A property investor from Poland came to us — someone with an international real estate portfolio who buys across different countries to preserve capital and earn rental income. He had experience, but not in Asia. So he approached the Thai market with understandable caution: once, in another country, an under-construction project a broker had recommended was never finished. That's why his first condition was firm — completed properties only, no off-plan.
The story ended with three apartments in a project still under construction. The two-bedroom has already returned 9.2% net in under a year; across the whole package the projected annual net yield is about 8.1%; and prices in the project have risen nearly 30% in two years. Here's how, and on the back of what.
Why "completed only" became "almost completed"
Of all the locations, the client liked Kamala best — a calm resort area on the west coast: in demand for rentals, and at the same time comfortable enough to stay in himself now and then.
We started with what he asked for — took him to view completed apartments in Kamala and nearby. We went through several options, but the numbers made it clear: high entry price, average yield — as an investment, completed units didn't add up.
So we offered an alternative — the Fantasea project, in the final stage of construction. For the client it was a deliberate compromise: the building was still going up, but completion was close, while the entry price was noticeably better than completed equivalents in the same location. The short time to completion brought construction risk down to a minimum — and the potential yield came out higher than for completed property. On top of that, the client liked the project itself, and how the price stacked up against the unit's investment appeal.
We took him to the showroom, went through the layouts, the building positions, the payment schedule. The next day we came back to pick specific units — and the client decided to buy three at once.
What we did in the deal
Since the client was buying as a package, we sat down to negotiate with the developer and secured a 15% discount on the purchase of three apartments. After the reservation and deposit, payments followed the construction schedule.
Then came what usually separates full support from a plain sale:
- The client was in Europe and couldn't come for the handover inspection. We helped arrange a power of attorney for his representative (a friend living on Samui) and carried out the inspection together with him.
- We recorded the defect list and agreed with the developer that the client would make the final payment only after the defects were fixed — not before. For an investor who had been burned once, this was a matter of principle.
- After the fixes — a final check, payment, and registration of the transfer of ownership at the Land Department.
- We helped furnish the apartments for rental and selected a management company that handles operations while the owner is in Europe.
The purchase went through in March 2024; the project was handed over in December 2024. For a while the owner stayed in the apartments with friends himself. Since October 2025, all three units have been rented out through the management company.
What the numbers say
This is what the whole thing was for.
Total invested — about THB 10.44 million (≈ $320,000). That's the price of the three apartments plus related costs: the registration fee on transfer of ownership, water and electricity meter installation, the maintenance fee, and the building's sinking fund.
Over the first rental season (October 2025 — June 2026), the three apartments brought in THB 1.06 million gross and THB 745,000 net — after the management company's commission. This is money the owner has already received, and it's still less than a full year: the bulk of the revenue came in high season.
The two-bedroom, 47 sqm, has already delivered 9.2% net in an incomplete season. Across the package of three apartments, the projected net yield for the first full year is about 8.1%.
Capital appreciation. Over two years, prices in the project have risen nearly 30%. It's clearest on the 34 sqm studio the client bought for THB 2.95 million: today a comparable studio in the same project sells from the developer for THB 3.8 million — up 29% on the purchase price. Two-bedroom 47 sqm units like the client's are now listed on the resale market from THB 5.3 million (per FazWaz) against THB 4.1 million at entry. That's the whole point of getting in early: you buy before it gets expensive.
And one more thing, without which none of these numbers would exist — the entry price. We negotiated the 15% discount on the three-unit package directly with the developer. Both the yield and the appreciation are calculated off that reduced amount, so the discount won at the start works on the result the entire time. Getting in as a pool and negotiating terms like these isn't something every buyer can do on their own, dealing direct — that's the concrete value an agency brings to the deal.
What this means
A client who came in set on "completed only, nothing under construction" ended up making money precisely on an under-construction property — because he entered at the final stage, with a clear delivery date, a vetted developer, and protection on payments. Off-plan risk hasn't gone away as a class — we simply brought it down to a minimum through the choice of project and the structure of the deal.
The result convinced the client: after the first deal he bought another apartment in Kamala (the CityGate project) and brought in friends — several of his acquaintances also bought apartments in that project.
If you want the same — in 20 minutes we'll shortlist properties for your goal and budget, show you the net yield from real figures of completed projects, and lock in the price.
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