Company in order to buy a house

[alon95]

I'm looking into buying a house in pathum thani,

I wanted to know how can I open a company in order to buy a house, who can open it for me? where? how?

How much is the opening price is? maintaining yearly price?

Does it have to be active?

Is it still safe in 2018?

Thanks

[jackdd]

To set up a company just for the purpose of owning a house is considered illegal, so if you don't want any troubles in the future you better don't do it.

[Henryford]

 You are acting illegally and will never own the house. Sure you want to do it?

[alon95]

I saw in a few posts that it is illegal, but the government won't do anything against it since there are tons of ppl that bought a land/house in a company name and that it will destroy some of the thai economy.

Is it not true?

so the solution is buy a condo or don't buy at all?

all this information is unclear

4 hours ago, jackdd said:

To set up a company just for the purpose of owning a house is considered illegal, so if you don't want any troubles in the future you better don't do it.

 

1 hour ago, Henryford said:

 You are acting illegally and will never own the house. Sure you want to do it?

 

[TravelerEastWest]

You are getting good advice.

 

You could own the house but not the land.

 

You could perhaps get the lifetime or longterm use of the land by going to an experienced or trustworthy lawyer.

 

Maybe if you had a BOI large investment you could buy some land.

 

But not many legal options to own the land.

 

 

[jackdd]

We can't foresee the future ?

But why buy property in Thailand? Too many risks and uncertainties here, just rent it, so you can easily walk away from it.

If you want to invest money in property just buy property in your home country, at least you can fully own this and have probably more stable legal grounds

[catman20]

13 hours ago, jackdd said:

To set up a company just for the purpose of owning a house is considered illegal, so if you don't want any troubles in the future you better don't do it.

rubbish, traveling in the bed of a pick up is illegal also and nothing is done about that either. ive been doing this for 18 years yes its illegal and so are many other things here, thats over looked you will get scare mongers all the time that prefer to put their house in the wife's name LOL mugs, go to a law firm they will do it all for you. cost 25/30,000 baht. accounts every year range from 9/15,000 baht taxs 1/3,000 baht a year. easy as that. id rather trust the law than some thai bird .

[catman20]

9 hours ago, alon95 said:

I saw in a few posts that it is illegal, but the government won't do anything against it since there are tons of ppl that bought a land/house in a company name and that it will destroy some of the thai economy.

Is it not true?

so the solution is buy a condo or don't buy at all?

all this information is unclear

 

 

prostitution is illegal in Thailand isn't it ?  

[Crash999]

9 hours ago, alon95 said:

I saw in a few posts that it is illegal, but the government won't do anything against it since there are tons of ppl that bought a land/house in a company name and that it will destroy some of the thai economy.

Is it not true?

so the solution is buy a condo or don't buy at all?

all this information is unclear

 

 

Those people probably did it themselves and are saying that to reassure themselves. 

 

If you google you’ll find that the police just raided a law firm who was providing these sorts of companies to foreigners. 

 

It’s only a matter of time before the loophole is closed. Could be years or decades but do you really want to worry the whole time about potentially losing your property? 

 

The other option is long term lease of land which is legal. 

[jackdd]

10 minutes ago, catman20 said:

rubbish, traveling in the bed of a pick up is illegal also and nothing is done about that either

If they start enforcing the law regarding pickups people might be fined a few hundred THB, if they start enforcing the laws regarding houses in company name you might lose millions. Comparing Apples to Oranges?

[dotpoom]

To answer your question ...

Any Lawyer, Accountant or through a Real Estate Agnt. can make a company for you 

I have had about 5 companies ..4 for houses and one for a condo. Never had a problem.

Four of the companies cost 25,000 Bt.(after searching around, one Thai Lawyer wanted 75,000 Bt.) The fifth company cost 15,000 BG. to set up....it's assets were less than 1MB.

I had great enjoyment through living in the houses...and would do it all again. 

