Transfer of funds

[TRIPxCORE]

Hi everyone.  I will be moving to Thailand next year sometime but I wish to purchase my home before then.  My wife will be purchasing the home in her name.  I plan to pay for the house outright.  I want to accomplish the whole process during our next visit sometime this year.  We will be there for maybe 10-12 days.  I know I need to transfer money from bank here in US to an account I plan to open at Bangkok Bank when we get there.  Is 10-12 days enough time to complete the process from opening account till paying in full for the home?  The house is brand new in a newly built development near Don Muang airport.  The sale goes through the company selling the homes and not a private party.  This is all the relevant info I can think to provide for some helpful answer's.  Anybody know????

    I also wish to thank the creators of this forum.  It is an invaluable place for info and is very well apppreciated.

[lopburi3]

Cool off period.  Are you sure you want to buy now?  Is the house in the Bangkok flood prevention zone (areas North of Don Muang are often flooded)?  As you both seem to be outside Thailand and have limited time here have you checked the builder/site/home and know he really owns what he is selling?  I have attended several home sales here between Thais and all had scam attempts at the last minute so I would be very, very careful.  My advise and believe most others would be to come here first and take the time to look around.  Rents are low and once you buy there is very little chance to sell if you decide you want to live elsewhere.

You should talk with your home bank as don't know how much paperwork is required when you send more than 10k.  The wire transfer process itself should not take more than about 40 hours for less than 10k if you contact your home back at their oob and no holiday is involved.  This is using Bangkok Bank branch here in Bangkok.  You will also have to have a wire transfer agreement on file and password to make a phone transfer so take care of that now.

[mrvietnam2001]

Hey! Bangkok bank? You may want to give HSBC a call. 2nd largest bank in the world and you will get the straight scoop from them which I'm not so sure you'll get the same elsewhere.

I'm able to move about pretty freely between Vietnam, HK, and BKK while maintaining things in HSBC Florida as well.

Great bank for this kind of thing.

Good luck

Mr Vietnam

[TRIPxCORE]

Ok using HSBC, will that allow me to open the account in the US and withdraw money from the branch in Thailand.  I have heard that is not possible.  Also, the consensus seems to be that the Thai authorities prefer using Thai national banks when verifying funds for visa's.  I am not sure though.

    To Mr. Lopburi, I am not sure if the house is around the flood zone.  Also, if it is a scam, how can I determine that?  You can check out the website for yourself and tell me what you think about it.  I would appreciate your opinion in the matter.House.

[lopburi3]

Seems like a very professional web site for Thailand.  As don't read Thai myself; and wife would not consider buying anything from the internet, can only comment on the home shown on page you gave which seems to be on 50 wah.  This must be outside of Bangkok as believe 100 wah is now required for single home construction here.  Most used to be on about 80 wah in moobans.  Take a good look at the lot size before you put your money into it.  There is no shortage of housing in Bangkok and the banks still have a huge number of homes for sale as discount prices.  

As for scams they could be anything from trying to overcharge items to not building a home or not really owning the land.  If this is direct to builder sale you even lose the limited bank check protection.  There is currently an upswing in new construction so that, along with the huge inventory still for sale, should keep price down for some time.  I still believe you should postpone your decision until you have some experience living here as it will likely be a lifetime decision.

[mrvietnam2001]

Uhhh again, HSBC is the second largest bank in the world.

Good Luck

Mr Vietnam

[caughtintheact]

I'm wondering if paying all cash for a house is a wise move.  You can put down a lump sum and finance the rest  from whichever bank is funding the development,  using the house as collateral.  Keep in mind that money today is more valuable than the same money tomorrow, because of inflation.  If you could depend on deflation it might make some sense, but not much.  Also, since you do not know what the future will bring, tie up as little of your money here as possible in fixed assets.  After you have lived here a few years, then you can decide if you want to bring it all here.  Of course if you have lived here before a long time, then do as you see fit. Also if you pay all cash, you are likely to find out that the developer will not correct flaws in the house because he already has his money and that's all he's going to get.  As long as you owe money to the bank it gives you a bit of leverage over the developer, because the bank does not want flawed assets, and they will own the house until paid off.  

As far as transferring money here, talk to your home bank about a SWIFT transfer to HSBC, which I also agree is the best way to go.  CitiBank is another possibility. A SWIFT Transfer should take 2-3 days max.  So you will have to immediately open a bank account here (you cannot do it remotely), and then fax the details of the local banks's SWIFT information to your stateside bank.  

Your USA bank will want the name, address, branch, type of account , telephone/fax numbers and an email address, plus a routing code.  Local Thai banks doo't use routing codes.  I am not sure about HSBC.  If you can use HSBC in the USA it should simplify matters a lot.

Keep in mind lopburi3's advice "You will also have to have a wire transfer agreement on file and password to make a phone transfer so take care of that now."

[mrvietnam2001]

You will create more work for yourself and be at greater risk if you ONLY establish a US relationship with HSBC. BKK HSBC is fine, but the most user friendly branch is in HK ( other than the USA)

Therefore, ideally you would float from the USA to HK as your base in asia and throw the thai's a bone every now and then as a third account.

