Buying a condo

[flyingscotsman]

Buying a condo under Thai company versus under your own name/foreign quota.

What are the pitfalls or advice good/bad?

[taylor1975]

Google Phuket crackdown! 

[Tchiowa]

1 hour ago, flyingscotsman said:

Buying a condo under Thai company versus under your own name/foreign quota.

What are the pitfalls or advice good/bad?

Buying a condo in a Thai companies name is about as stupid as marrying some Issan whore you first paid to blow you.

It happens tho......

[The Danimal]

So no helpful advice so far....and I am not sure how helpful my advice will be.  You should serach for the Grand Avenue or Tulip thread....lots of advice given to both sides of the discussion... @brutox gives some sage advice in these types of threads.  Many things to consider...new build?  Not yet completed build?  Price?  I know when I bought a top unit at GA...I paid 3.1M Baht all in....under thai...had I paid for foreign....almost 4M Baht...so there is that.....was it worth all of the headaches...tax filings...legal fees (minimal)? ....I would say yes.  Is that the verdict in all cases...No!  Other things to consider are:  will you be there full time...retiring there...is it an investment....do you have heirs to leave it to that will want/are able to deal with such a shitshow?  Afforability is such an individual assessment...but for me...at the time...40ish...buying a place for 3.1...3.4 all in furnished with keys...was not a big risk as I was planning on living there soon and visited every two months to oversee the final stages of the build.  

I would say all things being equal though....you have more options and a much MUCH easier path to everything if you purchase in foreign...I didn't due to the 900K baht savings which tilted the scales enough in my opinion to take the risk....if it was any/much less....or my situation was different...I don't think I would have made the same choice.   Good luck!

[flyingscotsman]

3 hours ago, The Danimal said:

So no helpful advice so far....and I am not sure how helpful my advice will be.  You should serach for the Grand Avenue or Tulip thread....lots of advice given to both sides of the discussion... @brutox gives some sage advice in these types of threads.  Many things to consider...new build?  Not yet completed build?  Price?  I know when I bought a top unit at GA...I paid 3.1M Baht all in....under thai...had I paid for foreign....almost 4M Baht...so there is that.....was it worth all of the headaches...tax filings...legal fees (minimal)? ....I would say yes.  Is that the verdict in all cases...No!  Other things to consider are:  will you be there full time...retiring there...is it an investment....do you have heirs to leave it to that will want/are able to deal with such a shitshow?  Afforability is such an individual assessment...but for me...at the time...40ish...buying a place for 3.1...3.4 all in furnished with keys...was not a big risk as I was planning on living there soon and visited every two months to oversee the final stages of the build.  

I would say all things being equal though....you have more options and a much MUCH easier path to everything if you purchase in foreign...I didn't due to the 900K baht savings which tilted the scales enough in my opinion to take the risk....if it was any/much less....or my situation was different...I don't think I would have made the same choice.   Good luck!

Thanks for your post 

Very much appreciated 

[LoneCelt]

 

I bought a condo recently and I would have been uncomfortable buying it via the Thai company route.

That said there are certain advantages and it would depend on your objectives.

My property is for my principle private residence, i.e. it won't be rented and won't be resold in the near to medium term. In time it will be passed to my kids as inheritance. Therefore I needed a property where the legal status of ownership was impeccable.

On the other hand, if the property was a flipper, for rental etc and I was minded to view it as a medium risk business transaction then I would, in theory, have access to a wider choice and better pricing. 

There are reasonable safeguards a good lawyer can put in place for property held in a thai company for your benefit but TIT and crackdowns do happen from time to time. Against that there are not widespread tales of people losing their properties in Pattaya, a lot of smoke yes but no actual fire.

[jetdoc]

11 hours ago, Tchiowa said:

Buying a condo in a Thai companies name is about as stupid as marrying some Issan whore you first paid to blow you.

Harsh my friend, take it you speak from experience. ;o)

[flyingscotsman]

8 hours ago, LoneCelt said:

 

I bought a condo recently and I would have been uncomfortable buying it via the Thai company route.

That said there are certain advantages and it would depend on your objectives.

My property is for my principle private residence, i.e. it won't be rented and won't be resold in the near to medium term. In time it will be passed to my kids as inheritance. Therefore I needed a property where the legal status of ownership was impeccable.

On the other hand, if the property was a flipper, for rental etc and I was minded to view it as a medium risk business transaction then I would, in theory, have access to a wider choice and better pricing. 

There are reasonable safeguards a good lawyer can put in place for property held in a thai company for your benefit but TIT and crackdowns do happen from time to time. Against that there are not widespread tales of people losing their properties in Pattaya, a lot of smoke yes but no actual fire.

