Whether buying or selling a property, listing or finding a rental, real estate is a significant stressor when faced with the process. Where do you go to find trusted information? Who are the reputable agents and companies worth dealing with? Which sites are up-to-date and give the best listing to suit your needs? What if you want to delve deeper into the background of developments, localities including trends and infrastructure, or gain inspiration on architecture and design?
Well, we’ve done the work, and provided for you in one accessible article, our top picks of some of the best resources for property sourcing, news, and general content websites. This post is divided into three key areas to make them easy to navigate.
- Property Sourcing / Sales Websites: – whether you are a buyer, seller, landlord or renter, look here for a short review of key players in the Thailand Property Market.
- News Sites: relating to reviewing property, trends, understanding the property market in Thailand or internationally.
- Architecture and Design: recommended websites with these themes as their focus.
Property Sourcing / Sales Websites:
Are you seeking a reliable, reputable real estate agent? There are many websites offering services. Whether you are looking to buy or sell, rent or let, it is challenging to find a business you can have confidence in. Yet finding the right agent can speed up your process, reap better rewards and save a lot of headaches. Here are our top picks.
- A well-known website (also called the “green one”, not to be confused with DD Property, the “red one”), with national coverage, a wide choice of properties to rent or buy, and over 270,000 properties listed for sale.
- Anyone can post an ad, and as it is free, it has grown rapidly. The volume has increased the visibility in Google substantially, helping to generate traffic and leads for advertisers.
- A leading blog (shared with Thailand-property) with various articles and topics. They are tailored towards the Thai market.
Thailand-property
This English language portal is more expat and foreign buyer-focused, covering a diverse choice of properties and new developments throughout Thailand for rentals and sales.
- Advertisers pay. Agents on the site tend to be more professional and better equipped to deal with expat inquiries. The content quality is better for sourcing properties, resulting in a superior customer experience.
- Thailand-property has its own magazine and runs its annual real estate awards, in conjunction with Dot Property as they are part of the same company.
- The original leading player in the market and most established, listing more than 330,000 properties on the portal, their website and blog is renowned and was once the only resource for Thai consumers.
- Listings remain active for 30 days; advertisers need to verify the property is still available, creating an improved user experience.
- They are part of the regional property Guru Group that dominates in many other markets. Their national property awards are the longest-running and most famous.
- Although slightly better for Thai consumers, the English has improved, making it a popular choice for both.
- HipFlat is strong in Bangkok and Pattaya, listing over 250,000 condos. The portal is basic, easy to navigate, and free to list and popular with Thais and foreigners.
- They are well regarded for the building search function and used by many agents to check what is available in a project. It is an excellent data source, though not always 100% accurate.
- It is one of the few sites with a map feature. However, some agents may not add the actual location to avoid being gazumped.
- This ‘new kid on the block’, listing 100 000+ properties, mainly in Bangkok. Expanding into other parts of Thailand, it is becoming increasingly popular with Thai consumers.
- Each post has a time limit, which drives agents, sellers and landlords to post what is really on the market resulting in more current and active listings. The better quality listings have driven its popularity quickly.
- They also have an interesting blog in Thai, with useful news and articles. It is not as expat-friendly as some other portals.
Lazudi
Relatively new in the market, with a solid plan to develop our technology and building a strong customer service brand.
- Firstly the website was custom built with consumer needs at the forefront. Lazudi constantly works towards creating more transparency and value for buyers, with end to end customer experience, from property search, shortlisting, property management, property tours to the complete purchasing process, contract support and property transfers.
- Listings are managed and updated to ensure correct information. Regular checks are made to limit duplicates and only showcase each property in their best light.
- More time is spent creating high-quality content, from more detailed descriptions, high-resolution photography, floor plans, 360 virtual tours on some listings, or panoramas. Ultimately offering consumers a better understanding of properties.
- Lazudi is a specialist with new development properties, working with reputable and experienced developers to carefully curate the best projects, excluding any considered a poor investment.
- The modern and clean website has no banners or advertising spots and is fit-for-purpose to become the best resource for sourcing, selling, and leasing property in Thailand.
- Our fully trained agents are trusted advisors, helping everyone from first-time buyers to seasoned sellers and real estate investors to make more informed decisions.
- Our blog features interesting articles about buying, neighbourhoods, lifestyle, property news and reviews.
- Our website and blog support English and Thai customers equally.
Limitations & Considerations – Property Sourcing / Sales Websites
When choosing agents and websites, it is best to become aware of limitations or pitfalls. These points will not apply to all portals and are designed to assist you in assessing and choosing a company.
