Gross vs net yield: what actually eats your return

Gross yield is a year of rent divided by the price you paid, before any cost; net yield is what remains after the costs of owning and letting the unit are taken out. The gap between the two is not a rounding difference — it is the common fee, the letting and management fees, the weeks the unit sits empty, the repairs, the insurance and the tax, and together they can turn a confident-sounding headline into a noticeably smaller real number.

This is why the gross figure the calculator on our investment hub produces is labelled gross, and why it links here. That figure is a starting point built from a developer's asking rent and a listed price; it is honest arithmetic, but it describes the top line only. What follows explains each cost that sits between gross and net, then walks one hypothetical example through the subtraction. Every input in that example is chosen to illustrate the method — none is a rent, a price or a return we are quoting.

In brief

• Gross yield is a year's rent over the price before costs; net yield is what remains after running costs, and only net is a figure you could spend — even then, before income tax.
• Seven costs typically separate the two: common fee, sinking-fund contributions, letting fee, management, vacancy, maintenance and insurance, and tax.
• The common fee is the one grounded figure here: across residences we list it runs 45–70 baht/m²/month where published (July-2026 price sheets); a sinking fund is usually a one-off at handover and our stock publishes no figure.
• In a deliberately hypothetical example, a 4.8% gross falls to about 3.1% net once ordinary costs are counted — and that is still before income tax and land-and-building tax.
• Every input in that example is illustrative; a gross figure rests on an asking rent, not an achieved one, so a net figure is a way to think about costs, not a return we offer or expect.
• Rental income is taxable under Revenue Code s.40(5); a company tenant withholds 5% (15% for a non-resident owner), and the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 adds a small annual charge.

What is the difference between gross and net yield?

Gross yield is twelve months of rent expressed as a percentage of the purchase price; net yield is the same rent after annual running costs, expressed as a percentage of the price (or, more strictly, of the total you invested including transfer costs and furnishing). Gross answers "what does the rent look like against the price?"; net answers "what is actually left in my hand before tax?". Only the second is a figure you could spend, and even it is stated before income tax unless you say otherwise.

The distinction matters most when you are comparing two units. A cheaper unit with a high gross yield can end up with a lower net yield than a dearer one, because a small unit still carries a common fee, still needs managing, and still stands empty between tenants. Gross flatters; net discriminates. When a marketing sheet quotes a yield without saying which it is, assume gross — the flattering one — and ask what it becomes after costs.

What costs turn gross yield into net yield?

Seven kinds of cost typically sit between the two, and they fall into charges the building levies, charges of letting, and tax. Take them in turn.

The common fee (the juristic-person or "maintenance" fee) is the recurring charge every co-owner pays for the upkeep of shared areas, levied under the Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) and set per square metre per month. Across the residences we list, where a fee is published it falls in a band of 45 to 70 baht per square metre per month (computed from the developers' July-2026 price sheets); on a 30 m² unit that is roughly 16,200 to 25,200 baht a year. It is payable whether or not the unit is let.

The sinking fund (reserve fund) is a separate contribution to the building's capital reserve for major works, also provided for under the Condominium Act. It is usually a one-time payment collected at handover rather than an annual cost, so it belongs in your acquisition budget more than in a yield calculation — but a building can levy a further contribution when the reserve runs low, which is why the fund's health is worth checking. The developments we list do not publish a sinking-fund figure, so we quote none.

Letting and management costs are what it takes to find a tenant and run the tenancy: a letting agent's fee (commonly a portion of the rent), and, if you are not managing it yourself, an ongoing management charge. Vacancy is the rent you do not receive while the unit is between tenants — even a well-let unit is rarely occupied every day of every year, and a month empty is a month's rent gone. Maintenance and repairs cover wear, appliances and periodic refurbishment; insurance covers the contents and liability you carry as owner. None of these is fixed, which is precisely why net yield is a range, not a point.

Tax is the last bite. Rental income is assessable income under section 40(5) of the Revenue Code and is subject to Thai personal income tax; where the tenant is a Thai company the tenant withholds 5% of the rent (15% if you are a non-resident owner), credited against what you finally owe. Separately, the Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019) levies a small annual tax on the unit's appraised value, and 2026 is the first year it is collected at full rates. Because tax turns on your own residence status, holding period and structure, the figures below are stated before income tax, and the detail is set out in our note on tax for foreign property investors.

What does the arithmetic actually look like?