  Just sold the last one about 3 months ago

 

[exppenang]

I'm not the smartest or don't have the most time in Thailand as some other folks on here.

But every once in a while, I will weigh in if I feel I have something that might help.

 

As others have said, it is illegal for a foreigner to own land here, with a few isolated exceptions. Many have done what you are proposing. Some have had no problems. Others have had big problems. If this money is "disposable", and you have a plan B in case you need to move quickly, then this may work in the short term.

Do not be fooled that you actually will own the land. Gold standard for land ownership is a chanote title deed. In this case, you will have no deed at all, you will merely own shares of stock in a company. This company will be majority controlled by a group of Thais, who have no problem taking your money and doing the paperwork for you. The long-term stability of the transaction will depend not only on the integrity of those majority shareholders, but also on the government's willingness to continue to turn a blind eye to these arrangements.

At any time, the government, or your shareholders, could change their minds, and you could be left with nothing.

So if you do go through with it, I suggest you have a plan "B".

Just my opinion - if you do go ahead with it, hope it works out.

[Small Joke]

2 hours ago, catman20 said:

rubbish, traveling in the bed of a pick up is illegal also and nothing is done about that either. ive been doing this for 18 years yes its illegal and so are many other things here, thats over looked you will get scare mongers all the time that prefer to put their house in the wife's name LOL mugs, go to a law firm they will do it all for you. cost 25/30,000 baht. accounts every year range from 9/15,000 baht taxs 1/3,000 baht a year. easy as that. id rather trust the law than some thai bird .

Yes, nothing is done about it, until it is...

And you are well up the creek. 

Like the sudden crackdown on the famed and endless 'border runs', the AirBnB ban, and the 'convenient' but quite legal raids on various houses of ill repute, let's not forget the demolition of an entire resort in Pattaya after nine years of it being 'over looked'!

555, go for it, and Chok Dee! you're gonna need it sooner or later.

 

[garzhe]

2 hours ago, catman20 said:

prostitution is illegal in Thailand isn't it ?  

Are you confident that future governments wont enforce this law regarding property ownership. Now we dont have a democratic government in Thailand, who knows what the future holds. As stated there are many laws that are not enforced here but they will choose what to enforce as and when it suits them.

[BestB]

1 minute ago, Small Joke said:

Yes, nothing is done about it, until it is...

And you are well up the creek. 

Like the sudden crackdown on the famed and endless 'border runs', the AirBnB ban, and the 'convenient' but quite legal raids on various houses of ill repute, let's not forget the demolition of an entire resort in Pattaya after nine years of it being 'over looked'!

555, go for it, and Chok Dee! you're gonna need it sooner or later.

 

If I read your post 1-2 years ago I would have said rubbish , but have to agree with you 100%.

 

under current government or its proxies in the future, can not rule out anything , no matter how stupid or unreasonable it sounds.

 

Still in doubt? Just look at what they are doing with hotels and guest houses. Thousands of people are in a limbo and penalties are severe.

 

There is nothing to stop them from going after houses owned by foreigners through a company.

 

And despite some saying they will give time to sell up , they could simply charge you, then revoke your visa and deport you.

 

Company does not do balance sheets or returns and your house becomes states property , as easy as that

[CGW]

2 hours ago, catman20 said:

rubbish, traveling in the bed of a pick up is illegal also and nothing is done about that either. ive been doing this for 18 years yes its illegal and so are many other things here, thats over looked you will get scare mongers all the time that prefer to put their house in the wife's name LOL mugs, go to a law firm they will do it all for you. cost 25/30,000 baht. accounts every year range from 9/15,000 baht taxs 1/3,000 baht a year. easy as that. id rather trust the law than some thai bird .

As he says, best of advice you will get - the rest will be scaremongering ?

[Henryford]

2 hours ago, catman20 said:

prostitution is illegal in Thailand isn't it ?  

