Need Some Help From Re Proffessionals!

[LazyCat]

Well we have been selling Dubai's propetry for quite some time and now would like to sell Thai property as well but here I have many questions, first of when selling property in UAE everything is open ( original price, selling price, comissions to agent ) so everthing is pretty much easy, I have a buyer - you have a seller, we share our commissions ( usually 1% each ). This usually is the way for resale

Also in UAE there is a way when you sign a contract with developer to sell their properties and they pay %% to you.

But I am confused when it comes to Thailand.

1. I see that every project has some foreign quota ( is it the 49% ? ) and what about the rest 51% can it be sold to foreigners who own thai company? ( sold to the company )

2. Can "farang" buy townhouse? house ( villa ) land or in this case it must be Thai company owned by "farang" only?

3. Should I be a registered company to do some RE business or can I be a freelance REA? ( if I don't live in Thailand and make the deals from abroad)

any other clarifications on the way to do RE business with Thailand ( Thai REA ) are welcomed!

Thank you all!

if you need someone in Dubai you can count on me

[glyph]

"1. I see that every project has some foreign quota ( is it the 49% ? )"

Thai law restricts foreigh condo ownership to 49% of the saleable square footage.

"what about the rest 51% can it be sold to foreigners who own thai company? ( sold to the company )"

Yes.

"2. Can 'farang' buy townhouse? house ( villa ) land"

No.

"or in this case it must be Thai company owned by 'farang' only?"

Yes.

"3. Should I be a registered company to do some RE business or can I be a freelance REA? ( if I don't live in Thailand and make the deals from abroad)"

Thailand restricts the sort of businesses than foreigners can perform, and you might be on thin ice.

My question: why would you want to do business in a country that you neither live in, nor understand the legal requirements?

[LazyCat]

My question: why would you want to do business in a country that you neither live in, nor understand the legal requirements?

well I used to live there for 13 years and never thought that it could be a good idea ( to sell RE ) since we had a biiiig condo unit in Bangkok and tried to sell it for ages ( 8 years in a row!!! )with no success at market price or way below, so I thought it's not a good business.

Now in Dubai where property sells like hot pancakes I compare Dubai's prices to Thailand prices, well it costs here over 1mil US$ to get yourself seaveiw 1br. condo for this money you can get a veeery nice villa in Phuket or Samui, so I thought why not offer to the buyers an option?

But I don't know how to cooperate with Thai real estate agents ( ThaiREA ) it is very tricky since I know they are not very loyal (from my experience of being an export agent for couple of years, suppliers always tried to contact buyers direct AND give them cheaper price than to me !!! ) , you can't pretty much make business on trust like in Dubai ( here it's only a verbal agreement between agents to share %% and that's enough to make sure you will get your share and even if the buyer beats you and makes a deal direct with your seller you still can expect to get your % if you said upfront that it's your buyer )

Now I don't see any other way but to sign contract with buyer that they pay % to me to find the right deal for them.

well I think I will have to come over and inspect all new properties in Thailand, and choose the ones I can sell.... but still the question on HOW to work with thai rea stands strong.

[quiksilva]

The last thing this market needs is more inexperienced unprofessional agents.

[Geppis72]

My question: why would you want to do business in a country that you neither live in, nor understand the legal requirements?

well I used to live there for 13 years and never thought that it could be a good idea ( to sell RE ) since we had a biiiig condo unit in Bangkok and tried to sell it for ages ( 8 years in a row!!! )with no success at market price or way below, so I thought it's not a good business.

Now in Dubai where property sells like hot pancakes I compare Dubai's prices to Thailand prices, well it costs here over 1mil US$ to get yourself seaveiw 1br. condo for this money you can get a veeery nice villa in Phuket or Samui, so I thought why not offer to the buyers an option?

But I don't know how to cooperate with Thai real estate agents ( ThaiREA ) it is very tricky since I know they are not very loyal (from my experience of being an export agent for couple of years, suppliers always tried to contact buyers direct AND give them cheaper price than to me !!! ) , you can't pretty much make business on trust like in Dubai ( here it's only a verbal agreement between agents to share %% and that's enough to make sure you will get your share and even if the buyer beats you and makes a deal direct with your seller you still can expect to get your % if you said upfront that it's your buyer )

Now I don't see any other way but to sign contract with buyer that they pay % to me to find the right deal for them.

well I think I will have to come over and inspect all new properties in Thailand, and choose the ones I can sell.... but still the question on HOW to work with thai rea stands strong.

The easier thing to do for you ? :

1) take a commission agreement with a local RE (Possibly looks for

someone who is RE agent and developer of his own project at the same time, generally more reliable then simple brokers)

2) send your potential clients to your new partner here

3) get your part of commission for "introduction fee" in case of succesful sales

At least this is what we do with our RE overseas supporters.

only my 2 cents

good luck

[quiksilva]

Brokers who are also developers are better described as the developers sales team, who are unlikely to introduce properties that they have not built themselves, and understandably so.

Therefore the relationship described above is no different than getting a standard commission agreement with a landlord, only not quite as good as you have to share the % with the sales team....

Brokers or real estate agents is a term usually reserved for independent advisers, whose degree of reliability can vary remarkably in a market as unregulated as this one (mores the pity).

Edited October 30, 2008 by quiksilva

[Geppis72]

Brokers who are also developers are better described as the developers sales team, who are unlikely to introduce properties that they have not built themselves, and understandably so.

Therefore the relationship described above is no different than getting a standard commission agreement with a landlord, only not quite as good as you have to share the % with the sales team....

Brokers or real estate agents is a term usually reserved for independent advisers, whose degree of reliability can vary remarkably in a market as unregulated as this one (mores the pity).

I basically do agree with your comments Quicksilva, thanks but do not agree about :

"who are unlikely to introduce properties that they have not built themselves, and understandably so. "

Actually you offer and push your own products but if for same reasons (Budget,location,amenities etc etc) the potential buyer looks something different

then what you can offer (own project), you as Real Estate Office should be able to full fill the request. I know and I do agree about the "reliability problems"

just need to make a short due diligence about the company history.

In any case the OP does not looks too confident with this market, so rather then going around try to find Thai properties to offer in Dubai

and learn local rules and regulations better stay sit in his/her office over there and let's take some money like 1% or 2% if any sales happen here.

I think save to OP time, efforts and probably increase the sales opportunities.

Because of above I also do not agree about the amount of commissions which compare to the job to be done is much more interesting,

Different if the OP want's do move here on permanent base but trips from and to Dubai, meet people, follow up, agreements with some

people that may be later you discover not reliable.... so the situation for OP bit unusual.

Regards