Transferring money to buy a condo. Procedure questions

[rnalswls2]

Hi, 

 

My husband and I (we both are foreigners) just bought a condo. Total price 6.4mb and we've already made a deposit transfer from our Thai account to seller's Thai account. (400,000THB)

 

Now we need to transfer money from Singapore to Thailand, and I just want to make sure if the following procedure is all correct and safe, also have a few questions. 

 

1. We were told to transfer 6.4mb amount of money to our own account in Thailand in SGD currency. And since we already paid deposit, we will only need to make the rest 6mb transfer to seller. Is that a correct procedure?

2. To finalise the procedure, I was going to let my agent to go to the Land of department with my Power of attorney. Is it okay or do you recommend me going there as well?

3. The money in Singapore is sitting in my husband's account and we are going to make my name as a condo buyer, in this case when he transfer money into my Thai bank, we can state "CONDO PURCHASE FOR MY NAME", would this work? So the question is even I will buy the condo, money can be sent from my husband's name's account?

4. After all the process is done, what documents should I have to have in my hand? So I can make sure if I received all docs or not. 

 

Thanks!

 

 

[simoh1490]

Some other questions first:

 

Do you have a contract under the deposit was paid?

Have you employed a lawyer for the sale?

Do you know the seller personally?

Is the condo in the farang or foreign quota?

 

I ask those questions because it's not customary to make such a large deposit, especially directly to the seller, without some means of insurance that the seller will not just walk away after receiving the deposit.

[Peterw42]

You need an FET, into buyers account,  for the "full" amount of the Condo purchase, 6,4mb. Your process only generates an FET for 6mb.

 

If you are telling the Land office a sale price of 6mb you could get away with a 6mb FET.

 

You may also need to get an FET for the 400, presuming it also came from outside Thailand,

 

As others have said, not common to transfer straight into the sellers account without first coming into your account (for the FET).  Usually the agent holds the deposit (to ensure they get their commission) and you sign a contract with the agent,.  

 

The usual practice is to pay the balance with a cashiers cheque (Not transfer), at the land office, when the land office verifies you are the owner. You will receive a chanote (title deed) with your name on it and usually a blue house book.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2018 by Peterw42

[rnalswls2]

4 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

Some other questions first:

 

Do you have a contract under the deposit was paid?

Have you employed a lawyer for the sale?

Do you know the seller personally?

Is the condo in the farang or foreign quota?

 

I ask those questions because it's not customary to make such a large deposit, especially directly to the seller, without some means of insurance that the seller will not just walk away after receiving the deposit.

Hi 

 

Yes I have a contract that stated I made 400,000THB deposit, both seller and buyer signed it with witnesses(each agents). 

 

No I have not employ a lawyer, I could now if it's much recommended. Do you know how much would it cost usually? 

 

No I don't know a seller personally. 

 

Yes the condo's foreign quota is okay. 

 

[rnalswls2]

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

You need an FET, into buyers account,  for the "full" amount of the Condo purchase, 6,4mb. Your process only generates an FET for 6mb.

 

If you are telling the Land office a sale price of 6mb you could get away with a 6mb FET.

 

You may also need to get an FET for the 400, presuming it also came from outside Thailand,

 

As others have said, not common to transfer straight into the sellers account without first coming into your account (for the FET).  Usually the agent holds the deposit (to ensure they get their commission) and you sign a contract with the agent,.  

 

The usual practice is to pay the balance with a cashiers cheque (Not transfer), at the land office, when the land office verifies you are the owner. You will receive a chanote (title deed) with your name on it and usually a blue house book.

 

 

Thanks - so as long as I bring 6.4mb into my(buyers) account and get FET, there's no problem, is that correct? 

 

I didn't know that there's a way that we could pay deposit to agent to hold, also in the contract it says we could pay in three ways with cash, cheque or transfer money to seller, and without any second thought we made a transfer oops. 