Unless you're bill gates. The attitude in thailand is unprofessional at best even at HSBC ( although way better than at the others with the exception of citi bank, which again you need to be bill gates to capture any attention there)

You may find yourself having to extricate yourself from Thailand and they are not as cooperative when the dollar is trying to walk out as they are in HK, or even Vietnam.

Slow down. You're nuts if you pay cash.

Again, but maybe you are bill gates.

Mr Vietnam

[TRIPxCORE]

If I have the ability to pay cash, why finance a property and pay interest.  It's like throwing money in the garbage.  It does make sense so that I can hold the building company liable for any thing needing to be fixed but, are they really that backwards in LOS?  I need to worry about it that much?  Dont they have house inpectors you can pay to come and look over a property?  I would rather not have to worry about paying a mortage every month.

[mrvietnam2001]

Sorry, you're right. It's not backward at all and you can always hold them liable. I was only trying to help, but you seem to really know what you're doing in Asia so I'll humbly remove myself from this and maybe we can all learn something here.

Good luck

Ciao

Mr Vietnam

[caughtintheact]

The reason it makes sense not to pay for the house with 100% cash up front is because the house is not in your name.  If anything ever happens with the marriage, your cash is as good as gone.  Some have recommended an agreement that the owner (the wie) make a will leaving the right to sell to the husband if the wife passes away first.  In the event this were to happen, you still cannot own the house or the land.  So if you pay cash you can be tossed out of the place, but if money is owed on the house and you are a cosigner, you'd have some right to stay.  There are various options such as the ownership passing to the children, (you should consult with legal counsel) but if there are no children and only in-laws, you might be making them a nice present of a house you intended for yourself.  Housing inspectors? You can probably hire a surveyor.  But I'm not sure if there are any here.

[lopburi3]

It does make sense so that I can hold the building company liable for any thing needing to be fixed but, are they really that backwards in LOS?

Once you pay it is over.  

There is almost no inspection process, or even permit for building required if you make a small donation.  Do not expect any house to be built to specifications.  What you see is what you get (and it is really, really hard to see inside concrete).  Am not sure if it applies to the house you are interested in but see on that site reference to prefab construction and weight bearing walls.  This is not the norm here and (am not an engineer) am very suspect of how well it will last on the 60 feet of mud we have below us.  With the normal building you don't need any walls to support the house so cracks are not a big deal.  

Again, urge you to take your time and live here awhile before you spend your money.

[TRIPxCORE]

Sorry, you're right. It's not backward at all and you can always hold them liable. I was only trying to help, but you seem to really know what you're doing in Asia so I'll humbly remove myself from this and maybe we can all learn something here.

Good luck

Ciao

Mr Vietnam

Mr Vietnam, I am not suggesting that I know everything.  I am telling you that I dont know what to do and that is the reason I am asking so many questions.  Mr Lopburi has enlightened me on many things that I should be on the lookout for such as flood zones and housing stability due to being built on mud.  I am disappointed that there is really no house inspectors you can call on to look it over for you.  I am going to check out the place first with my own eyes but my limited knowledge of what to look for could be a handicap.  If anybody else has any suggestions, please feel free to post them here as I would like to read them.  Thanks for all the input so far.

[Roger13]

Tripxcore,

HSBC / CitiBank in USA should be able to

help you open an a/c in Bangkok.

Visa rules mention Thai Banks - but I think this really means

a Bank in Thailand. Immigration have never questioned my using a Foreign Bank

It should also be possible to send the money before you leave

to be paid to you on production of your passport - if they cannot open an account before hand.

But I would advise you to keep as much of your money

as possible in US$ - even if you are Bill Gates.

US$ is less likely to lose its value vis a vis the Thai Baht.

And Exchange Control restrictions can be imposed by any

country at any time - which could make repatriation of Funds difficult should the need arise.

So these are more reasons to pay only a cash deposit

and finance the balance - which gives you a hold over the Builder and the In-Laws.

You should consider the house owner giving you a Lease - in case of her untimely death - especially if you do go the 100% cash route.

I wonder why you are in such a hurry to part with your money.

Apartments for all pockets are easily available to enable you to

test the waters before making what will be an irrevocable decision.

Furnished Two BedRoom/Two Bathroom apartments can be

found from Bht 10,000 to Bht 100,000

You have asked for advice - it is take your time. !!!

Sincerely

Roger

[karenfraser18]

I have been reading some of the responses and I agree that it would be wise to hold off buying here right away. However the question you asked was about transfering funds here. The best way is to sign a wire transfer at your bank before you come. You can have them transfer what you need right away as long as you have your Thai bank information. When you sign a wire transfer form whenever you need money in the future you just have to send a signed fax and they will take care of the rest. I usually takes a week even up to two to get the money here. I hope this helps

[mrvietnam2001]

Takes 4-8 hours to receive a wire transfer from the USA to Thailand. Unless you're using a Thai or some other foreign bank.

About the same amount of time it takes to receive in Vietnam.

Use Citibank or HSBC and its no more than 4-8 hours.

Mr Vietnam

[caughtintheact]

I'm in process of doing a wire transfer now.  My USA bank, USAA Federal Savings Bank tells me that it takes 7-10 working days.  If I remember, I'll post the actual time when the funds arrive. The time seems a bit long, but it might be faster the second time when all the procedures are known.