Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Folks, reading about buying house in thailand. wife is thai, but need to buy a landed property(preferably) or condo.

1. Few say that in case of any future issues, house will go to wife only. is it true? Any way to get only under my name?
2. Like to buy away from Bangkok, like ayutthaya or chiangmai or nonthaburi.
3. Any singapore real estate agency do this or can i go for advice?

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Want to buy big ticket items like an overseas condo better don't be lazy.
This is not like buying a shirt online. :rolleyes:

Do your own leg work and go showroom to view new condo or engage reliable Thai property agent for resale condo.

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

1. buy condo, put under your name no problem. even if freehold.
house wise, supposingly u wont be able to claim it because u dont qualify in the 1st place. some countries have exception.
consult the local real estate agent there better.
got many real estate agents cater specifically to foreigners in thailand.

2. can buy anywhere u like. their ownership law does not discriminate location within the country. same law applies anywhere within thailand.
I have been observing the condos in bkk for a few yrs. Its really hot. easily the price before they drill the ground to completion, appreciate 30% to > 100% (based on advertisements' lowest quotes "from xxx baht"). my own view is "too hot to buy" due to massive buying by chinese investors. Rental yields are not paying well in bkk. Completion risk is one of the key concerns when buying a condo that hasn't started building yet. Developers usually take bank loans to finance a new project and if the loan is suddenly cut, thats it the building just freeze there for yrs. Interest rate on loans are high too. Only aim those projects from reputable developers.

3. got sg agents promote bkk property. they link up direct with the developers there but they only do new launches, no resale. just google / call and ask.

make sure u read and researched enough before u sign any papers & pass any money. plenty of other people's past experiences can be found online.

u may also sign up for a free 1 day property tour in bkk just to look around and get a feel about buying property in thailand. Comes with free transport + free lunch + free seminar on what to look out for + financing advise, etc. Of course u should expect them to push some sales to u. i havent been to 1 though.

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Can pm me the link to such tour ?

I heard Nxxxx and SanXXXX is the better developer around. Been looking at their website. Notice most condo is either studio or 2 bedroom. Very few with 3 bedroom. Is this the common thing in TH ?

Anw.. was told most ppl pay in full when condo completed. Interest rate around 8% -10% so not worth it.

If dun get prime district.. price shld be around 200k for a decent one. Correct me if i wrong

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Thanks bro. Its helpful.
If you know any such links for one day tour let me know.

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Maybe a good way to find dependable developers is to check which thai developers are listed companies. Check how long have they been listed. One that has a history of surviving major economic crisis, should be a good one. Thats one of my way of checking. Listed companies have many people to answer to, so not easy for them to deliberately want to fail a project and cheat buyers' money. Anyway, can always try to google for past scandals involving the developer.

Smaller units are common as its easier to rent out. My view is that most renters in BKK are those YOLO foreigners, jap corporate men posted there & thai FLs / fully modified ladyboys. So not much families to rent out to, thus smaller units being more popular for investors.

For financing, u can check out UOB here. They offer property loans for thai property (subject to our MAS restriction on loan cap), either in SGD or USD. Rates are around 4-5+%. Rates in thailand aint much diff either. So a thai property financed by a loan probably will eat up all most of your rental yield.

Payments for new projects are typically like this:
pay 10% upfront to reserve a unit.
when work begins (phrase 1), u need pay a certain % more.
phrase 2 need another certain % more payment. etc
Balance to be paid upon completion and taking over the property.
Phrases may come in 3 to 5.
The schedule is actually quite tight till last phrase to completion. Can expect the 1st 3 to 4 payments within 2 yrs and final payment another yr or 2 after that. And final payment usually left at most 20% of purchase price so expect most of the payment to be done during the earlier stages of the project.
U can expect units in new projects to have already changed hands (bought and resold) a few times even before the project is completed. Capital appreciation of your property starts before the project is completed, but dont expect large profits before completion as completion risk is the biggest risk consideration when purchasing new projects in thailand.

U can still get prime district units between 200-300k. U need to see what type of condo the project falls under. Typically there are 3 classes of condos: Apartment (little to no facilities and the cheapest), normal condo (standard facilities), luxury condos (very high class ones).
200-300k for smallest unit in prime district applies to normal condo. Luxury condos can range from 250k to 1mil for the smallest unit.
Luxury condos sometimes come with roof top bar/restaurant, bellboy & valet at lobby, even a butler on call to your unit is available. Some units even have private lift.

