By Clayton Wade

Managing Director

Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd.

clayton@premierinternational.com

I wrote that “Just about everyone in Pattaya knows of Silverlake and these days most Bangkokians have heard of Silverlake and Thais from every corner of the Kingdom arrive in cars, vans and buses every day.”
Well, Phoenix Golf Club is right up there with Silverlake in being one of the most notable areas on the Eastern Seaboard and, as I mentioned in that last column, I have witnessed incredible progress at Silverlake throughout the past year. I couldn’t help but also notice all of the strong interest shown by developers inside the Phoenix Golf Club and surrounding areas.
The most recent home design and construction entries inside Phoenix are large and luxurious, with two of the three being in their final stages and very near completion. One of the homes is a large two-story with super-high ceilings, the concrete- and steel-structured exterior is of modern design. The second home to make its entry as the latest ‘Dream Home’ there has a large, stately, traditional feel to it and at the same time the  exterior design has a number of eye-catching design elements.
Yes, including Songland Company’s luxurious Tadarawadi serviced estate homes with modern Thai accents and Oriental with South East Asian interior design elements, these three large and luxurious estate homes are unveiling the Phoenix Golf Club as a major player in the ‘where would you really like to live’ category.
All three homes are, well let’s say ‘million dollar plus’ estates and amongst the finer homes here on the Eastern Seaboard.
Now, on to the ‘Phoenix Effect’ and what we are seeing today surrounding the Phoenix Golf Club.
In fact there are about seven or more developments that I know of with all of them directly adjacent to Phoenix and within a very close distance.
Literally, these fine developments are either right next to the club or directly across the street, making them all club-area residences looking to cash in on the ‘Phoenix Lifestyle’ and the wonderful country living available so close to Pattaya and all of the fun and activities of the city.
There are a number of  well done housing developments surrounding Phoenix, with John and A Sarginson’s Phoenix Lakeside definitely being one.
Jon Sarginson, with a wealth of experience in design, construction and engineering, has  constructed and engineered a gorgeous lake with a full-size, two-lane bridge–with salas on both sides–that goes right across the center of the lake.
Great concept and a fantastic addition to the area’s fine housing developments.
Louis Lee has a nice luxury home development called ‘Nam Talay’ that is right at the bottom (south side) entrance to Phoenix Golf Club. The first home is a magnificent and huge estate with Thai design accents and materials all of marble, granite, teak and other hardwoods and, yes, a member of the ‘Million Dollar Home Club’ for sure!
Next down the road is a newer development called the ‘Royal Phoenix’ with nice home design concepts for the affordable market and those that thought that they could not afford to live next to Phoenix Golf Club.
Just a short drive further around the golf club you will come to the Phoenix Palms development, the creation of Jack Pinkney and Peter Lewis–two of the more personable developers in the area. Both are incredibly passionate about doing absolutely everything right, and then some!
Phoenix Palms is a small (about 6 luxury boutique homes) development with all homes featuring lovely swimming pools and gorgeously landscaped gardens.
Jack and Peter have managed to design and decorate these fine homes inside and out to look like expensive properties but, again, you will be surprised by the reasonable pricing. I would say that the Phoenix Palms is another affordable housing development for those that want to live the high life and be in the beautiful countryside near the golf club.
Starting directly in front and across the street from the entrance to Phoenix Golf Club is an astonishing mansion which many of us thought was an apartment building for many months until it became evident that it was a huge and impressive three-story mansion with equally tall pillars on each side of the entrance way.
Definitely a member of the ‘Million Dollar Home Club’, although in this case I suspect many millions of dollars!
Speaking of many millions of dollars, right next door and down just a couple hundred meters is Louis Lee again and his latest luxury development ‘Grand Villas’ with four mega-luxury villas already sold to wealthy Chinese investors.
As you can see from the road side sign, the homes are huge and stately designs with the first mansion’s cement shell almost completed. Rumors are flying that this impressive estate has been sold for more than 100 million baht!
Now, as if the Phoenix Golf Club area needed additional signs of approval, it was just revealed that one of the Eastern Seaboard’s finest and most experienced developers, Eddy Tracy of the popular El Grande and Santa Maria Developments, has signed on with Geoff Bowers to build about nine super-luxury designed homes adjacent to Louis Lee’s ‘Grand Villas’ in front of the Phoenix Golf Club entrance.
These exciting Eddy Tracy development–the latest in the Phoenix area–is called Cielo Del Sur. It will be a major player in the area’s near future.
Just thinking about these multimillion-dollar mansions and estates starting to surround the golf club cannot help but make you ask yourself just what is ahead for the club itself with so much land available and so much interest developing. There’s sure to be a great future for the Phoenix Golf Club.

