Documents And Taxes When Buying A Condo Apartment?

[coralia]

I'm new to all this and I am considering buying a small condo in Thailand sometime in the future... I have been reading other people's posts in an attempt to understand how this whole process works... Perhaps someone could explain to me:

Where do you go to obtain the necessary documents (chanott ti din and blue book) when you buy a condo?

What are the taxes you need to pay for buying a condo? I understand there is a transfer tax (a fixed amount? or a percentage of the value of the condo?), but are there other taxes as well?

Many thanks.

[givenall]

Just the money and the proof that it is coming from outside of Thailand.

Be very careful when buying from a private party. Use a repeatable lawyer to paper the paper work before giving any money to anyone. It is very easy If buying a new one from a developer they do all the paperwork for you

[trogers]

Just the money and the proof that it is coming from outside of Thailand.

Be very careful when buying from a private party. Use a repeatable lawyer to paper the paper work before giving any money to anyone. It is very easy If buying a new one from a developer they do all the paperwork for you

You need to keep a copy of the banking documents, sales and purchase agreement, and payment of transfer fees and taxes, if you intend to sell the condo in the future and remit money out of Thailand.

In a property transaction, the buyer shares half the cost of transfer, but the seller pays all taxes.

[coralia]

If I don't buy from a developer, who takes care of the paperwork and obtains all the relevant documents? The lawyer?

[hhgz]

"If I don't buy from a developer, who takes care of the paperwork and obtains all the relevant documents? The lawyer?"

Sure, or the real estate broker. The situation is that a real estate broker (think of "Property Plus, or CBRE) have their fees pretty much set in stone. An attorney will likely do a wallet biopsy, charging you what (s)he thinks (s)he can get.

Regardless, you seem too concerned with stuff that is incidental to a purchase of real estate. As other posters have mentioned, you should be worried about getting money to Thailand properly, having it documented properly, finding a suitable condo and negotiating a fair price.

Edited November 24, 2009 by hhgz

[coralia]

"getting money to Thailand properly, having it documented properly"

Isn't it enough to open an account at a bank in Thailand and transfer money from abroad into that account? What more would I have to do in order to do things properly?

I would assume that the bank could then provide me with a document saying that the money was transfered from abroad. Am I mistaken?...

[pkrv]

"getting money to Thailand properly, having it documented properly"

Isn't it enough to open an account at a bank in Thailand and transfer money from abroad into that account? What more would I have to do in order to do things properly?

I would assume that the bank could then provide me with a document saying that the money was transfered from abroad. Am I mistaken?...

Sorry yes you are mistaken. You very, very, much need to specify as a part of the foreign exchange transfer that the money is for the purchase by 'coralia' for condo xxx at location yyy. Or IMO critically if you have a partner that the money is for the purchase by 'coralia' and 'zzz'

Use the opportunity to make full use of Juristic of the condominium, it is a test of their abilities - If any good they will try to help point you in the right direction. They are in a sense a concierge type service - you just have to be polite, pay on time, and in general they pull out all the stops.

Off the top of my head there is/was a 0.5 % transfer tax But I am not sure if this has changed. However there is a general agreement that this tax is paid 50/50 by the buyer and seller, it is just the way it is.

Edited November 24, 2009 by pkrv

[coralia]

"specify as a part of the foreign exchange transfer that the money is for the purchase by X for condo XXX at location..."

So you are saying that I should not have money transfered to Thailand before I know exactly what I want to buy (address etc.)?

And what exactly does it mean, in practice, to specify as a part of the foreign exchange transfer...? You mean I should have my bank at home specify what the money is for when it transfers it...? Sorry if I'm being dumb, but as I said I'm new to this... I'm trying to understand how things work.

Thanks for the good advice about the Juristic of the condominium...

[donx]

"specify as a part of the foreign exchange transfer that the money is for the purchase by X for condo XXX at location..."

So you are saying that I should not have money transfered to Thailand before I know exactly what I want to buy (address etc.)?

And what exactly does it mean, in practice, to specify as a part of the foreign exchange transfer...? You mean I should have my bank at home specify what the money is for when it transfers it...? Sorry if I'm being dumb, but as I said I'm new to this... I'm trying to understand how things work.

Thanks for the good advice about the Juristic of the condominium...

I don't think you have to specify exactly which condo you are planning on buying. I think all that is required is that the full sales amount be transferred into Thailand and that you specified that the purpose of the money transfer is for the purchase of a condo.

I'll let others here tell me if I'm wrong since I have never purchased a condo whereas pkrv has done this before. I do remember others in the past mentioning transferring the money prior to knowing exactly which condo they were going to buy and having no problem doing so.

