Rent a house in Bangkok

Looking to rent a house in Bangkok? Most people tirebht or less...
of apartment living after a year or two, and if youRegardless, there are plenty of cheap houses as low
have a children, pets or simply enjoy having moreas 12,000 bht for rent, but remember, and I stress
space, then renting a house is your best bet. Readagain - you get what you pay for! And most 12,000
about what is out there and what your budget buys.bht houses I've seen are usually in serious need of
Things to look out for when renting a house inrepair and maintenance, and the really nice ones are
Bangkok; and security issues.located way out in whoop whoop district.
Rent a house in Bangkok
I don't care as long as rent is cheap. Where do I
When I first moved to Bangkok, I rented anlook?
apartment like most newcomers to Bangkok do, but
as I became more familiar with my new home town,Again, you won't find any agents to help you there
I decided to be a little more adventurous and rentedand finding that perfect yet cheap and nice house is
a house. Having lived in houses over the past fiveundoubtedly the hardest step. It usually takes
years now, I've found that renting a house inmonths of driving around moo baan after moo baan,
Bangkok not only offers more space and privacy,which would mean having your own transport and
often it is also much better value compared toknowing your way around.
apartment living. More often than not, it is also aThe word "Moo Baan" translates to "village" in Thai,
cheaper option (per square metre) compared tobut the term "housing estate" would be far more
renting an apartment or condo, which are gettingaccurate. These usually have a guard posted at the
smaller in size these days! If you enjoy wide openentrance and are situated all over Bangkok. These
spaces, appreciate some green in your life - a gardenhouses usually offer much better value than stand
perhaps, have pets, a large family or simply want toalone houses, and are a good place for the house
maximize your budget, consider renting a househunter to start his/her search. Try areas like On Nut
instead.between Sukhumvit 77 - 103, Bangna, Rangsit,
Ramintra, Phayathai, Mo chit etc.
Another advantage in renting a house is, apartments
tend to put a high surcharge on your electricity andConcerns and other issues
water bills. Many apartments have a minimum charge
of 1000 bht for water alone. That is a significant1) Security
amount considering my water bill never cost me overHonestly, I know of many farangs, including myself
500 bht living in a house with a family of 5, and wewho have lived in single houses and existed
do A LOT of washing! Electricity can be anythingpeacefully without any disturbances or trouble for
between 5 - 7 baht per unit compared to the actualyears. I also do not know anyone who has been
3.75 baht charged by the MEA. Living in a house canburgled personally because they were living in a
save you up to half your utility bills compared to livinghouse. Do you?
in an apartment, and believe me it is A LOT ofIf you are considering renting a house and security is
difference!a main concern, rent a house in popular areas like
Sukhumvit, Silom and Sathorn where there are many
Thailand is cheap!nearby apartments and condos with security. That
way, you can benefit from the dense security in the
As you may already know, Thailand (moreneighbourhood.
accurately, "Bangkok") is not the cheap haven manyAnother option would be to opt for houses or
foreigners once thought it to be, especially when ittownhouse within a "moo baan." There are plenty
comes to housing. Property prices and rental havearound and majority of them have tight 24 hour
gone up considerably and that's the way it goessecurity. Common sense would also tell me to
everywhere around the world. The very same 2explore the neighbourhood a little and have a chat
bedroom unit I rented 5 years ago (in Silom) haswith shopkeepers and a neighbour who might be
gone up by 30% in rental and hardly anywilling to share some information with you. I'm sure
refurbishment has been done to it since! "That'syou'll have no problems getting a friendly neighbour
ridiculous" you say and believe it or not, I agree! Butto spill the beans on the house, its previous tenants
hey, I don't make the prices and if you think agentsand probably things you don't need to know about
benefit from that higher commission, that's only trueyour landlord. Welcome to Thailand!