Our very special thanks to Clayton Wade, managing director of Pattaya’s Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd. for preparing this Pattaya Today Newspaper report.

Clayton Wade has been running the Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd. with his wife, Khun Supap for over 15 years.

Clayton Wade has been in the real estate industry going on 25 years. Having started his real estate career in the United States, he was licensed and practiced both real estate sales and property management in Seattle.

He was personally responsible for bringing in the first 53 General Motors executives for the ‘start up phase’ of Thailand’s General Motors manufacturing facility and had a three year exclusive with the company. Following that experience he placed most all of the ‘start up’ executives for the Eastern Seaboard’s BMW manufacturing facility.

Clayton Wade is known throughout the Asia-Pacific region for his writing, public speaking and television presentations including his appearing as the ‘resident real estate consultant’ for Thailand’s ‘Property Profile Show’. His many accomplishments in promoting Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard real estate industry include having been a guest speaker with several of Thailand’s top political and business figures on CNBC’s Managing Asia program.

Premier Homes is Pattaya’s leader in exclusive property sales and rentals, which may be seen by visiting their website at: www.premierinternational.com Clayton Wade may be contacted by telephone at +(66) (81) 634-2915 or by email at: clayton@premierinternational.com

by Guy Van Harten BSc (Hons)

One of the most difficult things people face when currently starting up in real estate is keeping up with the pace of technological advancement. As recently as five years ago, it seemed as if there was very little innovation in real estate technology. However, at present it feels as if there is a new release almost every week and the pace of development is blistering.
For entrepreneurs with small development teams and shoestring budgets, this can cause anxiety-filled days and sleepless nights!
Real estate agents and developers looking to sell homes and condominiums now have to account for a wide range of operating systems and formats including iOS, Android and Windows. There are now tools such as Docusign and DotLoop which are digital transaction hubs that connect people and documents in real time and make traditional paper real estate transactions a thing of the past. There is also Cloud CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) which allows agents to create very detailed and highly stylized reports used to determine the fair market value of a home. Many of these technologies are only used in North America and Europe, but there is no question that over time, they will emerge in Asian markets including Thailand.
The North American real estate market in particular is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with a large drive away from traditional broker-client relationships towards online databases such as Zillow, Trulia and EListit. These real estate start-ups are relatively new–all launched around 2005–and have made it much easier for homebuyers to search real-estate listings. All three are fed listing information from real estate agents and sellers, and all offer a relatively slick interface where users can filter search results and view them on a map.
Zillow in particular is extremely interesting as it uses an algorithm to produce what it calls ‘Zestimates’, whereby any home is given an estimated market value which is calculated from public and user submitted data. Although these websites have been around since 2005, the last one or two years have resulted in tremendous strides in terms of new features and implemented technology.
What are the coolest new tools to use?  The real estate industry has leveraged a wide spectrum of technologies. One of the latest apps developed by consulting company 1000Watt is known as ‘Nudge’, a web-based marketing tool which enables real estate professionals to share their market knowledge with their client database and to stand out from the crowd while doing so. 1000Watt discovered that consumers not only rarely read marketing information from real estate agents, but the relationship ends up degraded over time as consumers react negatively to long lists of arbitrary stats and endless charts. With Nudge, an agent can spend a minute creating a laser-focused report and a consumer can spend a second looking at the email and getting an instant pulse on their market.
One of the latest pieces of software which is of particular use to recently certified or freelance agents is known as the Mobile Realty Site Creator App. The app provides agents with the power to create mobile web pages for their listings. This free service gets rid of the initial need to hire a web designer, saving an agent valuable time and money. This app is free from any monthly subscription or charge; all that is required is the creation of an online account and uploading of the photos for each individual listing. It also has the ability to generate and download corresponding QR codes, which can be placed onto print advertising such as fliers, signs or posters. This allows potential buyers to use their smartphones to access the mobile sites instantly, providing them with immediate information and details about the unit they are interested in.
Some of you may be wondering why all of this technology is important. After all, the nature of real-estate transactions has not changed much over the years–with traditional broker-client relationships still dominating the marketplace. I believe there will always be room for this traditional relationship to thrive under the right circumstances, yet I also believe that changing demographics must be factored into the wider context. Society is approaching a time where ‘Millennials’ (those aged 16-34) are approaching their peak spending capacity and are beginning to outnumber the traditional ‘Baby Boomers’. Millennials are typified by their use of smartphones, their reliance on using the internet as a tool to conduct business and research, as well as their engagement of a variety of social media.
All of which means that real estate professionals will need to engage the latest technology in order to capture an increasingly sophisticated audience. Those agents who resist the advancement of technological change run the risk of being swept aside by a growing consumer base that are willing to take matters into their own hands and conduct their real estate requirements independently of traditional brokers.

