Buy a condo

[Mavideol]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

❌ Incorrect, when i bought my condo 4 years ago, i had a bank cheque, this was passed to the seller once my name was on the chanote, this is done at the land office

it has to be a cashier cheque and can be handed when at the land office before or after but usually seeler will not sign over until the cheque is on his/her hand, many ways to peel a rabbit

[scubascuba3]

10 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

it has to be a cashier cheque and can be handed when at the land office before or after but usually seeler will not sign over until the cheque is on his/her hand, many ways to peel a rabbit

Good, we've agreed your previous post was incorrect

 

"The seller only transfer chanote/tittle once the money is on their account"

[donx]

21 hours ago, Naus71 said:

Save the frogs,

Visa is not a problem, besides being over 50, I am also married to a Thai. We will not retire to Thailand for another four years, and with the increasing prices of the real estate market I was thinking of buying a condo before moving.

If you are married to a Thai, then she can have a bank account if she doesn't already have one. Send the money to her bank account. Very easy unless you don't trust your wife. 

[newnative]

2 hours ago, Mavideol said:

YOU CAN'T DO THIS

 

The seller only transfer chanote/tittle once the money is on their account

    Not true--at least not for my Thai spouse and myself.   We have bought numerous condos in Thailand.   We have never transferred money to a private seller's bank account in advance of receiving the chanote at the Land Office.  And, we never would.  If a seller demanded that, we would walk away.  True, also for Virginia in the USA, by the way--the process of which is much more complex--but again, no money ever went into a seller's bank account in advance of the 8 or 9 properties I bought in Virginia.  

   Typically, we show up at the Land Office with a cashier's check in the seller's name, for the amount we still owe, and cash to pay our share of the closing costs, if any.  When we see the chanote with our name on it, we hand over the cashier's check, which we have shown the seller at the start of the Land Office transfer.  All of this should be spelled out in the sales contract which both parties have agreed to and signed.  

    It's the same when we are the sellers.  We've both signed the contract to buy and sell, buyer has put down a non-refundable down payment, and we both show up at the Land Office on the date arranged to do the transfer.   We receive the final payment by cashier's check, (one or two may have been in cash), chanote is changed, transfer fees are paid, agent, if any, is paid, keys are handed over, etc.

    I mentioned 'private seller' above.  In a number of cases, we bought new condos off-plan from established developers--Lumpini, Sansiri, Raimon Land, and SC Asset.  Probably 9 or 10 condos in total.  With those large, well-established developers, we gave them our final payments and they did all the paperwork for us.   If I am remembering correctly, we didn't even have to go to the Land Office for several of the buys--perhaps because these developers are so huge and do so many transactions.  

[safarimike11]

On 3/23/2025 at 6:09 PM, Mavideol said:

you can transfer money to the sellers account and when the seller receives it he/she will receive a transfer certificate from the bank that you will need when to transfer title. It you transfer money to the sellers account is has to be in a foreign currency, they will convert into Thai Baht when it arrives here, you can not transfer baht, if you do, the bank will not give you the transfer certificate, as for opening a bank account, there are ways or many ways. Where are you buying, which area?

The initial sentence is very bad advice; do not follow this by any means; lived in Thailand for 19 1/2 years.

[safarimike11]

On 3/23/2025 at 6:02 PM, Naus71 said:

Hi everyone,

I did a try use search option but I didn't find an answer to my question. in view of a future transfer to Thailand, I am evaluating the purchase of a condo. Searching for information in this regard, I understood that I have to transfer the money from my country to a Thai bank. The problem is that I do not have a Thai bank and it seems that it is not possible to open an account with only a tourist visa. Do you have any advice on how to proceed?

 

Best regards

Further to my initial answer (on what not to do - which others have also advised), here is what you could/should do: 

1. Wait till you move to Thailand.

2. If you have already "found" the condo you wish to buy, try to rent a condo in the same block or nearby and take some time to see what the condo block and surrounding area is like (at night as well).