 

Also, other mentioned that we paid a lot for the deposit but that was one the negotiation, since I requested a lot discount + seller to cover all extra cost, then seller requested higher deposit. 

 

I hope everything is fine 

[dotpoom]

"I ask those questions because it's not customary to make such a large deposit, especially directly to the seller, without some means of insurance that the seller will not just walk away after receiving the deposit."

   With respect....I would imagine there are not many people who would lodge 400,000 Bt. into another persons bank a/c as a deposit on a condo without getting a document to prove this.

   If they would.....I don't know how they had the "wit" to accumulate that amount in the first place.

 PS. I'm in the process of buying a condo at this time. The owner wanted me to transfer the deposit to his bank in EuropeEurope....when I refused and a few more negotiations the suggestion was made that I transfer the full amount and when the money cleared in his bank he would come to Thailand and and sign over the condo.

   I can barley write this post from still laughing.

[simoh1490]

8 hours ago, rnalswls2 said:

Thanks - so as long as I bring 6.4mb into my(buyers) account and get FET, there's no problem, is that correct? 

 

I didn't know that there's a way that we could pay deposit to agent to hold, also in the contract it says we could pay in three ways with cash, cheque or transfer money to seller, and without any second thought we made a transfer oops. 

 

Also, other mentioned that we paid a lot for the deposit but that was one the negotiation, since I requested a lot discount + seller to cover all extra cost, then seller requested higher deposit. 

 

I hope everything is fine 

The safest and surest way to pay by cashiers check for the property at the time of sale at the Land Office, when the owner pays the tax on the sale and the Land Office makes the transfer, hand over the cashiers check - any other way involves risk and Thailand is not a place to take financial risks.

 

In the past when I have bought or sold condo's I've never paid more than 50k baht as a holding fee, even on THB 6 million units.

 

Your bank will issue a FET based on your transfer of foreign currency into your bank account in Thailand. Actually, a FET itself is not essential and is somewhat passe these days, either a currency exchange form from the bank showing transfer details or a letter from the bank, will suffice

Edited January 24, 2018 by simoh1490

[cheeryble]

4 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

 

Your bank will issue a FET based on your transfer of foreign currency into your bank account in Thailand. Actually, a FET itself is not essential and is somewhat passe these days, either a currency exchange form from the bank showing transfer details or a letter from the bank, will suffice

Unlikely you'll know but I'll ask......if I sold a property and only had the incoming transfer in my old bank book (which I think has a three letter code against each credit stating what category the transfer was) would the bank be likely to give me a letter that I imported the money based on the code or could they look up an old transfer based on the code and date? (I know I know, ask the bank manager :)   ....but not selling yet just a possibility sometime I'd like to feel I could do what i want with the money)

Edited January 24, 2018 by cheeryble

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, cheeryble said:

Unlikely you'll know but I'll ask......if I sold a property and only had the transfer in my old bank book (which I think has a three letter code against each credit stating what category the transfer was) would the bank be likely to give me a letter that I imported the money based on the code or could they look up an old transfer based on the code and date? (I know I know, ask the bank manager :)   ....but not selling yet just a possibility sometime I'd like to feel I could do what i want with the money)

I strongly suspect they wouldn't take the passbook as sole evidence of the transfer, they would, I think, almost certainly reference your account history in their Treasury systems.

 

But I think the other question you might be asking is whether or not the funds are reusable for a second property at a later date? If so, different people report different things on this. Some say the bank wants a fee to effectively bed and breakfast the funds without actually making the transfer out and then in again, others report it can't be done.

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, cheeryble said:

Unlikely you'll know but I'll ask......if I sold a property and only had the transfer in my old bank book (which I think has a three letter code against each credit stating what category the transfer was) would the bank be likely to give me a letter that I imported the money based on the code or could they look up an old transfer based on the code and date? (I know I know, ask the bank manager :)   ....but not selling yet just a possibility sometime I'd like to feel I could do what i want with the money)

I strongly suspect they wouldn't take the passbook as sole evidence of the transfer, they would, I think, almost certainly reference your account history in their Treasury systems.

