new condo inspection, looking for help?

[wrapper]

Hi, I am 53 year old scottish/british guy, I have purchased a new condo in Pratumnak which I bought off plan, I didn't buy it for an investment and basically used my savings to try and improve my quality of life, in doing so i broke all the rules that i have learned by reading this forum of what not to do anyway despite this my condo is now finished and I have to inspect it at 11am on 21st July, I was wondering if there was a smart and generous guy on here who could help me with this? i wouldn't be looking for someone to blame if he missed  a fault or something, I would just like a wise head to help me with the thought that two heads are better than one especailly when I am clueless really.

I would be willing to pay for this time if needed or buy dinner or bring a nice bottle of malt over with me, whatever it took just to have somebody who even has a little clue about these things, as I said i have no clue, my condo is in a impressive new building on the beach at pratumnak soi 5, naive as i am about this, it would be great if one of the "locals" with their gained experience and local knowledge could give me the benefit of their wisdom and join me in inspecting my finished condo and maybe notice something that I simply wouldn't see.

thanks

[Proffesor]

Hi

My ( Thai ) wife and I have a small business doing property repairs and renovations.

I am a retired (?) marine ( submarine ) engineer ( Clyde Submarine Base at Faslane ), so quite pedantic by nature. I've done a couple of these pre-acceptance inspections for people over the years, usually at the behest of MagnaCarta Law Firm. I'd be happy to give you a hand/opinion, if you like. I'm not going to turn down the offer of either a free meal, or a decent ( Islay ? ) bottle of Malt . . .

Please let me know, so that I can allocate time.

Cheers

Steve

a.k.a. Proffesor

[Pinoydave]

Wrapper...... brilliant idea, worth just having a second pair of eyes, should think quite a few expats should be able to help 

[wrapper]

1 hour ago, Proffesor said:

Hi

My ( Thai ) wife and I have a small business doing property repairs and renovations.

I am a retired (?) marine ( submarine ) engineer ( Clyde Submarine Base at Faslane ), so quite pedantic by nature. I've done a couple of these pre-acceptance inspections for people over the years, usually at the behest of MagnaCarta Law Firm. I'd be happy to give you a hand/opinion, if you like. I'm not going to turn down the offer of either a free meal, or a decent ( Islay ? ) bottle of Malt . . .

Please let me know, so that I can allocate time.

Cheers

Steve

a.k.a. Proffesor

thank you professor for your reply, would be great if you could help me, thanks for your offer.

I will pick up a bottle of islay malt (which one?) at glasgow Airport on sunday night

[Proffesor]

No problem, Sir. I'll make an entry in my diary.

The Isaly Malt would be ideal - used to be in a square bottle; but to be honest, I haven't found a bad Islay Malt !

Do You know the Pratamnack area ? On Pratamnack Rd between Soi's #5 & #6 is a Condotell called Tara Court, that has a ground floor bar / restaurant called O'Gara's. Suggest we meet there sometime after 10.00 - and take it from there. Just ask the service staff to point out Steve - I'm known there !

Some  questions, if you don't mind ( reply via P.M. if you prefer ) What proportion of the property is paid for, thus far ? Does the Purchase Contract state that the final payment is due within a certain period of completion / acceptance ? If so, are you aware if the City Council has issued the Completion / Habitation Certificate ? I believe I'm correct in saying that until this is done, the Development is probably on a single Title Deed. Upon issuance of the Completion Certificate, the Developers have to settle their tax liability before the Land Office will sub-divide the Development into individual properties, and issue each property with it's own Title Deed and Address Book.

I suggest you verify with your Lawyer, but I believe the Developer ( by law ) is unable to demand full & final payment until he / she / they is able to provide you with your individual Title Deed and Address Book.

It is not uncommon for developers to "ask" the clients to "accept" what looks like a finished property, and pay the balance ( to provide Cash-flow funding for their tax liability ); the client has then fully paid, but doesn't ( in law ) hold title to the property. If the Completion / Habitation Certificate hasn't been issued, the client may not be able to occupy the property. Without the Title Deed, the property certainly can't be sold.

[KittenKong]

Further to the above, NEVER pay the full price until the individual chanote (deed) is available and until all snags have been sorted to your satisfaction. People here will promise you the earth but will forget to deliver it if they already have the money. Always keep the upper hand. Be polite but firm.

