Another reason not to buy Strata committee

[georgegeorgia]

I was thinking about buying a small apartment in Bangkok 

Now I got talking to a resident who was actually Australian

 

He told me the strata committee for the building was made up of a family who owned the majority of units and kept voting themselves in

 

The place wasn't in the best shape , rundown etc and they had "special levies" for some reason 

But ..he alleges that the strata committee members made up of Thai family were actually using the owners funds to renovate their apartments

He looked at a receipt that said the stairs were retiled but in reality the tiles went to a strata committee members bathroom 

 

The building manager with this 120 unit building was a relative of the strata committee 

 

Now apparently he has complained to no avail 

 

I looked at the strata committee photos on the wall ,seems to be mother son brother etc all family 

The gym is in disarray the swimming pool dirty 

I won't offer a price because seems everyone is trying to sell

But in this building 120 plus units it seems more investors than owners 

 

 

[Woke to Sounds]

Just rent.

 

You can't win dealing with Commies.

[georgegeorgia]

Seems strange , apparently the strata fees are 35,000 baht a quarter because there is "special levies" for 2 years for various reasons 

 

He looked at receipt for tiling common areas and found out they weren't done !

 

So in reality investors Chinese etc are losing out on this investment because a family is control of the strata committee 

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

I was thinking about buying a small apartment in Bangkok 

 

Why buy George, rent and invest the balance of your money to pay your rent for you +

 

I had over 3 decades in property back in Oz, and there is no way I would buy a place here, that should tell you something.

 

Renting means you can up and go anytime and you don't have all the outgoings that go with it, Thai laws are very different to Oz laws.

 

You might get sick of where you live after a while and selling can take forever, whereas renting, you give notice and see you later, hello new rental.

 

The above said if you invest your money in Oz, not property, it's tax free on any gains.

[emptypockets]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

Why buy George, rent and invest the balance of your money to pay your rent for you +

 

I had over 3 decades in property back in Oz, and there is no way I would buy a place here, that should tell you something.

 

Renting means you can up and go anytime and you don't have all the outgoings that go with it, Thai laws are very different to Oz laws.

 

You might get sick of where you live after a while and selling can take forever, whereas renting, you give notice and see you later, hello new rental.

 

The above said if you invest your money in Oz, not property, it's tax free on any gains.

Tell that my accountant. I'm sure he'll pass it on to the tax department so they can see the error of their ways.

[connda]

Wife owns a rai of land in rural Northern Thailand.  We have two houses. I have no desire to live in a city no less a condo or anywhere else you need to deal with partial ownership and communal building run by?  Guess who - ain't you farangs.  But? To each there own.

[Celsius]

I had a girlfriend who owned a condo in C Ekkamai.

 

Yes, this condo

 

https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/tourist-police-raid-the-c-ekkamai-condo-to-arrest-people-running-rooms-as-hotel-bangkok

 

At the next strata meeting, the Thai and Chinese owners stated that if they were not allowed to rent out their units, they would cease paying common fees.

 

The following days and months, security staff assisted groups of Chinese tourists, many wheeling suitcases, as they registered their fingerprints and activated their key cards.

[NorthernRyland]

Going head first in to the belly of the beast. Don't do it.

[Yagoda]

Dont buy condos in Thailand.

[quake]

23 years now for my first condo .

It's still fine and dandy.

I'm sorry to report the sky has not fallen yet.

[4MyEgo]

On 3/25/2025 at 10:20 PM, emptypockets said:

Tell that my accountant. I'm sure he'll pass it on to the tax department so they can see the error of their ways.

 

You do realise you will have a Capital Gains Tax bill when you sell, if you own property in Oz, plus pay $0.32c in every $ that you earn from rent, plus not able to negatively gear the property as a non resident.

[emptypockets]

7 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

You do realise you will have a Capital Gains Tax bill when you sell, if you own property in Oz, plus pay $0.32c in every $ that you earn from rent, plus not able to negatively gear the property as a non resident.

I can assure you there is capital gains tax to be paid on investments other than property. I sold a substantial amount of shares recently. My accountant told me to be prepared for the CGT hit end of June.

I am still a resident for tax purposes.

[4MyEgo]

18 hours ago, emptypockets said:

I can assure you there is capital gains tax to be paid on investments other than property. I sold a substantial amount of shares recently. My accountant told me to be prepared for the CGT hit end of June.

I am still a resident for tax purposes.

 

Why on earth would you remain a resident for tax purposes, for what, to retain the $18,200 tax free threshold ?

 

Retaining a property as a resident or non resident, attracts you capital gains tax, if I am not mistaken, the capital gains tax is calculated from the very 1st day you purchased it (new legislation) as a non resident, not from the day you left the country as it used to be ?

 

You can negatively gear the property and claim losses as a resident vs a non resident, taketh with one hand (negative gearing), but paying it back with the other hand (capital gains tax), and I reckon the capital gains tax payable will be larger than what you claimed from negative gearing it.

