The Problem with Bangkok Property Agents

I’m in the process of renting a new condo in Bangkok but I’ve hit a wall. The problems is the Bangkok property agents I’m dealing with.

These days agents look after a lot of the property in Bangkok and as a renter it is very common to go via an agent to set up a viewing. The problem is that Bangkok property agents, on the whole, are terribly inept at their job!

My problems

For my upcoming move I gave myself 3 weeks to find somewhere before moving day. I thought this should be ample time for an agent to source a few properties and get back to me with viewing times. How wrong was I…..

So far, 12 days into my 3 week viewing window, I have yet to have a single viewing confirmed and this is despite contacting roughly six different agents. I’m not a difficult customer, I’m looking for something between Udom Suk and Bearing BTS stations. I want a one-bedroom condo at least 35sq meters which has a washing machine.

I even did some looking around online and via friend’s recommendations mentioned a few possible condo developments I am interested in. Still I’ve had nothing back – these agents are useless.

How agents work

Property agents should help both owners and renters. There are a huge number of condo rooms in Bangkok which means that renters need help to find the best room and owners need someone to promote their property against competing rooms. All in all by using an agent a renter should get good options and the owner should get their property rented faster.

The other benefit of using an agent is that they create the contracts which are signed and act as a middleman in any disputes. Agents also usually have good language skills which could come in useful if you cant speak Thai or the owner cant speak your language.

Here in Bangkok, property agents get paid by the condo owner. This normally means that they take one-month’s rent as a fee directly from the owner. You can see that this job could be quite lucrative for potentially just a few hours work. If you’re an agent who can rent out four or five rooms a month then you can make a serious amount of money with just a few costs. As a renter you don’t pay an agent which is good.

Why are Bangkok property agents terrible

I’ll use my situation as an example here. I’m currently renting a condo which is 20,000 baht a month. The agent I used got 20k as a fee from the owner but seemingly as I want to down-size and spend less she isn’t as keen to find me a place where she will “only” make 12-15,000 baht. Indeed one agent who I used to teach said she wouldn’t bother putting in much effort for a customer unless the rent was over 30,000 baht per month. I understand that renting two or three high value condos makes financial sense but I can’t see why they don’t put effort in as 12,000 baht is still higher than a lot of people in Thailand make per month. I’m based in Thailand and my agent knows this, surely she knows I’m serious about finding somewhere. For my current property she showed me two rooms, total viewing time one hour.

The next issue is communication. My previous agent knew I was moving out as I told her three months ago and said I was looking for a new place – she seemed happy to help. The only problem is that she never came back to me. Maybe its the Thai issue of loosing face – she didn’t want to tell me that my 12,000 baht place wasn’t worthwhile for her. I chased her up and saw she read my Line messages. I actually knew three other agents who were either acquaintances or ex-students. All of those I messaged with everything I wanted and none of them came back to me. Actually one did but she said she couldn’t find a single 35sq meter one-bedroom condo between Udom Suk and Bearing for less than 15,000 baht…..yea right.

I really like the website DDproperty as it shows condos available in English with pictures. I went on there and saw many rooms that I liked. The problem is most of the contact details aren’t for the owners but are in fact agents. A lot of the rooms in one condo were listed by the same agent. She never answers her phone and her Line wont let me add her as she has too many contacts. Honestly I don’t know why she bothers to put these condos online when she cant or wont communicate with potential customers.

As there are so many properties and potential renters a lot of agents maybe feel they don’t need to care about every inquiry. There are many Thai people looking for a room so perhaps agents would rather deal with someone in their own language. Maybe the agents don’t fancy going to Udom Suk at the end of the BTS so my inquiry is at the bottom of their list. Either way I feel like they can pick and choose what they do and are rather unprofessional about this.

The final issue I have is with ongoing issues and dealings during the rental period. Many agents are happy to help until they get paid. I had a few problems with a property and my agent pretty much ignored me. I managed to her guilt her to come and help with the problem but she made me feel like I had overstepped the mark by doing so.

A space in the market

If I were Thai and could speak English I would definitely be a property agent. The amount of expats and long term visitors here means there will always be demand for condos. Online property websites make it easy to find available rooms and overall I think renting out two or three rooms a week wouldn’t be impossible. I would make sure I responded to messages and would follow up two months before the end of their contract to see if I could find them a new place. It would be easy. Maybe it is too easy to be an agent here, (I guess you dont have to be qualified?).

There are a few professional realty agencies in Bangkok but they aren’t really interested in the sub 20,000 baht market. A quick look on their websites shows luxury Thong Lor and Silom condos for rent at over 50,000 baht per month. Sure it makes them good money but not many of us have that kind of budget.

The first school I worked in in Bangkok actually gave teachers a property agent. It turned out she was the managers wife and was getting two or three new teachers per month to place which was a good little side job for her.

However you look at it there is definite scope for someone to start an agency which puts effort in and is professional.

Will I find a place?

In the end I’m sure I’ll find a place but it will most likely be by me finding a room I like and making that agent show me it. I had an idea that this time I would give a general location and hope an agent would surprise me with an unknown condo development in a great location which was perfect. That wont happen I’m sure now.

If you are an agent and happen to read this then do feel free to get in contact as I am still looking!