Is Having A House Built A Good Idea

[jayenram]

Exactly a foreigner married to a Thai has to sign a document stating they lay no claim whatsoever to the land when the wife buys it.

This is a requirement that I was not aware of.

However, I provided the money to buy 'our' plot before we actually got married so there was no such requirement. But one point I would make here is that should my wife decide to sell the land, she needs my permission (at least in this part of the country anyway).

Thats interesting as you can't make any claim to the land whatsoever, I'm guessing that you own the building - else I'm unsure of why she would need your permission as the land is 100% your wifes, thats assuming its a normal land title.

Being married to a Thai entitles the farang to 50% (or thereabouts) of what she owns and she is entitled to 50% of what the farang owns. This includes the value of the land, so if the land is all there is then she is required to pay the farang 50% of it's value should they be divorced. Actually getting the money will be a different matter, of course.

[stevenl]

Being married to a Thai entitles the farang to 50% (or thereabouts) of what she owns and she is entitled to 50% of what the farang owns. This includes the value of the land, so if the land is all there is then she is required to pay the farang 50% of it's value should they be divorced.

That is why it has to be declared beforehand that she bought the land with her own money and is no part of the communal possesions, so the farang is not entitled to the land.

[jayenram]

Being married to a Thai entitles the farang to 50% (or thereabouts) of what she owns and she is entitled to 50% of what the farang owns. This includes the value of the land, so if the land is all there is then she is required to pay the farang 50% of it's value should they be divorced.

That is why it has to be declared beforehand that she bought the land with her own money and is no part of the communal possesions, so the farang is not entitled to the land.

What about the money belonging to the farang which was earned before the marriage (which may also include pension)?

This thread is going a little off topic but the information contained herein appears to be worthy of discussion.

[LivinLOS]

Each time one of these property threads becomes active, there are posts, based on hearsay, about evictions by irate relatives of the land owner, however, no first person accounts in detail.

Not heresay at all..

I know of one guy who went offshore to work and when he returned his GF had sold thier house (in her name) for a bargain basement price to a local Thai with some clout.. The guy literally put his key in the lock and the door opened.. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house.. This isnt your house any more SLAM"..

Also a well known Thai national convinced some expats that he would be a nominee owner for them.. They felt he was their friend and trusted them.. They all lost the lot..

Also another issue.. I know one expat who is looking down the barrel of the same.. Its all in his wifes name and she is now making him jump through hoops, send more to family, support cousins in schooling, generally abusing her power.. his choice is to walk away from the investment of his home. This would never have been possible or tolerated if she didnt have him by the curlies.

How many of these 'first person accounts in detail' would you like me to list ??? Who do you think has paid for the Mia Farang homes dotted over issan and how many of them are being lived in by the guy who actually paid for it ??

[LivinLOS]

Exactly a foreigner married to a Thai has to sign a document stating they lay no claim whatsoever to the land when the wife buys it.

This is a requirement that I was not aware of.

However, I provided the money to buy 'our' plot before we actually got married so there was no such requirement. But one point I would make here is that should my wife decide to sell the land, she needs my permission (at least in this part of the country anyway).

Thats interesting as you can't make any claim to the land whatsoever, I'm guessing that you own the building - else I'm unsure of why she would need your permission as the land is 100% your wifes, thats assuming its a normal land title.

I am not 100% on this but I think the ufrastruct conditions has something that works like this.. However if the poster is assuming that based on marriage 50/50 rights as it was bought before the marriage should this come up then I think he would be disappointed..

[ProThaiExpat]

The definition of hearsay is statements or account that are not a first person account, just something you heard. To be first person, it must have happened to you and you are reporting the events. What you have heard from friends is hearsay, pure and simple.

In your "stories", we have no way of knowing if any legal documents, like a lease, were in the deposed falangs hands, were leases recorded with the land office, were the parties married and did the falang sign a document saying he had no interest in the land or house? etc. Drama creeps into accounts of property disputes as do exaggerations and vengeance felt toward the ex.

