Idle talk last night between me and the missus about buying a house. It started at the local department store where a real-estate representative was displaying model houses for a new housing community. I already spoke a bit about the housing situation as we visited a housing community in construction when we first arrived in Khon Kaen. There is some temptation in buying a house because of the relative value. Essentially one could get a house for around 1million baht (25,000$) that has a fair amount of floor space and a little yard. Home ownership is one of those things that most people aspire to in life and to have the chance to get into a house for a down payment of 1-200,000 baht (do the math, lazy - you already have an example) and a monthly mortgage payment of 5000 baht almost seems the chance of a lifetime. There are those who will read this and think, “A house in Thailand? Does it come complete with the tar roof and water cistern in the back?” I assure you that we are talking about nice houses here. The ones we initially toured were a tad more expensive than my above example, but would pass for upper-middle class in a developed country. Even the less expensive ones are quite comfortable and as long as the walls don’t cave in and the wiring is solid… The thing is, due to the climate there’s no need to worry about insulation, heating, etc. In Thailand the waterworks aren’t the greatest, but as long as water comes out of the faucet you are pretty well set in the plumbing department. The brilliance of Khon Kaen is that it is a city with access to lots of modern amenities; cinemas, fast food, plenty of electronics/computer type stores, and yet remains in a part of the country where the land prices are still quite low - around the Bangkok area housing is as much as triple the price. The downside of Khon Kaen of course is the relatively low salaries. Still a nice place to live with cheap, comfortable housing that – I will step on the toes of Japan based readers – is way better than anything anyone could hope to get into in Japan, and that includes the Japanese themselves. As compared to North America, the housing wouldn’t be far off North American standards and a down payment wouldn’t include groveling before every relative you know and sticking up several gas stations.
Now the question becomes can we afford a down payment and mortgage payment coupled with car payments, the answer is yes, but not with much room to maneuver. So, we raised the subject of a money grab in Bangkok, or… that overcrowded island from which I just came. Food for thought more than anything else, but the idea is spinning around in my mind. Depending on visa procural for significant others, a year in a shoe box would pay off the car and set us well ahead of the game with a house. On the other hand, a year in a shoe box could be a very stressful thing. Hmmm…