Buying a house from gf - what can go wrong?

[GypsyT]

She's Thai. No loans on the house. She own the land.

I got cash in Foreign bank enough to pay in full.

 

I've read many advice and how-to-do but one thing is unclear; When do I pay the house?

Some say "Go to the Land office and sign all papers and THEN pay the house.

Some say "Pay 10% deposit (they don't say when; before or after signing) and agree the date when full payment is due.

Also, is 30-30-30 yr lease what I should ask? She'll be the land owner.

What's best?

NOTE: I don't have Thai bank account. Tried to open but could not w/o 1yr visa. Can I pay direct to seller?

 

Also, I'm not sure if I should I hire a lawyer to go through the papers? I fully trust her but she got the house by inheritance and don't know much of RE.

Thank you!

PS. I've had many properties in three countries so this is not my first rodeo but "Thailand is Thailand"...

Edited November 2, 2023 by GypsyT

[bob smith]

A fool and his money are easily parted.

 

Sounds like a scam to me.

 

Stay well away! Unless you want to lose everything 12 months down the line.

[BE88]

Having faith in your GF is good but consulting a good lawyer to protect yourself from any future disputes is better.

 

Good luck

[novacova]

Lease the land in your name.
Buy the land by setting up a part ownership partnership business using a lawyer. 
Or, just give her the money and forget about it.

 

[freeworld]

There is land and a house (both existing one would assume)

 

What do you need to pay anything for then?

 

If there was genuine love and trust then your TGF would let you stay free for the rest of your life.

[BenStark]

20 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

I've read many advice and how-to-do but one thing is unclear; When do I pay the house?

Some say "Go to the Land office and sign all papers and THEN pay the house.

 

This surely must be a wind up troll post.

 

Why would you go to the land office when it can't be transferred to a foreigners name?

[FritsSikkink]

30-30-30 yr lease is not legal.

Why would you need to buy the house of your girlfriend? If she is a proper girlfriend she would let you life there for free.

[GypsyT]

"If there was genuine love and trust then your TGF would let you stay free for the rest of your life."

 

New relationship. Things CAN go south...

 

Besides, I like to have MY house, MY mods and customizing, MY garden with fruit etc trees.

Having MY house I'll spend more than 4-5 months in Thailand. Tired of hotels and condos in noisy area. This house in close to lovely Lake Mabprachan and 11km loop to walk.

[Will B Good]

28 minutes ago, bob smith said:

A fool and his money are easily parted.

 

Sounds like a scam to me.

 

Stay well away! Unless you want to lose everything 12 months down the line.

....soon parted

[bob smith]

6 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

 

 

Besides, I like to have MY house, MY mods and customizing, MY garden with fruit etc trees.Having MY house I'll spend more than 4-5 months in Thailand.

It will never be YOUR house though will it.

 

It will always be in your girlfriends name.

[GypsyT]

Surprise! Leasing from gf will be a problem IF we get married:

 

"Leasing real estate from your Thai wife has several practical problems (payment of rent, income tax). The main reason this structure does not offer protection is that any agreements between you and your wife entered into during marriage can be voided (section 1469 Civil and Commercial Code) and the Land Offices in Thailand generally refuse for this same reason registration of a lease between husband and wife. A right of superficies or right of usufruct may offer a better protection"

 

PS. I hope newnative would take time to give his pro view on this... So much to learn!

[4MyEgo]

48 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

I fully trust her

 

Trust is one thing, finances are another thing.

 

Keep your finances separate, you don't need to buy the house.

 

Why do you want to buy the house and what is the purchase price that your prepared to lose ?

 

You don't sound like a bright spark, i.e. if you have money, invest it into anything else than something you cannot legally own e.g. clear title, you mention you have 3 properties or purchased 3 properties before and not in Thailand.

 

Wake up, invest your money into something else, trust me when I say that, ok, I get it she's your girlfriend and you want to help her out, fact of the matter is she can go to the bank and get a loan against the property, if you want to live there, tell her you will make the repayments to the bank, to which I am sure will be about the same as what you could rent a house for, if in Isaan, 5,000 baht a month, and if your relationship fails, you can walk away without losing.

 

But as they say in Thailand, "up to you" it's your money and there is a SUCKER born every minute.