Hearsay is not admissible in court because it is inherently unreliable.

Nothing in the foregoing operates to deny you the right to tell your stories, but my statement regarding hearsay stands.

I did read on Thaivisa years ago about a falang that did prevail in a lease dispute with a Thai landowner and if my recollection serves, the story was the Thai had been emotionally involved with the falang, whether by marriage or common law.

The practical aspects of enforcing your lease rights if you are physically disposesed by relatives of land owner are unknown to me and probably problematic. However, in the story I read, the courts enforced the lease and gave possession back to the falang after he had be dispossessed.

[Karen51]

In reply to the original thread(!), we too are planning retirement to Phuket. Would we have house built - No. In fact will probably not even buy "off plan" - that will limit our choice considerably and will probably mean a resale but we like to see what we are getting.

In response to one of the replies about getting on the property ladder/investment purposes. The OP said that this was to be for final retirement - as is the same for us. i.e. really not bothered about what it's going to sell for later - we won't be around!!

Choice of location on the island? Yes, views and peaceful location sounds nice but first choice for us will be proximity to shops, eateries, doctors etc. Well, we are not decrepid yet and will be driving, but what about later (old age) retirement? How far do you plan ahead?

Something that is puzzling us so far, after a few trips to the island, is how exactly do you get your money in to buy the property/build the property (with the current restrictions on transferring money in)?

[hhfarang]

I built a custom home in Hua Hin and as far as building vs buying already built I can say this. If you are patient, and like someone else on this thread said, can monitor the progress every day, and can find an honest builder then building is best because you get exactly (or close to) what you want at a much lower cost than buying an already constructed home. If you can't handle the stress though it may not be worth it. Our home was supposed to be completed in eight months at a cost of around seven million Thai baht. It took two and a half years and cost over ten million and we had to fire the builder two years in and finish it ourselves with subcontractors. It was very stressfull but now we have a home that is exactly what we wanted (self designed) and realtor friends tell me it would sell for over twenty million easily so after all the hassle we have a great place to live at a low cost/value ratio. I have friends here who have bought new homes that were just constructed for more money than we paid and they got much less house and land but they didn't have to go through the grief that I did.... so it's a trade-off.

Good luck

[ProThaiExpat]

Very well put, hhfalang. My experience exactly. It is a joy to live in a home that meets your needs and desires exactly and mirrors your own predilections. The only way you get that is by designing and building yourself.

While I didn't have to fire my builder, and perhaps I should have, just one horror story to add color to this thread.

Departed site 4 pm, 2nd visit of the day. Upon return the following morning at 10am found the master bedroom without any windows at all. Easy to tear down the newly installed brick wall and create opening to accept the sliding glass door called for in the plans, but such mistakes drive up builders costs and puts pressure on his profitability and incentive to continue.

My developer advised me at the end of construction, that he had to augment his contract price with his sub in order to get the guy to finish. I suspect my builder didn't make a bundle on building my custom job. Their money is in cookie cutter houses designed to maximize profitability. I was lucky to get a developer to build a custom house in the first place.

He did one other in our development, but that time he had the architect who drew the plans on the job everyday, the same function I performed on my house.

For those who have not gone through it, getting the workers to do anything differently than they are used to, regardless of the existence of plans, is a biggie. ie. I called for level floors throughout my one story dwelling, they are used to lowering bathroom floors, etc. got it done but it took constant vigilance.

[Naam]

Departed site 4 pm, 2nd visit of the day. Upon return the following morning at 10am found the master bedroom without any windows at all. Easy to tear down the newly installed brick wall and create opening to accept the sliding glass door called for in the plans, but such mistakes drive up builders costs and puts pressure on his profitability and incentive to continue.

in my case two windows and one door. wasn't a big problem to rectify as it could be cut out with a saw (superblock).

