# buying property in thailand



## puffin

Hello.
We are UK citizens thinking of moving to Thailand.Has anyone been through the process of purchasing a house.Do you have to form a company with a thai person.Are there any risks involved.
thank you for any information


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## Guest

Hi Puffin,

There's a lot of information on this subject if you do a search. Yes there are risks. Land ownership for non-Thais is illegal, houses can be bought through a Thai property company set-up where you hold 49% against 51% held by 'sleeping' Thai partners who theoretically have no voting rights, or in the name of your Thai spouse/girlfriend (with obvious inherent risks), or you can purchase a condo (with a whole set of other potential problems). 

Personally I've opted for renting so far, although I might consider a low-cost investment at some time - no more money than I'm prepared to lose, anyway.


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## oddball

Over the years it has become common consensus that Thailand is for Thai , you can own practically nothing in your name other than that which you can carry . Put this together with the oft changing rules and requirements just to stay in Thailand , it is problematic .


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## wildfk

You can buy a condo - but houses are really not fair game at present - most have them in the name of a Thai wife - which is dodgy both legally and of course maritally!


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## blue eyes

Her is some info to help you out.
Thailand real estate legal information | foreign land, house, condominium, company, business ownership


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## Serendipity2

puffin said:


> Hello.
> We are UK citizens thinking of moving to Thailand.Has anyone been through the process of purchasing a house.Do you have to form a company with a thai person.Are there any risks involved.
> thank you for any information




puffin,

Others have given good advice. Is your wife a Thai national but now a Brit? If so that might make a difference plus the time you've been married but in general you would be very wise to rent and not own. Keep in mind that, legally, only Thais can own land in Thailand. If your wife IS Thai I would still live in country a couple of years to see if you're going to acclimate - it's not like going on holiday. If your wife is not a Thai national, even though there are methods to owning in the end you could be asked to leave Thailand and that's it - no chance of recovering your lost investment. It could be as simple as someone being jealous of your wealth or a business deal gone sideways. 

As frogblogger advised, rent. If you have to leave Thailand, for whatever reason, your loss is minimal. In the end trying to own property in Thailand is sort of like marriage - marry in haste, repent in leisure. 

Serendipity2


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## puffin

Serendipity2.Thanks for the info.Wife is not Thai.Is it the same for purchasing a Condo or do the same sort of restrictios apply? Seems not worth retiring to Thailand.
puffin


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## wildfk

puffin said:


> Serendipity2.Thanks for the info.Wife is not Thai.Is it the same for purchasing a Condo or do the same sort of restrictios apply? Seems not worth retiring to Thailand.
> puffin



you can own a condo in your own name. Buy and sell them no problem.

but of course you only own the condo not the land it's on.

most buildings have a 49% foreigner occupation limit.

you'll notice that metre for metre condos cost a lot more than houses - partly because you CAN own one.


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## Serendipity2

puffin said:


> Serendipity2.Thanks for the info.Wife is not Thai.Is it the same for purchasing a Condo or do the same sort of restrictios apply? Seems not worth retiring to Thailand.
> puffin



puffin,

You can own a condominium in Thailand but there is a maximum ratio of farang- owned units. I think it's 40% maximum but not sure. From my perspective owning a condo isn't all that great. While it is legal to own [no land is owned] I think you'll find you end up paying too much per square foot plus maintenance costs and other operational costs such as taxes.

Renting is the ultimate in that you have great flexibility. Get tired of one area or find an area you'd like to give a try, you move there. You get the best rates leasing for a year and there is an upfront cost [usually 3 months] but if you need to lose town or get the boot [sadly not all that uncommon] all you lose is that portion of your rent paid up front.

Another strategy you can use is to lease some ground from an owner/farmer and build an inexpensive but portable home. Not all that hard to do. When I was up in the Pai area I met a Lisu family that were building a home - not huge but adequate - for about THB600,000 [$20,000] for about 70 sq. meters or 770 sq. feet. It had three bedrooms, a living area and a bath inside and more than adequate for 3-4 people. Again, that's as I remember so don't take that to the bank. At that price, if you had to leave it, it wouldn't devastate your net worth.

Another strategy you could use but not moveable is a rammed earth home where the walls are essentially dirt blended with sand and cement, rammed into adobe blocks. Very durable and if you can do much of the work, cheap. 

Serendipity2


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## somtamboo

Think everything the others have said here is sound advice.
I wouldn't think about putting a home in a company name right now, I've heard they're looking extra close at these kind of loopholes. Unless you have a legit company paying taxes and employing Thais, it's illegal, no matter what anyone tells you.
You can get 30-yr leases, sometimes extendable, or you can even own the house itself, but not the land.
Easiest option would be to rent somewhere first or buy a condo. Don't jump straight in!


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## Serendipity2

somtamboo said:


> Think everything the others have said here is sound advice.
> I wouldn't think about putting a home in a company name right now, I've heard they're looking extra close at these kind of loopholes. Unless you have a legit company paying taxes and employing Thais, it's illegal, no matter what anyone tells you.
> You can get 30-yr leases, sometimes extendable, or you can even own the house itself, but not the land.
> Easiest option would be to rent somewhere first or buy a condo. Don't jump straight in!



