We're all in this for the long term to make a better place.

 

Time will tell if I was stupid, but hey that's life. I would have never bought without the Chanote and ultimately I got a good deal making the risk less daunting. I could have bought elsewhere for more money but problems aside AOTH and it's location is not bad compared to some.

 

Anyway let me know if anyone is around AOTH for a chat and to prove I'm genuine

 

Good luck to all those still trying to sort out your various problems.