This condo would be for myself not for renting out etc so I would prefer it to be in my own name 

[markhaenses]

43 minutes ago, flyingscotsman said:

This condo would be for myself not for renting out etc so I would prefer it to be in my own name 

So just buy it under your name ie foreign quota, sending money from your personal bank account abroad to thai bank account is necessary otherwise securing a TT3 might be difficult. 

[Edge]

14 hours ago, The Danimal said:

So no helpful advice so far..................

I would say all things being equal though....you have more options and a much MUCH easier path to everything if you purchase in foreign...I didn't due to the 900K baht savings which tilted the scales enough in my opinion to take the risk....if it was any/much less....or my situation was different...I don't think I would have made the same choice.   Good luck!

I disagree with your first point.
The OP only asked about the Thai company ownership issues and if he'd followed @taylor1975 's advice he would know i.e. if anyone using that method to circumvent Thai law came under individual or general investigation he might wind up owning jack shit.

Still, you got there in the end i.e. it's down to the savings vs the perceived risk and any stress associated with it.

@OP - IMO buy in your name in foreign quota if you can. 

[Tchiowa]

6 hours ago, jetdoc said:

Harsh my friend, take it you speak from experience. ;o)

Negative, Isaan ppl are the help to me.

[jetdoc]

20 minutes ago, Tchiowa said:

Negative, Isaan ppl are the help to me.

Right hearsay best way to go.

[flyingscotsman]

12 hours ago, markhaenses said:

So just buy it under your name ie foreign quota, sending money from your personal bank account abroad to thai bank account is necessary otherwise securing a TT3 might be difficult. 

Unfortunately the condo I'm after is only available under a Thai company as the foreign quota is full at the moment.

I was mainly just looking for opinions on this or if it was a complete NO NO.

What is a TT3? 

Edited June 27, 2023 by flyingscotsman
Added text

[davidge]

1 minute ago, flyingscotsman said:

Unfortunately the condo I'm after is only available under a Thai company as the foreign quota is full at the moment.

I was mainly just looking for opinions on this or if it was a complete NO NO 

Don’t do it.

Really, don’t do it.

Really,  really, don’t do it.

[penboy]

1 minute ago, flyingscotsman said:

 

I was mainly just looking for opinions on this or if it was a complete NO NO 

It's one of those situations where it is no problem, until it is a problem. If the Thai authorities crack down on Thai company owned condos, you will be in a rather sticky situation. 

Some farangs have owned condos in company name for decades with no problem. The question is, what will happen in the future?

[markhaenses]

25 minutes ago, flyingscotsman said:

Unfortunately the condo I'm after is only available under a Thai company as the foreign quota is full at the moment.

I was mainly just looking for opinions on this or if it was a complete NO NO.

What is a TT

Its a complete NO NO unless you are mentally prepared to forego the investment in the condo unit if crackdown happens for thai shell companies formed only to buy real estate, few weeks ago there was a similar crackdown in Phuket, probably last year or a year before that Chinese Condo owners of BKK were targeted for buying condos under thai company. Few of the worst things that could happen are (though unsure):

1 You could lose your condo.

2 You can get a hefty fine.

3 You can be jailed for breaking law.

4 You can be blacklisted from Thailand and/or all of the above.

 

TT3 stands for Thor Thor 3 you get this document from the bank, it states that you have transferred the funds from your own bank account outside of Thailand , and probable the most important documents yo buy property under foreign Quota.

[The Danimal]

21 hours ago, penboy said:

It's one of those situations where it is no problem, until it is a problem. If the Thai authorities crack down on Thai company owned condos, you will be in a rather sticky situation. 

Some farangs have owned condos in company name for decades with no problem. The question is, what will happen in the future?

Repeat

Edited June 28, 2023 by The Danimal
error

[Phoenix Dave]

On 27/06/2023 at 15:05, jetdoc said:

Right hearsay best way to go.

555. Isn’t this entire board essentially a collection of hearsay?

OP, the best advice I can give is; DON’T TAKE LEGAL ADVICE FROM ME!!! Also, I recommend not taking my relationship advice. If you really want to, though, there is a cute little whore in Fahrenheit who I can recommend for lifelong relationship lessons. 
 

Talk to an actual, Thailand experienced lawyer. Then talk to 2 more, and please let us know which if any lied to you. 

[Edge]

5 hours ago, Phoenix Dave said:

......, there is a cute little whore in Fahrenheit who I can recommend for lifelong relationship lessons. 

Talk to an actual, Thailand experienced lawyer. Then talk to 2 more, and please let us know which if any lied to you. 

She isn't that little  

As for Thai lawyers, I could name one who would have been struck off in UK for what he did to me.... best not, just remember Thai rak Thai..

Magna Carta has always been good for me ......Pensit and Law also good....never ever a Thai lawyer again.