Try 'test living' before buying a luxury condominium unit 

For a super luxurious condominium worth more than Bt50 million per unit in a prime location, it is hard to know which building or unit will suit you the best without a real test of actually living in the building. 
  I suggest that for some high-end purchasers, choosing to rent a condominium unit in a building they are interested in for at least a year will allow them to get real experiences of living in it, before making a purchasing decision and paying a huge amount of money to actually own a unit there.
Once purchased, there is no going back unless you resell it. To avoid the headaches of buying a condominium unit that you may later regret, purchasers may want to make sure which condominium building and unit will meet their minimum requirements. 
Simply inspecting the property at the site or the show unit is not enough to really tell what the actual living experience will be. 
But renting a unit for at least a year in the condominium building you are eyeing would give you a sense of whether it will meet your requirements, in terms of your preferred location, facilities in the building, unit layout and functionality, the quality of building management and the neighbourhood. 
When people want to buy super cars, they usually take a test drive. Super luxury condominiums are more expensive than super cars, so some purchasers might want to rent to test what it’s like to live in the building. 
I have seen that some discerning purchasers have decided that it is a better option for them to rent before they buy. They are choosing the condominium building and unit that suit their preferences and renting it for a year. 
When they actually live in that chosen building, they come to better understand the location, get to know the neighbourhood including where to eat and shop, see what the traffic will be like day and night, discover how long it will take to and from their kids’ schools and where to find the closest healthcare. 
By test living in the chosen unit, you can better discover your feelings about it, such as whether you really like that unit layout, the amenities of the project, unit size, as well as the building’s overall floor plan. Moreover, you can decide whether you really like the building facilities such as the lobby, swimming pool, common area or even the elevators. 
All of this experience from actually living in a property cannot be duplicated from merely checking out the bare shell unit, nor judged based on the paper brochure. Even better, once you are a tenant, you can easily go and check all the units that are put on sale in the building you rent. 
Taking into account the cost of an exclusive condo unit, it is better to think carefully and even better to be trying before buying. 
 

Writer  By Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, Managing Director of CBRE Thailand