For house shoppers, quality, construction, and a builder’s responsiveness are important factors in deciding where to buy.
Montree Sanwiangchan, CEO of Baan Sanmanee in Bang Saray, says the villages his company builds and manages provide all that and particularly focus on quality and details to satisfy their customers. It’s one reason why the company’s motto is “We Don’t Sell Bad Houses!”
Montree Sanwiangchan, CEO of Baan Sanmanee.
The Sanmanee chief recently sat down with the Pattaya Mail to discuss the company and its products.
“When I was 20 and working as an employee in Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction Co., I quit my job to start my own contracting business,’ said Mr. Sanwiangchan. “I still made deals with Sino-Thai, but I had reached a point where contract construction thrived but it still had not satisfied me personally because when I took contract jobs, I had to follow others’ designs. I could not do as I wanted and I understood customers’ requirements, some of which I could not fulfill at that time.
“I wanted to fill this void, which involved building houses according to my designs, designs which had been specified by customers when I was a contractor, designs based on actual needs of customers,” added Sanwiangchan. “Therefore, I decided myself to start a village under the name ‘Sanmanee’ in 2008, which was when I really entered the real estate business. What I got in return was pride when customers were satisfied with Baan Sanmanee since all the minor details of the project were what customers really wanted,” said the CEO.
The first phase of Baan Sanmanee was launched in 2008 in Panthong, Chonburi, while the second and third phases came the following year around the Amata Nakorn industrial estate. In 2011 the company launched the fourth and fifth phases and construction on the sixth was started this year.
“The launch of Sanmanee phase 1 in 2008, in Panthong, did not initially do very well as it was launched during the time when the economy was suffering from the global crisis, however sales started to pick-up and we ended up selling the entire project faster than we expected,” said Sanwiangchan.
On the back of this success, phase 2 and 3 followed shortly after with similar sales success and phase 5 was closed surprisingly fast within six months last year, he added.
“We have the slogan about not selling bad house, that even children can remember,” said Mr. Sanwiangchan. “It’s something that seems to have struck a chord with the real estate industry as well and our customers are already familiar with our name when they come to view our projects.”
With 4 existing projects in the Amatanakhorn, Chonburi region, and another currently under construction, the company decided to recently diversify its portfolio by launching Phase 4 in a tourism area, namely Bang Saray.
“Initially we had a problem getting ourselves noticed as out name and slogan was not as well known in the Sattahip/Rayong area. However, once customers came to view our houses they would return two or three times more before deciding to buy after being impressed with the quality of our designs and construction,” said the Sanmanee CEO.
“We were lucky with the project location as we were able to acquire the land at a good price allowing us the advantage of selling the houses at competitive prices,” he added.
The Bang Saray development is modeled on the company’s successful pilot project in Panthong but with modifications to reflect the lifestyle of a tourism city. Improvements include adding Jacuzzi tubs in the bathrooms, expanding the living rooms and using materials such as low mass bricks to reduce noise from the outside.
The village roads are nine meters wide to give the project a non-congested look and the communal park includes a clubhouse and swimming pool. All the facilities will be built during the initial construction phase so that existing residents don’t have to wait until the project is complete before they can use them.
Mr. Sanwiangchan was asked what he considered to be the most important factor in making Sanmanee the market brand it is today.
“Quality and attention to detail in construction,” replied the company CEO without pause. “In addition, if we go back four years, the words ‘house with land’ was not everybody’s realistic dream; especially people with lower incomes since it is perceived that these houses would be very expensive. But Sanmanee is selling houses starting from just over a million baht with built-in furniture, which is still quite a surprise to our customers. Sanmenee has done it and this is one of the elements why we are such a household name in the Chonburi area.”
Sanmanee hopes to launch phases 6 & 7 in September this year, both of which will be located around the Amatanakhorn industrial estate. In the future, the company plans to launch a project over a hundred rai in Phanomsarakham, Chacherngsao, surrounded by a lake, and the houses will be built as if they were on their own personal island. The target market will mainly be Bangkok citizens looking for a second home outside the capital. The developer also has one eye on the condominium market in Pattaya, Chonburi and Prachuap Kirikhan.
“Currently, we are in the research process of possibilities in condo construction including studying the market in each area,” said Sanwiangchan.
And finally, where did the name ‘Sanmanee’ originally come from?
“Well, ‘San’ is from my surname,” said Mr. Sanwiangchan. “As for the ‘Ma’ is from ‘Montree,’ my name. For ‘Na’ it’s from my daughter’s name and ‘Ee’ is from my mother’s name. Put together you get ‘Sanmanee.’ It is a word that brings my family together perfectly even the house models’ names are all from names of members of my family. When we work, we enjoy, we feel like we are with our family at all times.”