 

How long have you been with your girlfriend ?

 

Alternative advice provided free of charge, but is your EGO bigger than what others have to failed to adhere to ?

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by 4MyEgo

[FritsSikkink]

11 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

"If there was genuine love and trust then your TGF would let you stay free for the rest of your life."

 

New relationship. Things CAN go south...

 

Besides, I like to have MY house, MY mods and customizing, MY garden with fruit etc trees.

Having MY house I'll spend more than 4-5 months in Thailand. Tired of hotels and condos in noisy area. This house in close to lovely Lake Mabprachan and 11km loop to walk.

Things can go south and then you have a landowner who most likely wants to make problems for you.

It won't be your garden as the land isn't yours.

The landowner owns the property built on the land, you can "buy" it but it is nothing more than a lease legally. 

For mods and customizing you need approval of the landowner. 

[Will B Good]

.......what can go wrong?

 

I'm struggling to think of anything that might go right.......you really need to take a step back and think about what you are doing.

[Pouatchee]

50 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

Some say "Go to the Land office and sign all papers and THEN pay the house.

 

yeah, sign the papers that you renege any rights to the house.

 

if you spend what much money marry her with a pre-nup. one of the few ways to protect yourself

[JayClay]

32 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

Besides, I like to have MY house, MY mods and customizing, MY garden with fruit etc trees.

Having MY house I'll spend more than 4-5 months in Thailand

 

And you can't do this while the house is still in your gf's name because....?

Edited November 2, 2023 by JayClay

[4MyEgo]

25 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

Besides, I like to have MY house, MY mods and customizing, MY garden with fruit etc trees.

Having MY house I'll spend more than 4-5 months in Thailand. Tired of hotels and condos in noisy area. This house in close to lovely Lake Mabprachan and 11km loop to walk.

 

I built a house for MY Wife in 2009, I like My mods and customizing, My garden with fruit trees etc. 

 

I spend the whole year here, I also travel with the family to hotels and condos as I get tired of just being in the house, i.e. everyone needs a break.

 

The above said, I knew what I was getting into, i.e. whatever the house cost me to build on her land, it would never be mine, and that was fine with me, that said, I never invest more than 10% of my worth because that is all I am prepared to lose. Why didn't I take a lease on the house, because who would want to live in the house in a village when you split up, cheap enough to rent a place for a single bloke anywhere in Thailand.

 

As Will B Good and others including self, you need to step back, at least bait your girlfriend and say, I been thinking, maybe buying the house isn't a good idea because I can't own the land, maybe you should get a loan against the house and I make the monthly payments on it, lets see how she responds to that, keep an eye on those beautiful eyes of hers, because I am sure she won't like that suggestion, which will tell you what she's up to.

 

What difference would it make if she borrowed the money from the bank and you made the payments then you buying the house, think about that for a minute, and then you will have your answer.

 

 

 

 

[JayClay]

1 minute ago, 4MyEgo said:

What difference would it make if she borrowed the money from the bank and you made the payments then you buying the house, think about that for a minute

 

When the relationship ends, the payment stops.

 

When you buy outright, it's all gone. Think about that for a minute.

[2baht]

Go for it, be sure to pay a little extra to her as a bonus for being so kind! 🥰

[4MyEgo]

1 minute ago, JayClay said:

 

When the relationship ends, the payment stops.

 

When you buy outright, it's all gone. Think about that for a minute.

 

Spoiler alert, you answered the question for him, hopefully he gets it, i.e. she will bait him, to extract his $'s vs the ok Tiruk, I love you and will borrow the money from the bank and you make the payments because I love you long time.

 

I would like to put a wager down she won't borrow money from the bank.

[GypsyT]

"The above said, I knew what I was getting into, i.e. whatever the house cost me to build on her land, it would never be mine"

 

If things go south hard to believe she would have even right to visit the land as I've paid the 30-yr lease in full.

 

Or is this country more crazy than I think? Is there zero rights for farangs?

 

Am I wrong?

 

"By CharlieH

The first thing to understand is that title to the structure of the house and title to the land are normally the same thing. This is because when you own chanote-titled land in Thailand you own everything on it. This is the same in many countries. There is very little freehold/leasehold of houses and land in Thailand, although it can be done.

