Recommended ways to FIND land to build a house on?

[JayBird]

I'm pondering buying a piece of land (about 2+ RAI in size) that is suitable for building a house.  I've checked the 'normal' websites (DD, dot, etc.) for land.  Not much is listed, and the prices seem to be oddly high.

 

Am I just looking in the wrong places, or should I be expecting to pay 1M/rai for land in an uninteresting and somewhat remote location?

 

Mainly concerned what ways people recommend for me (or my TGF) to find land at a good price.  None is available in the extended family.

 

Thank you.

[Gumballl]

I see a fool in the making. Soon you will lose a lot of money for a patch of land that you, as a foreigner, CANNOT OWN!

 

Go back to your home country, pick up a girl at a local bar, and tell her that you want to buy her some land. At least in that situation you could jointly own the land.

[KarenBravo]

Find the place you want to live, then ask around. Thais don't usually want to advertise that they are selling land as it could lead to a loss of face. 

[mr mr]

wowie.

 

yes normal prices for land is 1 million per rai. transfer me the mil and ill get you that land lickidy split. scouts honor. 

[KarenBravo]

7 minutes ago, mr mr said:

wowie.

 

yes normal prices for land is 1 million per rai. transfer me the mil and ill get you that land lickidy split. scouts honor. 

It rather depends on where it is, don't you think?

Nakorn Nowhere ex-rice paddy less than 100k per rai.

Phuket minimum will be three to four million per rai in an unfashionable area. Over 10 million per rai near a beach. 50 million if in Patong.

I really hate having to state the obvious.

[mr mr]

43 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

It rather depends on where it is, don't you think?

Nakorn Nowhere ex-rice paddy less than 100k per rai.

Phuket minimum will be three to four million per rai in an unfashionable area. Over 10 million per rai near a beach. 50 million if in Patong.

I really hate having to state the obvious.

ok karen ill bite

 

op where are you looking to buy the land ? 

[KarenBravo]

1 minute ago, mr mr said:

ok karen ill bite

 

op where are you looking to buy the land ? 

 

A sensible question.

Bite? I'm not trolling.

 

[Susco]

This is my story.

 

12 years ago I bought 5 Rai of land in Pong, which is near the Mabprachan lake in east Pattaya, and very popular with expats.

 

Before Smart Alec jumps in, I had it registered in company name.

 

Soon after, while looking on how the area developed, I knew I didn't want to live there.

 

I was lucky that the agent through who I bought, had another candidate and I could sell at a small profit.

 

I then took my moped and started riding around, until I entered a small street where I got that feeling, this is it, here I want to live.

 

Unfortunately there were no sign on any land, because 12 years ago the Thais weren't desperate for money like they are today.

 

I asked the Thai wife of a friend of mine, who's kind of an unregistered property agent, to find me a plot in that particular street.

 

She went knocking every door, and nobody wanted to sell, until she reached the end of the street, and met an owner who owed 17 Rai in a single chanut, and was in need of some money for one of his adult daughters.

 

He agreed to sell 1 Rai, at a normal price, and allowed me to mark the 1 Rai out of the 17 Rai, and had a separate chanut registered for it.

 

I live there ever since, and the remaining 16 Rai are still a single plot

 

 

[mr mr]

32 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

 

A sensible question.

Bite? I'm not trolling.

 

my assumption is that he is not buying land in phuket. i am assuming he is building a house in the north east somewhere. so with that assumption ( possibly wrong) i was concerned that 1 million for land is waaaaay expensive for that area. which then brings up a whole whack of red flags as far as i'm concerned.

 

if i am wrong i will eat crow and apologize.

 

edit. looking back at the op he did also say remote and uninteresting location. that is what originally lead me to the assumptions i made. ????

 

 

 

[KarenBravo]

2 minutes ago, mr mr said:

my assumption is that he is not buying land in phuket. i am assuming he is building a house in the north east somewhere. so with that assumption ( possibly wrong) i was concerned that 1 million for land is waaaaay expensive for that area. which then brings up a whole whack of red flags as far as i'm concerned.

 

if i am wrong i will eat crow and apologize.

I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to bu in Phuket, but, seeing as how I do, I know the rough land prices and use those as an example.

