Thai Home Loan

[falangaman]

Hello

I am a UK resident and interested in buying a house in Thailand.

I am finding it difficult to find a UK lender to finance an overseas property and would like to ask if it is possible for a non-resident (alien) to obtain a Thai mortgage, home loan or loan against a Thai property.

Might I add that I am engaged to be married to a Thai national later this year, could we co-borrow when married?

Thanks for your help.

[thai_norman]

as long as she has the income to cover the repayments its no problem

[Ajarn]

My guess is 'no' on all questions...

Since a farang can't own property, no Thai bank will give a loan for it..

And, no, you can not get a loan to buy a house with your wife. She can't use 'your' money to buy a house, and she must sign a paper attesting to that, last I heard..

[falangaman]

so basically, i cannot buy property at all? I find this hard to believe.

When married, surelly we can buy a house together then? Regardless of where we are?

[paulfr]

There are ways to live in a property owned by you or your wife.

The key restriction is you cannot own LAND.

So if it is in the wife's name and you have a 30/30 lease on the building, then presumably you are protected should you divorce. But don't count on Thai authorities for enforcement necessarily as you are Farang and she Thai ... guess who wins on the politics ?

I know a man who got a loan on a car based on his pension statement with the wife as the owner. so maybe with the right bank you can do the same with a home.

[thai_norman]

so basically, i cannot buy property at all? I find this hard to believe.

When married, surelly we can buy a house together then? Regardless of where we are?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you certainly can, well unless you want to buy a house in thailand, thats when the problems start.....

[bkk_mike]

She can buy a house - you can't. - You can buy a flat. (called a condo here).

For you to buy a flat in Thailand in your own name, you have to transfer the full purchase price from abroad. You cannot get a loan in Thailand. (Although, saying that, I got told I would have been offered a mortgage by Bangkok Bank for 2-3m baht (small enough to not get picked out for checking at head office), in my wife's name, if I'd had a work permit - I telecommute to a UK job - so no work permit.)

However... - all you need to show is that your wife is getting some sort of income, (which could be as simple as a history of someone paying money into her bank account on a regular basis), so long as you've got a reasonable explanation for where it came from (and it's not you - at least not directly), and they will lend money to her. (although again - mortgages here, especially to Thai/Farang couples who can easily emigrate, are usually 70% at most. You're not going to get anything like a 95-100% mortgage here, unless your paperwork for your wife's income is gold-plated - i.e. if she works for the bank that you're borrowing money from.)

[Thaicoon]

Hello

I am a UK resident and interested in buying a house in Thailand.

I am finding it difficult to find a UK lender to finance an overseas property and would like to ask if it is possible for a non-resident (alien) to obtain a Thai mortgage, home loan or loan against a Thai property.

Might I add that I am engaged to be married to a Thai national later this year, could we co-borrow when married?

Thanks for your help.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you are a uk resident, why not apply for a personal loan to buy a property in Thailand, you could buy a condo, or a bungalow or house, before jumping in at the deep end, ask your girlfriend to see what property the banks have to offer, i have just bought a superb townhouse through the siam commercial for 650,000 baht, repossesion, my wife and i bought it for an investment and will rent it out in the meantime, good luck

Also you would not have to tell a lender for a personal loan what the cash is for, tell em changing the motor, it would be different with a Mortgage. try Lombard,

Edited April 28, 2005 by Thaicoon

[thaigene2]

After four years of messing around with this, here is my understanding, including those of two lawyers and several bankers. It's similar to what a few have already said - but not same-same unfortunately:

1. You cannot own land or a house in your name.

2. You cannot own land/house JOINTLY either.

3. Your wife can have the property in her name and as mentioned depending on the bank, you can PAY the mortgage if you have a work permit. But the house and loan are in her name alone, with you as a guarantor. To add insult to injury, if you're legally married you must actually sign a declaration at the Land Office that says you WAIVE ALL CLAIMS to the property. However, if she dies you can inherit it. Grim thought (well for most).

4. Most farang (who have access to cash) do one of two things:

a: they buy the house in a company name and think they're pretty clever. But This Is Thailand (TIT) and, as mentioned, the courts and the Government are not your friends here. They could impose a minimum tax tomorrow on 'businesses' with farang shareholders that don't seem to be doing any business other than owing houses. (many say this will never happen - I say never say never in Thailand) However, you still need the cash to buy the house since what bank would give your little company a loan to buy a house?

b: Many others buy condos. Again you must have 100% of the cash wire transferred from the UK. Thailand doesn't want you, it wants your hard currency..no loans for this whether you have a work permit great job whatever. If you buy a condo through a bank loan (which some banks obliviously give anyway) YOU RUN THE RISK OF NOT BEING ABLE TO REGISTER THE PROPERTY AT THE LAND REGISTRY..THEN WHAT DO YOU DO SINCE YOU'VE ALREADY HANDED OVER THE CASH TO THAT NICE CHINESE-THAI LADY WHO SOLD IT TO YOU??

