Buying house in Thailand

[Calmdown]

Ok, so here is the deal.

i’m looking to buy a house, plan is to buy it in my girlfriends name and establish a usufruct for me so that I atleast feel some kind of security.

I dont really need to be lecturead about how bad of an idea this is, im fully aware of the risks and that im a fucking idiot whos looking to buy a house in Thailand.

That said, what im looking to get is some insight in how the real estate market works in Thailand, like if a realtor have a listing for a house lets say 2mil THB, and it says it can be both freehold and leasehold, is the price the same or will it be significantly higher for freehold?

Also is it common to bargain on list prices?

I know guys, i should talk to a realestate agent who surely will have answers for me, but maybe there is someone here with insight.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Calmdown

[travelling_man]

There is no "certified appraisal" in Thailand so everything is negotiable.  More so if buying from foreigners.

I don't like the usufruct method over company ownership but I have beaten that discussion like a dead horse.

Buying a condo (in your name) that is very rentable and using the proceeds to RENT a house might be an idea to consider.  You get security, an easier property to sell, and are not on the hook ...

 

[Edge]

AFAIK Usufruct have not been tested in Court?

It's an agreement (Italian Law?) designed for farmers to allow them to grow/harvest crops and not much else.

Then there's the 30 year Lease.

[travelling_man]

2 hours ago, Edge said:

AFAIK Usufruct have not been tested in Court?

I assumed (possibly incorrectly) he was not using the term in it's strictest legal definition .... Rather a deal (lease?) Giving him xx years of use 

[Edge]

1 hour ago, travelling_man said:

I assumed (possibly incorrectly) he was not using the term in it's strictest legal definition .... Rather a deal (lease?) Giving him xx years of use 

Dunno.....

.....a Usufruct is not a Lease  in my book.

[Edge]

31 minutes ago, Edge said:

Dunno.....

.....a Usufruct is not a Lease  in my book.

I suppose a Usufruct can be seen as a type of lease which allows farmers to gather their crops and perhaps in can be for the same/similar term as a Lease, but AFAIK it doesn't give you the same rights as a Lease can.

I did look at Usufructs years ago but a 30 Year Lease appeared to be more reliable.
As it turned out it wouldn't have made any difference to my situation.

[talung66]

On 09/08/2023 at 05:19, Calmdown said:

Ok, so here is the deal.

i’m looking to buy a house, plan is to buy it in my girlfriends name and establish a usufruct for me so that I atleast feel some kind of security.

I dont really need to be lecturead about how bad of an idea this is, im fully aware of the risks and that im a fucking idiot whos looking to buy a house in Thailand.

That said, what im looking to get is some insight in how the real estate market works in Thailand, like if a realtor have a listing for a house lets say 2mil THB, and it says it can be both freehold and leasehold, is the price the same or will it be significantly higher for freehold?

Also is it common to bargain on list prices?

I know guys, i should talk to a realestate agent who surely will have answers for me, but maybe there is someone here with insight.

 

 

Get a free consolation from Magna carta.

A 30 year lease is mentioned in thread was suggested to me as well previously . (GF will ned to pay tax)

[Calmdown]

Thanks for your replies, i will probably go the route of buying house myself and lease the land myself.

I will for sure do due diligence to make the transaction as secure and safe for me as possible.

[OKAY]

On 31/08/2023 at 03:44, Calmdown said:

Thanks for your replies, i will probably go the route of buying house myself and lease the land myself.

I will for sure do due diligence to make the transaction as secure and safe for me as possible.

How has this turned out ?

[Petesie]

Did you at least visit Magna Carta for advice? 🤨

 

[Calmdown]

On 03/02/2024 at 04:47, OKAY said:

How has this turned out ?

It's still in the planning stages, I have a holiday trip booked for late February so will go look at some objects and different areas.

And as I have been gathering more information I'm not sure which method I will pursue when I finally decide where I want to live.

My plan is to move to Thailand permanently some time next year so still have some time to figure everything out.

[Calmdown]

On 03/02/2024 at 05:29, Petesie said:

Did you at least visit Magna Carta for advice? 🤨

 

que?

[talung66]

On 05/02/2024 at 20:34, Calmdown said:

que?

book a  consultation via the contact page on website

[Biennial]

On 31/08/2023 at 01:44, Calmdown said:

Thanks for your replies, i will probably go the route of buying house myself and lease the land myself.

I will for sure do due diligence to make the transaction as secure and safe for me as possible.

Oh, you can buy the house but not the land?

After 30 years, what happens?

[trev007]

On 16/03/2024 at 07:21, Biennial said:

Oh, you can buy the house but not the land?

After 30 years, what happens?

You've got to get to 30 years first ....... sometimes it can work but I know one guy in particular that got caught and lost all 

[Edge]

On 16/03/2024 at 06:21, Biennial said:

Oh, you can buy the house but not the land?

After 30 years, what happens?

You still own the house, but it's on land you have no right to access.

Your only course would be to negotiate a new lease or sell the landowner the house, but either way you're over a barrel.

[lovermand66]

7 hours ago, Edge said:

You still own the house, but it's on land you have no right to access.

Your only course would be to negotiate a new lease or sell the landowner the house, but either way you're over a barrel.

Or move the house…

[Edge]

1 hour ago, lovermand66 said:

Or move the house…

You would need to do that before the Lease expired.

He said 'After 30 years'..... when he would have no right of access.

[ronthebrummie]

I’m looking at buying a house, and I’m going down the company route, I know guys who’ve done that without any problems, just keep your tax affairs in place they say.

[ChiFlyer]

@ronthebrummie

I am a home owner in Thailand. I went the company (LLC) route and it worked out reasonably well. I would advise the following with regard to the LLC method:

• Get a lawyer you can trust for the purchase.
• In my case the house was already owned by an LLC that the previous owner had set up. I merely bought the shares of that LLC. If one has to initiate an LLC, I would think that the initial lawyer costs would be higher.
• Work through a realtor. Mine was a pushy pain in the butt, but the job got done.
• Line up an Accounting Firm to handle your annual filings for the LLC.
• Obviously, be careful with the LLC definition. I own 49% and my now wife owns 51%, but I am the only one with voting rights.
• It would be advisable to have wills drawn up for both yourself and your partner. I have wills for myself in both the US and Thailand and they clearly state that there is no overlap between them. My sons get all of my US assets and my Thai wife all of the assets within Thailand.

The Mrs and I looked at places for over 3 months before we found the place we pulled the trigger on. We saw a wide variance in prices by location.

We are happy with where we live now. Make sure to have buffer funds in place for the work you will want to have done on the house after you buy it. I have easily spent 1M THB on upgrades, since we moved in a little over a year ago.

Good luck.

Edited March 30 by ChiFlyer