Even in the north-east there is a huge variation on land prices. City? Town? Just outside? Or, right out in the sticks.

[mr mr]

3 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to bu in Phuket, but, seeing as how I do, I know the rough land prices and use those as an example.

Even in the north-east there is a huge variation on land prices. City? Town? Just outside? Or, right out in the sticks.

i'll stick to my original claim. he wants a house outside of the city for some peace and quiet. 

[sungod]

22 minutes ago, Susco said:

This is my story.

 

12 years ago I bought 5 Rai of land in Pong, which is near the Mabprachan lake in east Pattaya, and very popular with expats.

 

Before Smart Alec jumps in, I had it registered in company name.

 

Soon after, while looking on how the area developed, I knew I didn't want to live there.

 

I was lucky that the agent through who I bought, had another candidate and I could sell at a small profit.

Dont know your circumstances, sell it 12 years later you would be minted no?

[Susco]

8 minutes ago, sungod said:

Dont know your circumstances, sell it 12 years later you would be minted no?

Don't know what minted means.

 

I sold it less than 1 year after I bought it, now the asking price in that area is more than 6 times what I paid for it

[Morch]

Our experience was that many of the "private" plots posted on the usual websites were handled by dealers or wannabe dealers. The good plots were quickly gone or were overpriced.

 

As another poster said, narrow down the relevant areas and head out there. Local restaurants, mom and pop shops are two good bets for getting information. After a couple of times doing the rounds, sellers will either show up or reach out.

 

Prices vary, and unless seller are pressed real hard for money, don't expect super bargains or discounts. Being a foreigner doesn't help much either, most times.

 

In rural areas, there are many larger plots on offer, but finding a smaller one (say, 1-3 rai) maybe harder. People weren't all that keen on slicing bits just for us, or wanted extra for it (also, them other 9 rai next door might be sold to whomever/whatever).

 

Always check existing facilities, if there are current plans to extend roads/drain etc. If the plot is a field, or just lower than the road, factor landfill costs. 

 

Good luck.

 

[JayBird]

Thank you for the helpful comments.  It seems the following things might be fact:

 

1) Don't go based on what you find on the main web sites, as they are either overpriced or 'bad' plots being sold out.

2) Good plots at good prices are not advertised and you have to go to the area and try to find someone who wants to sell by essentially knocking door-to-door?

 

In the situation that I don't wish to roam the Thai country side trying to find a plot of land, would the next best thing be to try and find a local agent in each of those areas and see if they can find a plot?  Or is it *really* door-to-door and word-of-mouth?

 

 

Note: To further clarify.  Not asking so much for how much is land @ a specific location.  Rather, what is the recommended way that I go looking for a plot of land at a reasonable price (whatever that might be) at any given location.

 

Thank you again.

[JayBird]

14 hours ago, Gumballl said:

I see a fool in the making. Soon you will lose a lot of money for a patch of land that you, as a foreigner, CANNOT OWN!

 

Go back to your home country, pick up a girl at a local bar, and tell her that you want to buy her some land. At least in that situation you could jointly own the land.

This reply is mainly meant for other readers of this thread:

1) Not everyone who wants to buy land here is using their own money, perhaps their Thai partner has the money.

 

2) Not every foreigner here is dating a bar girl.  Contrary to popular belief, there are Thai females here who do not work in a bar.  Some of the younger ones even grew up and got educated in the city, and know little if anything about life outside of Bangkok, let alone farming or buying land.

 

3) Foreigners can own up to 1 RAI of land, but it requires (last I checked) something like 30Mn THB invested in Thai Gov't bonds.  (This may have changed, so please double check if you are reading this).

 

4) Foreign interests can be managed through the use of Company structure, Lease, etc.  Also the Foreigner can own the house without the land in the event that you purchase a relocatable house.

 

5) Some foreigners who wish to buy a land in their thai partner's name may only choose to spend an amount that they are comfortable walking away with.  Some are comfortable walking away from 3M, 5M, even 10M.  Depending on their budget.  IF they purchase & build under a budget they are comfortable walking away from, then the downside is minimized.

 

 

[sungod]

12 hours ago, Susco said:

Don't know what minted means.