 

Shares are taxable as a resident, did your accountant not advice you that you would be better off as a non resident, i.e. to sell your property before you left the country so that no capital gains tax would apply, and to invest your money into shares/cryptocurrencies whereby no tax is payable as a non resident, unless the dividends on shares were not fully franked.

 

To me, being a non resident has paid off, having sold my property and invested the money into shares/cryptocurrencies, means over the past 10 years, I paid ZERO tax, and my gains outweigh what the property value of my property would be today.

 

I can and do still use Medicare when I return, e.g. it's still active as long as you use it within 5 years, then it resets as you are technically not out of the country for 5 years straight.

 

Have I missed something, e.g. the benefits vs the non benefits of being a resident/non resident ? 

 

I have no interest in applying for the old age pension, because returning for the 2 year jail term to make it transportable is one thing for most, but (not feasible) for me because, they apply a thing called deeming, so even if I spent all of those $'s to return and stay to get the old age pension, once they applied the deeming rate to ones assets, they will reduce the old age pension, by 1/3 or a 1/2 or to zero depending on how much money/shares I own.

 

Not interest in returning to a country that is way over priced in any ones means, suffice to say I have no idea how people afford to live in Australia today. Getting out of there when I did a decade ago was perfect and still is, as I am living the life here that I would not have been able to do there, because of the cost of living and the taxes on everything.

 

Each to their own I suppose.

[georgegeorgia]

9 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have no interest in applying for the old age pension, because returning for the 2 year jail term

More fool you...paid taxes all your life and letting them keep your entitled old age pension ,

I will be getting it as soon as I'm 67

[4MyEgo]

14 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

More fool you...paid taxes all your life and letting them keep your entitled old age pension ,

I will be getting it as soon as I'm 67

 

More the fool you George, because you only read what you wanted to read.

 

Copy & pasted below from my original post:

 

"I have no interest in applying for the old age pension, because returning for the 2 year jail term to make it transportable is one thing for most, but (not feasible) for me because, they apply a thing called deeming, so even if I spent all of those $'s to return and stay to get the old age pension, once they applied the deeming rate to ones assets, they will reduce the old age pension, by 1/3 or a 1/2 or to zero depending on how much money/shares I own".

 

If you don't know what deeming is George, I suggest you look into it because it WILL affect your old age pension entitlements, and if I am not mistake you own a property which you may sell and put the money in the bank, or buy shares with or even rent it out to a tenant.

 

Read the below on what Deeming is and how it WILL reduce your old age pension. If you do decide to hold onto your property and not lease it out, then that will be a dead investment, so either way, "your up $hit" the creek as we say.

 

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/deeming?context=22526

 

Let me know your thoughts after you have looked into it, or if I am still the fool you say ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[emptypockets]

On 3/30/2025 at 12:04 PM, 4MyEgo said:

 

Why on earth would you remain a resident for tax purposes, for what, to retain the $18,200 tax free threshold ?

 

Retaining a property as a resident or non resident, attracts you capital gains tax, if I am not mistaken, the capital gains tax is calculated from the very 1st day you purchased it (new legislation) as a non resident, not from the day you left the country as it used to be ?

 

You can negatively gear the property and claim losses as a resident vs a non resident, taketh with one hand (negative gearing), but paying it back with the other hand (capital gains tax), and I reckon the capital gains tax payable will be larger than what you claimed from negative gearing it.

 

Shares are taxable as a resident, did your accountant not advice you that you would be better off as a non resident, i.e. to sell your property before you left the country so that no capital gains tax would apply, and to invest your money into shares/cryptocurrencies whereby no tax is payable as a non resident, unless the dividends on shares were not fully franked.

 

To me, being a non resident has paid off, having sold my property and invested the money into shares/cryptocurrencies, means over the past 10 years, I paid ZERO tax, and my gains outweigh what the property value of my property would be today.

 

I can and do still use Medicare when I return, e.g. it's still active as long as you use it within 5 years, then it resets as you are technically not out of the country for 5 years straight.

 

Have I missed something, e.g. the benefits vs the non benefits of being a resident/non resident ? 

 

I have no interest in applying for the old age pension, because returning for the 2 year jail term to make it transportable is one thing for most, but (not feasible) for me because, they apply a thing called deeming, so even if I spent all of those $'s to return and stay to get the old age pension, once they applied the deeming rate to ones assets, they will reduce the old age pension, by 1/3 or a 1/2 or to zero depending on how much money/shares I own.

 

Not interest in returning to a country that is way over priced in any ones means, suffice to say I have no idea how people afford to live in Australia today. Getting out of there when I did a decade ago was perfect and still is, as I am living the life here that I would not have been able to do there, because of the cost of living and the taxes on everything.

 

Each to their own I suppose.

Yes. I choose to be a tax resident. I spend roughly two thirds of the year in Oz and one third in Thailand. My Thai wife works seasonally in Oz and I farm. We come to Thai January to April most years.That time of the year in northern Australia is not conducive to farming.

The taxation issues are not a real concern for us. Nor is any government pension or benefits as we are well and truly above the threshold to receive anything.

One house and two cars in Oz and one house and two cars in Thai.

Life is pretty good.