Here is one worked example with entirely hypothetical inputs, chosen only to show how gross becomes net — not a unit, a rent or a return we are quoting. Suppose a unit of 30 m² bought for 3,500,000 baht and let at a hypothetical 14,000 baht a month. A year's rent is 168,000 baht, so the gross yield is 168,000 ÷ 3,500,000 = 4.8%.

Now subtract a year of costs. Common fee: taking the middle of the sourced 45–70 baht/m²/month band, about 55 × 30 × 12 = 19,800 baht. Letting fee: assume one month's rent to find the tenant, 14,000 baht (an assumption, not a market rate). Vacancy: assume the unit is empty one month in the year, another 14,000 baht of rent not received. Maintenance, minor repairs and insurance: assume 10,000 baht combined. Those four lines total 57,800 baht.

That leaves 168,000 − 57,800 = 110,200 baht, so the net yield is 110,200 ÷ 3,500,000 = about 3.1% — and that is still before income tax and before the annual land and building tax. In this illustration the headline 4.8% becomes roughly 3.1% once ordinary costs are counted, a drop of more than a third. Change any assumption — a longer void, a management contract, a lower common fee — and the net figure moves; that sensitivity is the point, and it is why a single quoted yield tells you very little on its own.

Why is even the net figure not a projection?

Because every number in it is either an asking rate or an assumption, and neither is a promise. The rent that anchors a gross yield is the developer's published asking rent, not an achieved rent from a signed lease; the vacancy, management and maintenance lines are estimates that vary with the market, the building and the year. Multiplying assumptions does not make them certain — it compounds them. A net yield is a way of thinking about costs, not a return you can bank.

So use the gross-yield calculator on the investment hub for the top line, then read this article to discount it honestly, and read our note on the real risks of Bangkok condo investment before you treat any figure as dependable. If you intend to let the unit, the letting and its documentation, the management arrangement and the tax filings are separate pieces of work — the lease-structuring and post-transfer services set out how the tenancy and the juristic-person position are handled, and our rental-management note covers running a unit from abroad. The honest summary is short: gross is a headline, net is a range, and a return is neither.

The limits of this article

• The worked example uses hypothetical inputs to demonstrate the method; it is not a forecast, not a projection and not a return offered, expected or guaranteed. Suwanvara Property does not verify or endorse any yield figure, and past rents and prices are not indicative of future results.
• The only grounded figure is the common-fee band (45–70 baht/m²/month), computed across the residences we list from the developers' July-2026 price sheets, where a fee is published — it is not a market average. Letting, management, vacancy, maintenance and insurance figures in the example are assumptions, not sourced rates.
• Figures are stated before income tax and before annual land and building tax. Your actual tax turns on your residence status, holding period and ownership structure, and rates and reliefs change — confirm the current position with the firm before relying on any number.
• General information only, not tax, legal or investment advice. Letting a unit, structuring the lease, and filing the tax are handled under a separate engagement with Suwanvara Law Firm, never as a condition of buying through the brokerage.

Continue reading

• Indicative gross-yield calculator
• Lease structuring and registration
• Post-transfer registration and juristic-person handover

In case of any discrepancy between language versions, the English version prevails. / กรณีข้อความหลายภาษาไม่ตรงกัน ให้ยึดฉบับภาษาอังกฤษเป็นหลัก / 如各语言版本存在差异，以英文版本为准。

Sources

• Common-fee range across the residences Suwanvara Property lists — computed from the developers' July-2026 price sheets (13 of 23 developments publish a common fee, 45–70 THB/m²/month); recorded in the site's investment data register (checked 2026-07-25)
• Revenue Code (ประมวลรัษฎากร), s.40(5) — rent of property is assessable income subject to Thai personal income tax; s.50 — withholding on payments. Revenue Department (กรมสรรพากร) (checked 2026-07-25)
• Revenue Department practice — a Thai juristic-person tenant withholds 5% of rent paid to a resident individual lessor (credited against the lessor's annual tax); 15% is withheld on rent paid to a non-resident lessor. Revenue Department (กรมสรรพากร) (checked 2026-07-25)
• Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 (2019) (พระราชบัญญัติภาษีที่ดินและสิ่งปลูกสร้าง พ.ศ. 2562) — annual tax on immovable property by use category, assessed on appraised value and collected by the local authority; residential rates set by Royal Decree, with 2026 the first year of full-rate collection (checked 2026-07-25)
• Condominium Act B.E. 2522 (1979) (พระราชบัญญัติอาคารชุด พ.ศ. 2522), ss.18 and 40 — co-owners' liability for common-area expenses and the sinking (reserve) fund administered by the condominium juristic person. Department of Lands (กรมที่ดิน) (checked 2026-07-25)