[wrapper]

big thanks to Proffesor, was a great help.

[jocky king]

Very good idea to get it inspected with a help of Professor... best of luck with your new home . 

[overseas516]

54 minutes ago, wrapper said:

big thanks to Proffesor, was a great help.

So what exactly happened?  

[wrapper]

On 22/07/2018 at 14:58, overseas516 said:

So what exactly happened?  

I bought a condo as was my dream to have a holiday home to visit in the winter and having visited thailand several times could think of no better place, naively I took the plunge.

to get the help of an expat for a newbie to this sort of thing is an enormous help, I was lucky to find Proffesor and I think to get the help of a smart expat is essential if you wish for a smoother ride as buying a condo off-plan, and then getting a bank account, getting a visa etc is not a smooth ride and much knowledge and patience are needed,.

Thailand is not the UK and to appreciate how things are done here is much easier with the help of a smart expat, I think you must learn every day here, I've a lot to learn and very lucky to have the assistance of one of the pattaya addict guys to help me and very happy proffesor replied to my post, I'm further down the road now on my "buying a condo" journey, it's been a bumpy road, still a few bumps to go I think but hopeful at the end of this journey I can have a nice life in Thailand and that any stress has been more than worth it.

of course I cannot be too specific so maybe cannot give overseas516 the answer he wants, all i can say is that all issues will be resolved and I just need to be patient as this is Thailand, I am learning!

 

[overseas516]

Wrapper what happened at the inspection? Did it all go as planned and were there any things the developer missed etc?

[wrapper]

12 minutes ago, overseas516 said:

Wrapper what happened at the inspection? Did it all go as planned and were there any things the developer missed etc?

sorry I cannot be too specific but yes it was not plain sailing, is it ever?

[Scuba+]

sorry I cannot be too specific but yes it was not plain sailing, is it ever?

Why be vague? People can't give you advice if you don't give any info

[overseas516]

5 minutes ago, Scuba+ said:

33 minutes ago, wrapper said:

sorry I cannot be too specific but yes it was not plain sailing, is it ever?

Why be vague? People can't give you advice if you don't give any info

Agree. It would have been nice to know what they found out at the inspection so as to help other BM’s in a similar position to what to look for?

Like you scuba we are not asking which condo building it is just exactly what happened at the inspection, e.g. What is missed, what has not been done, Finish, chanote etc?

 

[wrapper]

again sorry if my response is vague.

problems were mostly cosmetic, when you buy a new condo you look for perfection and expect it too and during inspection to have more than one pair of eyes and someone who has experience is essential I think, a brand new condo is unlikely to be perfect but if you can find a lot of these mostly cosmetic issues then you can get them fixed, checking the floor and wall tiles, checking all the glass and frames, checking the balcony and balustrade, checking how the doors and cupboards are hung and working properly, checking  the walls, the paintwork, the water, the electric basically looking closely at every inch of the room looking for faults and perfection at the same time.

in my condo inspection there were issues with most of the things I mentioned above, "snagging issues" I suppose you'd call it but nonetheless they had to be fixed and thankfully they were, best to identify these things and get them fixed at inspection time and not after you've accepted and moved in then notice the faults, that is why a proper and thorough inspection of your new condo is vital, as I said all the things that were picked up at my condo inspection have now been fixed and my condo is in much better shape now that all the "snagging issues" have been dealt with.

the proffesor was a great help to me and glad I made my post and my advice to anyone about to inspect their new condo is to take this job very very seriously and to have their condo inspected thoroughly and closely and not to take the developer's word on how your condo looks, sure on initial glances all shiny and new it looks great, that can be deceiving!

[Autoroam]

Looks like the Professor has created a new job for himself  nice one

[wrapper]

25 minutes ago, Autoroam said:

Looks like the Professor has created a new job for himself  nice one

well I wouldn't say that

but credit where credit is due and only right that I reported back to the forum on how I got on having made my original post looking for help with my new condo inspection............a good example of the pattaya-addicts forum working well I think.

[golden_boy]

On 01/08/2018 at 04:44, Autoroam said:

Looks like the Professor has created a new job for himself  nice one

May well need his help sometime in the near future.

[Proffesor]

7 hours ago, golden_boy said:

May well need his help sometime in the near future.

Just give me a shout - I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement.