Buying a condo apartment - How to handle paying a deposit, or transferring insufficient funds?

[lkn]

12 minutes ago, thaitanic said:

Thank you. I did ask for recommendations on another thread but unfortunately did not get any

I would second that first opinion expressed: Buying a condo is trivial, no need to hire a lawyer. Would you hire a lawyer to buy a car?

 

Though are you buying condo or house + land? The latter is more complex because you cannot actually buy land. And if you are buying a condo, are you buying finished condo or off-plan? The latter will have a sales contract with terms and conditions, and the government have some minimum protection for the buyer, and terms regarding delays etc.

Edited October 15, 2021 by lkn

[thaitanic]

1 minute ago, lkn said:

I would second that first opinion expressed: Buying a condo is trivial, no need to hire a lawyer. Would you hire a lawyer to buy a car?

 

Though are you buying condo or house + land? The latter is more complex because you cannot actually buy land. And if you are buying a condo, are you buying finished condo or off-plan? The latter will have a sales contract with terms and conditions, and the government has some minimum protection for the buyer, and terms regarding delays etc.

As it stands, a finished condo with Thai owner. I've found a place I like and I've gone off the land/house leasing/ownership model and I like swimming pools etc..

 

Thanks to your and others' helpful replies on this thread, my main question now is whether it is normal/essential to have a sales contract with the seller before visiting the land office? I assume a deposit would be expected to accompany such a contract, but I don't have the funds here at the moment for even a 1% deposit until I have made the full transfer, so I'm hoping to avoid a deposit if possible and just get on with it.

[fredscats]

On 10/11/2021 at 5:04 PM, thaitanic said:

Thank you all very much for your replies. That's really helpful.

 

Not too keen on trusting a developer "returning me all the balance" if I can avoid it. I think I'll try and avoid paying a deposit and just pay in one go, unless I feel a place has a lot of competition for it or I find my ultimate, unique, dream home that I can't afford to lose. I should be able to get the funds over here in a week or so.

 

What is "S & P" (apart from  a restaurant chain that does nice salmon over rice)?

You want to be careful,said many times,never will it be a good move to buy anything in Thailand now,disaster on stilts,wait for 2 years giveaway prices,if not given away

[newnative]

9 hours ago, thaitanic said:

Thanks again for the replies.

 

A 1st follow-up question... Am I right to think that the funds have to be transferred in the foreign currency, which means I will have to use my overseas bank and not a currency exchange service such as Wise etc.?

 

A 2nd follow-up question... After the funds have arrived in my Thai bank and I have my FET, what is the usual method of actually transferring the cash from my Thai bank account to the seller's bank account? An electronic transfer? A cheque from my bank with the seller's name on it? A cash cheque from my bank with no name on it? A suitcase full of notes? And at what exact point does that actually happen? As a condo-purchasing virgin I have visions of a) a scary, paranoid journey from the bank to the land office with a cash cheque in my underpants, and b) a comical 3-2-1 countdown at the land office before exchanging cash/paperwork/keys.

     My partner and I always use a cashier's check in the seller's name.  We also require this when we sell a condo.  We don't hand over the cashier's check to the seller until we have received the chanote at the Land Office.  Although it's not absolutely necessary, I would suggest you have a lawyer who speaks English and Thai assist you with your first transaction.  He can review the contract and point out any red flags and add or delete anything you want in the contract.  On the closing date, he will accompany you to the Land Office for the transaction, help insure that the process goes smoothly, you receive all your documents, and they are correct.  If any problems arise it's nice to have someone there with you to help solve them.  

[newnative]

8 hours ago, thaitanic said:

As it stands, a finished condo with Thai owner. I've found a place I like and I've gone off the land/house leasing/ownership model and I like swimming pools etc..

 

Thanks to your and others' helpful replies on this thread, my main question now is whether it is normal/essential to have a sales contract with the seller before visiting the land office? I assume a deposit would be expected to accompany such a contract, but I don't have the funds here at the moment for even a 1% deposit until I have made the full transfer, so I'm hoping to avoid a deposit if possible and just get on with it.

      If the condo you are considering is owned by a Thai, make sure there is foreign quota available.  I think some buyers and sellers have done informal sales with no sales contract and no deposit where they both agree to show up at the Land Office on a certain day.  

     With a signed sales contract there is usually a deposit.  The sales contract should spell out everything in detail, including things such as: deposit, what items convey, date of possession, penalties if one party backs out, walk-thru on or before date of sale, who pays closing costs, condo maintenance fee refund, if any, etc.  The seller needs to obtain a debt-free letter from the condo office.  Check if there is a mortgage since this is a Thai seller.

    Your seller might readily agree to no deposit.  With one condo purchase, my partner and I held the deposit because the seller was from Singapore and we weren't comfortable giving it to him. We showed him a photo of the cashier's check and gave him that check and the cashier's check for the remaining balance at closing.  He wasn't that happy about it but, as the buyer, you are usually in the driver's seat.  Certainly that is the case now.   

    

[lkn]

11 hours ago, thaitanic said:

my main question now is whether it is normal/essential to have a sales contract with the seller before visiting the land office?

I don’t think that is normal, nor do I see why you would pay a deposit. A deposit is only if either a) there are multiple interested buyers, and you want to show the seller that you are serious, or b) you are buying off-plan, so condo is not yet finished, and transfer to your name will be sometime in the future (when finished), and again, seller (developer) wants to make sure you are serious.

 

Likewise, a sales contract would also only be necessary if the deal is going to happen in the future.

 

The process could be as simple as:

 

1. You go to the condo in the morning, you give it one final inspection to ensure everything is as it should.

2. You go to the Land Office (with the seller), the seller brings certificate of no debt from JPM, his title deed, all keys/key cards, and you bring your cashier’s cheque.

3. Land Office adds your name to the title deed that the seller brought, and their copy. They give you the amended title deed, buyer gives you keys, and you give buyer the cashier’s cheque.

4. You go home to your new condo.

 

What would a sales contract state?

 

Maybe if you buy the condo furnished, and you are afraid that the seller will have his friend remove all the furniture, after your morning inspection, and before you return from the Land Office, you could put that in a sales contract, but you might as well just take some photos during your morning inspection, in both cases though, I am not sure it would be worth pursuing legally, unless it was some really expensive furniture.

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by lkn

[soi3eddie]

19 hours ago, thaitanic said:

Thank you. I did ask for recommendations on another thread but unfortunately did not get any. So I have little to judge "good, reliable and trustworthy" by. My experience of lawyers so far in Thailand (1 small time lawyer in Phuket and 1 big western name in Bangkok, neither on property issues) has been absolutely terrible.

I twice used Chavalit Law Group at Chong Nonsi, A Bangkok. City Centre law firm. Perfect English and great communication from Khun Vira Kammee. Not cheap but then they were 100% professional and reliable even with a complicated condo sale/purchase. Now seems that they are Branded SCL Nishimura.

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by soi3eddie
added info

[alacrity]

If you have 10 million available to spend, the vendor will bend to your circumstance. Just show them a singular line of a Thai bank statement which validates your ability to pay. Properties are 10 for a penny at the moment.

 

Can't blame any-one desiring a deposit if the funds weren't in Thailand already.

 

Funds are determined by the sum of transfers into Thailand at a particular time.

 

If you didn't have the funds available and wouldn't trust a vendor with a deposit, why would you trust them at all?

 

Concurrently, why would you expect them to trust you?