Pattaya Today had the pleasure of meeting Rob Watson, the Sales Director of 5-Star Villas & Condos, recently, to find out about his history in Pattaya and also as a property  specialist to get his impressions about the current property scene here in Pattaya. Rob came out here first on holiday over seven years ago and fell in love with the country and its people, like so many of us. Having made a decision to stay here in Pattaya, he next had to find suitable employment as after a short while his funds weren’t sufficient to survive without it. He had come from an accounting background in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, but decided a new tack, namely the property and real estate business, might be more suitable.

Rob of Five Star Villas.

One might have considered this step into the dark, so to speak, was a risk considering Rob’s relative lack of experience in property, at least the selling side of it, but he soon found he took to it like a fish to water. After working first for a well established real estate agent to gain experience, Rob branched out on his own. Rob told Pattaya Today that he had been consistently selling properties in the Bt10 million price bracket, which indicates how well he had adapted to his new found profession. He was also helped considerably in this respect by May, his Thai wife of five years, who had a property background herself and had always encouraged him.

Rob and May started 5-Star Villas & Condos about three years ago, first in Chateau Dale. Property people above all others well appreciate the importance of location and although Thappraya Road is a good place to have a business, the current ongoing lunacy with the road repairs which were initially supposed to have been finished in six months but have dragged on for three plus years, effectively stripping it of any advantage. The next venue for Five Star was Saraan House on Sukhumvit Road near South Pattaya Road. This proved a slightly better location, but when the opportunity came to move to the Village Shopping and Business Centre, Rob leapt at it.

Five Star Villas are situated in the Village Shopping Centre on Sukhumvit Road.

In terms of location and amenities, the Village is unsurpassed. Set in idyllic natural surroundings, replete with water features, verdancy, picturesque walkways, local restaurants and snack bars, a children’s adventure playground and more than ample parking, not to mention its eminent accessibility, one couldn’t wish for a better location for one’s business. The property business shares with other areas of high investment the need for calm and conscientious research and consideration, commonly known in the trade as ‘due diligence’ and as such the Village provides an absolutely perfect locale in which to do this. An interested customer can first browse through property brochures at their leisure, discuss the pros and cons of various properties and locations either in the Five Star office or the nearby cafe and then venture out to view and get a feel for the selection of properties that Rob has chosen for them to visit. On their return, they can once again calmly discuss all the options in a completely hassle-free environment, perfectly conducive to making informed decisions without feeling that they have been pressurized or cajoled, as they might well elsewhere. Rob has a fine-tuned customer sensibility.

Indeed, Rob’s philosophy is to go that extra mile, his motto being “exceeding our customers’ expectations”. If a customer is not completely satisfied with the choice of property Rob has provided, then he is prepared to approach the other real estate agents in his network, REBA-ES to find something that perfectly fits the customer’s requirements. This is the ultimate advantage of belonging to a professional organisation designed to mutually benefit both the customer and the practitioner. From the customer’s perspective, they have the assurance that they are working with an organisation founded on ethics, responsibility and credibility, whose members have themselves gone that extra mile to qualify themselves in their chosen field. Rob, himself, recently became CRS (Council of Residential Specialists) qualified, taking an intensive course with modules in Business Planning, Marketing, Negotiating Strategies, and Working with Clients. CRS works under the auspices of the American National Association of Realtors, a trade association recognized worldwide as one of the best in its field and one that confers true credibility on its members.

Rob confessed also that he does bask somewhat in the reflected glory of having a wife who is actually the President of REBA-ES. She can also provide all the necessary insight into the intricacies of the Thai legal system, so that between them they can provide an unparalleled service to their customers. The benefit of being a participant member of a professional organisation promoting mutual co-operation as opposed to cut-throat competition also confers many advantages, once again equally for the customer and the practitioner.

Pattaya Today was keen to discover Rob’s recent experiences of the Pattaya Property Market in these troubled times. After the roller-coaster ride which ended two years ago, he, like all the others in his profession, had to tighten his belt somewhat, following the disruption that the succession of ‘shirts’, first the Yellows and now the Reds have wreaked upon the economy in general and the property  industry in particular. March saw a recovery but April was in the doldrums, due to the combined effect of the Red-protest and Songkran, but May has definitely started to improve and he has high expectations for the rest of the month and June especially, particularly if a settlement is reached between the government and the Reds. He is very optimistic that the Pattaya Property Market will show definite improvements, which will have a beneficial knock-on effect for all of us here in Fun City.