My Thai wife wants to sell a property she and her cousin own which has a mortgage...they want to purchase another property but need to sell the mortgaged property first...they are now pestering me to loan them 3 mil baht to payoff the mortgage claiming the property cannot be sold while there is a mortgage on it...I explained to them that, sure it can be sold, just that the mortgage will be paid off first to the mortgage holder...they claim that is not how it works in Thailand...

Any views or insight into their claims guys??

Thanks in advance...

JB

1 minute ago, NZAMBOY said:

My Thai wife wants to sell a property she and her cousin own which has a mortgage...they want to purchase another property but need to sell the mortgaged property first...they are now pestering me to loan them 3 mil baht to payoff the mortgage claiming the property cannot be sold while there is a mortgage on it...I explained to them that, sure it can be sold, just that the mortgage will be paid off first to the mortgage holder...they claim that is not how it works in Thailand...

Any views or insight into their claims guys??

Thanks in advance...

JB

 

Views:

a) They are innocently naive and dont realise / can't imagine how this would work.

b) You are being taken for a mug.

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, NZAMBOY said:

My Thai wife wants to sell a property she and her cousin own which has a mortgage...they want to purchase another property but need to sell the mortgaged property first...they are now pestering me to loan them 3 mil baht to payoff the mortgage claiming the property cannot be sold while there is a mortgage on it...I explained to them that, sure it can be sold, just that the mortgage will be paid off first to the mortgage holder...they claim that is not how it works in Thailand...

Any views or insight into their claims guys??

Thanks in advance...

JB

You are correct. Can be sold, but the mortgage holder must also go to the land office with your wife when the land is transferred. What arrangements your wife and the mortgage holder make  for the property to be transferred is between them.

Also your wife is correct. If the mortgage is paid off before selling (ie: the Chanoot is unemcumbered) of course its easier, BUT not necessary as explained above.

Also more importantly you don't have to worry about your money being returned.

12 minutes ago, NZAMBOY said:

 the property cannot be sold while there is a mortgage on it...

Yes that's right  but what should happen is that the new buyer and the seller/s will go to the bank that holds the mortgage , the new buyer will either payoff the mortgage deducting that amount from the money given to the seller  and /or transfer the mortgage to themself   then they can go to the land office and do the transfer on the chanote...  you might have to sign something at the bank to say you agree to the sale ( as technically you own some because you are married if the purchase happened while you were married )

 

I would not lend them 3 million baht   but if you have multi-millions to spare

perhaps you feel generous ???

34 minutes ago, NZAMBOY said:

My Thai wife wants to sell a property she and her cousin own which has a mortgage...they want to purchase another property but need to sell the mortgaged property first...they are now pestering me to loan them 3 mil baht to payoff the mortgage claiming the property cannot be sold while there is a mortgage on it...I explained to them that, sure it can be sold, just that the mortgage will be paid off first to the mortgage holder...they claim that is not how it works in Thailand...

Any views or insight into their claims guys??

Thanks in advance...

JB

She is wrong

39 minutes ago, NZAMBOY said:

My Thai wife wants to sell a property she and her cousin own which has a mortgage...they want to purchase another property but need to sell the mortgaged property first...they are now pestering me to loan them 3 mil baht to payoff the mortgage claiming the property cannot be sold while there is a mortgage on it...I explained to them that, sure it can be sold, just that the mortgage will be paid off first to the mortgage holder...they claim that is not how it works in Thailand...

Any views or insight into their claims guys??

Thanks in advance...

JB

Head for the hills.

My experience with Thais paying back loans to foreigners has always been bad.  The odds of you being paid back are slim and none or numerically 1 in 3 million. 

    We bought a condo from a seller with a mortgage and it was about as simple as any other property we have bought, with the exception that a bank official was also at the land office and the mortgage was paid off by the seller first before we purchased the condo.   The fact the property had a mortgage made no difference to our buying it.

Thank you all for the genuine replies...I have another question tho...if i were to loan the 3 mil baht, is there some way legally where I can security or have recourse if the money was not being repaid to me???...again thanks

On 5/28/2025 at 5:34 PM, couchpotato said:

You are correct. Can be sold, but the mortgage holder must also go to the land office with your wife when the land is transferred. What arrangements your wife and the mortgage holder make  for the property to be transferred is between them.

Also your wife is correct. If the mortgage is paid off before selling (ie: the Chanoot is unemcumbered) of course its easier, BUT not necessary as explained above.

Also more importantly you don't have to worry about your money being returned.

