House Hunting in Phuket

The last time we were house hunting in a country where we didn't speak the language we were given an agent who ferried us around until we finally picked somewhere to live. We never met the landlord or spoke to them directly at all and we lived there for 2 years. This time it has been a very different experience. 

I am currently sat on what was the outdoor sofa which is now residing in the lounge (I'll explain later) and the rainy season has caught up with us forcing me away from the pool. We arrived in Phuket less than 3 weeks ago and within the first week we found somewhere to live. We gave ourselves 2 weeks and managed to do it in 1. As mentioned we didn't have an agent and this initially seemed somewhat bothersome. I had been directed to a couple of sites to search and get ideas and we were pretty sure we knew where we were going.

From all of our research we discovered a couple of housing communities close to school with a tiny gym and pool. They even had a hot yoga studio on site and this really appealed to me. I loathe the drive to school. It includes the busiest road, the silly blocked off roundabout and 2 U-turns. The fact that we only want to have 1 car also meant that living near school would be good for Adam as I could leave him with the car. 

School advised us to basically drive around Phuket and go into housing areas, look for "for rent" signs and phone the number. We started near school and called a few numbers. The houses were generic and quite cramped with hideous, cheap, white flat pack furniture. The pool was practically a paddling pool and the gym had 2 treadmills, 2 elepticals, a small amount of weights and room for a stick insect to walk behind them. Also, every house was over budget and we weren't in love. No cafe, restaurant or beach in walking distance at all. 

The search continued with an agent sending us photos of a house that was a little over budget with its own pool that looked incredible. We set up a viewing and it was quite a shock. There were about 20 tiles missing from the pool, the roof of the gazebo was still bare building paper on the inside, the kitchen cupboards were hanging off, the furniture was covered in cat hair and was horribly aged, beaten and uncared for. The location was a random side road just off my most hated road with maye another house somewhere down there. Pretty isolated.

Continuing on we drove into a housing complex next to Wat thep wanaram and Anthem Wakepark. It's about 15 minutes to school and 5-10minutes to the nearest beach. We drove round and found a house for rent. Sadly it was already taken, but the agent said they could show us another in the same compound the next day. We continued checking out the houses and found another for rent. It was still available and the landlord lived a 1 minute walk away. Hideous bar in the kitchen, bizarre cupcake bed covers in the guest bedroom, oversized lounge furniture, an oven, pool, and some shocking paint used on the gate and all trimmings in the house. Not as overbudget and a good location with lots of roadside reataurants in walking distance, not to mention the wakepark being walking distnce.

It turned the agent wanted to show us the house we had seen with the landlord and charge a higher price in rent. So, instead of viewing it again with them they took us to a crazy overbudget show home style house with pool in Bangtao. The property was stunning. It was the best house on the block by a long way, perhaps too far. There was a garden opposite that was full of trash and several run down houses. Add the story of a friend of a friends dog sadly not surviving living in Bangtao due some people having very strong beliefs against dogs guided by a religion, this was a no go.

The same agent took us to a beautiful holiday home in Laguna. I stress holiday home. Again it was show home esque with lovely finishes and great attention to detail. Sadly you could only maybe hang 20 shirts up in the master bedroom and there was no other storage. The pool had two sunbeds in single file next to it as that was it for the space outside. This was also the best house on the block and directly outside the front door a neighbouring property had chickens and a rooster scratching around. Despite the locks and doors this tiny pot hole riddled road didn't feel like the right location for this beautiful holiday home.

We were limited on properties due to our Labradoodle and the budget was another issue. The school budget is generous, but you need to spend all of it to get all of it. Basically there is no point in going under budget. Inspired by the "House Hunters International" we decided to have an incredibly staged conversation walking along the beach to make our decision for the imaginary camera crew.

"We've seen X properties. I think we need to start by ruling one out. Which one would you rule out?"

Agree to rule out the same one.

Discuss pros and cons of the remaining properties.

Each state their choice and normally it is the same.

Hug.

So, we decided to negotiate with our one landlord direct property as he had another viewing and we wanted to get in quick! During negotiations we somehow managed to get the best internet package in Phuket thrown in and cable TV saving ourselves 2000THB a month. Not quite sure how, but that was great. We get the pool cleaned 3 times a week too. We were concerned about the furnitre and that has proved negotiable as just today we had the lounge set and obselete TV unit removed. Sadly the bar is not going anywhere.