Buying A Condo In Thai Wife's Name Or Joint Name

[lovecam]

can anyone help please. we have already transferred funds to thailand to my father in laws account. we are now going to thailand and are now thinking of buying a condominium. i understand that i must transfer the funds from overseas into my own account so i was wondering could we just put the condo in joint names (myself and my thai wife) or put it in her name and then can she just give it to my as a gift or transfer it into a joint name?

does anyone have any experience or comments with regards to this

thanks

james

[elsie]

As I understand, you can even put it in your name. Check this out

[pitrevie]

There is nothing stopping you putting the condo in your own name but to do this you must show that you have transferred the money to Thailand. When you withdraw the above-mentioned money for the purchase you should ask the bank officer to issue the Form Tor Tor 3 (8013). However my advice is to use a good lawyer. If you want a recommendation I can ceratinly give you the one I have used several times.

[lovecam]

that is exactly what i mentioned above. i have already transferred the money from england to thailand. i havent brought anywhere yet and when i get to thailand i will put the money in my bank account from my father in laws account. if i can then tell them that i have transferred the money from abroad i have the slips in england to show that i sent the money to my father in law in thailand. would take be enough to get a tor tor form

[medicinebox]

What if he does a runner?

I would have put it into my account.

[lovecam]

he wouldnt. you know some families in thailand have a lot more money than other countries. why do people always look down on thai people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[medicinebox]

Not looking down on Thai's mate.

Sounds like a lot of money though. I would leave nothing to chance.

[TRIPxCORE]

From what I understand, you need to transfer the money from overseas into YOUR account and not your father-in-laws. When you do a transfer from his account to yours, it will be a domestic transfer and a Tor Tor 3 will not be applicable. I think you might have some trouble with that. Call your bank and ask them if they will give you the Tor Tor in the way you are describing.

The condo can be fully, 100% in your name when you purchase. Why not do it that way?

[lovecam]

we have already sent the money as we got a great exchange rate. we are thinking just put it in her name and then give it to me as a gift or something like that

[pitrevie]

I dont think what you are proposing is practical. The seller has to pay I think it is a 3% tax on the property. If you were allowed to gift the property then I can see everyone trying to claim that it was a gift.

[DeDanan]

When you get to LOS open your Thai bank ac then transfer the money from your father in law's account BACK to your UK account and then to your Thai bank ac. Apperantly it is important to show the money came from outside Thailand. When you make the transfer get the UK bank to make a note with the transfer that it is for purchase of condo. I understand that you can own a condo in your own name if it is not on the ground floor. regards and good luck. ps. let us know how you get on.

[lovecam]

the problem with transferring the money back to england is that i am sure the exchange rate the thai banks give you will not be great. they always have a wide buy / sell spread. i imagine it is something like 67 to 75 at the moment. anyone transferred large amounts of money out of thailand before. how has it been?

[DeDanan]

Check if your UK will allow you to operate a Foregin currency account this way you will not have the exchange rate buy / sell costs. I operated a US$ and Stg£ account in a Euro zone bank before. It allowed me to lodge and pay out in sterling £ even though the bank was in a euro zone country.

ps. Pitrevie I would like to know the contact details of the lawyer you recommend.

[eric1000]

ps. Pitrevie I would like to know the contact details of the lawyer you recommend.

same here , if readers could post details of reliable and previously used lawyers for conveyancing purposes ....and some idea of fees that they paid ,with any usefull info on conveyacing

[mbkudu]

I bought a small condo and was told by the real estate agent that lawyers are a waste of money. I did not believe him and did more checking. He is running a small

firm so I went to a large one to ask. Richard Ellis Thailand also told me that with such a small condo deal if you follow all the steps carefully and get documents translated by a company unaffiliated with the real estate agent, a lawyer is unnecessary. At each step I checked everything out, the square area, the address,

the foreign/Thai owner ratio, how up to date the common area fees were being paid, ect. These are all things the lawyer would have done, but I did them myself

and saved plenty of money. This is in Bangkok mind you. In places like Pattaya

or Phuket things can get shady and a lawyer should be used. The woman at Richard Ellis told me there were a few cases where condos were being sold to foreigners in Phuket and it ended up that the buildings were on national park land;

oops! In my case, everything worked out well. When you get down to it at the land office, you should have someone who is Thai or speaks Thai from your real estate

agent's office to go through the process with you. At the end you hand over a check and they hand you a title deed with your name written in Thai and English on it. I did end up doing business with small agent and it all worked out quite well.