 

But I think the other question you might be asking is whether or not the funds are reusable for a second property at a later date? If so, different people report different things on this. Some say the bank wants a fee to effectively bed and breakfast the funds without actually making the transfer out and then in again, others report it can't be done.

[cheeryble]

54 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I strongly suspect they wouldn't take the passbook as sole evidence of the transfer, they would, I think, almost certainly reference your account history in their Treasury systems.

 

But I think the other question you might be asking is whether or not the funds are reusable for a second property at a later date? If so, different people report different things on this. Some say the bank wants a fee to effectively bed and breakfast the funds without actually making the transfer out and then in again, others report it can't be done.

You make a good second point about rebuying Simon.....it sounds like one way or another it's do-able just a matter of how much hassle and expense: but going back to the first one when you mention Treasury systems it sounds like you are pretty informed about banking. i have to look into the future and it could be that the purchase and fund transfer could be 10 or 15 years in the past. If I had made a transfer in presumably it would be in a bank book, and therefore dated (or the date could come from the back of the chanot).

Would you know are old bank movements like this all archived in your Treasury system, and therefore look-upable, and presumably then usable as basis of a bank letter? Are records kept in perpetuity?

Edited January 24, 2018 by cheeryble

[simoh1490]

5 minutes ago, cheeryble said:

You make a good second point about rebuying Simon.....it sounds like one way or another it's do-able just a matter of how much hassle and expense: but going back to the first one when you mention Treasury systems it sounds like you are pretty informed about banking. i have to look into the future and it could be that the purchase and fund transfer could be 10 or 15 years in the past. If I had made a transfer in presumably it would be in a bank book, and therefore dated (or the date could come from the back of the chanot).

Would you know are old bank movements like this all archived in your Treasury system, and therefore look-upable, and presumably then usable as basis of a bank letter? Are records kept in perpetuity?

Whilst I'm sure they keep records in perpetuity I seriously doubt customers will be able to easily access records beyond say five or seven years, but you could always try. If of course, you have a passbook showing the entry that will make things so much easier.

 

It's the Treasury Department at a bank that issues a unique deal number for each transaction and confirms funds received, the foreign exchange receipt is based on that data hence there are two places to try, Treasury Dept. and branch banking.

[cheeryble]

1 minute ago, simoh1490 said:

Whilst I'm sure they keep records in perpetuity I seriously doubt customers will be able to easily access records beyond say five or seven years, but you could always try. If of course, you have a passbook showing the entry that will make things so much easier.

 

It's the Treasury Department at a bank that issues a unique deal number for each transaction and confirms funds received, the foreign exchange receipt is based on that data hence there are two places to try, Treasury Dept. and branch banking.

Bless you my son :)

[rnalswls2]

6 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

The safest and surest way to pay by cashiers check for the property at the time of sale at the Land Office, when the owner pays the tax on the sale and the Land Office makes the transfer, hand over the cashiers check - any other way involves risk and Thailand is not a place to take financial risks.

 

In the past when I have bought or sold condo's I've never paid more than 50k baht as a holding fee, even on THB 6 million units.

 

Your bank will issue a FET based on your transfer of foreign currency into your bank account in Thailand. Actually, a FET itself is not essential and is somewhat passe these days, either a currency exchange form from the bank showing transfer details or a letter from the bank, will suffice

Also, how many transaction could I make to bring money into Thailand? Our bank in Singapore, overseas transaction limit is $100,000 per time, so it means we need to make it 3times. Would that be okay to get FET or it has to be all in one transaction? 

[simoh1490]

24 minutes ago, rnalswls2 said:

Also, how many transaction could I make to bring money into Thailand? Our bank in Singapore, overseas transaction limit is $100,000 per time, so it means we need to make it 3times. Would that be okay to get FET or it has to be all in one transaction? 

Three transactions are fine, it doesn't really matter how many you make.