3. Talk to your neighbours / other people living in that condo block and see what they think of it (networking in other words).

4. Also spend some time searching and viewing other condos in this area.

5. When you are ready to buy a unit, it wouldn't hurt to hire a lawyer to handle/oversee the purchase; I have done this and in my opinion it is totally worthwhile.

[newnative]

38 minutes ago, safarimike11 said:

Further to my initial answer (on what not to do - which others have also advised), here is what you could/should do: 

1. Wait till you move to Thailand.

2. If you have already "found" the condo you wish to buy, try to rent a condo in the same block or nearby and take some time to see what the condo block and surrounding area is like (at night as well).

3. Talk to your neighbours / other people living in that condo block and see what they think of it (networking in other words).

4. Also spend some time searching and viewing other condos in this area.

5. When you are ready to buy a unit, it wouldn't hurt to hire a lawyer to handle/oversee the purchase; I have done this and in my opinion it is totally worthwhile.

     Very good advice here, starting with #1.   Take your time and do your homework--2 thru 4 above.  Be thorough.  Also, be aware of the illegal daily rental problem that plagues some condo projects here--especially some of the newer mega projects in areas popular with tourists.  I would check that issue with any project you are interested in.    Even after numerous real estate transactions here and in the US, I always also follow #5 above.  

[Naus71]

6 hours ago, donx said:

If you are married to a Thai, then she can have a bank account if she doesn't already have one. Send the money to her bank account. Very easy unless you don't trust your wife.

It is not a question of trust, but of procedures. Searching for these procedures I found this article that indicates:

 

A Foreign Exchange Transaction Certificate (Thor Thor Sam) is a legal document issued by banks upon receipt of foreign currency into your bank account in Thailand. You can ask for this certificate from your bank when you are remitting funds to Thailand for purchasing a condominium unit. It is Thailand government’s condition that the money used to pay for the purchase price must originate from an offshore source in the form of foreign currency. The foreigner has to present this certificate to the Land Office where the ownership registration shall take place. Otherwise, foreigners cannot register the property under their name.

 

so i thought the account must be in my name

[Peterphuket]

14 hours ago, Mavideol said:

what about crooked agents and/or developers, if the buyer signs a contract/agreement with the seller and they use a lawyer where is the problem, my friend just did it and the seller handed him the bank transfer certificate when they went to the land department, it's unbelievable the quantity of misleading information write on here, I am not pointing at you absolutely not, but some of the advice/comments on this post are just unbelievable

Yes, another possibility, LOS is full of bad developers, brokers, contractors....

[donx]

15 hours ago, Naus71 said:

It is not a question of trust, but of procedures. Searching for these procedures I found this article that indicates:

 

A Foreign Exchange Transaction Certificate (Thor Thor Sam) is a legal document issued by banks upon receipt of foreign currency into your bank account in Thailand. You can ask for this certificate from your bank when you are remitting funds to Thailand for purchasing a condominium unit. It is Thailand government’s condition that the money used to pay for the purchase price must originate from an offshore source in the form of foreign currency. The foreigner has to present this certificate to the Land Office where the ownership registration shall take place. Otherwise, foreigners cannot register the property under their name.

 

so i thought the account must be in my name

My understanding, although I could be wrong, is that it doesn't matter whose bank account the money was transferred to so long as the funds for the purchase of a condo come from overseas. Additionally, you should be able to show that the money originated from an overseas bank account in your name.

 

As you see from other responses, some people have transferred the funds to the builder or to an agent or lawyer. Transferring to your wife's account makes the most sense to me in your situation, in my opinion.

[Celsius]

On 3/24/2025 at 5:11 PM, save the frogs said:

according to this guy, condo values in thailand doubled over the past decade.

 

 

 

A good way to check if someone is lying is to go to a website like thinkofliving.com as they have the record of all the presale prices from 10 years ago or more.

 

You will find out that condo prices have dropped 25% on average in 10 years. There are very few buildings that are the exception, but the trend is down.