Bought a Condo

[UKPaul67]

My experience in buying a Condominium while outside of Thailand.

I had searched many topics here and asked questions prior to my purchase and had some great answers thanks Guys.

My main problem was not being able to open a bank account, tried every place and every bank, without the bank account meant I had to find a law company with Escro banking to allow me to transfer the money and get the correct documents.

 

Having spent most of April searching different Places, the day before I had to come back to the UK, I found the Condominium I wanted, via the agent I left copies and signed a blank Power of Attorney and signed passport.

copy.

 

Move on a couple of days I was then in direct contact with Por at Siam-Legal Bangkok. Set my agreement for Due Diligence,  Contract check, and Escro banking with Power of Attorney.

Service was quite expensive in relation to UK fees or near on Par.

But as I was not in Thailand, I needed confidence and and trust.

I have to say it was very scary thing to do on my part, as I really wanted to be there. But I would still of had to pay for most of the services anyway.

 

So in a nutshell after exactly 5 weeks I am now the proud owner of my Condominium, legally mine and in my name, and all done from outside of the ????????.

Every thing went to plan and in a good time frame.

 

Agent I used was Pimpaka Real Estate, Nonthaburi, big shout out to her, I probably drove her crazy a few times, also helped with things I wanted doing to the condo before I arrive back. "cleaning, painting, fixing etc etc.

 

Big shout out to Por at Siam-Legal, in calming my nerves haha.

 

Waiting for ordered furniture to arrive and my Partner , is busy packing and getting ready to move in, probably drive her crazy a few times with my constant chasing of things.

 

So yes buying a condo without a bank account, from another country and legally have it in your own name, is Possible.

????

 

[scubascuba3]

So in foreign name, not company name? you've seen your name on chanote? personally I wouldn't of risked it also need more time to research the condo

[OneMoreFarang]

I wait for the follow up story when you see the place the first time.

Good luck! 

[OneMoreFarang]

I am sure I am not the only one here who wants to know: Why did you do that?

Buying a condominium which you never saw in person sounds like a crazy idea to me.

[bigt3116]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

So in foreign name, not company name? you've seen your name on chanote?

Condos are regularly bought in a foreign name, that is one of the beauties of owning a condo, the fact that it can be in your name, (as long as the foreign quota is not exceeded).

 

[HampiK]

40 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I am sure I am not the only one here who wants to know: Why did you do that?

Buying a condominium which you never saw in person sounds like a crazy idea to me.

I think he have seen the condo in April (as this was the time he was searching). But he had to go back while have to buy, pay and so on.
 

 

8 hours ago, UKPaul67 said:

Having spent most of April searching different Places, the day before I had to come back to the UK, I found the Condominium I wanted, via the agent I left copies and signed a blank Power of Attorney and signed passport.

copy.

 

[UKPaul67]

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

So in foreign name, not company name? you've seen your name on chanote? personally I wouldn't of risked it also need more time to research the condo

Yes In my name, not a company name

[UKPaul67]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I wait for the follow up story when you see the place the first time.

Good luck! 

I have seen the place, once when it was occupied , and also when. it was empty, I did not buy it 

blind.

[UKPaul67]

3 hours ago, HampiK said:

I think he have seen the condo in April (as this was the time he was searching). But he had to go back while have to buy, pay and so on.
 

 

 

Correct I saw it twice, my name is on the Char note, I did not have the time to complete while I was there, I did lots of research,  and a full Due diligence  was completed on the property and Seller.

[chalawaan]

Congratulations! 

Being the owner of Thai property will bestow absolutely no preferential treatment on your visa status, but plenty of the universal headaches of property ownership with far fewer (almost zero)  common law or statutory rights you enjoy in blighty. 

 

If it ever goes pear-shaped, take it on the chin, you'll lose both the Condo, and the case (your life savings) if you try to fight it. It's just the grim reality of being an alien here. 

 

Having said that, if you're in luck, you'll enjoy a long and happy life there. 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

12 minutes ago, UKPaul67 said:

Correct I saw it twice, my name is on the Char note, 

Good, in Thai?

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, bigt3116 said:

Condos are regularly bought in a foreign name, that is one of the beauties of owning a condo, the fact that it can be in your name, (as long as the foreign quota is not exceeded).

 

Yep but many people panic and buy in company name because the sale price may be cheaper, they don't fully understand it

[UKPaul67]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

Good, in Thai?

Yes in Thai and I also have a full set of Translated, documentation, of the Due diligence and  sale agreement.

 

 

[UKPaul67]

Just as a foot note, I got an exchange rate of 42.18 Baht to the UK Pound, when it arrived at the bank, bank charge was 500 baht.

 

This rate was higher than the bank was displaying, this saved me approx £2000 on the purchase price, which of course could have gone either way.

 

On the second visit to the condo I pushed the sale price down by over 200,000 baht due to the condition of a couple of things, the Train line will open December  time, I think the deal I got was good compared to other condos in the unit which were higher.

[UKPaul67]

11 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

Congratulations! 

Being the owner of Thai property will bestow absolutely no preferential treatment on your visa status, but plenty of the universal headaches of property ownership with far fewer (almost zero)  common law or statutory rights you enjoy in blighty. 