[MyFriend You]

6 hours ago, rnalswls2 said:

Also, how many transaction could I make to bring money into Thailand? Our bank in Singapore, overseas transaction limit is $100,000 per time, so it means we need to make it 3times. Would that be okay to get FET or it has to be all in one transaction? 

Just make sure each transaction is noted:  "For Purchase of Condominium for Apartment"  or the Thai bank may have a problem issuing a FET  -  I also sent two transactions from two different banks both marked as such, has no prob getting the FET.

[rnalswls2]

1 hour ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Just make sure each transaction is noted:  "For Purchase of Condominium for Apartment"  or the Thai bank may have a problem issuing a FET  -  I also sent two transactions from two different banks both marked as such, has no prob getting the FET.

Alright! I will make sure of it. 

 

One more question here. Condo will be bought by my name, however money in Singapore is in my husband account. I hope there's no problem that money is sent from my husband name, not from my name? 

 

Agent said state it as "Condo purchase for buyer's name" then it would be alright. Just want to double confirm here :) thanks

[james247360]

7 hours ago, rnalswls2 said:

Alright! I will make sure of it. 

 

One more question here. Condo will be bought by my name, however money in Singapore is in my husband account. I hope there's no problem that money is sent from my husband name, not from my name? 

 

Agent said state it as "Condo purchase for buyer's name" then it would be alright. Just want to double confirm here :) thanks

 

As I recall reading from somewhere, in order to get the FET from the bank; the sender and the receiver have to be the same name. I assume they try to tackle money laundering with this rule. Not sure if banks check or enforce this rule, but just to be on the safe side I would first make a transfer from your husbands account to your Singaporean account and then make the transfer to the Thai bank.

 

[james247360]

2 hours ago, james247360 said:

 

As I recall reading from somewhere, in order to get the FET from the bank; the sender and the receiver have to be the same name. I assume they try to tackle money laundering with this rule. Not sure if banks check or enforce this rule, but just to be on the safe side I would first make a transfer from your husbands account to your Singaporean account and then make the transfer to the Thai bank.

 

It looks like I was wrong. I started to bother me and had to do some googling. According to https://www.thailandlawonline.com/article-older-archive/condo-purchase-currency-fet-form-remittance

 

"The foreign exchange transaction form must show the foreign purchaser's name either as the sender or receiver of the money from the overseas bank."

 

So, you should be fine.

[simoh1490]

10 hours ago, rnalswls2 said:

Alright! I will make sure of it. 

 

One more question here. Condo will be bought by my name, however money in Singapore is in my husband account. I hope there's no problem that money is sent from my husband name, not from my name? 

 

Agent said state it as "Condo purchase for buyer's name" then it would be alright. Just want to double confirm here :) thanks

I agree with your agent, especially since the relationship is husband and wife.

[rnalswls2]

1 hour ago, james247360 said:

It looks like I was wrong. I started to bother me and had to do some googling. According to https://www.thailandlawonline.com/article-older-archive/condo-purchase-currency-fet-form-remittance

 

"The foreign exchange transaction form must show the foreign purchaser's name either as the sender or receiver of the money from the overseas bank."

 

So, you should be fine.

Oh thank you! :) What a relief now. 

[rnalswls2]

On 23/01/2018 at 6:51 PM, Peterw42 said:

You need an FET, into buyers account,  for the "full" amount of the Condo purchase, 6,4mb. Your process only generates an FET for 6mb.

 

If you are telling the Land office a sale price of 6mb you could get away with a 6mb FET.

 

You may also need to get an FET for the 400, presuming it also came from outside Thailand,

 

As others have said, not common to transfer straight into the sellers account without first coming into your account (for the FET).  Usually the agent holds the deposit (to ensure they get their commission) and you sign a contract with the agent,.  

 

The usual practice is to pay the balance with a cashiers cheque (Not transfer), at the land office, when the land office verifies you are the owner. You will receive a chanote (title deed) with your name on it and usually a blue house book.

