I don’t know why Uncle Bill came to mind last month – well I do as I explained then – but why just then? But it did start me thinking and remembering some of his other sayings in a deep Yorkshire accent. Driving home the other night as we came up towards Big Buddha there were ominous storm clouds building up. “It's a bit black ova Bills' Mothers” came to mind as one of his sayings portending rain and sure enough not long after we had some very heavy and much welcome rain. The authorities seem to think that we have about three months water supply on Koh Samui so are not at this stage too worried. Although the rain was very heavy and some areas began to flood, the new drainage systems put in last year seemed to work quite well and the water drained away pretty quickly.
The more I think about his sayings, the more appropriate many are to life on the island. “Tha’ can allus tell a Yorkshireman, but tha’ can’t tell ‘im much.” Well I have to say that applies to so many people who think they know it all. After some 35 years in real estate and eight here on Koh Samui, I have a reasonable grasp of the fundamentals but it still amazes me the number of people who after a few months have worked it all out and are fountains of knowledge and boast about the number of high ranking and powerful friends they have who have promised them help. If you do things by the book and within the law, you do not necessarily need such contacts. But, in any business contacts are important and on a small island like Samui there are long established local families who wield a lot of influence and many hold important posts in local government and businesses. Treated with courtesy and respect they can be useful allies but offend or embarrass them and life may become a little tedious.
I am probably the last person to criticise anyone for speaking incorrect English as my ability to speak Thai is virtually non-existent even after ten years in the country. So when my wife came running into the office shouting that “ a bee has bitten me”, apparently that was not the right time to suggest “stung” might be a better word!
For those of you with Google Earth you will be pleased to know that they have at last updated the images for Samui. Previously these were dated 2004 but the new ones are dated 2009. Unfortunately there are still large areas of cloud cover, mostly in areas such as Bophut and Choengmon that were clear in the previous images, but nevertheless this is a great step forward. However, Google Earth is a pretty impressive program and you can actually revert to the old images quite easily using the “time slider” which is the “clock” in the tool bar at the top. The have though not updated the whole of the west coast which still remains mostly blurred. If you do not have Google Earth, the basic version is free and you can download it here.
As reported in previous Newsletters, Social Marketing is the buzz word to day and whether we like it or not you have to play along to stay in the game. To this end Ko Samui Properties can be found on Face Book at_ http://tiny.cc/SSJEi Twitter at http://tiny.cc/4XaHA . Recently I was introduced to LinkedIn which I had always ignored before as just another directory which would take up my time to no effect. In fact it is proving to be a very interesting networking tool. This business is about contacting people and making them aware of what we do and of course this Newsletter is part of that strategy. The more people we connect with, directly or indirectly, the more people see our inventory and the more likely we are to make a sale. Within a few days of joining I had over 65 direct contacts, 2,200 secondary contacts and ultimately 220,000 contacts and building every day. Achieving and maintaining a high profile in this very competitive and currently difficult market is essential to our success and the success of our clients and making sure that anyone interested in buying property on Koh Samui finds us at the top of the list. If you wish to connect follow this link.
I am sad to report the passing of one of Koh Samui’s great characters. Big Joe was tragically killed in a car accident on his way back from Bangkok last Saturday. His pies and sausages were renowned as far a field as Pattaya and his kindness and generosity knew no bounds. I have known Joe since we first opened our office as his shop was then just a stones throw away but had not seen him so often since he moved to his new location on Old Monkey Theatre Road. He will be greatly missed. RIP Joe.
Asking prices for land have remained pretty static and, until now, not fallen in the same way as house prices. However in the last couple of months we have seen sellers start to drop their prices with reductions of between 20% and 27%.
More and more people are recognizing that there has been a significant market adjustment over the last 12-18 months. Each week we get instructions to reduce asking prices to levels more appropriate to the prevailing market conditions and you can find these on our web site at the Hot Press Offers . You will see a great number of properties with prices that have been reduced from between 17% and 33% with an average reduction this month of 21%. These reductions are producing sales and, although still not many, there are a few more buyers around than there were a few weeks ago.
See in particular the following properties – CTRL + click to follow the link:
3 Bedroom House in Bangrak – Baht 5,900,000
Now available at - Baht 4,900,000
2 and 3 Bedroom villas in Bangrak – Baht 7,900,000
Now available at - Baht 2,590,000 and Baht 3,690,000
2 Bedroom Bungalow in Bangrak - Baht 3,900,000 million
Now available at Baht 3,000,000
5 Bed house with pool in Maenam - Baht 12 million
Now available at Baht 8,000,000
4 Bed House with pool in Chaweng - Baht 45 million
New Price - Baht 31 million
For a full copy of the monthly Newsletter please email me at hbonning@kosamuiproperties.com
Thursday 1 April 2010
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