Yes but i don't spend 5 million baht on a prostitute.

[jackdd]

5 minutes ago, BestB said:

There is nothing to stop them from going after houses owned by foreigners through a company.

 

And despite some saying they will give time to sell up , they could simply charge you, then revoke your visa and deport you.

You don't have to think so complicated, it doesn't even have to be something that affects all of Thailand.

Let's say the head of the local land office decides for whatever reason (maybe he is a friend of Somchai) to enforce existing laws, and somehow gets the info that 5 years ago Mr. Farang used an illegal company structure to buy some land from Somchai for a million THB, and then Mr. Farang built a nice house for 5 million on it.

Now the head of the local land office just goes ahead and declares the transfer of the Chanote as unlawful and reverses it. The land is now back in Somchai's name and it has a nice house on it.

Theoretically Somchai has to pay back the million THB for the land, but if Mr. Farang will ever get this is written in the stars. Even if he has to, Somchai just got a nice house worth 5 million THB paid for by a foreigner who thought he could own land in Thailand.

 

If the cost of a house is just some pocket money for you and you are willing to gamble about it go ahead... but i think for most people it isn't. So just stick to renting.

[xylophone]

28 minutes ago, jackdd said:

You don't have to think so complicated, it doesn't even have to be something that affects all of Thailand.

Let's say the head of the local land office decides for whatever reason (maybe he is a friend of Somchai) to enforce existing laws, and somehow gets the info that 5 years ago Mr. Farang used an illegal company structure to buy some land from Somchai for a million THB, and then Mr. Farang built a nice house for 5 million on it.

Now the head of the local land office just goes ahead and declares the transfer of the Chanote as unlawful and reverses it. The land is now back in Somchai's name and it has a nice house on it.

Theoretically Somchai has to pay back the million THB for the land, but if Mr. Farang will ever get this is written in the stars. Even if he has to, Somchai just got a nice house worth 5 million THB paid for by a foreigner who thought he could own land in Thailand.

 

If the cost of a house is just some pocket money for you and you are willing to gamble about it go ahead... but i think for most people it isn't. So just stick to renting.

Similar thing happened to a friend here but it was his crooked lawyer who sold the house from under him with "forged" documents.

 

He took it to court but got nowhere because the villa & land was "bought" through the company route, so court ruled he had acquired it illegally so he had no rights to it.

 

Scary when it happens...…and anyway I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to invest a large part (or even any part) of their savings or retirement fund in a country where: –

 

– A democratically elected government has been overthrown by the military on 12 occasions since 1932, so the political situation in Thailand is unstable to say the least.

 

– Foreigners are not allowed to own land (in the main).

 

– Lawyers will set up false companies for foreigners to let them believe that they own the land, which can be revoked at any time with no comeback whatsoever.

 

– The laws protecting foreigners in Thailand are selectively enforced at best.

 

– Both the police and land authorities have been found to be the most corrupt government institutions in Thailand, and it is these one may have to turn to in the event of a problem.

 

– Sometimes the government moves to enforce its laws, and other times it doesn't, so one really doesn't know where one stands at any moment in time, so peace of mind is an unlikely situation.

 

– If house/land has been bought through an illegal company set up, then it is very likely that when a crackdown occurs  this property will be confiscated and the funds lost.

 

Think about it this way, if someone telephoned you with an investment offer which was "a great deal" and suggested that you invested your money in something which had the above conditions surrounding it, would you say "yes"?
 

 

[DJ54]

13 hours ago, alon95 said:

I saw in a few posts that it is illegal, but the government won't do anything against it since there are tons of ppl that bought a land/house in a company name and that it will destroy some of the thai economy.

Is it not true?

so the solution is buy a condo or don't buy at all?

all this information is unclear

 

 

What happens for example someone doesn’t like you and reports

obtained illegally they knock it done total loss and maybe fine or jail 

time.

