Once at home in a 2,000 square foot Queen Anne-style house with fenced yard, our family of four is downsizing in order to make our dreams of living abroad come to life. After spending a week exploring the neighborhoods of Chiang Mai, we have selected the Nimmanhaemin neighborhood. It’s full of bars, restaurants, hotels and community work spaces. It is touristy, but also home to digital nomads and expats. There are also a huge number of McMansions in the suburbs that are much, much cheaper than the centrally-located condos. While Nimmanhaemin (or Nimman as it is called) is more expensive than other areas, the proximity of this neighborhood to the city center allows us to experience all that Chiang Mai has to offer without the need for a car. Therefore, we are limiting our search to condos or townhomes with American facilities (no squat toilets for us!)
Our wish list includes:
- Over 50 sq meters (500 square feet)
- 2+ bedrooms
- Close to the city center
- Walking distance to a grocery store
- Partially or Fully-Furnished
- Community area
- Pool
- Under $1000/mo
- View
Property Number 1: The Oldie but Goodie
Located in the heart of the Nimman neighborhood, this condo is the largest of the properties that we’ve seen at 110 square meters (1184 square feet). It is an old, slightly musty building, with no common area and no swimming pool. It has 2 large bedrooms with closets, 2 full bathrooms, and American-style kitchen complete with oven and plenty of storage space. It has real hardwood floors and kitchen table for 6. The highlight of this property is it’s immense size, and stunning view. It is on the 9th floor and looks out over the entire Nimman neighborhood, as well as the entire city skyline. The condo has large windows in every room and a patio with deck chairs for lounging. It would also provide enough space to host out-of-town visitors and has access to a nearby pool with a moderate fee. The railing for the patio is somewhat short, leading one to prohibit any small children from even looking at the patio, let alone ever venturing out onto it. (The patio doors could be double locked.) Listed for 28,000 baht or $860/mo.
Property #2: Far-out Farang (That’s Thai for Foreigner)
This 60 sq meter (645 sq foot) condo is found in a cement lego brick-like fortress, complete with security guards and key-code entry. With 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and community area with pool, gym and green space, it meets 99% of our wish list. It has a pool ready to host the most epic of spring-break parties, and being one of probably 10,000 condos in the area, it probably does from time to time. The downside, (in addition to the cookie-cutter nature of this unit) is that it is located approximately a 10-15 drive to the city center. There is near a suburban mall and some shops, but not the cultural center or university that we had hoped for. A taxi to our prefered neighborhood of Nimman costs about 100 baht or $3. The unit that is available is on the 7th floor and has a view of a massive construction zone with multiple cranes. This condo is listed for 22,000 baht or $675/mo.
Property #3: Cute but Cramped Condo
This condo is on the 4th floor of a modern complex. It’s a corner unit (which might save any relationships that we had hoped to have with our neighbors due to screaming children.) It is small at 60 sq meters (645 square feet) and has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. Forget any plans of cooking in the nearly non-existent kitchen or any privacy due to the tiny footprint of this unit. On the plus side, it does have tons of natural light and floor to ceiling windows in each of the rooms. The condo complex also has a large pool and an astoturf play area (which sounds lame but is actually really nice in a place that rains daily and has clouds of mosquitoes that live in real grass.) Not to be forgotten are the sauna, large covered lobby, security, and small gym. Like Property #1, it is centrally-located in the neighborhood of Nimman and is 28,000 baht or $860/mo.
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Under 6 Overseas 