Buying a house

[SingaporeSteve]

gunneruk said:

This is the best info page i have found so far:-http://www.pattayaelegantproperties.com/propertylaws.html

Thank you to everyone who has posted advice,i listen and respect all of it.

I am suprised with all the members of this board, it apears no one owns a house,or if they do it must be in a Thai persons name.

I plan on asking all the ex pats in the local golf society for advice on a good lawyer,i shall then go see at least two lawyers and get legal advice,its certainly a minefield.

I return in three weeks to Los,so i will post anything that i find out.

I just want to say,that having bought a condo,its far easier,and if your not bothered what you own,,,,BUY A CONDO!!!!!!!!

Many people have advised renting,i shall easily get back what i paid for my condo,so all its cost me is the interest that i would have earned if i had invested the money in a bank.

I do think long term,buying is best,providing you shop around,i spent a long time looking,eventually i bought my condo from a bank,they often have some real bargains.

 

 

I have multiple properties currently and in the past where I have effective control of a thai owned company that owns land and houses. Key here is to understand you never own the majority of the company, you just control it. Conversly, if you acquire a property using a company, you never sell the property, you just relinquish control of the company to another person. That person may just happen to pay you for your trouble the agreed upon price of the assets held in that company. With a company you never sell a house, you just resign the directorship and transfer it to someone else. That other person then assumes control of the company that owns the house and taxes are filed in the normal manner. Now if a company sells an assett such as a house, it must record the sale in its accounts and pay substantial taxes at the normal corporate rates if it sells the property for more than it paid for it.

 

Key here is you never own a house, just control the company that does. Keep that in mind and its all quite straightforward. Furthermore, I have been tax investigated in Chonburi due to someone unknown stiring up trouble and because all the companies that I control pay correct taxes, the tax officer was VERY pleased and went away happy. Always follow the rules and play by the Thai book of rules.

 

Also just a word of caution, if you own a condo in your name and sell it you have transfer fees to pay, which from memory are around 3%. Therefore if you sell frequently the cost of all these transfer fee's is likely to be similar to paying company taxation as in the event of a company owning a house or condo, it never sells it - that company remains the owner of the condo or house and you are essentially transferring your directorship and control away from that company.

 

Cheers

[Lusty]

I really wish our own government here in the UK could have applied laws like these years ago then perhaps today we wouldn't be paying stupid prices for property.

[Guest]

Why in the world would an individual want to own property in a country that has a convoluted property ownership system for foreigners is beyond me. Unless I wanted to start a family in Thailand I would rent a home and call it a day.

You ask a very good question. I think the answer is in your second sentence. If you live here and intend to live here for the forseeable future, the balance begins to tip in favor of wanting to have some sort of ownership interest.

 

Foreignors can own condos, but the money must be brought from outside of Thailand, unless you are a legal permanent resident. But even with condos there are problems; basically some of the same problems with owning a condo in the US (and others), but amplified several times over. If you live here, you can explore the market more and will know more about the risks, and you are therefore in a better position than a visitor to reduce those risks, but you are still facing bigger risks than you would in the US.

 

The basic attraction of owning property over a condo is obvious. But the legal hurdles for foreigners are more formidable and the environment much riskier. I have seen it done, but you really need to do your homework, hire an independant advisor, etc. Unfortunately, when you look at the advice offered on the web, you see that much of their advice is wrong and will result in problems further down the road (after their comission has been paid) and they are not really independant. The very fact that you see brokers offering legal advice says a great deal about the environment here.

[Guest]

I got this e mail today,it was from an Estate agent in Thailand:-

 

We have added a lot of new properties since your last visit and property

values in Thailand have risen by 20% this year alone with similar gains

forecast for next year.

 

Visit us again soon to see the deals on offer and come to buy a house in the

sun !

 

Regards

 

My first thought was,this is just an agent trying to create panic buying and at the same time tempt people in believing they can make a fast buck,just total bullshit.

 

But having been to the web site of another large agent in the town,i find he has put up the prices of most of his property's by 20%,certainly on all the property's i had previously considered.

So who is pushing these prices up,is it the greedy sellers or the agents?

In the Uk house prices have reached levels that are quite crazy,with the average first time buyer,now in his/her thirties.

The agents here tell people the house is worth 200,000,so its best to put it on the market for 215,000,so if the house does not sell for a while,and prices go up,you will not be left behind,it also gives you some space to accept a lower offer.

