Developer Terrence Allen Collins is a man who is going places – yet he’s not going anywhere, writes John Davids.
Okay, I reckon that statement needs a little explanation.
He’s going in places in the sense that he’s always on the lookout for the right piece of land at the right price for his next development. But, he’s not moving away from the Pattaya area. This means he will always be around to provide on-going help and support to anyone who buys into one of his projects.
“I think that’s important,” said Terry, as he prefers to be known. “I can say to buyers, ‘it doesn’t matter if you come back in three months’ time or a year, I will still be around’. So people know who they are dealing with.”
Terry was talking to me in the study of his home in Phase I of The Vineyard development close to the 331 road near The Regent’s School. It’s obvious he likes it where he lives and he is pleased that others ‘buy’ into the idea of living a little way out of town.
“People love it here,” he said. “Once you live out here, you won’t want to move back to the city. Before I lived in Jomtien but here you get double the house for the price that you would pay there.”
The Vineyard lies about a 15 minute drive out of Pattaya. “That’s nothing when I think of the time it usually takes to get from a nice village to a city in England,” said the Essex-born builder/developer.
“Here we are close to the International school – four minutes away – and very well placed for getting out to the many golf courses in the area. Also there is easy access to the industrial parks where many expats work,” said Terry. “For those thinking about retiring, or with families, or keen golfers, this place is ideal. Once people decide they want to live here and stop being a tourist places like The Vineyard appeal.”
The first phase of The Vineyard built by his BravoThai Lifestyles company is sold out. “A lot of people didn’t think we would do that,” he said with a smile of satisfaction.
“Now we are developing Phase II and, already it looks like we’ve sold two of the 10 plots.”
Prices on Phase II will start at Bt9.9m for a two-bedroom house on half a rai of land. Top price is likely to be around Bt22m for a four/five bedroom house on a rai.
“We are making a few alterations to the houses when compared to Phase I,” said Terry. “I wanted to get the entry level price down to appeal to more people so, for example, we are not planning that every house will have a roof terrace.”
The roof terrace is very much of a feature at Terry’s own home, pictures of which are shown here.
“We’ve adapted the original house plan to suit the market,” he said. “Dropping the roof terrace means we can offer higher ceilings which people seem to like.”
Terry showed me around his home which doubles as the showhome. At every twist and turn there is something to delight.
The master bedroom is a big room and the en suite bathroom is nicely in proportion. Indeed, there are two main bedrooms that mirror-image each other. The only difference I could spot was that the master bedroom opens out onto the pool.
I especially liked the spa bath and sala areas seen on this page but it should be pointed out that perhaps some of these features may not be included in Phase II.
Best to get along to see Terry yourself and discuss exactly what is and what isn’t included. Because he builds to order it is easy for him to cater to individual preferences.
Those interested in buying into the project can avail themselves of a 40 per cent developer-assisted finance offer for up to six years with an interest rate of 6.5 per cent. “This is all handled in-house. No banks to deal with,” he said. “Many people think they are likely to be ineligible, but that may not be the case.” Ω
Contact Terry on +66 (0)89867796 or email him at info@siamdevelopments.com
www.siamdevelopments.com