Red Lotus - about us, part III 

Legal ownership structure...
Cobby: “We try to offer maximum flexibility for our buyers by providing a leasehold or freehold ownership mechanism. If you can buy freehold, great. Or, if you’re pure foreign buyer needing a leasehold, we have that vehicle for you as well. There’s going to be risk in every lease out there in the market. However, our buyers who lease from us know that they can at least minimize their risk.”

“I insist buyers make a comparison - who are they leasing from? A publicly listed company or legitimate, reputable development operation, a local pineapple farmer, or the Thai wife of some foreign developer. I try to let my buyers make the decision of who they would feel safe leasing with. As a publicly listed company, we are subject to the Stock Exchange of Thailand rules and regulations. From legal development procedures, zoning regulations and true land titles among other things, we need to develop projects according to legal Thai code. We clear all grey areas for our buyers, whereas if you lease from an individual developer (entity), say years from now, if the deceased individual you were leasing from has a child now owning the land, he or she might not want  to lease any more or if he or she does, they might want more money. With us, you pay us for the lease and it’s a done deal. You have some small costs to maintain the lease, but it is still your property. So, I think that’s a pretty strong argument for our buyers in that they’ll feel safe leasing through a listed company versus some individual who can disappear or you ending up with nothing in the future.”

“Unless, it’s a legitimate company, we don’t recommend foreigners to set up a company in order to buy the land. For us, we find it to be too risky for the buyer - we don’t recommend that.”

On premium markets...
Cobby: “I would say it’s growing in Hua Hin, though it’s still smaller than other Thai markets. In comparison, it is night and day versus Phuket, which is very sophisticated, very premium. I’d say the premium prices in Hua Hin are probably the middle range prices in Phuket.”

Metha: “In Sansiri, we do residential starting from a very low-end up to 80 million baht. So we know how to do things in different segments. It depends on the land. If we see the opportunity we can be the most premium, the most expensive residential or resort property in those markets. We can also provide for the lower segment if we want, if we see an opportunity.”

Hua Hin’s potential... 
Cobby: “It is still an emerging market more so than Phuket and Pattaya who have become international names, but Hua Hin is starting to come up in the international circles. U.K buyers are starting to recognize Hua Hin and Scandinavians are really into it. There are a lot more value buys there in general.”

“The major international hotel brands are in Hua Hin already for many years now, and with more coming in, like the Intercontinental. Tourists and home buyers come hand in hand and directly relates to the local property development and how successful it is. Incoming tourists start thinking, ‘I could live here.’“

“But we need to really ask buyers what they are looking for. I think foreign buyers – even some Thais to some extent, all have different feelings about Hua Hin, Pattaya and Phuket. I think there are different buyers seeking different lifestyles and different expectations.”

“Hua Hin’s strong-point is that it’s still a small community, a charming town. It hasn’t overgrown too much. In Hua Hin, the infrastructure is quite slow, but we’re hoping the local authorities will pay more attention to Hua Hin based upon that the Royal Family with the King staying there quite often.”

Metha: “It has been known among Thai people as among one of the best resort areas since some 90 years back. Thais used to go there every summer, spending two to three months out of the year. And the problem why Hua Hin is not developing so fast as Pattaya is access to land. It’s a very small community and most of the land on the nice beach is owned by the high society people who didn’t want to sell at all up until around 2002. From then on, the city has started growing. Also, because of the king residing in the summer palace, the regulations are pretty strict compared to other cities, very controlled in fact.”

How we cater to prospective buyers...
Cobby: “We can arrange everything - transportation from the airport, accommodation at our Hua Hin hotel Casa Del Mare or at our project, and free property tours for any of our available projects for sale.

“We have rental villas available for daily, weekly and monthly rentals. We welcome buyers to come and test-drive these villas for a night or weekend. This can help them make a decision or see the quality of the villa.”

The market for rentals in Hua Hin...
Cobby: “Depending on the product, there is a strong demand for short term rentals. We’ve had some successful rental villas at our project, where owners make really good returns on their villas. This is more for holiday makers, one to two weeks up to a maximum one month. You can get more of a premium rate from such short term rentals - holiday rentals dominate the scene.”
 

Continue to part IV: Red Lotus buyers, investors, town homes, quality

or

Part I: Red Lotus intro and start-up

Part II: Red Lotus projects and concepts, sales points, property management