All the checking I did, he had done as well, but it's always good to be sure.

[Dutchy]

As I understand, you can even put it in your name. Check this out

That's correct, as long as the funds orginate from abroad. You could actually also put it in my name, a new option!

Dutchy

[mbkudu]

This whole thread is rediculous. The man is either putting us on or he is about to be conned dramatically by his loving father in law. Man, get a clue; you're running

around in circles chasing your own tail.

[mbkudu]

we have already sent the money as we got a great exchange rate. we are thinking just put it in her name and then give it to me as a gift or something like that

Yo, Coolio Foolio. Are you ah ite Gee?

[lovecam]

you guys are pathetic. my thai family are well respected people. in fact they have a lot more money probably than all of you put together. stop being so cynical. if that is how you feel then why bother associating with thai people. you should go away and stop being rude. wxxxxxs

[appleman_thai]

I transfer money online. Just set up the SWIFT transfer on your online account and when you want to move the money from England to Thailand you can do it all from right here in Thailand. Might take a few days administration set up on the online bank but it worked OK for me

[dr_Pat_Pong]

you guys are pathetic. my thai family are well respected people. in fact they have a lot more money probably than all of you put together. stop being so cynical. if that is how you feel then why bother associating with thai people. you should go away and stop being rude. wxxxxxs

I think they are all having a shot at you, because you seek advice after the event.

It might have been cleverer to ask first

[Khun ?]

It is called putting the show on before he arrives in town. I am putting money in your bank for little darling, I will be over later. Maybe he still can get the bank where he sent the money, to issue a predated letter stating it was for a purchase of

condo. I believe that is what is required to link it to a visa if that is one of his intended uses.

[thaigene2]

As you've probably figured out, it wasn't wise to wire the money into the father-in-laws account..but now that you have..

I think DaDanan is right. You'll have to wire it into your own account here in thailand and then wire it back to the UK.

Then start over. Make sure the UK bank indicates on the transfer "For the Purchase of Condominium in Thailand". The Thai bank then issues you a Thor Thor 3 slip which is needed when you go to the Land Registry. Apparently it works best if your name is on the Thor Thor 3 as the Sender and Receiver of the money.

As for putting in joint names with your wife, a lawyer told me that is possible, but under Thai law, it will still be considered your condo 100% (which sounds a bit dubious..double-check on that).

We gave up on the idea because I couldn't come up with 100% of the purchase price (which sounds like you have) as mortgages are either non-existant for foreigners or have such rigid conditions attached (like 50% down, repayment in 8 years..oh and you must have paid for the property FIRST before they'll give you cash - to pay back the person who gave you the cash to pay, presumably.)

Welcome to Thailand mate!!

[mbkudu]

The trick will be for him to get his father-in- law to wire the money back to the UK. All I can say is good luck.

[cutethaigirl]

if i can then tell them that i have transferred the money from abroad i have the slips in england to show that i sent the money to my father in law in thailand. would take be enough to get a tor tor form

Think you will find>>

a: the money must go into YOUR account.

b: the tor tor saam has to be issued at time of transfer not weeks after.

c: your father in law may be explaining why he receiving funds from abroad. ie taxable income.

The advice offered from what i have just read above is all sound but if you choose to not heed it the world is a free place so your choice.

NOBODY at this forum is attacking anyone in this posting apart from maybe the originator.

All advice is based on experience not thoughts.

My advice is tethink and put in YOUR name or give us all a great reason not to??

The Thai Government has made ownership possible after many years why noy thank them?

CT