Pattaya has gained significantly from Bangkok’s problems and the epic floods of 2011. The subsequent arrival of Bangkok property developers and a whole new group of willing property buyers are injecting billions of baht into the city.
Bangkok-based companies that have started projects in the Pattaya and Jomtien areas include:
*Blue Sky Development, with their 1,038-unit Atlantis Condo Resort, 90 percent sold in five months. They now plan to launch a second project in South Pattaya with 1,200 units in June.
*Q House has launched its first condominium project, offering units priced lower than 3 million baht in Central Pattaya.
*Raimon Land launched its first low-budget condo project Unixx, in South Pattaya with condos priced lower than 3 million baht.
* LPN Development, after its success last year, has launched its latest condominium project, Lumpini Ville Naklua-Wongamat.
*Sena Development plans to launch a condominium-serviced apartment and shopping centre project.
* Boutique Asset Management Ltd., another Bangkok-based developer, have purchased land in South Pattaya and have plans to develop their first Pattaya condominium project in 2012.

Why the sudden rush to build in Pattaya?
Until 2011 most condo units below 3 million baht were being developed by foreign-owned development companies who were mainly targeting foreign buyers, investors who found the 1 to 3 million baht investments attractive options to the banks and stock market offerings. But their problem has always been, only 49 percent of units could be sold in foreign names, 51 percent had to be sold to Thai individuals or Thai companies, these foreign owned developers were not as experienced to sell to the Thai market or as well placed with attractive Thai finance plans as some of their Bangkok-based competition.

The Local Thai Market
Pattaya City is growing exponentially and this has bought new residents to the area, many middleclass professionals and merchant business people who require reasonable quality homes, many of the buyers come from this market. Blue Sky teamed up with LH Bank to offer attractive Thai finance plans, mortgages and a profile of financial security that Thai buyers found appealing.

The Exodus
During October and November of last year thousands of Bangkokians were exiled from their flooded homes and businesses; the experience for many of them was a horror story seeing their homes and possessions destroyed by the slow but unstoppable torrents.
The exodus went in all directions as people headed back to friends and family homes up country, but many escaped to Pattaya looking for cheap short-term accommodation. The ‘new’ Pattaya, now just two hours drive away and boasting a Central shopping mall and a Hilton equal to anything in Bangkok, with a huge stock of quality accommodation was an easy choice for those with the money to rent a hotel, villa or condo, plus it’s close enough to do trips back and forth while also providing some city comforts. Jomtien, with its more seaside qualities and beautiful beaches just a few minutes away, has also been developed significantly in the last few years and gave the many of the visitors, who had old maybe negative preconceptions from years past about Pattaya and Jomtien, a pleasant surprise and changed some minds.

Investing in Pattaya and Jomtien
This surge of interest in Pattaya and Jomtien from Thais, especially Bangkok-based developers who provide attractive purchase plans for Thais and foreigners has stimulated the market, increased confidence in the investment opportunities these developments provide, the Thai banks are investing, private investment is rising, buyers continue to buy, so it appears the future of Pattaya is a prosperous one.

