Buying a condo and living and working in Thailand

[Rodney H]

Hi there

This is my first post on this forum, and I don’t have much experience of Thailand except for a couple of short holidays around 10 years ago.

I am a 50 year-old Brit, and have been living and working in China for 15 years. I run a company there with another foreigner. I am planning to move to Thailand soon to live and work remotely. It’s now reached a point where I don’t need to be permanently in China to run the company day to day, and my work can be done remotely, except for maybe one or two visits back to China each year.  

I currently have 100,000 GBP sitting in a UK bank that has built up over the years. I am thinking of using around 70k of that money (so around 3.1M Baht) to buy a condo outright to live in, and not as an investment, as I plan to live there permanently and end up retiring there. If all continues to go well with my company in China, I would be taking a salary of 2,400 GBP net each month, hopefully until I retire in 10-15 years.  

So right now the plan is to travel to Thailand for 3-6 months, and rent during this period, to give me time to get a proper feel of the country and ensure it’s where I want to be, look at lots of property, and work out which city/region I want to based in permanently.

I just wanted to share my plans with those who have more experience in this area, and see whether any of you have any better ideas than the one above, possible visa complications, whether I’ve missed any key points, and the main risks involved. Thanks for your time.    

[timendres]

Renting first while you investigate is the smart answer. Personally, I prefer to rent, as opposed to purchase, but this depends on each individual. Either way, it looks like things are going your way, and you should have few to no issues with Thailand.

[OneMoreFarang]

8 minutes ago, Rodney H said:

So right now the plan is to travel to Thailand for 3-6 months, and rent during this period, to give me time to get a proper feel of the country and ensure it’s where I want to be, look at lots of property, and work out which city/region I want to based in permanently.

Good idea.

 

If it is easy for you to find places to live which you like for a reasonable price, then renting is often the better option.

 

I bought a place to live in because what I like was/is difficult to impossible to find. I like open space, mostly all one room. And not old and damaged.

It seems most new places have many small rooms, and they are expensive.

Old places, maybe with big rooms, are often in bad conditions and need to be renovated. That is obviously something for the owner to do - or not do. It seems not many (Thai) owners are willing to spend (a lot of) money on renovations.

 

I bought a relative old condominium and renovated it from scratch the way I like it. I plan to live there for a long time. I don't think I would be able to sell it for a decent price (considering how much I spent for the renovation). 

[Mavideol]

it's a good move, did exactly the same 14 years ago, was in Zhuhai factory in Zhongshan where are u thinking about living,

[biervoormij]

You may want to look at one of the threads on the tax change in 2024 on money coming into Thailand. I am not clear what this means at this time but just think you should be aware of it if you are planning on moving a large sum of money into the country in 2024.

[Qman]

Renting first is the best solution as selling used condos can be difficult and time consuming if you want a fair price.  After a few months in a building you will have a sense about neighbors, noise levels, maintennce practices, parking, etc. which may not seem evident when viewing property for purchase.  If you decide to leave after six months you will not have to go through the property disposal process.   

[brianthainess]

19 hours ago, Rodney H said:

I currently have 100,000 GBP sitting in a UK bank that has built up over the years. I am thinking of using around 70k of that money (so around 3.1M Baht) to buy a condo outright to live in,

If you are going for a retirement visa here, the correct way then you won't have a lot left once you have deposited 800,000 baht in a Thai bank and will have to rely on your income which sounds good at around 95-100k baht a month. 

[brianthainess]

Ok to clarify 100,000 GBP is just over 4m baht you want to spend 3m on a condo, + the 800k deposited in a Thai bank for a retirement visa of which can not be touched for 3mth, and can only take out 400k, the other 400k has to remain in the bank all year, the 800k must be back in at least 2months before your extension, unless you have other plans for some other visa or use an agent.  

[ignore it]

Yep 

Smartest to rent first. 

Try a few different ones first.