 

I sold it less than 1 year after I bought it, now the asking price in that area is more than 6 times what I paid for it

Means rich ????

[Farma]

In my area its more a case of asking around as most places aren't advertised. It's mostly word of mouth.

 

Another place to look is local facebook pages. For example my nearest big city has 2 local facebook sites where people post anything for sale from food to land. A lot of the land for sale posts include a copy of the chanote showing the size and location of the plot along with other info on price etc.

[Matzzon]

@JayBird As unaware of prices and way to find land as you seem to be, I do not think buying land and building a house is good for you at this point. Take another year and search to find information about how things work, what is standard prices in different areas as well as different ways to find it and different people/companies to buy it from.

Just don´t want you to make all the classic mistakes and end up in a misery. ???? 

[donx]

17 hours ago, JayBird said:

Thank you for the helpful comments.  It seems the following things might be fact:

 

1) Don't go based on what you find on the main web sites, as they are either overpriced or 'bad' plots being sold out.

2) Good plots at good prices are not advertised and you have to go to the area and try to find someone who wants to sell by essentially knocking door-to-door?

 

In the situation that I don't wish to roam the Thai country side trying to find a plot of land, would the next best thing be to try and find a local agent in each of those areas and see if they can find a plot?  Or is it *really* door-to-door and word-of-mouth?

 

 

Note: To further clarify.  Not asking so much for how much is land @ a specific location.  Rather, what is the recommended way that I go looking for a plot of land at a reasonable price (whatever that might be) at any given location.

 

Thank you again.

My first piece of advice is for you to pick a given location. Hopefully you have some idea of where you want to buy land. If you really don't care then I suggest looking in the deep South near the Malaysian border or somewhere in Northeast Thailand. But seriously, you need to determine what part of the country you plan on living. In my case, I was interested in beachfront land somewhere in Southern Thailand. My wife is from Phatthatlung so I wanted something within a few hour drive from there. 

 

Once you know where you want to look, if you don't have the ability to search on your own then you need to ask around. Find friends or family or make friends within that region that can ask around. Usually someone will know someone else that wants to sell land. In my case, I initially planned on buying a plot of land from another ThaiVisa member that posted some pictures and sent me personal messages via ThaiVisa about the property details. After discussing this with my wife, she talked to her relatives about our plan and they talked to other relatives that pointed us to another plot of land that was larger and less expensive.

 

Now if your Thai partner doesn't know anyone in the area where you want to buy land then you will need to make contacts with as many people as possible to get the word out that you are looking for land to purchase. I strongly suggest keeping your identity hidden as much as possible because the prices go up significantly when a farang is involved.

 

I could have purchased the land from the ThaiVisa member but it wasn't ideal. In my opinion the size of building plot between the beach and the road was too small. It wasn't overly expensive for what it was and I was able to use it for comparison with the plot of land that my wife ultimately purchased. If you haven't already looked at the land plots for sale on this website, then check them out. I also did a fair amount to looking at various websites that listed Thai property for sale. They were somewhat educational but I never pursued anything listed by them. As you mentioned many of them seem to be overly expensive.

 

Good luck with your search. With some effort and perseverance you should be able to find a reasonably priced plot of land. 

 

[MarcIssan]

I invested in several plots of land around Udon many years ago and the best prices were from word of mouth by those about ready to lose the land to the bank from unpaid loans.  Also you might search banks who own land and houses due to repossession as you might find some nuggets at a good price.

 

Not all Thai women are gold diggers out to rob you blind but it only takes a second for that angel to turn into Medusa so protect yourself.  You can and should do a land lease if your intention is to build a house.  The last thing you need is to get tossed out of your house by the X while she shags the next guy just after borrowing the max she can only to lose the house to the bank a year or so later.  Land leases keep you in your house until the end of the lease period (plus extensions if you so add) and gives you the right to sell your house and the interest in the lease to a 3rd party without needing her permission.  Do this via an attorney to avoid problems later on.

 

 

[alacrity]

When you find an area you're interested in, send your significant other to local hairdressers/salons. A simple enquiry at that time should start the ball rolling.

[innosiem]

try
Kaidee and facebook (in thai)