VT6 vs The Base

[SirL]

I should add to what I've written above that there may possibly be noise issues coming from soi Honey, perhaps if the bars in the first hundred metres of it have loud music in the evenings.  From the other side of the buildings I never heard noise from soi Honey, but the soi Honey side of The Base might have that sort of issue.

[socrates]

I saw a very unreliable advert for a 51sq metre condo at The Base today on a FB Property Group - apparently 2 bedrooms - how do you fit 2 beds into that space

 

Anyway lets say it was one bed

 

This was the figures

 

size : 51 sqm
type: 2 beds room 1 bath room 1 living room
floor : 7 little sea view
for rent 28000/month for 1 year contract
30000/months for 6 month contract
33000/month for 3 months contract

 

So no 18-20k and a size comparable to VT6

[SirL]

2 hours ago, socrates said:

I saw a very unreliable advert for a 51sq metre condo at The Base today on a FB Property Group - apparently 2 bedrooms - how do you fit 2 beds into that space

There are two different layouts for the 51 m2 2-bed condos, which can be seen on http://www.sansiri.com/condominium/thebase-central-pattaya/en/#tab-id-28  As before, go down to PLAN, then Units Layout, then change the drop-down 1 Bedroom to 2 Bedrooms.  The two alternative layouts for the 51 m2 condos are 2a and 2b.  I prefer 2a since its bedrooms don't share a common wall (ie less shagging noises overheard).  But then the occupiers of these 1.5 bed units probably use the smaller bedroom as a study or some non-bedroom function.  This is 2a:

(worked out how to insert pics within text!)

The Base is a newish building, and there does seem to be a lot of variation in the rents different condos are marketed at.  Rent levels don't seem to have settled down yet, particularly for the larger condos since there are less of them, and perhaps some owners don't care if their condos are not 100% utilised.  There are plenty of outliers in rent asked, both high and low.  Personally, I reckon if you've found a "very unreliable" example of a larger condo advertised at a high rent, that doesn't prove The Base is a bad place to be, it just suggests there are some clueless/unmotivated owners or agents out there.

[strawberrypi]

I stayed at a month at The Base during October last year. Floor 12, facing Soi Honey. There was a lot of noisy building construction work going on into that direction.

I was also unhappy with the tiny rooms and the abysmal service of "Rental for the holidays". When I was there there were like 20 people working for the Sansiri company (Rental for the holidays is a part of Sansiri) in the downstairs leftmost building at daytime, but just 1 (one!) is able to deal with checking in/checking out procedures. The vast majority of them are just there to sell condos to well-to-do thai people looking to invest money. 

When I was checking out I had to keep a car waiting for 75 minutes before I managed to find this extremely overworked woman and was able to get my deposit back. And this was after actually scheduling a checkout time with her... None of all of those other people would/could/wanted to help me.

So after this my next stay was back with Honey's in VT6. She was quite interested in my experiences from The Base - she appeared to be considering expanding there. I hope she does!

[SirL]

I didn't know that Rental For The Holidays was part of Sansiri.  RFTH of course have loads of Base condos to rent.  That would explain why there are so many notices around the lifts trying to prevent private rentals, and also why RFTH appears to be reluctant to negotiate on price (sometimes it seems that RFTH would prefer a unit to go empty than be rented at much less than their asking rent).  It's easy to tell an owner that there was no prospective renter for his unit, even whilst the truth might be that there was a rental enquiry but at a bit less than the higher RFTH asking rent.

[napsterlover2375]

20 hours ago, strawberrypi said:

I stayed at a month at The Base during October last year. Floor 12, facing Soi Honey. There was a lot of noisy building construction work going on into that direction.

I was also unhappy with the tiny rooms and the abysmal service of "Rental for the holidays". When I was there there were like 20 people working for the Sansiri company (Rental for the holidays is a part of Sansiri) in the downstairs leftmost building at daytime, but just 1 (one!) is able to deal with checking in/checking out procedures. The vast majority of them are just there to sell condos to well-to-do thai people looking to invest money. 

When I was checking out I had to keep a car waiting for 75 minutes before I managed to find this extremely overworked woman and was able to get my deposit back. And this was after actually scheduling a checkout time with her... None of all of those other people would/could/wanted to help me.

So after this my next stay was back with Honey's in VT6. She was quite interested in my experiences from The Base - she appeared to be considering expanding there. I hope she does!

I agree with you strawberry, I used Rental for the Holidays and there seems to be like 8 people on computers/phones, and 1 that handles check-ins and check-outs.  The woman that helped me was very nice however they really need to get more people to help with checking in/out folks.  

