Day C15: Taking Back Control of The Unit

In news that should surprise nobody, the Pheu Thai party head Thaksin said he would delay his return. The sticking point was that Pita wanted to amend the less majeste law which I believe was the correct call. Then Pheu Thai called off the coalition, and as a result, mass protests downtown. This time they were going after Thaksin.

Meanwhile, I spent the entire morning replanning and tackling the next moves. First thing was to check out of the hotel and bike back to the condo. On the way I stopped at this wicked breakfast spot that had been my everyday go-to place both in 2015 while suffering a collarbone injury as well as in 2019 while in limbo to reapply for a Chinese visa. The staff all remembered me.

Once in the condo, imagine my delight when the power was back on! Right away with broom and mop in hand, I did some preliminary cleaning myself. Then some old bedding and pillows were tossed. I ran the AC and fan on full blast while opening the windows to thoroughly air the place out. This would go on while I updated the budget by the swimming pool and tried to keep up with the whirlwind of the last three days' worth of transactions.

Next was to book an appointment for a professional cleaner the next day, along with changing the locks and keys. After updating the budget, I would then go out and buy some new pillows and other cleaning supplies. There was also the challenge to clear the mold, yet the bleach and water solution may not be the best one so it was put on hold.

It was paramount that I had to take back control of this unit once and for all before selling it. Many mistakes had been made and learned from over the past 8 years. Consequently, it would become increasingly harder for people to scam me and screw me over as I became progressively smarter.

Everything was now happening all at once. Juristic helped call a locksmith guy who came right after my shopping was done. He kept working away on changing the locks and did a marvelously thorough job, as it was taking well over an hour. Meanwhile I did several rounds of cleaning while he worked including sweeping, floor mopping, opening all the cupboards to air the place out, and using some new clean bedding I happened to find stashed away.

While this was going on, my Italian contact friend sent me a message that he was finally able to meet. Even better he said he would come right up to the condo and check things out. I hadn't seen him in years and for someone in his 70s he was as fit as a fiddle. I wanted to make sure I was like that in this age group too. He was super impressed with the condo and he showed me on my city hall tax form where to find the true valuation of the place. He then said to guard those documents with my life, both the title deed and the proof of purchase. In his words, if something were to happen to them, "Very dangerous" he said. Basically it means if they're lost you're done for.

As he showed me the details, it dawned on me that in over 8 years my condo had only appreciated 40,000 baht. That is just spending money you'd get from an ATM. I was quite disappointed to say the least. Although prices are still 30% below covid, the news was to get even worse.

He was an experienced Pattaya condo dweller having purchased one of his own units twice the size as mine. He said, "If you are in a hurry to sell right now, you'd be lucky to get 700,000 baht for this." This confirmed what I suspected was the case. It would be selling at a huge loss. He went on to say, "You can always try a real estate agent, no problem, up to you. Maybe you get lucky. I am just here to help you out. I don't want any money. We're friends." He also offered to help store the keys and show potential viewers. His advice was basically take the time and wait, not to be in a hurry to sell right away.

This had me rethink the whole situation. Maybe he was right.

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