[tangoll]

When you wire in money from overseas into Thailand, you will encounter no problems if you do following:

1. Ensure that name on the account receiving funds is the same name as on passport and on the title deed (chanote) to be issued by the Land Dept office. This assumes purchaser is non-Thai person(s).

2. On the transfer document from the overseas bank, that the purpose of funds transfer is for "purchase of condominium". No need to specify name of condo or by whom.

3. The foreign funds should be in foreign currency and exchanged into Thai baht by the receiving Thai bank.

4. The Foreign Exchange Transaction Form will be issued upon your application to the Thai receiving bank for amounts received in excess of the equivalent of US$20,000. This form(s) must be supplied to Land Dept office doing the transfer of ownership, and the total baht amount of the forms must be equal to or greater than the transaction amount stated on the documents used for the transfer of ownership. Ensure name on this form is same name as to be placed on title deed.

There are other ways to transfer money into Thailand for the purchase of condos, such as sending money direct to developer or lawyer, but I think the above is a far safer way and allows you to control the process.

Note also that in private purchases between seller and purchasers on already completed condo units, the taxes and fees as to who pays what is totally negotiable between seller and purchaser. Also on private purchases, the Juristic Office of the building must issue two documents: 1. a document stating the condo unit has no debt due to the building ownership, called a bai plod ngee, and 2. if purchaser is a non-Thai, that the ownership structure of the building after the purchase still conforms to the 49% restriction on foreign ownership.

To do the transfer process at the Lands Dept, it's best to have some Thai speaker who has some knowledge in this process to help you, such as a lawyer or experienced real estate agent.

If the purchase is of a newly constructed unit direct from a developer, the developer will do almost all of the work in the transfer of ownership, even for a non-Thai purchaser. Just follow their instructions as to what documents you must provide and how to payment the developer.

[pkrv]

Thailand can be quite flexible and depending on the bank, branch, and indeed company you are dealing with results can differ.

Technically you need to transfer the exact amount of foreign currency for the condominium purchase, this can be THB because it can be converted overseas, then sent to Thailand. I know this because I ran into a problem with the final payment during the onshore offshore rates saga, up till then I had been sending THB. Basically I did not have a Thai account at the time and had to transfer sterling directly to the developer a .SETI 30 company (otherwise I would have incurred a 10% 'tax' at the time).

I was forced to slightly over send (because I did not know what the amount of THB was going to be after the conversion) and was given a rebate by the developer. However because the money did not match the purchase price I was asked to sign to a commitment to spend the refund on furnishing the unit - which was fine and understood by all parties at the time. I guess Hemaraj was covering itself with the Thai Tax authorities during a very tricky period, and situation.

As to your question how to enter the information. For a Swift transfer it's in the comment field (sometimes called the reason for transfer field or Subject Identifier (Objective) of Transfer field) But note sometimes these can be limited in length to say 64 characters.

For us full names and titles along with the unit and condominium name were required.

Also I have a TAX ID: 3101 546 224 – which may be useful, but check it out first, I was asked to quote this but I am not sure of its exact meaning. Again this would have to go into the same field – On the last transfer we had to leave this out and indeed just give initials with the surname. So this is not cast in stone providing the intention is clear it does get passed.

But again I can advise that providing the funds come from offshore you can send anything including THB – I am guessing that other posters over sent (a bit like myself on the last transfer) however I was dealing with a very formalised process – and was very keen to, because it did represent a huge amount of money at the time.

We were squeeky clean, because we could not afford to be otherwise .

Edited November 26, 2009 by pkrv

[pkrv]

Perhaps I should add I have not bought in the seconday market via my own Thai bank account (which I now have) - others experiences will be of more value, but I can see how to combine what I have said and what they have said.

Edited November 26, 2009 by pkrv

[coralia]

Many thanks for all the details.

Sounds to me like a rather complicated process...!!!

[pkrv]

Many thanks for all the details.

Sounds to me like a rather complicated process...!!!

IMO very much more than it should be.

[thaibkk]

once again, so many restriction on how to live, to work, to eat... in LOS...

while thai people as my wife, just for being married in my home country to me... could work (no work permit needed), could buy a house or condo, no need for proof and stuff....

no need to go inform every 90 days she still lived at the same place, did not need to go sit for many hours once a year to proof all the stuff...

3rd world country, when will you learn...???

no social services here for farang, no unemployment, no social welfare, no sick insurance....

why they make it so hard for us ?

why does our own government back home not have the same rules for the them while they can get everything easy in our home countries ???