[LivinLOS]

The definition of hearsay is statements or account that are not a first person account, just something you heard. To be first person, it must have happened to you and you are reporting the events. What you have heard from friends is hearsay, pure and simple.

Depends on what you mean as heresay in seeing this happen.. Of course it didnt happen to me.. I wouldnt be stupid enough to trust a Thai to hold my home (and also I find that the value I pay in rent for the value of home I live in is less than 3%.. They think this place is worth 10's of millions.. I doubt I would pay 10) or assets of that value.. So no it hasnt and will not happen to me..

However I have directly seen those situations, seen the people who were taken for a ride.. Thats not 'bloke down the pub said'.. This is people I have met. So I can say 'I' have seen this happen 'I' have personally witnessed this event (which is the legal definition, to personally witness).. Thats not heresay. If you go an repeat my story.. Thats heresay. One of these guys I have sat in the very house he can no longer enter even though he paid for it.

Also people who have just been ripped off for thier savings dont tend to want to discuss it too much !!

I dont deny these people were dumb.. I dont deny they could have done a lot more to safeguard thier assets.. they either went on trust with thier partner or trusted Thai advisors.. Thats doesnt change the fact that it happens.

As I said.. Drive around Issan.. Its easy to see the stand out mia farang homes all over the place.. Now how many of those are still occupied by the origional person who paid for or built them.. Not ###### many !!! that is enough evidence to say it happens on a massive scale.

[fisherd3]

So, get a 60 year lease with a renewal or buyout clause, usufruct etc...

The maximum lease you can obtain is 30 years and agreements to extend them are NOT legally binding on the landowner.

This is correct, and the motive of anyone suggesting differently, and understanding this motive when they strive to give the impression they know what what is going on, is the key to the mystery of the Thai Real Estate industry's marketing fantasy regarding the ownership of land in Thailand.

Motive: 'Make money out of Real Estate = talk rubbish about Real Estate law'. This is the only way to achieve goal = make money.

The only standard legal way to hold/own/control land in Thailand is to have 30 year lease registered at the land office.

By the way Condos as defined by the law = 100% O.K. though Real Estate agents / Developers with interests in Land/Houses will try and muddy this pool in order to compare their product favourably with a legal option.

[GeorgeEdwards]

I am building a house here, after three years of trying to find the right ready built at the right price. The three years renting were very well spent in terms of being sure where we want to live, finding a good reliable lawyer (a must), and a good reliable builder (nearly impossible, if you also want totally honest then it probably is impossible--we settled for one that does not steal too much).

Ready builts are of course a lot easier, but the profit they expect is 50 to 100%...which by US standards is obscene. Our house will end up costing 10 million baht, orignial quote 6 million, but ready built it would be 20 million.

Hope that is helpful, and gentle enough.

Hi,

Newbie here so please be gentle.

My Wife and I hope to retire to Phuket, from the UK, in two years. We would like this to be our last move so it is going to be important to get the right house in the right area.

We think that the east coast might be best as we think the views of the islands would be better than just looking out over the Andaman sea and what we really want are views and peace and tranquility. Comments on that would be very helpful, I hope.

One idea we have had is to maybe buy some land and have a house built for us. Our hope is that by doing this we can concentrate on finding the right location first.

I wondered if anyone here had bought land and had a house built and if this is as feasible as it sounds or if it is best to buy something that already exists. I am sure that building is not easy although I have to admit I have no idea how difficult it might be.

I know this is a big ask as there are so many variables but any pointers would be gratefully received as would any recommendations of websites or companies that might be helpful in my research efforts.

Cheers

Mick

[RAZZELL]

Renting for a year aftr that would mean that it is 4 years before we got on the Thai property ladder and who knows what will have happened to prices and availability in that time.

There is no such thing as a "Thai property ladder". LOS is not the UK, or any other country with a "developed" property market.

There are condos and villas that sit empty for years because they can't be sold. Why would you want to buy a property in a country which has just had a military coup????

Rent, keep your hard-earned money in the West and see what happens.

RAZZ