Then if the house is sold for 215,000,they tell next customer, they just sold one like there's for 215,000,so they should market there's for 230,000,,,,,,sadly i can see the same thing happening in Thailand, in the bigger cities,i can not see any other explanation for the increases,as i am sure the costs of house building has not gone up 20%.

I beleive this is greedy farangs,who want to make a living off the backs of others,without giving a dam about the damage they are doing long time.

[SoiledCowboy]

Fly, we were discussing the actual available methods of purchasing property in Thailand for a farang, and the pros and cons, not about the deal that the buyer seeks out, good or bad...a bit like buying a used car kinda...what you buy, who you buy it from and how much you pay is totally seperate from any legal process of ownership...so if you buy a lemon then don't complain about it to anyone as the legal ownership system still allows fools to sell to fools that buy...LOS does have lots of spivs in many fields, from the local taxi-driver to the local Real Estate agent...no different from our own home countries have...but put a light-headed and gullible farang on LOS soil with some serious baht and they make mincement from people who are destined to buy a turkey anyway...

[SingaporeSteve]

gunneruk said:

I got this e mail today,it was from an Estate agent in Thailand:-

 

We have added a lot of new properties since your last visit and property

values in Thailand have risen by 20% this year alone with similar gains

forecast for next year.

 

Visit us again soon to see the deals on offer and come to buy a house in the

sun !

 

Regards

 

My first thought was,this is just an agent trying to create panic buying and at the same time tempt people in believing they can make a fast buck,just total bullshit.

 

But having been to the web site of another large agent in the town,i find he has put up the prices of most of his property's by 20%,certainly on all the property's i had previously considered.

So who is pushing these prices up,is it the greedy sellers or the agents?

 

 

Gunneruk, Where are you looking to buy? Sounds to me like that email came from a farang as the spelling and wording is correct English.

 

Dont forget the estate agents certainly in Pattaya are a mischevous bunch at best with only a couple of reputable players in my opinion. I have many personal experiences of them increases prices without telling the owner (and then pocketing the difference), disguising their own development as being someone elses, but strangely pushing you towards that one and ignoring completely property they have listed because its more suitable than their own project. Their are something like 40 real estate agents in town now and I could count on three fingers the one's who I respect for fair play.

 

Do your homework, ask for their work permits to be shown to you and ask around for recommendations.

 

I have not personally seen across the board 20% price increases this year but have seen MANY properties go up in price some by more than 20% but the old rationale should still apply. If it cant sell at XXX it certainly is overpriced and you should look elsewhere.

 

I'll put my neck on the line here and state that in Pattaya the two most reputable agents are KCR Homefinder and Premier Homes based on my personal experience. Both have very good websites.

 

Cheers

[Guest]

Hi Steve,

Yes the letter did come from a farang,that's one of the reasons why i think its farangs that are pushing prices up.

I am buying in Hua Hin,i have a condo at the moment,but i am buying a house in an area that is more suitable for me,nearer my golf club etc.

That's very interesting,you saying agents putting up prices without the owners knowing,,,,that had not occurred to me,,but it does figure.

[eee]

I'm thinking about buying a condo. I've seen this happen by going to real estate websites. I think these falangs do raise the price just so that they can pocket the difference.I email these english lad working for the real estate agency. He literally chewed me out when I said that Jomtien bch is so much farther than north Pattaya from walking street. All they want is MONEY. sell,sell,sell. I guess the best thing to do is to buy directly from the owner!!????? What do you think guys? I'm talking about condos only ...EEE

[Guest]

>>>My first thought was,this is just an agent trying to create panic buying and at the same time tempt people in believing they can make a fast buck,just total bullshit.<<<

 

>>>I beleive this is greedy farangs,who want to make a living off the backs of others,without giving a dam about the damage they are doing long time.<<<

 

 

 

actually, there has been an increase in property value. only, we are in the middle of a bubble economy, and it appears to be completely artificial. has very little to do with farang, but with thai real estate developers and their political clout.

i would wait for at least two more years before buying anything. the prices are way too high already, a huge oversupply.

the economy will go down, and with it the inflated real estate sector.

[Guest]

>>>...no different from our own home countries have...but put a light-headed and gullible farang on LOS soil with some serious baht and they make mincement from people who are destined to buy a turkey anyway... <<<

 

only major difference in the west is a far better functioning legal sythem. here is very little accountability.