Condo or villa: how to choose
This is the question where the dream and the arithmetic part company most often. A villa with its own pool is more beautiful - nobody is arguing about that. But the two formats sit on different legal foundations, carry different running costs, and sell at very different speeds. Let me compare them point by point, without deciding for you.
Ownership: the difference that matters most
An apartment in a licensed condominium is registered to a foreigner in freehold. Full ownership, no expiry date, within the foreign quota of 49% of the building's residential floor area. This is the simplest and best protected structure available to a foreigner in Thailand, and it is the reason most of my clients start here.
A villa is always two separate things. The house is registered in your name. The land underneath it is taken on a registered lease of up to 30 years. Both registrations are mandatory - a lease alone is not enough, and the house registration alone is not enough either. That is the point people occasionally skip when they are in a hurry, and it is the one I refuse to move past. The mechanics are in registering a land lease in Thailand, and the broader comparison in freehold versus leasehold on Phuket.
This is not a warning. Registered leasehold is an ordinary, workable instrument and a great many villa owners on this island sleep perfectly well. It simply has a clock attached to it, and the clock is a factor in every future conversation about price.
The entry price
Condos start from around 4.5 million baht. Villas start from around 18 million. The difference is not only the amount of money but what happens afterwards: a 50 m2 apartment is considerably easier to rent out than a house with a pool and a garden. The larger cheque brings a larger operational burden with it, and that burden does not disappear when you fly home.
Running costs
- Condo. Common area charges by floor area, utilities, tax. Maintenance of everything shared - pool, gym, lifts, gardens, security - is already inside the tariff.
- Villa. An estate fee plus your own pool, garden, security, appliances and repairs. A house needs constant attention, and that means either your time or a management company's invoice.
For a condo the arithmetic is simple and predictable: maintenance of around 80 baht per square metre per month, plus a one-off sinking fund contribution of roughly 1,000 baht per square metre at purchase. On a 50 m2 unit that is a number you can write on the back of an envelope and it will not surprise you in year three.
For a villa there is no equivalent shortcut. Pool chemicals and servicing, garden maintenance, the estate fee, insurance, and the repairs that a tropical climate hands you whether you are here or not. I set both out in full in what it costs to own property in Thailand, because the gap between the two formats is wider than most buyers assume before they see the annual figure written down.
Yield and occupancy
A condo in a working location rents all year round and fills more easily. A villa commands a much higher nightly rate but has a narrower audience and far stronger seasonality: families and groups come in high season, and in low season the house often stands empty while continuing to spend money on its own upkeep.
Realistically, a good condo delivers 6-8% net, and 4-6% net in the denser Bang Tao and Laguna corridor. A villa can beat that in a strong year and underperform it badly in a weak one. If a steady number matters more to you than a spectacular one, that asymmetry is the whole answer.
Liquidity when you exit
A condo sells noticeably faster. There are more buyers, the cheque is smaller, the legal structure is simpler to explain. A villa has fewer buyers, and the question of how many years remain on the land lease comes up in every single sale. The fewer years left on the registered lease, the harder the conversation about price becomes.
Either way, plan for several months to a year on a resale. That is normal for Phuket and it is not a sign of a weak market - it is a market where buyers fly in, look, and think. I go through the process and the costs in selling property in Thailand.
Who each format actually suits
Most of my investment clients from India and Pakistan end up in condos, and the reason is rarely the yield gap. It is that a condo can be owned entirely at a distance. The building has a management company, the common areas are somebody else's responsibility, and if a pump fails in July it is fixed without anyone calling you. A villa does not work that way. A house needs a person on the island who notices things, and if that person is not you, it is a paid manager whose fee comes out of your return.
Villas come into their own for buyers who will actually be here for months at a time, or who are relocating. If you have children, a dog and a car, a house with a garden is not a luxury version of an apartment - it is a different life, and the arithmetic should not be the only thing deciding it. I have talked clients out of a villa and I have talked clients into one, and in both cases the deciding factor was how many weeks a year they genuinely expected to spend in it.
The alternative people forget
If you want space but do not want a leasehold clock, look at penthouses and duplexes inside condominiums. Large floor areas, your own terrace, sometimes a private pool - and freehold ownership with no 30-year limit on the land. For a good number of my clients this turns out to be the precise answer to the request I hear most often: I want something that feels like a villa, but without the complications.
How to decide in five minutes
- Income is the priority, budget up to 10 million baht - a condo in a working location
- Moving with family, space matters, income is secondary - a villa or a penthouse
- You want space but not a 30-year term - a penthouse or duplex in freehold
- A three to five year horizon with an exit by sale - a condo, because it is more liquid
- Buying somewhere to keep for life - a villa, if you are ready for what it takes to run one
There is no correct answer here in the abstract, and that is genuinely good news: it means it is almost impossible to get this wrong if you are honest with yourself about what you want. Tell me how you picture your life with this property in five years and the format will decide itself. My role in that conversation is not to sell you the larger cheque - it is to make sure that in five years you are still pleased with the choice you made.
- Projects I work with — developments where I hold direct terms from the developer
- Investment property selection — net yield calculated on specific units
Legal, visa and tax work is not mine — it belongs to partners I use constantly
I am an investment strategist: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and run the transaction. Anything that needs a legal, immigration or tax qualification goes to specialists I have worked with for years.
- Thai lawyers — document and contract review, land title, registration at the Land Office, wills, powers of attorney, corporate questions
- Visa partners — choosing and filing the right route for your situation: investment-based, LTR, Thailand Privilege, retirement, DTV
- Tax specialists — reporting in your country of tax residence, treaty credit for Thai tax, declarations on foreign assets
- Company formation in Thailand — when a structure is genuinely needed and lawful
- Rental management and concierge — letting the property, transfers, yachts, events
I introduce partners personally, matched to your actual question, so that you speak to the specialist who handles it rather than to a general inbox. Message me and I will make the introduction.
Frequently asked
Which is better in Phuket, a condo or a villa?
Can a foreigner buy a villa in Thailand?
Is there an alternative to a villa with full ownership?
Lyubov Fortunova
Investment strategist and founder of Fortunova Capital Group. I have lived on Phuket for more than five years and run every deal myself: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and hold the process together until the keys are handed over. Lawyers, visa and tax specialists come from my own circle.
“I count net, not dreams”
Could you compare a condo and a villa in my budget - net yield, running costs and what I would realistically get on exit?
I answer personally, within the working day, in any time zone. No calls unless you want them. A question about the article is free and commits you to nothing.