- Duplicate listings: many agents have the same listing but with different prices. Some property portals will have individual properties duplicated, incorrect pricing, outdated posts, fake listings designed to generate leads and sold properties that haven’t been removed. For example, you might see a condo building with 1,000 properties up for sale and rent, but in reality, maybe 20 sales and 30 rentals are available, with only 300 units in the whole building.
- Quality of postings: as some sites allow any seller to post, this can cause inconsistency and poor quality images and information. If KPIs are skewed to web traffic, market share and total listings, less attention may be paid to quality and removing duplicates, old listings, etc.
- Free posting: often leads to less care about ads; they are often not updated or removed, affecting data and becoming more of a guide than real-time information.
- Portal algorithms may favour higher-paying and larger volume clients; however, some clients may manipulate listings to get more ‘hits’.
- Postings without creation and updated dates may be misleading, as listings could have been there for a year or more.
- Some sites may be older or poorly designed and ‘clunky’ for the user. Some do not have 3D tours, advanced features, or effective location services that some customers seek.
- Portals that are Thai-language based may provide unclear or misleading information when the English translation is applied.
When contacting any of these listed sites, we recommend you question them on the issues and considerations listed above to be sure in your mind that that site or agent is your best option. As mentioned in the introduction, real estate dealing can be stressful, so doing your due diligence could make the process smoother and more rewarding.
News Websites – general information, property trends:
Propholic
- Propholic is a reputable real estate and business publication that provides project previews, market analysis, exclusive interviews, news about Thailand real estate, and some international news.
- Articles are published regularly, although it is not always clear which topics are paid and commercial. It is sometimes challenging to locate specific articles or information, especially for non-real estate professionals.
- Articles are in both Thai and English.
- Realist is known for real estate infographics for residential and commercial project reviews, often revealing new developments.
- They feature market and feasibility studies and pride themselves in breaking down complex information and presenting it in easy-to-understand graphics in the housing sector and infrastructure, i.e. roads, rail, air, and public facilities.
- The Facebook page provides insightful and engaging posts. Their website and Facebook are primarily in Thai, focusing on the Thai market.
- This informative site primarily presents house, condo and townhouse reviews, analysing the development’s strengths and weaknesses in every aspect honestly and openly. It aims to help readers make informed decisions regarding purchasing houses or condos for living and investment.
- In the Thai language, sometimes the English translation is not easily digested.
- They produce a lot of regular posts and have a helpful Facebook page to follow.
- This Thai language portal is data-driven, presenting historical real estate information, market evolution, statistics and Thai market trends.
- Although more numbers focused, and not so much news and articles, when they do post, it is well detailed.
- Some interesting legal reviews are presented.
- Condo Man is an active blogger focusing on new project announcements, property reviews and guides, quick snippets and interesting news.
- Popular within the industry, it can be hard to identify a paid advertisement.
- The site is in Thai only, and posts may be irregular.
Bangkok Post (property section)
- Thailand’s leading English language news provider, publishing in print and on various web-based platforms.
- There is a chronological information feed, with many developers and other sources sharing PR. Being backed by a team of writers who break stories, they cover broader topics that influence the property market.
- As they are not property specialists, some articles may lack credibility, hence losing out to newer sites.
Architecture and Design Focused Websites
Deezen
- Deezen, by their own admission, is one of the world’s most popular and influential architecture, interiors and design magazines, with over three million monthly readers and six million social media followers.
- It offers inspiring and excellent articles about indoor design and architecture, providing readers with the opportunity to learn about the latest trends.
- Their annual awards program identifies the world’s best architecture, interiors and design. It doesn’t specialise in Thailand. However, the search function highlights Thai projects.
- The Beyond Decor blog has engaging articles specialising in home design, decoration and other tips.
- The website is well designed, with articles ranked by category for easy navigation.
- Terrific local market articles provide considerable detail. It would be better if more articles featured Thailand.
- Based in Thailand for 30+ years, they focus mainly on the Thai market, and their site is Thai-language based.
- Features articles on design, architecture, property and construction, various projects, products and services, and fascinating interviews.
- They cover some niche topics not always reported by larger publishers. However, posts are not regular.
- As the name suggests, this publication specialises in all things luxury, including health, well-being, travel, people, and general topics about luxury architecture, design, decoration.
- It is a pleasure to read as it draws you into this beautiful universe, especially the luxury property reviews.
- It is an English language international site that covers a lot of Southeast Asia and is not limited to Thailand.