 

If it ever goes pear-shaped, take it on the chin, you'll lose both the Condo, and the case (your life savings) if you try to fight it. It's just the grim reality of being an alien here. 

 

Having said that, if you're in luck, you'll enjoy a long and happy life there. 

 

 

I know exactly what I'm getting in to, I have been coming to Thailand for many years and plan my retirement, the condo will remain in my name, We plan to move at a later date to my GF property down south, at which time the condo will be rented, its my security, and in Uk I did far worse in a divorce that I'm ever going to risk over in Thailand.

It's mine and will remain mine. ????

[KannikaP]

12 hours ago, UKPaul67 said:

and all done from outside of the ????????.

I guess you mean outside THAILAND.

[UKPaul67]

3 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

I guess you mean outside THAILAND.

Yes

[chalawaan]

1 minute ago, UKPaul67 said:

I know exactly what I'm getting in to, I have been coming to Thailand for many years and plan my retirement, the condo will remain in my name, We plan to move at a later date to my GF property down south, at which time the condo will be rented, its my security, and in Uk I did far worse in a divorce that I'm ever going to risk over in Thailand.

It's mine and will remain mine. ????

I too own a condo, I only got involved because it was offered via my wife's family at ⅙ the land office evaluation, basically giving it away, and it's in Sukhumvit 16, just too good to pass up. 

We live in a gated community in a "mc mansion" she owns outright in Chiang Mai. 

 

The juristic fees alone are nearly the equal price of renting in a similar place to what she owns in CM!

 

Basically, it's like paying rent on the asset we already own.

 

 

When we have deducted all our costs, we make slightly more than the daily minimum wage in daily rent!

 

 

The yield advertised for our building is 3% this place has some serious money living there judging by the car park, that yield? Western banks offer better on a term deposit!

 

I would have happily sold you mine, and I think I got the best deal in central Bangkok this century! 

 

Anyway, I wish you well. But as you can see from the posts, walking away a winner from property ownership here is the exception rather than the rule. 

[UKPaul67]

6 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

I too own a condo, I only got involved because it was offered via my wife's family at ⅙ the land office evaluation, basically giving it away, and it's in Sukhumvit 16, just too good to pass up. 

We live in a gated community in a "mc mansion" she owns outright in Chiang Mai. 

 

The juristic fees alone are nearly the equal price of renting in a similar place to what she owns in CM!

 

Basically, it's like paying rent on the asset we already own.

 

 

When we have deducted all our costs, we make slightly more than the daily minimum wage in daily rent!

 

 

The yield advertised for our building is 3% this place has some serious money living there judging by the car park, that yield? Western banks offer better on a term deposit!

 

I would have happily sold you mine, and I think I got the best deal in central Bangkok this century! 

 

Anyway, I wish you well. But as you can see from the posts, walking away a winner from property ownership here is the exception rather than the rule. 

Thanks.

Yes sounds like you had a good deal. If I rent it or not in the future, its not a problem, Its just very close to my GF shop at the moment, and when we do plan to move back to her home, it's always going to be there in Bkk if we or I need it.

I did lots of research this was my intention to buy a condo for a couple of years now.

It's a nice area and a nice unit. Hopefully it will serve me well in the years to come.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, UKPaul67 said:

Yes In my name, not a company name

Sounds good. How much did the lawyers cost? ignoring transfer costs and taxes

[UKPaul67]

Just now, scubascuba3 said:

Sounds good. How much did the lawyers cost? ignoring transfer costs and taxes

This was the exapensive side, due mainly  from not having a thai bank account and not wishing to use less secure methods.

I have many Law firms quoting a range to 50k and upwards, trust me these low quotes came with some very bad advice, and seemed to good to be true.

 

I paid 141,000 Baht which included Due Diligence, Every aspect of the co do,land and seller was checked, this was my biggest risk I took paying for a lawyer upfront.  Contract check and adjust x4 ????, Escro banking and transfer, Full Power of Attorney,  full dealings with Land office. Siam Legal were the only ones that made any real sense and were on the Ball. 

This is Bangkok and prices are high, but I wanted security.

I had Law firms telling me to transfer direct to the seller prior to tha land office.????????

[scubascuba3]

31 minutes ago, UKPaul67 said:

This was the exapensive side, due mainly  from not having a thai bank account and not wishing to use less secure methods.

I have many Law firms quoting a range to 50k and upwards, trust me these low quotes came with some very bad advice, and seemed to good to be true.

 

I paid 141,000 Baht which included Due Diligence, Every aspect of the co do,land and seller was checked, this was my biggest risk I took paying for a lawyer upfront.  Contract check and adjust x4 ????, Escro banking and transfer, Full Power of Attorney,  full dealings with Land office. Siam Legal were the only ones that made any real sense and were on the Ball. 

This is Bangkok and prices are high, but I wanted security.

I had Law firms telling me to transfer direct to the seller prior to tha land office.????????

141k is a lot considering in most cases a transfer can be done with no lawyer so nil costs, but you were abroad after all

[UKPaul67]

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

141k is a lot considering in most cases a transfer can be done with no lawyer so nil costs, but you were abroad after all

Yes it was a lot, almost on par what I would of paid in Uk for a small house purchase. I did get my value  hahaha as I had 27 emails even before I paid Siam-Legal.

I got good service and that's what I wanted.

I'm Happy and I knew the costs before I started.