Buying A House In Los Pitfalls To Avoid ?

[buffcoat]

When I retire I plan to move with my Thai wife to LOS and buy a house.

At the moment I intend to do the following.

Register the house in her name.

Arrange a 30 year lease to me from her.

Hire a good bi-lingual Thai lawyer to research land ownership and vet the contracts of sale, deeds etc.

Steer away from any property without a full chanote.

What other steps should I take, problems to be wary of ?

If I die first my wife already own's the property and the lease ends.

If my wife dies first the lease runs to term.Is there a legal way to prebuild a right for me to extend or inherit (I assume not being farang) or can we cancel and reissue the 30 year lease annually so there is always a 30 year lease until my wife dies.

All advice gratefully received.

[jdinasia]

When I retire I plan to move with my Thai wife to LOS and buy a house.

At the moment I intend to do the following.

Register the house in her name.

Arrange a 30 year lease to me from her.

Hire a good bi-lingual Thai lawyer to research land ownership and vet the contracts of sale, deeds etc.

Steer away from any property without a full chanote.

What other steps should I take, problems to be wary of ?

If I die first my wife already own's the property and the lease ends.

If my wife dies first the lease runs to term.Is there a legal way to prebuild a right for me to extend or inherit (I assume not being farang) or can we cancel and reissue the 30 year lease annually so there is always a 30 year lease until my wife dies.

All advice gratefully received.

a usufruct lease would be valid for YOUR lifetime ...

You can inherit the land if she died but you would have to sell it inside 1 year I think. (of course you could sell it to someone else with a new lease for you)

[GuestHouse]

My wife and I have bought a number of properties in Thailand, the one that is to be our main residence in Thailand is held in my wife's name with a Usufruct lease in my name.

As an asside: It is not just the pit falls, but the whole uncertainty of buying in Thailand. We are currently looking to buy a place here in Italy, the sense of ease in knowing that legal title is OURS, and that the law is not stacked against either one of us is unbeleivable. I and my wife both feel this. The Cr@p a foreigner has to put up with to buy a house which in any case is Thai family are going to inherit is unbelievable.

[Irene]

Just to give you some idea, the bold types are my suggestions:

When I retire I plan to move with my Thai wife to LOS and buy a house.

At the moment I intend to do the following.

Register the house in her name.

Have the land registered and owned by your wife and lease to you for 30 years with a renewal period of another 30 years at the lowest rental that the land department is prepared to accept. The building permit shall be in your name and used as a basis when the house is completed to register the house with the land department as owned by you.

Arrange a 30 year lease to me from her.

Hire a good bi-lingual Thai lawyer to research land ownership and vet the contracts of sale, deeds etc.

Yes, this is a must.

Steer away from any property without a full chanote.

Yes, a full chanote is the best protection.

What other steps should I take, problems to be wary of ?

The lease has to be registered with the land department and subject to registration fees at 1% on the total rental. Similarly, usufruct agreement is also subject to registration otherwise the 30-year lease and the usufruct agreement would not be valid.

If I die first my wife already own's the property and the lease ends.

No, the lease does not end. Your successor could continue to benefit from the rights under the lease. The owner of the land, i.e. your wife, would still have to honour your lease and all conditions attached thereto.

If my wife dies first the lease runs to term.Is there a legal way to prebuild a right for me to extend or inherit (I assume not being farang) or can we cancel and reissue the 30 year lease annually so there is always a 30 year lease until my wife dies.

If your wife dies during the first term of the lease, the lease still goes on under that valid period. The successor to the ownership of that land has still to honour the terms and conditions of that registered lease including the renewal period. Both parties can cancel the lease and rewrite the lease each year but you would have to pay the official fees of 1% again. So few would like to do that.

All advice gratefully received.

You should confer with your lawyer on the possibility and also on the practicality of buying separately land and house.

[The Skipper]

I would be very carefull.

A friend bought a house and didn't realize that an auto body shop was right next door.

Bang, bang, bang,... all day long.

Apparently, the home owner got the body shop to take the week off untill the sale was done.

[Eff1n2ret]

Go for the smallest condo you can find, only 1 bedroom, no bedroom is better, on the 15th floor of a block in the sh*ttiest neighbourhood in the area.

Then maybe, just maybe, her whole family won't want to move in with you.

[Thaifan2]

Go for the smallest condo you can find, only 1 bedroom, no bedroom is better, on the 15th floor of a block in the sh*ttiest neighbourhood in the area.

Then maybe, just maybe, her whole family won't want to move in with you.

That would not stop them ,but maybe if the building had no lift

[2long]

Going off on a slight tangent, why do so many foreigners want to have the land in the wife's name and lease the house back? Is it a trust issue with the wife, or a legal advantage? When we buy, I'm going to let her have the lot in her name. If it all goes tits up, the financial loss will be nothing compared to the 'real' loss. Don't start thinking, chuckling and wagging fingers. I trusted her enough to marry her and bear a child. Everything else goes in her name.

[Eff1n2ret]

Going off on a slight tangent, why do so many foreigners want to have the land in the wife's name and lease the house back? Is it a trust issue with the wife, or a legal advantage? When we buy, I'm going to let her have the lot in her name. If it all goes tits up, the financial loss will be nothing compared to the 'real' loss. Don't start thinking, chuckling and wagging fingers. I trusted her enough to marry her and bear a child. Everything else goes in her name.

Very touching, but if the place has become your home, and she falls under the proverbial bus, wouldn't you want at least the choice of remaining there without the family turning round and throwing you out as soon as she's gone up the chimney?