charliebadenhop

I have a Thai friend who builds high quality two story houses, mostly bought by Thais, but sometimes by farong. The finish inside and out is excellent to my eyes. I would want a more Westernized kitchen.

She pays B10,000 per sq. m.

Almost always with the same builder, so a one off house would me more.

Yes, seems to me that Borderless was adding praise to the CR office, and agreeing with what I said about their overall service.

There are two offices in Chiang Rai. One is Mae Sai, and the other office is fairly close to the airport.

Everyone has always suggested to me to stay away from Mae Sai, and that is what I have done.

So...

1. GREAT experience! Staff is friendly and responsive. Some of them are even a bit playful.

I was in and out in about 45 minutes.

2. You have to use the extension form they provide at their offices.

They won't accept any form DL'd from the internet.

The guy said "We only accept original one."

3. Mae Sai processes extensions every day.

Now, the office I went to only does extensions on Mon. and Wed.

I initially went on a Thursday and had to go back a second time.

4. They did not ask any questions whatsoever.

5. I presented them with a copy of every page of my bank book, but they were only interested in looking at and keeping, the pages for the last two months.

6. They take your picture on the spot.

7. My only complaint- They would not let me file for a re-entry permit.

They said I should come back and do this before I plan on leaving the country.

Not sure if we had a misunderstanding on this or not, but I did ask twice and their English is pretty good.

What is the URL of the Facebook page related to sending money?

And yes, I would also like to know if Took showed up, and a report on the overall evening.

Ok, thanks Mac.

Actually just found someone coming over!

cb

My apologies if this is going through a second time. Posted and then could not find the post---

My friend would like to send me a Mac Mini that is five years old.

I would happily give it to a Thai friend if I would not need to pay duty.

Any ideas/help/suggestions?

TIA,

Charlie

Thanks folks. Just the kind of info I was looking for!

Much appreciated.

cb

AS ALWAYS,

Thanks Joe!!

Hi all,

I am going to Morocco for a trip into the desert and I need travel insurance as part of the requirements for the group.

Anyone here have any suggestions/leads?

TIA,

Charlie

jmccarty,

So you buy your lady property assuming it is never really yours...

Because?

To the man with "Amerasia in his screen name.

Are you saying that you had little to no Inklings that things were wrong before things quickly went south?

Hi all,

This is a long thread, so I am checking on what is currently correct-

I will need

1. Passport (1 signed copy or 2?)

2. Do I need to copy the Non-Immigrant Visa in my passport?

3. Departure Card TM.6

4. Letter from my Thai Bank stating my 800 K has been with them for at least (2) or (2) months for the first time?

5. Bank book-

Will I need a copy of the page showing 800K, or just the bank book?

6. I live in a house that I rent.

I need a copy of my rental agreement.

7. What do I need to show, in regard to my landlord?

8. (3) 4×5 cm photos, with full face taken.

9. A TM 7 document- I get this at Imm. the day I apply?

Ok? Incomplete? Too much?

TIA!!

I would suggest that your really want to work with someone who knows how to do real estate transactions.

Virtually no one pays tax on the actual sale price.

50-60% or more, below the actual sale price is common.

The appraised value is also very definitely under inflated.

Has been and likely will be, for quite some time.

So I believe you are not concerned with the correct issues.

Are you asking- Will the sale get rejected by the government because the listed sale price is too low?

Not unless the seller puts down a really ridiculous price.

SELLER is paying the taxes, so please explain what you are understanding as a potential problem.

I use dtac.

No spam calls whatsoever.

OP, if you don't mind...

You were on an ED visa, and got refused entry after a HK trip, because??

Why??

And how many months had you already had the visa?

And you might have said this already, but you got turned back in HK or upon arriving in BKK?

TIA

Hi Blackcap,

I do understand what you are saying...

In regard to getting the best deal... I would tend to offer to pay the taxes for the seller in return for a better price, following the principle of offering something prior to asking for something.

As far as the appraised value being a benchmark, I don't know of anyone willing to sell at the appraised value unless they are truly desperate, and if I am well informed I will already know that the price they are willing to sell out is way below market value.

So anyway... for me, the appraised value has little meaning.

But different strokes for different folks.

One benchmark that can be good is-

Look at how much 1 Ngan of land is selling for in various locations close to where you are considering buying.

So, for instance, B200,000 per Ngan.

Then if you are considering buying a Rai, go for a price that is not more than B400,000 per Rai, or B100,000 for each of the 4 Ngan you will be getting.

If you do this you can pretty much guarantee that you will be fairly successful, and this kind of scenario is reasonably common.

Keeping in mind whether the land will need "fill" or not, which will increase the price fairly significantly.

dean008

I read- "There is no sales history on this block as it was a gift to the current owner from her mother.

The down side is that she has had the deed in her name less than 5 years so SBT will apply.

That is why arriving a final price has been a little problematic."

I still fail to see how knowing the appraised value would make arriving at a final sales price any easier.

The seller might have to pay 3.3% but at the most, the buyer would pay 2%.

To me, that would have little to no effect on what I offer for the buying price.

Save B1 mill on selling price and you save about $650 in tax. Not a driving factor in my mind.

What is SBT?

Not sure if I missed it in one of the posts, but I still can't understand what you will learn of importance from learning the appraised value, except for getting an idea of how much the last person under-declared the price.

And in your case not even a previous price.

Here is a scenario that I have often seen-

I used to buy handicrafts in India and Nepal, and I knew the "real" price of everything I bought.

Once I was standing with a man I bought from, in front of his store.

I paid $10 for a certain item, and I bought fairly large quantity.

A tourist came along and the vendor asked for $40 for the same item that I bought for $10.

He let the tourist haggle him down to $20.

When the tourist left he said, "I would have been glad to accept $15, but so many tourists have the idea that vendors double the price for tourists, so reflexively they quote half the price that I state.

Due diligence and REALLY knowing local prices is crucial.

Also, a LOT depends on how active the market is.

In Chiang Rai prices vary wildly, sometimes with one piece of land only being a couple hundred meters from the other piece. The market here is getting overheated because ASEAN is moving in.

One suggestion is that you will do well to create a rationale for why you are asking for the price you are asking for...

"I only have X and if you can't accept that, then I will need to look elsewhere."

"After checking extensively I found these prices A. B, C and thus I do not want to pay more than that."

OR ask them what their rationale is for wanting the price they want.

One thing is almost always for certain-

If they say "Yes" to your price too quickly, then you have almost certainly paid to much.

You need to create reasons for having several conversations with them. Reasons other than simply trying to talk them down in price.

cb

What will you actually learn when you learn the appraised value?

I ask, because as others have already said, the appraised value and the really value are almost always very different.

What city is this taking place in?

When getting the initial visa you do not need to show the money being "seasoned".

I am still not understanding though....

I did not show any proof of address at all when getting my non-O recently being an over 50 guy.

Is there not a misunderstanding here somewhere?

I was with Tohei Sensei.

Never heard of the man you name.

He was/is, likely from a different lineage system.

VillageFarang gave a great overview.

Looking for a place to stay?

I have a nice rental on Airbnb!

:-)

cb

Coming to Chiang Rai?

I taught Aikido in Japan for 20 years or so, and I have an internet presence, so something the tax people could check on.

charlie

I live in a great place in CR.

It is a compound with six units and a swimming pool.

There is a two bedroom bungalow that might be available in your time frame.

You can get a nice view of the compound by going to Airbnb, which shows my house and the room I rent out.

The bungalow is shown.

I make no financial gain by sharing this info with you.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5750409

charlie