Local knowledge

[Handsome Buddha]

Help!!!
We're coming to HH after xmas & we've been offerred a villa on Avalon1.
However, the villa isn't finished yet but the contractor has promised the owner that it'll be ready by mid November???
What do you reckon to the reliability of the completion date?
Does anybody know what state the development will be in by xmas? will it stilll be a building site & are we likeley to be woken by the sound of drills & saws?

[Guess]

Don't rely on it. Don't part with any money and have a contigency plan. I don't know this estate especially but many are delayed. There are a loyt of people on this forum who a fairly clued on in the situation.
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G

[caller]

Whether the particular villa is finished or not, the rest will be a building site. Search for Avalon on the site, theres plenty here - lots positive - but its only just releasing places.
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I know nothing

[DawnHRD]

Always mentally add some time to the time you're promised anything by in LOS. Never expect anything to be ready by the time you're told it will be! That's "Thai time" for you!
And, if, by some miracle the item (in this case, your villa) is ready on time, you'll be pleasantly surprised!
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"The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But, can they suffer?" - Jeremy Bentham, philosopher, 1748-1832

Make a dog's life better, today!

[Handsome Buddha]

Thanks for confirming my fears. I'd seen some of the postings regarding the development on here that aroused my suspicions, so I can't really say that your answers were a surprise.
Always good to hear it from the horses mouth though!

[Jaime]

Another point to mention is that the developer's understanding of what is meant by 'finished' may be quite different from your understanding of it. That was certainly the case when we arrived at our 'finished' property.

I wouldn't stay in a brand new property unless the owner has already been in, snagged it and had any remedial work completed. Do you want to run the risk of spending Christmas or new year with no electricity, water etc?
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"The man who never made a mistake never did bugger all" - Old Welsh proverb

"Why limit yourself to the death of a crummy celery stalk when you can eat a giraffe?" - PWEETA

[Rob W]

owners on this development and camalot next door have just had letters to say this will not be open until January 2007 due to problems with the power supply.
temporay measures will be put in place if needed but they are lible to disruption.

[johnnyk]

At this time there is only one house in Camelot and very few in Avalon 1 that are actually being lived in.
So the house may be ready at Xmas but there will be construction going on around you.
Power and water supplies at this time are subject to interruption.
Completion (by the builder) is not the same as ready for occupancy. Completon means it is ready to be fitted out by kitchen builders, furniture bought etc etc
[ Edited - no real estate websites please ]

[Handsome Buddha]

Thanks for your help folks.
It turns out that the electricity hasn't gone in, now 3 months overdue, & it's more likeley to be Easter before the property will be ready for occupation.
I don't know about Hua Hin after dark, it would've been Hua hin in the dark!
We've managed to find an alternative, so we'll still be over at christmas to enjoy all that Hua Hin has to offer. Bring it on!

[Craig]

This is unfortunately an all to common story, someone invests in a relatively small developer on the promise that the house will be finished and ready to live in, just sign on the dotted line!
You should understand that here you do not always see the same level of commitment as you may in your home country. I am constantly meeting clients that are either upset, angry, p*#@ed or all of the previous at the same time. I even met an elderly Swiss couple that were crying because they had been 'scammed' as they choose to call it, nearly had me in tears.
Fortunately when people keep over promising and under delivering it makes for poor business and I expect a few of the no name developers will be feeling the repercussions in the near future. Now there are well known developers here offering better products at competative prices.
PLEASE shop around and make sure you check the legitimacy of the developer. How many projects do they have, do they maintain them, look at projects in the building stages to get a good look at raw materials.
The benefits of using an established developer are huge, they will GUARANTEE (5-10% of total cash back) if it is not finished on time. They will OWN the land that your house is on, making leasehold a headache free experience. They will have a maintenance team and a security team on hand 24/7. They will have a building permit and will be able to allocate and subdivide the land legally to tenants that want to buy free hold. Some developers here build there projects and then ask for a building permit and planning permission after on the hunch that since the project is finished, and they pay under the table, the project will not be torn down. Take a look around town and you may notice the remains of a project, or a project that has remained untouched for a year or so.
The disadvantage of using a big developer, and something that I love about no name developers, is a smaller developer is very accommodating with regards to making changes to your house from the perspective that you see in the presentation package. Being a smaller developer, building less units or having more time all allow for more flexibility. Most will allow you to have a specific house custom built to your own specifications, that can be very appealing for someone who wants to build there very own dream home. The developer I work for will not even change the flooring in your house from the standard product seen in the perspective, what you see is what you get, however what you see is usually the best on offer.
Anyhow I know the project in question and I have to say I like it, I am sure you will enjoy your villa very much, I have heard good reports about Avalon so I think you have made a good choice, Congratulations.
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When a bird is tired it stops flying,
When a Horse is Tired it stops running,
When a man is tired he says 'I understand'
Ancient Japanese proverb

[johnnyk]

I was last at Avalon 1 on Sept. 9 and electricity lines and meters were in.

I know/have met 4 owners whose houses are connected with functioning water and power. One is living there full-time and the others spent holiday time in their houses in August/Sept. There are times when outages occur which is quite normal on any site with ongoing work.

It is always best to keep TiT in mind though as schedules are often more like "guidelines"

As for being offered a house at Xmas, I have seen two houses offered for rental over the internet. One was nowhere near finished but the other is finished and furnished. The owner does caution about ongoing construction etc. and is offering the rental at 50% of the eventual amount. This seems fair to me as they are being straight about the situation and leaving the punter to decide.

[Guess]

[Craig]

It is true that the contractors have a lot to do with the delivery of houses at the right time, but really that is a factor that the developer needs to take in to account when it is offering the finished dates to clients.
Just passing the hot potato on to the contractor is not acceptable in my book.
The developers know the system here, if you don't send someone to keep an eye on the contractors they sleep all day. Having the property finished by the date that they promised their client is the developers responsibility. Most are quick enough to get down the bank for that down payment, if only they showed the same commitment to there projects in progress.
We have our own labourers so there is no need to sub-contract anyone. It is something that I have taken for granted, I guess, never having these kind of problems is great. It is interesting to see other peoples take on the situation.
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When a bird is tired it stops flying,
When a Horse is Tired it stops running,
When a man is tired he says 'I understand'
Ancient Japanese proverb

[johnnyk]

[lomuamart]