 

Or for example the business if I’ve remembered correctly is 49% your 

and 51% Thai ownership. They put the squeeze on you for money or 

to have the home taken from you.

 

Really although it would be nice not worth the risk. Rent a house? 

[Destiny1990]

Call Law firm DFDL

[Baerboxer]

5 hours ago, catman20 said:

rubbish, traveling in the bed of a pick up is illegal also and nothing is done about that either. ive been doing this for 18 years yes its illegal and so are many other things here, thats over looked you will get scare mongers all the time that prefer to put their house in the wife's name LOL mugs, go to a law firm they will do it all for you. cost 25/30,000 baht. accounts every year range from 9/15,000 baht taxs 1/3,000 baht a year. easy as that. id rather trust the law than some thai bird .

 

They turn a blind eye to many things until they don't want too.

 

Upset the wrong person, your wife/gf, business client, relative etc etc and see what happens.

 

At the end of the day, you are knowingly doing something illegal (which makes you a criminal btw) and they can selectively enforce any law whenever they fancy!

 

Good luck.

[huawei]

I was told in 1986 it was illegal, by a local lawyer recommended by the British Embassy, again by the international law firm that the company I worked for in 1994. Couldn’t even put it in the wife’s name back then.

 

just because it is illegal doesn’t mean that you can’t game the system, the whole country is f..ked in some way or other. Upto your ethical code how you will act.

 

i missed a couple of good opportunities to buy because I was so reticent to go that route, so for some it’s worked out ok.

 

however do not under estimate what the thai authorities will and can do. They will at some point address this issue, but  they will allow sometime to divest..it won’t be draconian.

 

it will be a drip feed...but it will happen.

 

People seem to buy here because they couldn’t buy at home, which is never a good premise.

 

cant see people losing all their money however, at is just fear mongering.

 

people should be more worried about the financial requirements to stay here, they don’t want poorer people here, retirees with limited funds and an illiquid house in a company..ouch!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tofer]

Marry a Thai lady and put it in her name. All legal and above board......

[off road pat]

6 hours ago, jackdd said:

We can't foresee the future ?

But why buy property in Thailand? Too many risks and uncertainties here, just rent it, so you can easily walk away from it.

If you want to invest money in property just buy property in your home country, at least you can fully own this and have probably more stable legal grounds

Good advice is priceless !!! ...the problem is that some people will not listen, they want to own a house no matter what !

[Tchooptip]

19 hours ago, jackdd said:

To set up a company just for the purpose of owning a house is considered illegal, so if you don't want any troubles in the future you better don't do it.

I'll call this the voice of wisdom, which however is far from being shared by all included on this forum.

Reminding it annoys some members, I have experienced it  

[anfh]

Not read all posts so may be repeating etc.

 

In the past many people set up Thai companies to buy house/ land. This was a loophole foriegners used to circumnavigate Thai law.

The authorities knew about this, but turned a blind eye ( as usual )

 

Since the Martial Law takeover, this situation is now being looked at by the authorities. It is therefoe illegal to set up a new Thai company with the sole purpose of buying house/land.

 

there will be certain lawyers who will set up a company for the right price, even though they know it is illegal. The problem with this is that the authorities will and are monitoring the set up of new companies, and you therefore leave yourself open to problems.

 

Some people on here will already have Thai companies etc, and may well never have a problem, probably due to to how old the company is.

 

you could buy and existing Thai company, preferably over ten years old, which should be safer than setting up a new one in current times

 

Just my opinion. 

 

 

 

[Sprigger]

6 hours ago, catman20 said:

rubbish, traveling in the bed of a pick up is illegal also and nothing is done about that either. ive been doing this for 18 years yes its illegal and so are many other things here, thats over looked you will get scare mongers all the time that prefer to put their house in the wife's name LOL mugs, go to a law firm they will do it all for you. cost 25/30,000 baht. accounts every year range from 9/15,000 baht taxs 1/3,000 baht a year. easy as that. id rather trust the law than some thai bird .

