Mortgage To Build A House

[DWALDO]

Hi,

can anyone tell me if it is possible to get a mortgage to build a house in Thailand. I would like to build a house with my Thai wife in Issan. As we would be living in the UK it would not have to be a big loan we would probably want to borrow about 2,500,000 and put down a million ourselves. We could pay it back over 5 years. I know we could save the money and build it in 5 years without a mortgage or loan but we would like to feel we were getting nearer towards our goal of moving to and living in Thailand. The ammount is not fixed in stone we could borrow 3 or 4 million and put more up ourselves if it was needed to build our dream home. I have seen on this forum about loans for condo's but we would like a house. I am aware of the foreigner property laws and realize that I would probably have to put the deeds in my wife's name but I will have control of a pension and inheritence in a few years which will dwarf this outlay and I know there is a way for joint ownership of property. As this would be short term it would be more like a loan than a mortgage.

Thanks any advice on the way forward with this would be very greatly appreciated,

Dave

[Crossy]

IMHO You would be better borrowing the cash in the UK, perhaps secured against any property you own. Getting finance in Thailand as a foreigner even if resident and employed can be problematic, as a non-resident I think you are on a hiding to nothing

Borrowing 40 grand over 5 years shouldn't be impossible Or, of course put the payments in the bank and save the interest.

[gregb]

The only way it would work is if you got your wife a job in Thailand and then waited about 1 year, or else if you have a rich relative in Thailand who could qualify for you. Without being able to show Thai income, in either you or your wife's name, there is nothing for them to approve. Overseas income does not count. The bank will rate you entirely on your income in Thailand.

My recommendation is to set up a Thai company and give your wife a job paying 3 times what your expected mortgage payment would be. (In the case of a 2.5 million baht loan, this would be about 19,000 baht, so give your wife a salary of about 55 - 60k. ) You will have to then wait about 1 year. Of course, you will have to pay Thai taxes on that money.

After that, your wife should be able to qualify for a mortgage in Thailand if you are persistent, try enough banks, and make a good story as to her previous employment history overseas.

Otherwise, you can try Bangkok Bank's loan for foreigners in Singapore. They usually only do this for condos, and I have heard that they are doing away with this service altogether, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/Pe...nts/default.htm

Let everyone know if you manage to make this work. I would go for employing your wife in Thailand though. I don't think you'll have much success any other way.