Applies to both housing and girls. 

[JayClay]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

Ok to clarify 100,000 GBP is just over 4m baht you want to spend 3m on a condo, + the 800k deposited in a Thai bank for a retirement visa of which can not be touched for 3mth, and can only take out 400k, the other 400k has to remain in the bank all year, the 800k must be back in at least 2months before your extension, unless you have other plans for some other visa or use an agent.  

He has an additional income of £2,400 per month which should be more than enough to cover the odd som tam or two.

 

It also means he can use the monthly income method so he doesn't even need to worry about depositing any money to secure a visa.

[brianthainess]

4 minutes ago, JayClay said:

He has an additional income of £2,400 per month which should be more than enough to cover the odd som tam or two.

 

It also means he can use the monthly income method so he doesn't even need to worry about depositing any money to secure a visa.

But the OP hasn't confirmed if he is aware of the visa rules and regs. or if at all.

[Rodney H]

Many thanks for your replies so far, appreciate it.

I am in no hurry whatsoever to buy anything, and as some of you mentioned, it would be safer and more hassle-free, particularly in the short term, to rent. But I was just thinking that if I find something great that I can see myself living in for 20 plus years, I would have an asset at the end of those 20 years (regardless of its value), with no monthly rent to find, with the other option being owning no property and continuing to pay rent into my 70s after already paying out millions of Baht in rent over the previous 20 years. So for me, it seems renting would the better option for the first few years, but buying would make sense in the much longer run. In any case, there no rush to make any big decision right now : )

[HampiK]

I like buying a condo (as I can do what I want with if change or renovate). But some of the posters are correct that the best is to rent first, because you have to know where you want stay, you have to check if the condo you like is really good (neighbors and so on).

But after you rent let's say 1 year and you happy with the location and you have the option to buy, then I why not to buy.

 

But don't forget, normally the price for buy is about 200 times the monthly rent. So, you could say 20 years rent and you have a free condo. But mostly it's forgotten that there is also common fees to pay and sometimes some repairs or some items have to be replaced. And then the aspect of the money you not used to buy you could invest and become some money back.

 

At the end I guess it's an choice of the person what he would like more!

[khunPer]

On 10/13/2023 at 7:46 AM, Rodney H said:

I just wanted to share my plans with those who have more experience in this area, and see whether any of you have any better ideas than the one above, possible visa complications, whether I’ve missed any key points, and the main risks involved. Thanks for your time.

It's a good idea to rent something – as others have also mentioned – and test if you like Thailand for longer periods than a short holiday, before you decide to invest in property and move to here. Also, test different parts of the country, there can be huge differences. I did the same when I was in my 50s before I decided to settle. My initial choice of place to live showed to be not as good as imagened; I happily found some place much better.

 

The easiest way to settle in Thailand is as retired – i.e. non-immigrant O-visa and annual extensions of stay bas4ed on retirement – when you are 50 years or older. It requires a bank deposit of 800,000 baht (around £18,2k) – for example in a fixed 12-month account for best interest – if you wish to sleep well and not think of topping up a deposit at right time or  speculate about currency exchange rates for foreign income.

 

As retired you are not allowed to work in Thailand, but unofficially a number does some online work for companies or clients abroad; just keep a low profile.

 

Be aware of the upcoming new taxation rules, where all foreign income not covered by a double taxation agreement – even that it's savings – ara taxable in Thailand. Your circa 100,000 baht a month will equal an annual income of 1.2 million baht and might be taxed 115,000 baht of the first million over 210,000 baht – which is 60,000 baht personal deduction and 150,000 baht non taxable base income – any income above one million baht is income-taxed with 25 percent.

 

The 65,000 baht requirement as official monthly income for a retired fits quite well for a relative good life in Thailand – of course depending of personal life-style and choices – so your circa 1.08 million baht after tax equals around 90,000 baht per month, which should be able to grant you a comfortable life.