By Clayton Wade

Managing Director

Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd.

clayton@premierinternational.com

It was exactly one year ago when I wrote an article with the title “The Silverlake Effect.”

I wrote: “Just about everyone in Pattaya knows of Silverlake…and these days, most Bangkokians have heard of Silverlake and Thais from every corner of the Kingdom arrive in cars, vans and buses everyday.”

Just a few years back Silverlake was just a local watering hole and reservoir known only to local Thais. A year later I have witnessed incredible progress at Silverlake throughout the year with some impressive construction having completed a lake system including bridges being the centerpiece for a grand outdoor shopping and restaurant experience.
At Silverlake you can now see the vision unfolding at the helm of  Surachai Tangjaitrong and his lovely wife, Thailand’s legendary movie star Supansa.
Even with all the great things going on at Silverlake over the past year, I couldn’t help but notice strong interest in the Phoenix Golf Club and surrounding areas. In fact there are about eight developments that I know of with all of them just off the golf course and within a close distance of the lovely fairways at Phoenix Golf Club.
Two of the most recent entries as home design and construction inside Phoenix Golf Club are both very large and luxurious with both being in their final stages and very near completion.
One of the homes is a large two story with super high ceilings and the concrete and steel structures exterior is of modern design. It is in its final stages and is now having its designed interior completed with services and installations.
The second home to make its entry as the latest ‘dream home’ inside Phoenix Golf Club has a large, stately, traditional feel to it and at the same time the home’s exterior design has a number of eye-catching design elements.
It was funny at the beginning as the home honestly looked like a small boutique hotel including tall, stately pillars in its front entrance way.
Now that this grand vision is complete, it is just a really impressive home that is really a pleasure to look at.
If the interior design is even close to matching the structural and landscaping design execution for this home, we have an absolute winner here. Well done, family!
Yes, including Songland Company’s Luxurious Tadarawadi Serviced Estate homes with modern Thai accents and Oriental with South East Asian interior design elements, these three large and luxurious estate homes are unveiling the Phoenix Golf Club as a major player in the ‘where would you really like to live’ category.