 

If a piece of land has an existing house or structure on it then it is going to be difficult to split the title for the structure away from the title of the land. If, however, you build a house or structure from new then there is much more chance of separating the title."

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by GypsyT

[FritsSikkink]

3 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

"The above said, I knew what I was getting into, i.e. whatever the house cost me to build on her land, it would never be mine"

 

If things go south hard to believe she would have even right to visit the land as I've paid the 30-yr lease in full.

 

Or is this country more crazy than I think? Is there zero rights for farangs?

 

Am I wrong?

 

have a look here: How to Lease Land in Thailand: A Foreigner's Guide to the Law (thethailandlife.com)

[4MyEgo]

11 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

Or is this country more crazy than I think? Is there zero rights for farangs?

 

Let me put it to you this way, when I asked my wife of 17 years where would be a good place to invest my money in Thailand, she said, forget it, corruption at every level. Keep it in your home country as you have laws, good lawyers, rules, regulations, sever penalties and a great police force, not like here.

 

She was on the money and didn't take the bait.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by 4MyEgo

[JayClay]

9 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Spoiler alert, you answered the question for him, hopefully he gets it, i.e. she will bait him, to extract his $'s vs the ok Tiruk, I love you and will borrow the money from the bank and you make the payments because I love you long time.

 

I've never met the guy or his girlfriend so I'm not one to pass judgement. All I can do is evaluate the risks.

 

Somebody suggesting that getting a mortgage and paying off gradually has less risk than paying for a property outright needs thier head examining. Just because it happened to work out, doesn't mean it was a good idea. Far more mistakes go unpunished than those that do.

[4MyEgo]

2 minutes ago, JayClay said:

 

I've never met the guy or his girlfriend so I'm not one to pass judgement. All I can do is evaluate the risks.

 

Somebody suggesting that getting a mortgage and paying off gradually has less risk than paying for a property outright needs thier head examining. Just because it happened to work out, doesn't mean it was a good idea. Far more mistakes go unpunished than those that do.

 

Why would that person need their head examined, if he buys it, his money is gone, he has no legal right to the land, he owns a lease on the house, (the fixture), not the land.

 

If he pays the mortgage that she takes out against the property on a monthly basis, which will be in her name, not his, he can continue to do so while in the relationship, if the relationship fails, he has only lost a little money vs buying the property that he has no legal right to over the land. Who needs their head examined ?

 

Last I checked here in Thailand rent is cheap, now how much is she going to borrow against the house, where is it located, Isaan ? banks will only loan a certain amount, maybe 60%, so he would have to weigh up would it be cheaper to rent or pay "her" mortgage.

 

Either way, putting the question forward to her will soon enough tell him if she wants his money or the banks, and I would say, it won't be the latter.

 

 

[1FinickyOne]

Have you found a knowledgable attorney?

 

That might be your best answer... 

 

I have been buying land and homes in my wife's name for over 20 years... no leases or usufruct or whatever... others seem to find security in gimmicks... 

[JayClay]

1 minute ago, 4MyEgo said:

Why would that person need their head examined, if he buys it, his money is gone, he has no legal right to the land, he owns a lease on the house, (the fixture), not the land.

 

If he pays the mortgage that she takes out against the property on a monthly basis, which will be in her name, not his, he can continue to do so while in the relationship, if the relationship fails, he has only lost a little money vs buying the property that he has no legal right to over the land. 

 

Why are you agreeing with me so aggressively?

Edited November 2, 2023 by JayClay

[4MyEgo]

1 minute ago, JayClay said:

 

Why are you agreeing with me so aggressively?

 

Sorry you feel that way, or it comes across that way, read your post again. No agro here m8.

[GypsyT]

"Go for it, be sure to pay a little extra to her as a bonus for being so kind!"

 

Finally some sensible encouragement....  5555

 

Seriously; I hope somebody, like NEWNATIVE, would give his opinion. He has bought many houses on same area.

He sounds like the brightest regarding RE here.

 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, BenStark said:

 

This surely must be a wind up troll post.

 

Why would you go to the land office when it can't be transferred to a foreigners name?

He specifically stated that she will remain the land owner and he will be buying the house, not the land, that is permitted.