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Old 05-27-2008, 12:35 AM   #1
sabang

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Default A house for the Mrs

I can't help but notice that Cupid has been very busy with several of the Revealed crew recently- congratulations to all the Hitched, and I wish you the same happiness that Mrs sabang and I enjoy together.

Now, not wishing to rush you or anything, but at some stage you might just be thinking of putting up that special love nest for Mrs and yourself out there in the country- where she originates from.

Mrs sabang comes from a village 30km from Ubon Ratchathani, and we've just returned from visiting our newly completed country retreat up there. I have to say, we're delighted with the results.

Don't believe all those nightmare scenario's you hear- if you organise things right, and up front, you can get the job done on time, and on budget. In our case, the job was started on the 11th of March and completed on the 11th of May- not on time, but in fact almost one month early. Here's the finished product-



Two bedrooms (could've been three but we wanted more living space), 2 bathrooms, A western kitchen and Thai kitchen & laundry on the back Porch. Total cost 900K Bht.

We could've spent a bit less.


We could have spent a whole lot more.


This expat mansion is going up a few kilometers away. It's gonna have a swimming pool, a fishing pond and a sala on an island in the fishing pond. Cost so far- 5.7mm bht and counting. LDOP? Maybe- but the guys from London, you can pay more for a parking space there.
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Old 05-27-2008, 12:59 AM   #2
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So heres how we did it, and some more photoes. I would say theres two important things to getting the process right-

1- Get the right builder. Look around, don't sign one of those vague contracts that just stipulate a labour cost plus you pay for the materials- they always run over budget. Get the price stipulated up front, and pay for it in stages according to progress (not time).

2- Supply firm plans, stipulating everything down to where light switches will be located. I stole ours off the Internet , and made a few adjustments here and there to suit ourselves. Thailand does not reward uncertainty, rural Thailand even less so.

Heres a proud mother in law in the new Isaan patio/laundry/kitchen. A new washing machine has gone in since.



She will live there, we will visit regularly- we're even thinking over moving up there one day. I love it up there actually- Pattaya it ain't, but theres falang pubs in Ubon, a handful of local falangs who drink at the village shop, and western style supermarkets on the Ubon Ring Rd.

Getting the right builder took a while- we spoke to five potential builders. Two from Ubon- one not interested, the other one would have cost 1.5-2 mm bht for the same job. Two from the village (monkeys). One quoted 3.4mm for the job originally, then came down to 2.5mm- I reckon he knew there was a farang involved . The other one quoted 350k for labour, plus we pay for all materials. When asked what that might be, he didn't know but said it was 'usually about twice the labour cost'. Yeh, right.

The succesful bidders were a husband and wife team from Khon Kaen, recommended by a friend. These guys were sharp- they have their own work force, have done falang houses before (we didn't let them know there was a falang involved til later though), and they just plain sounded more competent and proactive than the rest. We could've had the 'basic model' house done for 800K, but elected to pay a bit more for a few extras- well worth it imo.



OK, so Buckingham Palace it ain't- but it's well big enough for us. A whole lot bigger actually than some of those dogboxes I used to pay outrageous rents for in HK.
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Old 05-27-2008, 01:12 AM   #3
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The contract itself went as follows-

1- 200K on signing of contract

2- 200K when earth works, foundation and structural poles done. This happened so quick (2 weeks), I sent mrs up there for a look see.



3- 200K when the roof structure (but not the tiling) was completed. Only 12 days later.

4- 200K when the walls & roof on, house painted and tiling being done. I went up to take a look at things at this stage.





5- Final 100K when job completed & inspected to our satisfaction. two months, pretty much to the day.

The guys were good- we were well satisfied with their work. Incidentally, if any of you go through a similar excercise in Isaan, I'd be happy to give you their contact details. Just PM me. You'll need your Tilaac though- the only English they know is "hello, how are you".
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Old 05-27-2008, 01:16 AM   #4
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Great post. The house looks good. Did your wife already own the land or did you have to buy that as well?
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Old 05-27-2008, 01:21 AM   #5
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Some more shots of our new rural love nest. We're well satisfied, and I reckon it goes to show that if you take the time and organise it right, theres no reason you can't get a good result here in Thailand.















H'mm, well it ain't quite ready to feature in 'Beautiful Homes and Gardens' but we'll get there.
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Old 05-27-2008, 01:33 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by old crust View Post
Great post. The house looks good. Did your wife already own the land or did you have to buy that as well?
Thanks crusty- Mother in Law owns the land, all 13 rai of it. The house is in wifes name though. Land is cheap out there- the cost of raising the earth about three feet to 'flood proof' the house is probably about equal to what the land would cost- the clearing is about 2.5 rai, planted with sweet potatoes, and we want to keep the forest virgin.

I'm thinking of buying another 15 rai, and an old shack with it (see photo in my post #1) to basically have family control of the land in our little Hamlet. The old geezer wants 600K, I reckon I'll try him on 450K, maybe up to 500K bht.

Some shots of the area, for good measure-









Thems the neighbours.
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Old 05-27-2008, 01:46 AM   #7
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The trees and green vegetation all around the house makes it a great-looking setting sabang. Your house looks outstanding, you got a lot for your money! Thanks for posting the pictures.

Looks like a fishing pond is close...
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Old 05-27-2008, 02:15 AM   #8
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^ Might just do that mack. If we do move up there, I'm thinking of having a one bedroom place built on an island in a fishing pond, so I can be left alone in peace on the internet, or watch falang movies (and porn), fish off the verandah and so on.
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Old 05-27-2008, 02:19 AM   #9
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Do we have a "Fishermans Bar" nearby mate?
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Old 05-27-2008, 02:37 AM   #10
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Plenty of cold Leo, Yaa Dong and lots of fishy tales Fig.
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