Outside the Phoenix Golf Club
Where did Silverlake get its name? From a true visionary who knew, the first time he laid eyes on those rolling hills just off Buddha Mountain (Kaow Chee Chan), he had seen something incredibly special.
Before even one grape seed was planted in the ground, that visionary and his wife, Surachai and Supansa, were planning their future. That plan or dream if you will, was to develop Chonburi’s first vineyards and winery.
Since that time, only a few years back, they have created one of the premier family destinations in Thailand.
To date, hundreds of rai have been planted with a dozen varieties of table grapes, which are on sale at the famous Silverlake viewing salas, together with Silverlake wines, fresh grape juice, grape jams and other snack items.
Silverlake has also become a major music venue, having hosted the likes of Canada’s well known jazz vocalist Irene Atman, Texas blues singer and winner of the famous John Handy Award, Gray Gregson, and several fabulous wine dinners featuring top Thai and international classical musicians in concert.
Yes, Silverlake has had some impressive musicians and singers grace the stage of their amphitheater and beautiful Tuscan-style Italian restaurant, the Silverlake Bar & Grill, but just recently they outdid themselves with the one-night appearance of world renowned Japanese New Age musician Kitaro.
Yes, Saturday night March 26 was the night the Silverlake Vineyards presented Kitaro live at Silverlake World Tour 2011 (Thailand) and it was an absolutely enchanting experience from the impressive surround sound system, the stars above and the rolling hills surrounding the audience.
It was while sitting there that I began thinking of just how far Silverlake had come in only about 6 to 8 years, which made me realize just how much Silverlake’s success and popularity are affecting the real estate sector in Bangsarey and Na Jomtien.
There are a number of housing developments near Silverlake in the Bangsarey and Na Jomtien areas, but there are a few developments that are sure to be major players in the residential property development game in tandem with the successes of Silverlake.
Just around the corner from Silverlake on the shortcut to Wat Yan is an impressive development called the Silverhill-Residence, which is on a hillside overlooking its own lake, Wat Yan and the ocean beaches in the distance.
Silverhill-Residence features 30 contemporary-design villas on more than 30 rai–47,000 square meters–of land.
In the words of the developer, “Garden living is the motto of Silverhill-Residence, where you may choose between a plot with breathtaking views or a land plot that borders on the lake”.
With residents well being as a top priority, the Silverhill-Residence strives to release its residents from the burden of everyday chores with their comprehensive service package including daily maid service, laundry service including washing and ironing, gardening service, pool maintenance, house caretaking and property maintenance, car valet and chauffeur service and, of course, 24-hour security.
Another large, high-end residential development of several hundred rai of land is the  secluded and private estate known as Buraran, which is located on the rolling slopes of the Bangsarey Hills with its fabulous sea views over Bang Saray Village and the scenic islands in the distance.
The Buraran project consists of connecting waterways and lakes and is encircled by a tree-lined ring road with a system of cul-de-sacs defining individual house plots.
Buraran also features an impressive clubhouse with swimming pools, two tennis courts, guest rooms and a wonderful open air bar and grill surrounded by some of the nicest luxury homes on the Eastern Seaboard.
Poised for success, the owner/developers of Buraran have courted many investors and developers over the past few years while Silverlake has been growing and surly Buraran is right in line to share in the area’s success in the very near future. which is also built on a gorgeous 400 rai plot of land up against the Buraran Hills.
The developers of Ban Ping Pah feature well-designed homes for country living with all the amenities of modern living.
Yes, while lying there looking up at the stars and listening to Kitaro’s New Age melodies, I realized that Silverlake is really leading the way for an explosion of residential, commercial and entertainment accommodations.
Less than ten years ago there was no Silverlake, no grape vines, and no grapes!
Today we have a Tuscan style Italian restaurant, a bed & breakfast called ‘The Movie House’ and a 100-rai water park under construction.
In less than ten years I’m betting we see a small town called Silverlake–complete with more restaurants, hotels and several residential developments.
Whether you think of it as the magic of Buddha Mountain (Kaow Chee Chan) or the beauty of the gorgeous hills and pristine lake, we locals call it the ‘Silverlake Effect’!

Our very special thanks to Clayton Wade, managing director of Pattaya’s Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd. for preparing this Pattaya Today Newspaper report.
Clayton Wade has been running the Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd. with his wife, Khun Supap for over 15 years.
Clayton Wade has been in the real estate industry going on 25 years. Having started his real estate career in the United States, he was licensed and practiced both real estate sales and property management in Seattle.
He was personally responsible for bringing in the first 53 General Motors executives for the ‘start up phase’ of Thailand’s General Motors manufacturing facility and had a three year exclusive with the company. Following that experience he placed most all of the ‘start up’ executives for the Eastern Seaboard’s BMW manufacturing facility.

Clayton Wade is known throughout the Asia-Pacific region for his writing, public speaking and television presentations including his appearing as the ‘resident real estate consultant’ for Thailand’s ‘Property Profile Show’. His many accomplishments in promoting Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard real estate industry include having been a guest speaker with several of Thailand’s top political and business figures on CNBC’s Managing Asia program.

Premier Homes is Pattaya’s leader in exclusive property sales and rentals, which may be seen by visiting their website at: www.premierinternational.com Clayton Wade may be contacted by telephone at +(66) (81) 634-2915 or by email at: clayton@premierinternational.com

Wouldn’t it be great to travel light every time you embark on your journey to Pattaya from your homeland? Many visitors have already discovered just how great the feeling is to arrive at their own condo and be surrounded with all their creature comforts right here. With condos priced from as little as a family car, this opportunity is possible to achieve for many–and that could mean you too!
You could arrive after your long-haul flight to your second home with everything in place the moment you step into your condo from clothes to all your other creature comforts. It’s the perfect start to your vacation. Maybe you like to cook for yourself, and so with your own condo you can equip the kitchen to your required specifications.
What’s more, when you buy off-plan you are also investing in a property that stands to appreciate as time goes on. The reality is if you ever sell your condo you may very well find that this equates to free accommodation during that time and still end up making some extra profit on top. That is a very tempting proposition indeed.
Pattaya offers a location for every type of need and visitor from Jomtien, Pratamanak, Central to Naklua, and we are also seeing condominium developments emerging in East Pattaya, which is very much becoming a town in itself.  The condo for you does exist here in the ‘City of Variety’, so the only question remaining to be answered is could Pattaya become your second home?