 

 

Hi, 

 

Is there any pros and cons to register the condo as a 6mb? (Instead of 6.4mb) so then I only need to FET for 6mb. 

 

Agent suggested that this way would work as well, but I'd like to know if it will affect my condo re-selling in the future or not. 

[Peterw42]

27 minutes ago, rnalswls2 said:

Hi, 

 

Is there any pros and cons to register the condo as a 6mb? (Instead of 6.4mb) so then I only need to FET for 6mb. 

 

Agent suggested that this way would work as well, but I'd like to know if it will affect my condo re-selling in the future or not. 

Its common practice to declare a lower price to pay less transfer fees etc, but the land office has their own appraisal figures that you cant go below. Nothing to do with a future sale.

[rnalswls2]

3 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Its common practice to declare a lower price to pay less transfer fees etc, but the land office has their own appraisal figures that you cant go below. Nothing to do with a future sale.

Now, I'm trying to find the bank where has the best exchange rate, and will open the new bank account there to prepare the FET. 

 

And here's another question came into my head. Is any bank in Thailand okay? or has to be a Thai company, bank only. For example, is UOB(Singapore bank) okay to prepare FET or only Kasikorn, Siam or Bangkok bank etc  work?

[simoh1490]

7 minutes ago, rnalswls2 said:

Now, I'm trying to find the bank where has the best exchange rate, and will open the new bank account there to prepare the FET. 

 

And here's another question came into my head. Is any bank in Thailand okay? or has to be a Thai company, bank only. For example, is UOB(Singapore bank) okay to prepare FET or only Kasikorn, Siam or Bangkok bank etc  work?

UOB is one of the better banks here, it's called UOB Thailand and I bank with them.

 

You can use any bank in Thailand because they all have to hold a license issued by the Bank of Thailand.

 

On an amount of that size you will be able to negotiate on the exchange rate, UOB Treasury department will call you once you've made the transfer.

[rnalswls2]

35 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

UOB is one of the better banks here, it's called UOB Thailand and I bank with them.

 

You can use any bank in Thailand because they all have to hold a license issued by the Bank of Thailand.

 

On an amount of that size you will be able to negotiate on the exchange rate, UOB Treasury department will call you once you've made the transfer.

Didn't know that I can even negotiate on the exchange rate! Thanks for the good tip. I will visit UOB over the weekend. Thanks a lot. 

[Peterw42]

50 minutes ago, rnalswls2 said:

Now, I'm trying to find the bank where has the best exchange rate, and will open the new bank account there to prepare the FET. 

 

And here's another question came into my head. Is any bank in Thailand okay? or has to be a Thai company, bank only. For example, is UOB(Singapore bank) okay to prepare FET or only Kasikorn, Siam or Bangkok bank etc  work?

In the original post you mention already having a Thai account.

 

"we've already made a deposit transfer from our Thai account "

[rnalswls2]

13 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

In the original post you mention already having a Thai account.

 

"we've already made a deposit transfer from our Thai account "

Yeah I do have a Thai account already. But if other bank's exchange rate is better, I will open the new one for FET purpose only. 

[simoh1490]

Here's a link showing all the banks exchange rates in Thailand, they vary in real time and different currencies can be selected at the top of the page. To be honest, there's not much in it if you're just looking to make the one transfer with them, all the banks compete on the exchange rates based on their particular needs so what is true today, may not be tomorrow.https://daytodaydata.net/

[rnalswls2]

4 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Here's a link showing all the banks exchange rates in Thailand, they vary in real time and different currencies can be selected at the top of the page. To be honest, there's not much in it if you're just looking to make the one transfer with them, all the banks compete on the exchange rates based on their particular needs so what is true today, may not be tomorrow.https://daytodaydata.net/

This information is real helpful. When I selected SGD to THB, it's showing less than a half bank options. It means others don't provide the information here, or does that mean they don't exchange SGD ?