Whether you plan to buy or rent a property, you wouldn’t spend just 20 minutes on a place you plan to live long term right? Always remember that no property will be perfect on all fronts, but getting the right answers to your questions - should help you feel more confident when choosing your future home. 

Below is a checklist we have combined, making sure you ask all the right questions and don't miss any important details:

Required Documents and Paperwork

First off, let’s get down to the basics. Make sure you read and understand all the agreements before signing. This might take a bit time, but trust me you won’t regret it. And if you don't understand something, you should always get in touch with a professional agent or lawyer.

Following is a list of papers you should receive from your agent or the owner directly:

Lease Agreement

You can download our ready-made rental lease agreement template here or use our agreement generator to directly create your own lease agreement in Thai, English and soon more languages.

Inventory List (you can also take picture of each item to fully show it’s condition)

Invoice for booking deposit

Payment receipt for booking deposit 

Everyone will be asked to provide their ID or passport prior to signing. Non-Thai citizens will be asked to provide the following details:

- Visa

- TM6

- arrival stamp 

- optionally, if your visa is tied to your employment, a copy of your work permit

2. The Rental Unit

Now, let’s move inside the room and which possible questions you may want to ask or check yourself:

• Do the light switches work?
• Is the AC cold and working properly?
• Is there sufficient storage area? 
• What's the condition of the decorations? 
• Is the flooring in good condition? 
• Are there any signs of damp or mold? 
• Are there cracks in the walls/ceiling/floor, are any big enough to notice? 
• How many power sockets are there and are they conveniently located? 
• Can you be overlooked by your neighbors?
• How are the doors? Do they open and close easily?
• Do the locks work and what type of lock system do they use?

3. Bathroom

• How’s the water pressure?
• Do the taps work ok?
• Is hot water running properly?
• Is there a power socket in the bathroom?
• How’s the flooring in the shower? Is it non-slippery? And if not, is it safe to shower without falling?

4. Kitchen

• Is there a fire alarm?
• Are there lots of storage for utensils, plates, and kitchen tools?
• What is the type of stove being used? Is it electric or gas? And does it look well maintained?
• How’s the sink? Is it big enough to cook and do your dishes?

5. Other Facilities

• How are the elevators? Is it well maintained?
• What’s the fire exit plan like? Is your room located in a good location if there were to be fire?
• How’s the common area? Is it available for tenants for free or do you have to book and pay?
• What’s the gym like? Is the equipment well maintained and clean?
• How’s the pool? Does it look safe to swim? And what kind of water system is it? Is it chlorine-free?
• How’s the parking area?
• What about the security system? Are there CCTV cameras in the right locations? Are there any security guards during both the day and night shifts?

6. Surrounding Area

• What’s the area like at rush hour, at both weekends and weekdays?
•  When do the surrounding restaurants and convenience stores close? Are they within walking distance?
• Is the property close to public transports/stations?

So there you have it, questions that you should ask before choosing your next home. Take your time and view the property more than once, better yet, have a professional survey and go through it several times before you make your decision, after all, this is going to be the place you live and you wouldn't want to regret it down the road.

[Bangkok, Thailand, January 2022]

PropertyScout (https://propertyscout.co.th/en/), a Bangkok-based prop tech startup that is building a transactional platform for buying, renting, and selling homes, recently announced reaching USD 2.5 million in total funding after successfully closing its Pre-Series A round. Hustle Fund, a well-known, US-based early-stage VC investing into startups in North America and Southeast Asia, led the round.

Hustle Fund is joined by a number of well-known prop tech investors: Industry veterans such as Simon Baker, former CEO of REA, Marc Stilke, former CEO of ImmobilienScout24, Brian Ma, founder of Divvy Homes through his accelerator Iterative Capital, as well as institutional investors AngelCentral, Swiss Founders Fund and Asymmetry VC along with participation by angel investors returning from the Seed round.

Notable angel investors include Tim Marbach (Asia Venture Group), Jakob Angele (Foodpanda), Ross Veitch (Wego), JJ Chai (Rainforest, ex Carousell), Zenos Schmickrath (SEA founders), Kiren Tanna (Una Brands, ex Rocket Internet), Amarit Charoenphan, and Gokul Rajaram (DoorDash).

PropertyScout is a Bangkok-based real estate startup that aims to reinvent real estate transactions in Southeast Asia by building a trusted platform that reduces the hassles and risks associated with the rental, buying, and selling of a home. Against the market downturn caused by Covid-19, the company has become the market leader in residential rentals in Bangkok within 18 months, with a 15-fold growth from the first quarter of last year. PropertyScout has built one of the largest portfolios of frequently updated and available rental properties in Bangkok. The company's more than 300 co-broker partners and in-house property consultants are using the PropertyScout platform, which streamlines repetitive processes as well as providing the right tools and insights at the right time, enabling a superior service experience for buyers, tenants, and owners.

"Our vision is to make buying, renting, or selling a home trustworthy and accessible. We plan to use the funding to further enhance our proprietary technology platform and expand into property sales. Once the platform and processes are optimized and validated in Thailand, we will scale quickly into other Southeast Asian markets." Mario Peng, CEO and founder of PropertyScout says. Peng, who previously co-founded and sold an online travel platform based out of Singapore and worked in investment banking and private equity, is joined by his co-founders Marco Barth (COO, ex ImmobilienScout24, ex McKinsey) and Salita Kamnerdsiri (CSO, serial entrepreneur).

“Technological innovation is at the heart of PropertyScout. We have built a proprietary tech stack allowing us to serve thousands of property seekers and landlords professionally every month. We plan to double the size of our product and tech-team in the next months, expand the application of AI in our platform for the benefit of our users and partners, and aim to become a leading proptech-employer brand in 2022”, says Marco Barth, responsible as COO for product and technology. 

Salita Kamnerdsiri, heading sales and customer service as CSO, highlights PropertyScout’s growth plans for the immediate future: "Until now, PropertyScout has focused on optimizing rental processes to deliver outstanding service to tenants, landlords and our co-broker partners. Now is the right time to apply our best practices and the technology that helped us scale our rental business to become the benchmark in property sales."

The company is planning a Series A funding round to further expand geographically.