By Clayton Wade

Managing Director

Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd.

clayton@premierinternational.com

As most can imagine, Pattaya is a very difficult and at times almost impossible place to succeed employing good and honest business practices, and if anyone would like to argue that point I’ll wager my 17 years doing business here in Pattaya gladly in a responsible and intelligent discussion.

I have been publishing editorials on our real estate industry here for well over a decade and for any of you that know me and/or my writing, you have noticed a complete turn around in my style and content over the past couple years.
Yes, Clayton Wade has for some time now been writing one wonderful and positive editorial after another about our fantastic real estate industry market.
Those of you who have been around for awhile remember differently and know me well as a person that likes to dig deep and bring to light what is really going on in the Pattaya real estate scene, but unfortunately my digging deep has been taken as attacking by some in powerful places and my bringing to light has been criticized as exposing, and for this I have paid dearly, believe me!
I have been finessed from no less that two local real estate magazines, which often can be found at the less than super store on Central Road.
In one instance I was extorted by one of the largest ‘projecting developers’, and in the last instance by my own fellow (as if we are a brotherhood?) real estate brokers here in Pattaya.
In fact, one local real estate broker managed to extort another well known publisher by threatening that ‘all his fellow brokers’ would pull their advertising if they let me publish my editorials in their magazine.
As said earlier, not many in our real estate industry want truth and/or consumer awareness. It’s just not welcome here in Pattaya!
Pointing out the pitfalls within our real estate industry is perceived as a threat to advertising sales in the minds of most publishers, and even the brokers and developers avoid it like the plague.
Admittedly, one must have pure intentions and not be merely ‘attracting attention’ and/or ‘grand standing’ when drawing attention to the financial hazards that exist within our real estate industry from time to time.
That is precisely why I am writing this particular editorial now.
I have always been bullish about our real estate industry here on the Eastern Seaboard of Thailand and in general, I am sure I will continue to be so for many years, but I feel it is my journalistic duty to draw attention to market indicators.
Having said that and after a good year and a half of upbeat and positive editorials about our local real estate industry, I am starting to see some, let’s say, interesting warning signs or at least cautionary signals appearing within the real estate market.
On the one hand we are seeing an unprecedented amount of condominium construction going on all over Pattaya and the Eastern Seaboard and it appears as if there is no end in sight, but I am really starting to wonder about a few things I am seeing out there on the market place.
We are seeing all kinds of marketing pitches as the competition is obviously getting pretty fierce out there.
Those luxury condominium developments that have had at least nine months to a year head-start have done very well, with a good number of them selling extremely well and a couple almost immediate sellouts, and for them all is well.
What about today’s field of condo development challengers? What is the sales market’s environment like for them?
We are seeing all kinds of special offers like…how about a brand new automobile! We are seeing special payment terms and discounts; we’re seeing ‘Free Furniture’ packages, and let’s not forget our real estate brokers with offers from one developer offering a free condominium apartment for the best sales agent.
What really caught my eye and provoked my attention most recently was the mobile signboards I have seen lately driving around town with ‘30 percent Below Developers Pricing’ written across the reader board.
At first I thought that this is incredible. Secondly I asked myself how can this be? And finally I just had to ask, “What does this mean for our current real estate market”?
First and foremost, this is incredible and the particular condominium apartments they are offering are in one of the very finest buildings in Pattaya, but just how can a company be selling condominium apartments 30 percent below developer’s prices?
In a very hot property market the likes of which we have seen here in Pattaya over the past year and a half, it is quite easy.
It all starts in many cases with very high commission rates that are 50 percent to double the already generous amount Eastern Seaboard brokers already charge, which can inflate the selling prices by 5 percent to 10 percent easily, but attain the goal of increased sales.
Next, in the wake of those increased sales a smart condominium developer will raise their selling prices another 5 percent to 10 percent upon selling a certain percentage of condominium units and again after a certain percentage of sales more.
What we have seen is investors coming in early and picking up prime units at incredible early bird prices followed by robust sales producing one, two and sometimes three tiers of sales price increases.
Between the developers and the early bird investors it’s a win win situation as the developers gain significant sales momentum and the investors obviously are getting a great product at highly reduced prices.
It is a good marriage between developers and investors–as long as the market remains strong!
I say that because, let’s face it, it is a real estate Ponzi scheme of sorts isn’t it?
By that I mean that this sort of marketing is fantastic and self sustaining as long as it produces investment returns for both parties.
So far so good as the Eastern Seaboard condominium market has been very good for a good one to two years now.
My main point in this entire dissertation has been that these are also the very signs that start appearing when a market begins to slow down, when investments fail to produce ‘expected’ returns.
I have said on a number of occasions that I see the Eastern Seaboard of Thailand developing well for many years to come with no periods of being over built and no real end of construction, but that there are going to be those hot sales periods and some market slow downs in condominium development.
What we are seeing today may simply be a period of slowing a bit or possibly a post-boom price adjustment period, but one thing is for sure, there are some great deals on offer out there in the condominium market and shopping for condominiums in the ‘Land of Smiles’ has never been better!