Even more rubbish, the authorities started a week or two ago in Phuket taking action against this illegal practice. Thrust me the big clamp down and snatch back is coming, think about it, way to get properties for free from pesky foreigners. Thai man win win

[khunPer]

22 hours ago, alon95 said:

I wanted to know how can I open a company in order to buy a house, who can open it for me? where? how?

How much is the opening price is? maintaining yearly price?

Does it have to be active?

Is it still safe in 2018?

It's illegal for foreigners to own land (under the house) – but you can own a house on for example leased land through a superficies agreement – and it's illegal to use a Thai company limited with nominee shareholders to control foreign land ownership. However, the method might still be used, but only about a week ago, one of the major law firms in property business for foreigners were scrutinized.

 

You'll need a law firm to set up a company limited for you, preferably one with experience in foreigners and property; they should also be fully updated on the situation, and how things can be done.

 

You'll need a minimum of three shareholders, and normally a minimum of 2 million baht shareholder capital paid in cash (might in some cases be enough with 1 million). Minimum 51% of the shares shall be owned by Thai nationals; i.e. a foreigner can only own 49% of the company. In some provinces a Land Office will only accept 39% foreign ownership, when registering (transferring) a land title deed to the company; however additional 10% of the shares can be transferred to foreign ownership after land registration. Preferred shares are allowed, but not intended by law to be used for foreign control of shareholder majority in votes (to my knowledge not yet challenged in Court).

 

Nominee shareholders are not accepted – i.e. some Thai names in the registration contract – and expect that all Thai shareholders might be asked for proof of funds. Earlier a law firm might have some names to put in the registration form (nominees), but in the last decade I know that (at least some) law firms simply say, that the foreigner(s) shall find the Thai shareholder.

 

Opening costs are ca. 50,000 baht (plus/minus) including registration fee for 2 million baht capital; which you also need, the money might be used to pay for the property the company later buy. Maintenance costs are around 30,000 baht a year (plus/minus) for accounting, and tax audit, and annual report, and half year tax report.

 

The company need to be active, i.e. do annual reports and tax statements. If the only action in the company is one leased out land plot, expect scrutiny at some point. Best is to have some additional activity in the company, and one or more Thai employees; however, an experienced law firm can give you up to date advises about present optimal performance set-up.

 

Is it still safe in 2018?

I will say that it depend purely on your company set set-up. Probably small companies with one private land+house ownership will likely not be forced to close – simply too many, and might spoil the property market, and foreigners using that method in general bring quite a lot of foreign currency into the nation – it's mainly larger projects that has been scrutinized. However bear the old saying, never "invest" more in Land-of-Smiles than you can afford to loose, in mind is always wise.

 

One good link with information about property ownership and company limited set-up – there are a number of others, easily found at Google – is "Samui for Sale".

?

[newnative]

      A lot of scaremongering in these posts.  The workaround of buying a house in company name has been in place for years.  Whether it's entirely legal, illegal, or falls into a gray area is debatable.  But, what's not debatable, is it's been normal, standard practice.   Thousands and thousands of properties have been bought in this manner by foreigners, with the help of Thai nationals and the tacit acceptance by Thai government agencies.  

      Foreign home owners are from all the major tourism countries.  Now, we have many Chinese joining them and also buying houses in company name.  Does anybody really think the Thai government is going to start throwing all these foreigners out of their homes and confiscating them?  When Thailand allowed this practice to go on for years?   

     Thailand is bending over backwards right now desperately trying to placate the angry Chinese, having, once again, underestimated the power of social media.   I sincerely doubt they would make the same mistake by tossing Chinese home buyers out of their homes, not to mention all the home owners from all the other countries.  It would be a legal, not to mention social network, nightmare.  Worse case?  A legal accommodation is put in place to handle these types of property sales and allow them to continue, to the benefit of everyone.