March, 2009
“It was when we moved to Chiang Mai, three years ago, and began house hunting, that the germination of the idea of Elite Property began,” explains Krongkwan ‘Kay’ Mulcahy, one half of Chiang Mai’s newest power couple and owner of Elite Property. “My husband Patrick and I were frustrated at the time we wasted while searching for our ideal house by being shown many properties which were far removed from our specifications. We realised then and there that there was a real market need in Chiang Mai for a real estate business which focused on personalised service tailored to the individual needs of each client. We believe there are many clients who are looking for quality over price.”
Thai business woman Kay and her British born Irish husband Patrick met in Bangkok and have been married for five years. Since choosing to make Chiang Mai their home, they have spent the past few years preparing the launch of their exclusive real estate business, Elite Property.
“Patrick, who is the company’s consultant, has vast international business experience and I myself have worked all my life as a training consultant in Bangkok,” said Kay. “I believe that there are people who are looking for quality properties in Chiang Mai and who want the experience of finding their dream home, or office, or land, to be a pleasurable and professional experience. We aim to provide that. We only have a few dozen properties on our hands, ranging from three to tens of millions of baht to purchase or low to high thousands for rent. What we do is inspect each property thoroughly before we take it on, making sure it is well built, nicely furnished, located in a good area and well maintained. We are very particular about the type of property which we take on, and do not have price limitations although there does tend to be a natural correlation between price and quality. For example, one of our properties is a newly renovated little house for sale for only 3.6 million baht, but the quality of work and western style finish makes it of very high quality. At the other end of the scale we offer beautiful mansions reaching up to the high tens of millions. Because of the limited number of properties which we represent, we tend to know each property inside out and will make sure that they are within the specifications and needs of the customer before recommending them. It is a waste of our time as well as the clients’ if we take them to properties that are unsuitable for them.”
Elite Property takes the mantle of real estate further than most. They will help to liaise between landlord and renter, aim to be there post contract for any follow up problems and will even help new residents adjust to their new homes such as finding the best restaurant in the neighbourhood and offer advice on a myriad of other aspects of life in Chiang Mai. “We believe that if our customers are happy, word of mouth will bring us their friends’ business. In fact, we have become friends with a number of our clients,” added Kay with a smile.
The standard practice in Chiang Mai is that real estate agencies do not take on any retaining fee for brokerage, either from the property owner or the renter. For sales, a fee of three percent of the sale price is paid by the owner of the property. For rentals, the fee is one month’s rent on a twelve month contract, again paid only by the owner. Customers seeking properties would therefore do well to use a professional service such as Elite Property’s as there is no cost involved to them.
“We believe in ethical business practice and aim to strike a rapport which is more than just a pure business relationship with our clients,” expanded Kay.
Elite Property believes in both pre and post sales service and run the gamut from airport pickups to helping to find maid service. The couple are on call at all times should there be need and their professional, and interactive, web site is easy to use and offers quick response to all enquiries.
Visit Elite Property at www.eliteproperty.co.th or simply call them at 0843 784 804 for any help you may need in order to sell, rent or purchase your dream house, condominium, land or commercial building.
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