Our very special thanks to Clayton Wade, managing director of Pattaya’s Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd. for preparing this Pattaya Today Newspaper report.
Clayton Wade has been running the Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd. with his wife, Khun Supap for over 15 years.
Clayton Wade has been in the real estate industry going on 25 years. Having started his real estate career in the United States, he was licensed and practiced both real estate sales and property management in Seattle.
He was personally responsible for bringing in the first 53 General Motors executives for the ‘start up phase’ of Thailand’s General Motors manufacturing facility and had a three year exclusive with the company. Following that experience he placed most all of the ‘start up’ executives for the Eastern Seaboard’s BMW manufacturing facility.

Clayton Wade is known throughout the Asia-Pacific region for his writing, public speaking and television presentations including his appearing as the ‘resident real estate consultant’ for Thailand’s ‘Property Profile Show’. His many accomplishments in promoting Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard real estate industry include having been a guest speaker with several of Thailand’s top political and business figures on CNBC’s Managing Asia program.

Premier Homes is Pattaya’s leader in exclusive property sales and rentals, which may be seen by visiting their website at: www.premierinternational.com Clayton Wade may be contacted by telephone at +(66) (81) 634-2915 or by email at: clayton@premierinternational.com

If you are going to do business in Pattaya City, you better be able to think on your feet.  The local market is constantly evolving and nowhere is this more evident than in residential real estate sales–particularly condominiums. Developers are practically falling over themselves in order to get their latest promotion out to the public, coupling aggressive strategic policies with aggressive marketing campaigns. The recurring theme running through the strategy and the advertising copy is the issue of pricing, with the burgeoning low-cost condo sector seeing unit prices being slashed with alarmingly regular frequency. Yet are the critical decisions to reduce prices based on sound economic principals, or are we looking at an unsustainable business model with potentially dire consequences?
The timeframe for everything I am referring to is, in fact, a very short one. Less than four years ago Pattaya was introduced to one-million-baht advertisements for units from a prominent local developer (which are now considered prehistoric), and less than one year ago the current wave of 799,000-baht units appeared on the market from another local developer in direct competition with the former. Since then, a handful of copycat developments have popped up with similar pricing in an effort to cash in on the current craze–with most of the developers offering units fully furnished as an additional incentive to the buyer.
In the battle to capture the customer, companies use a wide range of tactics to ward off competitors. Increasingly, price is the weapon of choice – and frequently the skirmishing degenerates into a price war. ‘War’ is an appropriate word since, like conventional warfare, it leaves lots of casualties and rarely does anybody really win. Creating low-price appeal is often the goal, but the result of one retaliatory price slashing after another is often a precipitous decline in industry profits. With the onset of ever-increasing land, labour and material prices in Thailand, there is a concern that some developers are engaging in a logic-defying price war in order to apply what is perceived to be a quick and easy solution to squabbles over market share. Competing strictly on price without adding to aggregate output is equivalent to a zero-sum game–in other words, companies are focusing on capturing existing value instead of innovating and creating new value.
There are, however, several mitigating factors which should be acknowledged before fully condemning low-cost condominium developers and their pricing strategies. First and foremost, although advertised prices have reduced dramatically over a very short space of time, likewise so have the respective unit sizes themselves. Whereas five years ago roughly 30-35 square meters was considered a studio, today this figure is roughly 20-25 square meters in new developments–and no prizes for guessing that smaller units = lower prices.  Additionally, with the relatively recent introduction of resort-style complexes with hundreds of units, many developers are calculating profit based on sheer sales volume.