Another option might be to do a long term lease on a parcel of land with the option to buy it sometime in the future, build a modest home for your family and if the relationship turns out well, buy the land or leave her money to buy it, insuring her future for her. By then you'll know if you have a good woman/wife and you'll feel a lot more secure that you're not going to be tossed out of the country. Many farmers / land owners would be delighted to lease a parcel for you and probably give a good price to exercise the option to buy. You would have to make sure, of course, that he owned the land and that he gave you an absolute right to buy in the future. For that you would want to do a title search to make sure he DID own the land, a survey to describe the land and engage the services of a real estate attorney to draft the lease-option agreement. Then you would want it recorded to establish your rights. I'm assuming, of course, that title to land and lease agreements are recorded. If not, forget everything I said and just rent! 

Serendipity2


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## ti22

usually what you have to do is setup a company, and in the company name you can buy anything. 

Land house etc.... You have to be careful about some houses are built on leased land, so make sure if your buying a house make sure in the contract or whatever paper work you sign you make sure its the land and the house your buying, not just the house.

Its good to hire a lawyer to take care of everything.


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## Mindaugas

I think all detail information you can get by following this link: Land Ownership | DoingBusinessThailand.com


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## oddball

With the upheaval state that Thailand is in at this present time , and will be going through for quite some time in the future , your only option should be to rent for at least 6 months . As has been noted , this will also allow you to move around at your pleasure and not be in circumstance with your backs against the wall , so to speak .

Thailand has a great deal of diversity , so until you have investigated the more suitable to your likes/dislikes , stay foot loose and fancy free , personally I would say stay away from the south and that includes BKK , but only you can decide , as we all have differing criteria on what makes home to us .


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## robindog

Someone mentioned a thirty year lease which is a good option as you have the right to renew for another thirty years. So if you want security of tenure this is the best way otherwise take the advice given by so many and RENT RENT RENT.

We have studied all the options as we intend moving to thailand in the next 18 months but we will definitely rent and thus keeping all our options open.


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## cnx_bruce

Hi. Anyone who has spent any time reading Thai expat forums will be aware just how much confusion and misinformation there is about the place concerning buying Thai real estate or other means of controlling or occupying land here. Anyone seeking a concise plain-english overview of all of the various methods might like to take a look at the book "Your Investment Guide to Thailand" that came out this year. You will see it about in various bookshops or you can google on the publishers name -silkwormbooks - to get details


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## robindog

cnx_bruce said:


> Hi. Anyone who has spent any time reading Thai expat forums will be aware just how much confusion and misinformation there is about the place concerning buying Thai real estate or other means of controlling or occupying land here. Anyone seeking a concise plain-english overview of all of the various methods might like to take a look at the book "Your Investment Guide to Thailand" that came out this year. You will see it about in various bookshops or you can google on the publishers name -silkwormbooks - to get details




Hi
Thanks for that. :juggle:


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## Merrill

Good advice from everyone!!!!! I bought my condo 3 years ago and I'm glad that I did. I have no rent payments each month, live in a building on the way to the airport, so not many westerners and the new BTS line just opened. If you buy a condo, you own the unit, but not the land. Renting is OK, but you have no equity and just keep paying. It may be fine for some, but I'm really happy owning my place. I have more control. If you coming for the short-term rent, if you are making the move here, buy a condo. A house is great, but much more complicated. If your coming with your wife, take you time a search out neighborhoods. It's always good to live near the BTS if your going to live in Bangkok. Good luck!


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## wandabug

Merrill said:


> Good advice from everyone!!!!! I bought my condo 3 years ago and I'm glad that I did. I have no rent payments each month, live in a building on the way to the airport, so not many westerners and the new BTS line just opened. If you buy a condo, you own the unit, but not the land. Renting is OK, but you have no equity and just keep paying. It may be fine for some, but I'm really happy owning my place. I have more control. If you coming for the short-term rent, if you are making the move here, buy a condo. A house is great, but much more complicated. If your coming with your wife, take you time a search out neighborhoods. It's always good to live near the BTS if your going to live in Bangkok. Good luck!


The test as to whether it was a good investment to buy will be when you come to sell it - if you need to release the equity and cannot then it was not a good idea to buy.


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## robindog

Merrill said:


> Good advice from everyone!!!!! I bought my condo 3 years ago and I'm glad that I did. I have no rent payments each month, live in a building on the way to the airport, so not many westerners and the new BTS line just opened. If you buy a condo, you own the unit, but not the land. Renting is OK, but you have no equity and just keep paying. It may be fine for some, but I'm really happy owning my place. I have more control. If you coming for the short-term rent, if you are making the move here, buy a condo. A house is great, but much more complicated. If your coming with your wife, take you time a search out neighborhoods. It's always good to live near the BTS if your going to live in Bangkok. Good luck!



Thanks for the advice Merril.
We are coming over in Jan/Feb next year to do a recce:juggle:


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## Merrill

*Not selling*

Thanks for the does of reality, but when I'm dead, I won't have to worry. We are leaving it to my partners son, so he can worry about that. If we want to move, we will just rent out the units and buy somewhere else. You are right though, if you can't sell it, you get nothing. At least this is not like the US, where people lost everything. I live rent free, no mortage, and now can use the BTS from here to get just about anywhere in Bangkok.



wandabug said:


> The test as to whether it was a good investment to buy will be when you come to sell it - if you need to release the equity and cannot then it was not a good idea to buy.


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