when clients actually think these houses are worth
the price and that isn't always the case.2) Air conditioners
Check to see how many rooms have air-conditioning;
Renting a house in Sukhumvit, Silom or Sathorn.and how old the air-conditioners are. If you are
looking at an older house, chances are it will have
If you are looking to rent a house in the thethose big, old blocks that rumble every time you turn
Sukhumvit, Silom or Sathorn area, then the verythem on. These old air-conditioners consume a lot
minimum rental you are looking at is 30,000 bht for amore energy than a new one, and would greatly
BASIC 3 bedroom house. Even then, they are fewincrease your electricity bills. It is also unlikely that the
and far between in that range, and more often thanlandlord will install new air-conditioners for you unless
not are above 15 years old, with dark parquetthey are completely dead (even then they will always
flooring and lots of wooden built-ins which manytry to revive the monster before even considering
people find dark and depressing.replacing it), so make sure that they are serviced and
cleaned before you move in or if you got a good
Most people prefer something a little brighter anddeal on the rent, invest in some new airconditioners!
contemporary. That would mean newer houses
between 1 - 5 years old and these start around3) Water Pressure
45,000 bht. Depending on the location, size,Now this is important. Always check that there is a
décor, facilities etc. these can go up towater pump. Then check the water pressure on the
anything from 150,000 - 250,000 baht per month. Forupper floors to make sure the pump has enough
that price, please do not accept anything less than apower to deliver a decent jet of shower. I've learnt
spectacular, resort-like villa with a private pool!from experience that size does not necessarily mean
No, but seriously, you do get what you pay for sopower when it comes to a water pump, and
be realistic when it comes to expectations andsometimes a 2nd pump needs to be installed to
budget. If you want something new and modern butensure constant deliverance of water into the house.
lack the budget, then move further away from the
city centre. Which also means further away from the4) Telephone lines
BTS line. Unfortunately, we cannot have it all andAgain, from experience it is in your best interest to
something's gotta give.check the phone lines to make sure that 1) you have
one and 2) it is working, because some areas (and
Generally, if you go further towards the end of thethis includes many areas in the Sukhumvit, Silom and
BTS line and beyond i.e. Mo Chit, Phayathai,Sathorn) do not have anymore available numbers and
Phrakanong, On Nut, Bangna, Srinakarin, Rangsit etc.you will have to join a looong waiting list to apply for
prices drop significantly and you get much bettera new one. Also, older houses above 10 years old
deals which are sometimes worth the extra timetend to be on the old, analog system which when
commuting.faulty, cannot be replaced unless the whole area is
re-cabled. No telephone lines = no internet. You don't
Is it possible to find a house for 15,000 bht?ever want to be caught in that situation!
Not many agencies deal with houses below 25,0005) Maintenance
bht. Just search the various property website inHouses within a secured compound will have what
Thailand and you will see that the minimum range forthey call "moo baan fee" or "community fee" which
houses are 25,000 - 30,000 bht, where the searchgoes into the maintenance of the estate i.e. security,
usually returns 0 - 5 results. Several reasons for that:pool and garden maintenance etc. This is usually
included in the asking rent. However, if you try
1) There are a lot less decent and rentable houses atnegotiating on the rent, then more often than not,
< 25,000 bht than there are at say, 50,000 bht.the landlord will exclude this from the rent and make
2) If there is, it is usually way out of town, far fromyou pay for it, so check to see what your rent
any BTS/MRT station.includes when you are signing the contract. This
3) Most people want to live in town, close to the cityranges between 20 - 45 bht per square metre. Thus,
centre, CBD or near a BTS/MRT station.the larger your house the more you pay! I currently
4) Apart from location, houses below 25,000 bht arepay 3,500 baht per month for my "moo baan fee" (I
usually older (thus old fashioned) and not verygot a 5000 bht reduction in rent, so it works out)
well-maintained, which makes it very hard to rent.and we have 24 hour security, a well-maintained
5) If a house is nice and decent with an asking rentcommon garden and a superb pool that is regularly
of 25,000 bht or less, some agents mark it up!cleaned, so I am happy.
Thus, it's hard to find nice, decent houses at 25,000