Thank you for the info...regarding the 3 mil baht being returned to me...is there a way you could suggest  to secure the repayment of the loaned money, like some sort of security  or legal paperwork to document the money trail that would hold up in court if it came to that...sure hope you'll get back to me on this...thanks again

26 minutes ago, NZAMBOY said:

Thank you for the info...regarding the 3 mil baht being returned to me...is there a way you could suggest  to secure the repayment of the loaned money, like some sort of security  or legal paperwork to document the money trail that would hold up in court if it came to that...sure hope you'll get back to me on this...thanks again

Why are you even considering this? It is absurd.  

On 5/28/2025 at 12:20 PM, NZAMBOY said:

My Thai wife wants to sell a property she and her cousin own which has a mortgage...they want to purchase another property but need to sell the mortgaged property first...they are now pestering me to loan them 3 mil baht to payoff the mortgage claiming the property cannot be sold while there is a mortgage on it...I explained to them that, sure it can be sold, just that the mortgage will be paid off first to the mortgage holder...they claim that is not how it works in Thailand...

Any views or insight into their claims guys??

Thanks in advance...

JB

My insight is .......

They are trying to steal 3Mbht from you.

@NZAMBOY  Run Forest Run ... 😎

On 5/28/2025 at 12:20 PM, NZAMBOY said:

now pestering me to loan them 3 mil baht

pestering = 24/7 full-on life's mission.    

 

Popcorn is ready for this one.

If it's your wife and 3M is not that much to you, give it to her. The sooner you find out what you're in, the better off you'll be. 

What you could do is ask/tell your wife and her friend to get a mortgage in their names with you (unofficially) being the person actually paying the monthly payments..that way you'll hopefully have a greatfull wife  can use the payments as excuse for not paying anything else and if disaster strikes you can walk away....

but still best not to.

How long have you been married?

How did you meet the wife?

Look at yourself and her, how much did finances contribute to making it a fair trade?

 

Even if the answers were good I'd still be suspicious. 

1 hour ago, NZAMBOY said:

Thank you for the info...regarding the 3 mil baht being returned to me...is there a way you could suggest  to secure the repayment of the loaned money, like some sort of security  or legal paperwork to document the money trail that would hold up in court if it came to that...sure hope you'll get back to me on this...thanks again

Yes there are legal ways, but it's the costs and hassle of a Lawyer, and you really don't want to get involved in the Thai court system. Basically if things went tits up, you really don't have much chance to get all the money returned (see my first line above).

 

As I said in my original post, there is NO NEED for her to pay off the mortgage before selling/transferring the land, so there is NO NEED for you to give her 3m baht.

As I, and others have mentioned properties with mortgages are purchased, sold and transferred 100's of times a day.

 

If you still continue to post to discuss this 3m, then obviously you are worried about your relationship if you don't give her the money. But in my opinion that's not a good basis for a relationship anyway.

 

You've not mentioned how the wife and her cousin are going to pay you back the 3 million, so one can only assume it will be from the sale of the existing property. If that is the case and the existing property has more than 3 million in equity then they could get a secured loan from the bank to purchase the new property.

On 5/28/2025 at 1:20 AM, NZAMBOY said:

My Thai wife wants to sell a property she and her cousin own which has a mortgage...they want to purchase another property but need to sell the mortgaged property first...they are now pestering me to loan them 3 mil baht to payoff the mortgage claiming the property cannot be sold while there is a mortgage on it...I explained to them that, sure it can be sold, just that the mortgage will be paid off first to the mortgage holder...they claim that is not how it works in Thailand...

Any views or insight into their claims guys??

Thanks in advance...

JB

My theory is that there is more to the story than you are being presented with. At least this is my assumption.

 

Here is one theory: the equity in the property to be sold is not enough to cover the purchase of the property the wife and cousin want to purchase.

 

Find out how much the mortgage is, how much they expect to sell the property for, and how much the property they want to purchase is going to cost.

 

Another possibility is that the mortgage isn't really a mortgage but is in fact a debt owed to a someone they borrowed money from. You can call this someone a loan shark, but it is very common in Thailand for neighbors to loan money to a property owner and to hold onto the land title deed until the loan is paid off. I know this because my sister-in-law does this often and sometimes she ends up with the property when the owner is unable to pay off the loan. If this is the case, then your wife may feel that she needs to pay off the loan before she can sell the property. Find out who the mortgage is with - is it a bank or an individual?

2 hours ago, NZAMBOY said:

Thank you all for the genuine replies...I have another question tho...if i were to loan the 3 mil baht, is there some way legally where I can security or have recourse if the money was not being repaid to me???...again thanks

We bought a house that sellers had a mortgage with a bank. We met at the land office with seller and bank rep. We paid the bank note to bank rep and rest to the sellers. 