[SirL]

Both owners and independent rental agents' main interest is getting in as much rent as possible per month/year.  RFTH, being part of Sansiri, perhaps is trying to make rents achievable look as high as possible to potential buyers, because their main business is selling units for as high a price as possible, therefore they'll increase the headline rent price as much as possible.  If RFTH miss out on deals done because of high rent price, that isn't so much of a problem as owners won't know that they've missed out through RFTH resisting downwards negotiation and bad service.  It's starting to sound as if RFTH is a rental agent to avoid.  I've never used RFTH.

I think The Base offers good value for your B18-25k per month rent though, booked through a different agent.  You're paying B600-800 per night, plus some cleaning, utilities and agents commission charges, and I think it's a no brainer to stay in The Base or VT6 if you're in town for at least a fortnight, bearing location in mind, when compared to the ideas for hotels under B1000 on another thread: 

.

 

[big shooter]

I warmed up to my stay at The Base and would consider staying again. Checkout took a good 35 mins because I was the only person there at the time. Cleaned the condo myself and was pleasantly surprised that they don't have a mandatory cleaning fee upon checkout. Water bill was 280 baht, the electric bill was wrong (in my favour) but there was no time left to debate that one, so hopefully it doesn't come out of the girl's pocket. 

Last year I rented a tiny place in PBC soi 13 from a German guy and he screwed me every way he could. His idea of a month was 4 weeks, over charged on electric bill, and added a 500 baht cleaning fee to the contract after I'd signed it. If he told me up front I wouldn't have wasted my time cleaning. Anyways, he got me once but never again. It's doubtful that he gets repeat business and The Base is much nicer for not much more rent.

It looks like the only difference between the 29m2 condos and the 34m2 condos  is the size of the balcony. I'll add that in my opinion, The Base was one of the busiest hotels in Pattaya during my visit. The lobby was usually bustling with all kinds of people, few of which were there for a month. 

 

[SirL]

4 hours ago, big shooter said:

It looks like the only difference between the 29m2 condos and the 34m2 condos  is the size of the balcony. I'll add that in my opinion, The Base was one of the busiest hotels in Pattaya during my visit. The lobby was usually bustling with all kinds of people, few of which were there for a month. 

The kitchen is a little bigger in the 34 m2 condos, look at the floor plans, but yes, there isn't any other difference.

The Base isn't a hotel.  There's no hotel-style reception, and they try unsuccessfully to prevent rentals of less than a month.

All the people sitting in the lobby are using the free wifi there.  There's no internet access in the condos unless your owner has installed it privately.  Of course plenty of people are coming and going with suitcases as well!  It's busy because there are ~550 condos in each building.

[CoffeeDon]

On 3/13/2017 at 10:02 PM, 60minuteman said:

Current 48 sq/m studio
 

 

I like this studio layout. How does the dividing door store away? I'm guessing it's sectional and all the sections fit side by side in that wall cavity? Pretty neat if so.

Is it effective as a noise/light block?

 

[galt67]

5 hours ago, CoffeeDon said:

 

I like this studio layout. How does the dividing door store away? I'm guessing it's sectional and all the sections fit side by side in that wall cavity? Pretty neat if so.

Is it effective as a noise/light block?

 

 

I have this EXACT layout (see the video) in my View Talay6 condo, 21st floor.

Video: http://goo.gl/d6TUcW

Yes, it 'slides' into the wall cavity and is opened/closed at your leisure. And, yes, does an excellent job of blocking light but no effect on noise. Albeit, my condo is very quiet (most of the time).

 

 

[lelle]

Hi Im thinking of buying a condo in VT 6,and Im wondering how fast internet can you get in VT6?

[GOLD CLUB AGOGO]

Only buy 2nd hand. So not big new condos in Pattaya or Bkk, it's a saturated market. They lose around 30% off the bat.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[galt67]

26 minutes ago, lelle said:

Hi Im thinking of buying a condo in VT 6,and Im wondering how fast internet can you get in VT6?

 

In my two condo here, I use DSL from 3BB with (if I remember?) they're 13/2MB--around 950B/month/condo.

There are, however, faster (more expensive) packages.

[lelle]

2 minutes ago, galt67 said:

In my two condo here, I use DSL from 3BB with (if I remember?) they're 13/2MB--around 950B/month/condo.

There are, however, faster (more expensive) packages.

Thanks,someone told me only 10mb max,i dont care if it cost more so thats great news,just waiting the laywer to check the tilel did then I move in

[dave1]

I stayed at The Base on the 30th floor under the swimming pool and the balcony steel uprights where they are mounted into the concrete

   on the bottom are nearly rusted throught,just untreated steel,it was a 2 bedroom 70 sqm unit, if they leave it for say 6 mths as it is the balcony should be condemned.

If you pay 10mil for a unit you would think it would be Ali or Galv steel

[chris2004]

Sounds like the Base, and maybe VT6, would be an awful place to buy and live there long term. Maybe great as a short term rental for shagging but somewhere to live? no way.