Expect to pay another 2-3% on the purchase price for taxes & duties. These are stated in thai law so is not agent or developer trying to cheat u. Non negotiable for new projects.
For resale units, can nego between buyer & seller to see who pays what and how much.

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Greetings,

As you know, foreigners can't purchase a house in Thailand, therefore, you must hire a Thai attorney and form a dummy corporation! Then, you can purchase a house using dummy corporation's name!

Good luck.

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Your dummy corp must have at least 51% thai ownership.
So unless u find a trustworthy business partner, put thai wife name as property owner sounds the wiser choice.

There are ways to have the minority owner of the corp have executive control of the company. But ownership-wise your thai business partner, be it real or fake, would still have the legal rights to claim up to his/her % share of the economic rights of the company.

Example: U find a thai business partner, open a thai dummy company. U tell him just put his name in to help u open a company, no liabilities to him. U paid for 100% of the property purchase.
Buy a house, put under the thai corp's name. Thai business partner has 51% share of the corp.
When the company sells the property, your business partner, though paid 0 cent for the property, can go to court and claim up to his share (51%) of the sales proceeds. If he wanna fuck u up.

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Care to share more on this story?:o

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Sansiri got a new project near Huai Kwang MRT name XT Huai Kwang, they got exhibition in sg, hk, china etc....this kind of project may be the one who offer free tour but sure need you to buy before they refund you for the free tour.......where got free lunch in the world lah. And the price is usually 20-30% higher than those not marketed outside Thailand.....is XT price start from 200k baht per sqm while the usual price in that area should be 150k +/- per sqm.

xthuaikhwang.com

Never buy landed house or shop house/townhouse with company name, this kind of way is illegal way to make legal, so just buy Condo for foreigner is enough.

As for loan, UOB only loan to foreigner buying in Thailand with SGD or USD and interest is way too high like MLR+2% or about 8.75% etc. Also there're min amount to loan etc. So if you really want to invest in Thailand condo.....buy cash.

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

10% is for locals.... foreigner varies from 10-30% depending on developer.

All companies need 51% Thais but BOI approved company can be 100% foreign owned. BTW, If u know how an actual XXX co. ltd. works then it is stupid to incorp a dummy corp. :D

Right, just buy a condo to save all the shit.

Good reputed lawyer will advise dun go for these loop holes.... money lawyer will tell u this can, that can, simply cause they can earn money from u. If there is law suit, they will earn again. In end uses ass to think also know who will suffer and whose money will be lost... :D

Example of a trick by money lawyer... they will use their firm to take the 51% while signing another internal contract.

If anyone wants a property tour, USD 1000 for 8 hrs. I will take u around viewing property with my 5 series for a day.

Property purchase or Incorp of company advice will be charged per block of 10 min. Man day rates standard 8 hours, USD 1000. :D

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Walau like that also can......if want to tour Chiangmai property USD 1000 with E350 for 8 hrs also hor :D

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

U want to provide free service?? :D Of cause charge USD 1000. My lawyer charges me everything by time.

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

base on my understanding

condo ownership for foreigner only limited to certain area and development, not all condo (correct me if im wrong)

land/house ownership for foreigner not possible,
option 1 - buy under wife name. (and pray hard she dun sell n run away :D)
option 2 (know a few retired farang doing this) - buy under trust able thai friend name and get lawyer to make a legal 99 year rental lease agreement, terms should protect foreigner

Re: Buying house in thailand under foreigner name
 

Unless special project else all Condo can be bought by foreigners and rules apply, 51% local and 49% foreign. Ie more Thai owners.

Let me assure u, u will trust your pet dog more than Thai friends. :D

I find it stupidity at the highest to think of ways or loopholes to own a piece of land and property.... Dun trust those who merely go Thailand for few days and keep telling u property in Thailand can make money or an investment. If free when in BKK, go visit condos at night and see how many units are pitch black = no tenant. Land price will increase but not the house or unit.

The max lease period is 30 yrs. Why will u pay for the land and house then lease it from your Thai friend? What if your "trusted" friend decides he is in deep shit, needs money n sells your property? What if after 30 yrs, your friend decides not to renew or he passed away, his family decides not renew n sell the land?? What if u dun live beyond 30 lease? Aren't this better to rent??

Anyway, it is others money and decision. Go ahead n buy a landed property if u have money to dump.