 

Careful that its a gambling debt and not a mortgage.

 

 

 

 

On 5/28/2025 at 12:34 PM, couchpotato said:

You are correct. Can be sold, but the mortgage holder must also go to the land office with your wife when the land is transferred. What arrangements your wife and the mortgage holder make  for the property to be transferred is between them.

Also your wife is correct. If the mortgage is paid off before selling (ie: the Chanoot is unemcumbered) of course its easier, BUT not necessary as explained above.

Also more importantly you don't have to worry about your money being returned.

I bought a house which was under a mortgage. As I was paying all up front, it was quite simple. The owner of the house had to get the bank which issued the mortgage involved and I paid for two bank drafts. One was for the outstanding amount on the mortgage which went directly into the hands of a bank official who joined us at the Land Department, and the other draft was for the remaining amount which went to the seller. We split the taxes/transfer charges between us. May be a bit more complicated if the new property is also being bought on a mortgage.  

In my experience, that 3 million baht is as good as gone. Don’t be shocked if they come back asking for more later, wrapped up in some urgent excuse or new problem.
 

Just to be clear, this isn’t a swipe at Thais, it’s what I’ve seen play out more than once.

Legal documents and so-called security are next to useless when things go south. They won’t help you when it really matters.

Plenty just find ways to duck out of paying, and you’re the one left chasing shadows.

Your best strategy now is to start thinking hard about how to get out of this. Brainstorm, look at every angle. Prevention’s always better than trying to fix a mess later.

 

Also worth saying — it was a mistake to let on that you had money. Always play it down. Be the broke farang, but not a full-on cheap Charlie. Just low-key.

Come up with a reason why you need the money back home. Something believable. Family, medical, anything that sounds reasonable. And I really hope you’re not keeping the funds parked here in LOS — that’s asking for trouble.

 

find out how much is left on the mortgage, get all the numbers straight while you still can. Never hurts to have everything on hand, just in case things turn sideways.

By the way, weather’s pretty decent in the West around this time of year. You could have a cracking holiday with 3 million baht instead of watching it vanish into thin air.

 

Now that you know from several people who've done it, you should explain to your wife the property can be sold with a mortgage as explained above. The 3m of your money should be well off the table by this point. If it's not, why not. 

4 hours ago, NZAMBOY said:

Thank you all for the genuine replies...I have another question tho...if i were to loan the 3 mil baht, is there some way legally where I can security or have recourse if the money was not being repaid to me???...again thanks

would you please stop being a daft pri^ck and just not lend the money 

2 hours ago, donx said:

My theory is that there is more to the story than you are being presented with. At least this is my assumption.

 

Here is one theory: the equity in the property to be sold is not enough to cover the purchase of the property the wife and cousin want to purchase.

 

Find out how much the mortgage is, how much they expect to sell the property for, and how much the property they want to purchase is going to cost.

 

Another possibility is that the mortgage isn't really a mortgage but is in fact a debt owed to a someone they borrowed money from. You can call this someone a loan shark, but it is very common in Thailand for neighbors to loan money to a property owner and to hold onto the land title deed until the loan is paid off. I know this because my sister-in-law does this often and sometimes she ends up with the property when the owner is unable to pay off the loan. If this is the case, then your wife may feel that she needs to pay off the loan before she can sell the property. Find out who the mortgage is with - is it a bank or an individual?

 

Thanks for that😀...and yes, i will do just, as  well as invent a story why the money is not available...

3 hours ago, couchpotato said:

Yes there are legal ways, but it's the costs and hassle of a Lawyer, and you really don't want to get involved in the Thai court system. Basically if things went tits up, you really don't have much chance to get all the money returned (see my first line above).

 

As I said in my original post, there is NO NEED for her to pay off the mortgage before selling/transferring the land, so there is NO NEED for you to give her 3m baht.

As I, and others have mentioned properties with mortgages are purchased, sold and transferred 100's of times a day.

 

If you still continue to post to discuss this 3m, then obviously you are worried about your relationship if you don't give her the money. But in my opinion that's not a good basis for a relationship anyway.

 

Well said and very true...I really need to focus on the last part for sure...thanks

5 hours ago, NZAMBOY said:

Thank you all for the genuine replies...I have another question tho...if i were to loan the 3 mil baht, is there some way legally where I can security or have recourse if the money was not being repaid to me???...again thanks

 

Short answer:  No.

 

Long answer:  Nooooooooooooooooo.

6 hours ago, NZAMBOY said:

Thank you all for the genuine replies...I have another question tho...if i were to loan the 3 mil baht, is there some way legally where I can security or have recourse if the money was not being repaid to me???...again thanks

Just don't do it... just don't.