Buying property in Thailand?

[Chinaman]

My contract up in China expires in Aug and I am thinking of perhaps taking one or 2 sabbatical years and simply chill, could even turn into early retirement on a budget.

Now, Thailand seems like a good homebase for living and travelling to other countries. With the economic crisis and perhaps a monetary devaluation on the horizon, might it make sense to buy some property in LOS?

Spoke to one guy last night in Obsessions who bought a studio apartment here in Patt for 40K USD, completely furnished, ready to move in.

Have any of you bought property in Thailand, not necessarily Pattaya, and if so, what are the pros and cons, prices, extra costs, etc.?

I know this is a comprehensive subject but for the moment any info would do ...

Thanks
CM

[manarak]

I did extensive research on this.
Acquiring land is difficult for foreigners, and even illegal - it cannot be done straightforward.

Buying condos is allowed.
There have been very bad news from the condo market, which is currently collapsing.
The crisis is only beginning though, so that I would wait for anywhere between 12 and 18 months for an acquisition.
There are small registration fees, though I had heard they had been halved or waived.

I wouldn't consider a condo though, I want a garden and a pool.
Also, the price/cost per square meter of living space is much higer in condos than in villas (which would not make any economical sense except for "screw the falang").
There are also other common problems with condos, such as inflated services bills or unmaintained buildings.

If you are looking for a home base for a limited period of time, renting might be an option:
- renting for 2 years and then heading to another destination
or
- renting for one or two years and use this time to wait for further price decline and choose a nice property to acquire.

[Snick]

you cannot buy a house, you can lease it for 30 years.
Supposedly you can then get another 30 years after the first lease expires, but its questionable whether the government (or future government) will honor this.

[SukhumvitRoad]

The only property a foreigner can buy in Thailand in any kind of straightforward transaction is a condo but, with respect, I think any foreigner who does buy a condo here is absolutely out of his mind. Rents are very cheap almost everywhere in Thailand and high-quality rentals are plentiful. The math just doesn't make sense unless you are counting on making a significant profit when you sell the property.

And you will NOT make a significant profit. Indeed, the odds are that you will never be able to sell it at all.

There is no resale market for condos here, none at all; there is no multiple listing system that can expose your property to the general marketplace. If you are able to sell it, you will only do so by having a stroke of luck and stumbling over a foreigner who is willing to buy it. No Thai ever will.

Thais, on the whole, will NEVER buy a condo that anyone has lived in before. I have never heard the expression "used property" anywhere else, but try to sell a condo here and you will get used to it. "Nobody want used property" will echo in your mind.

Buying a condo in Thailand is a ridiculous thing for any foreigner even to consider.

[Guest]

(SukhumvitRoad @ Feb. 24 2009,11:02) Buying a condo in Thailand is a ridiculous thing for any foreigner even to consider.

Crikey...many thousands of foreigners living in Thailand at the moment who have done a ridiculous thing  

[TTChang]

I regularly think about buying in LOS.  Then remember that SukhumvitRoad's comments are spot on, and relative sanity prevails.

But I suppose there are figures for price falls and exchange rate (£/THB) that might tempt me one day.

[Stogie]

SukhumvitRoad is spot on.

Like the venerable TTChang I fantasize about owning property here in Thailand but after I wake up and wedge a sharp stick in my ballsack I regain enough clarity to see sense again...

The simple answer is...

RENT!  

[Snick]

I might buy at the end of the year, but the market would have to come DOWN and the Baht. Plus I might get a used condo....since no one else will

[Stogie]

I'm sure your budget is gonna be higher than $40K!

Let's face it - if you are spending that on a condo in Pattaya you are in real trouble.

[Snick]

makes no sense to buy in Pattaya if I ain't gonna live there.
I'd buy a place in Bangkok...maybe....but I can wait for the conditions to be right.

But it only makes sense if you are going to live there, getting Bangkok/Pattaya property for investment purposes is silly.

[PigDogg]

(Stogie @ Feb. 24 2009,02:55) The simple answer is...

RENT!  

And the first time renter should rent a furnished apartment.

Makes life easy and simple.

Keep your options open.

[manarak]

About leasing

My research shows the following:
- maximum lease guaranteed by the deed at the land office is 30 years. a private contract can grant options on extensions. but private law is very weak in Thailand, so it can be expected that the options will never work.
- lease on a nice property will in only 16 years use up all the capital that would have been used to buy it... and at the end, you don't own it!!

Conclusion => leasing is not advisable if the value of the property is significant for you.
If you can afford to just write off 300k USD in 30 years, then leasing is fine.


I have found my very own "silver bullet" solution for acquiring property in Thailand:
I have an agreement with a fellow farang who also acquired the thai nationality, and still retains property in my home country. He will hold the thai property for me, while he mortgages his house to me. Of course he gets paid for that service, but if something happens, I'll get the money back from his house :-)
This is only for the time I will need to become thai myself, of course... 5555

[Guest]

Hey Snick i will sell you my condo on soi 4, then you are 5 minutes crawl from guess and 7 minutes from Nana....only joking i rent it out.

PS. SukhumvitRoad I will make a profit but only because i bought it years ago with my wife. But otherwise you are spot on in what you say.