What are the consequences of a cost-leadership approach from developers? Although prices may be cheaper temporarily, there are several long-term implications of engaging in a price war. One of the most significant being that a price-cutting company develops a reputation for being low-priced and this reputation may cast doubt on the quality and image of other products under the umbrella brand as well as the quality of future products. When the product in question is being marketed as a luxury condominium, it is easy to understand why this implication is a concern to the market. Furthermore, drastic price-cutting has a major impact on other players in the market whose self-interest may be harmed by lower prices. Fewer competitors results in greater price control for a select few companies which in turn results in higher prices for the buyer in the long-term. Finally and most ominously, should developers cut profit margins too finely through improper costing they could be left brutally exposed to any significant change in the economic landscape, which would have a devastating impact on the local real estate market.
The alternative to competing solely on price is for developers to create value and to differentiate their products from the rest of the market. An example of this would be for a developer to deliver a project on schedule and to then build awareness in the market emphasizing their track record in completing work on time. Alternatively, a developer could compete on quality by offering an extended warranty on component parts within the units and emphasize the potential performance risks of buying from a competitor. Another idea would be for a developer to form a strategic partnership with a supplier and offer an exclusive item or service to the buyer.
In any case, the solution lies in innovation and adding value–increasing the size of the market is often more important than increasing your individual stake. Fighting a protracted war on price is not the way forward.  As Sun Tzu states, “For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue an enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.”

by Dan Cheeseman
condominiumpattaya.com

Here, there and everywhere–that’s the life of a condo agent in Pattaya from shopping centres and markets to flyers under windscreens. No place too big, no place too small, wherever you look there is a smiling face and a brochure to view. I playfully joke, but in truth it’s become a little excessive, don’t you think?
Good news is on the horizon as far as shopping centres go though. Central Festival Shopping Centre will be moving all the condominium agents onto the same floor and in the same area, which means as a shopper you don’t keep stumbling into one condo booth after another all throughout the centre. I am not being critical of the agents, but I do know about the importance of a good shopping experience for the customer and this, therefore, is a positive step for Central Festival shoppers. However great the condo market is here in Pattaya, it really spoils the shopping experience to see condo after condo on every floor.
I spoke to one developer earlier in the week and he said he signs between five and six new agent registrations a week and all of these are jumping on the bandwagon of putting a booth into a shopping centre in their efforts to sell a condo. We do live in a free market and have supply and demand economics, but this seems a little unhealthy. It is worth pointing out though that there are some very, very good agents in Pattaya that operate through booths in shopping centres, so don’t be discouraged, just be selective.
Now there is more good news among all this and that is as a customer looking to buy a condo there are many options, which means you get great value. The developers are continually improving their condo units and prices as they compete against each other, and the agents likewise have to compete against the stack of agents in this very saturated market. Good news for buyers.
Pattaya is hugely appealing at the moment for condo buyers; it’s a town in growth and the Tourism Authority of Thailand has targeted 13 percent growth in 2013. Rental investors step forward as this means more tourists wanting a place to stay. So do take the condo opportunity seriously. If you want to buy then do it, the signs look super encouraging for this city. If I can help in any way, visit condominiumpattaya.com or email me direct at dan@choicegroupasia.com. I work with all the key developers direct and, therefore, can present the whole condo market to you.