[Luv2Phuket]

5 minutes ago, chris2004 said:

Sounds like the Base, and maybe VT6, would be an awful place to buy and live there long term. Maybe great as a short term rental for shagging but somewhere to live? no way.

Why?

For me, motorbikes are a "no go" - I will never drive or ride on them.  This limits my choices of where to live to Central Pattaya OR on a baht bus route.  

In that respect, the Base seems to have a great location.  VT6 does, as well, but the specter of major construction on the lot next to it and the fact that the hallways remind me of a hospital puts me off a little.  Centric Sea is a little farther down, but seems to have all of the same issues that the Base has (VERY small units)

FWIW, the small 2 BDR units at the Base seemed live-able, if, as suggested, you used the 2nd BDR as an office/study.

[SirL]

3 hours ago, chris2004 said:

Sounds like the Base, and maybe VT6, would be an awful place to buy and live there long term. Maybe great as a short term rental for shagging but somewhere to live? no way.

Fair comment, but it also applies to many other condo buildings around developing world locations.

For buying, IMO you have to calculate that the condo is valueless in say 50 years time (or more, or less??) as the building has deteriorated so far.  Most property you reckon will go up at something resembling CPI price inflation, but condos won't.  If the financial numbers make sense with a zero terminal value, then OK, but don't reckon a condo will end up with the same value decades away as a house on a bit of land.

Personally, I'm only interested in the likes of The Base or VT6 as a short term rental, never buying, which would be a very different proposition.  FWIW I could never live amongst the crazyness and pollution of Pattaya 12 months a year, but that's just me, I like where I live on the Cote d'Azur.

[galt67]

6 hours ago, chris2004 said:

Sounds like the Base, and maybe VT6, would be an awful place to buy and live there long term. Maybe great as a short term rental for shagging but somewhere to live? no way.

1

I can't comment about 'living' long term at the Base but VT6 has many farang that live there year-round (including some with school children).

[galt67]

6 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Why?

For me, motorbikes are a "no go" - I will never drive or ride on them.  This limits my choices of where to live to Central Pattaya OR on a baht bus route.  

In that respect, the Base seems to have a great location.  VT6 does, as well, but the specter of major construction on the lot next to it and the fact that the hallways remind me of a hospital puts me off a little.  Centric Sea is a little farther down, but seems to have all of the same issues that the Base has (VERY small units)

FWIW, the small 2 BDR units at the Base seemed live-able, if, as suggested, you used the 2nd BDR as an office/study.

2

I've know multiple guys who have live in Pattaya over ten years who 'agree'. They refuse to driving ANYTHING with 'wheels' because of safety issues.

[socrates]

12 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Why?

For me, motorbikes are a "no go" - I will never drive or ride on them.  This limits my choices of where to live to Central Pattaya OR on a baht bus route.  

In that respect, the Base seems to have a great location.  VT6 does, as well, but the specter of major construction on the lot next to it and the fact that the hallways remind me of a hospital puts me off a little.  Centric Sea is a little farther down, but seems to have all of the same issues that the Base has (VERY small units)

FWIW, the small 2 BDR units at the Base seemed live-able, if, as suggested, you used the 2nd BDR as an office/study.

I have never understood this - I don't live in the hallways - I am interested in what my room looks like inside and the view on WS side - which for now is unobscured

[Piece Corp]

13 hours ago, chris2004 said:

Sounds like the Base, and maybe VT6, would be an awful place to buy and live there long term. Maybe great as a short term rental for shagging but somewhere to live? no way.

 

I lived in VT6 for 2 years.  The short term rentals completely ruined the vibe of living there. I'll be glad when the authorities decide to crack down on these illegal rentals.

[SirL]

2 hours ago, Piece Corp said:

The short term rentals completely ruined the vibe of living there

I can understand that it's a little annoying to find the downstairs lobby full of people on the wifi, but isn't it overegging it a bit to talk about other people ruining the vibe of living somewhere?  How much time do you spend around the property not hidden away in your room?  If there were just as many people around the swimming pool, but they were long term residents not short term renters, would it really be very different?

[chris2004]

10 hours ago, Piece Corp said:

 

I lived in VT6 for 2 years.  The short term rentals completely ruined the vibe of living there. I'll be glad when the authorities decide to crack down on these illegal rentals.

This was the point i was trying to make. If the condo is full of short term renters (who care little for long term residents) then it is tantamount to living in a hotel. Whenever we had problems with noisy or inconsiderate guests in my condo you can bet it was short term renters, although now of course we have stopped rents of under one month. You must have guests checking in and out every day, having parties round the pool, bringing girls back at all hours etc. Now that's fine if it's a hotel but i wouldn't want it in my home.