Sorry mate, but that is my understanding. It sucks, but look at it this way, it's cheaper to rent here in the long run anyway, and who knows maybe a year or two from now we'll be breathing a sigh of relief that we didn't buy? Mind you if you have a place in the UK, I'd be selling right now..party's over.

[falangaman]

Yes, maybe renting is the sensible option, at least for the time being anyway...

I still find it al a little hard to believe though... suppose Im just going to have to accept that is is infact Thailand after all... T.I.T arent I ??!!!

Thanks

Next question, anyone know of any decent places for rent in Pattaya ;-)

[Thaicoon]

Rent would be a better choice for you at the moment, Before you buy anything, get to know your new wife and trust her, as there are some thai ladys out there with £ signs as eyeballs, believe me, i am one of the lucky ones, been married for 10 years, not much difference in our ages and have two great daughters, so i do not mind Buying property or land in Thailand, in the long run the kids are going to benifit, good luck, sorry about the lecture, there are a lot of horror stories out there.

[Welshman]

Whoa, this is all confusing (and worrying). I had intended to come to Thailand and let my house here in UK for about a year so's I could get established and decide which part of the country I'd be working in and which I might like to settle.

I had then banked on selling my house and using the cash to buy a house here in Thailand. Are you saying that I just can't do this ?

I know that there is a problem with the land ownership itself, but where do I stand with buying a house just to live in ?

[falangaman]

I know Welshman... Im new to all this and I cant believe it either.

Kinda throws a spanner in the works doesnt it?

No way am I putting a property in my wifes name, at least not yet anyway, much as I love her Im fast learning to watch yourself....

[falangaman]

From the research Ive done its far better and safer to rent at the moment, even if you can find a way around it by having a company own the house.

House prices dont appear to rise that much and there are so many on the market that its not wise to buy anyway.

[Thaicoon]

You could buy a nice condo in Pattaya, that could be put in your name and you would own it, that is one suggestion. condos westerners can own.

[thaigene2]

Really guys,

You are better off to rent for a while. If you can sell your places in the UK then you should and in my opinion sooner the better (but that's a gut instinct).

As for out here, take the advice given earlier. Get to know your wife. I too have two kids with my Thai wife and, frankly, kids change things so I would put it in her name..well, maybe.

You see, it's not that clear cut. For those with lots of money it's not a big deal but for most of us who would need loans it is a very big deal. The Thais are looking out for their own with their laws, and why not??

Rent for a while. Check out your thai GF or wife for awhile (and yourself) maybe you won't want a wife after a while?? Really..be honest with yourself..

Good luck. By the way to clarify..you can buy a condo in cash (no loans) and no problem. But again you must transfer 100% of the payment (in minimum 20,000 USD chunks I believe - check this) to a Thai bank in your name from an overseas account IN YOUR NAME with a memo stating it's for the purpose of buying a condo - this is very important to get the Thai bank to issue you a Thor Thor 3. this is crucial. Remeber there are many - including advertisers on this site who will sell to you without the Thor Thor 3. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS!!!!!

[colinj]

Falangaman,

Everythings been said about the rules etc and not knowing you financial position and banking rules in the UK don't know if this will help but.

In Australia you can borrow using your house for security up to certain limits that varying between lenders for an investment without needing to tell them what it is for. I borrowed $50,000 (1,500,000 baht) and with some lenders could have gone to $100,000 (3M baht), just had to tell them it was for an investment. Could have been for anything, shares, antique furniture whatever, and purchased a Condo in Jomtien. The money went into my account and I just transfered what I needed to Thailand, stating that it was for the purchase of property and got the necessary documents from the Bank for the purchase. The interest also was standard housing rate as my home in Sydney was the security.

Hope this helps.

[stevemarkwell]

I'm not an expert in this area, but what research I have done seems to suggest that it's not that hard to buy land with an LLC, and you can write your bylaws so that even though you are a minority shareholder in your own company, you make all the business decisions. There are law firms that specialize in helping foreigners do this, and it seems a little less risky than a 30/30 lease, where the landowner, or his heir, may change his mind about the terms and you're pretty much boned. Starting a company seems a natural thing to do anyway, given the business opportunities in Thailand. Give some of your Thai friends an interest in the company, and pay them a small percentage of your take every year. Just make sure you file your annual financial reports and that you really are doing business, because if you start the company just to buy land, your land can be taken away from you. I will never rent again though -- buying property is like putting your money in a bank instead of spending it.

As far as getting a loan, check out this thread: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31071

which has some good info on this subject, and maybe someone can answer the questions I left there too.

Almost forgot -- if you have 40 million baht they'll waive the statute against foreign land ownership. If you have 40 million baht, gimme some.

Edited May 2, 2005 by stevemarkwell

[Welshman]

Having stirred up a real hornest nest, mind if I toss another couple of hand grenades in here ?

Firstly, you say that I can own a Condo. I don't particularly like the idea of living in an apartment for the forseeable future but if need be. However I had thought that these places were only built in commercialised areas such as Bkk, Pattaya etc - what about the smaller towns in the provinces ?

Secondly, I was speaking to someone here in the UK over the weekend who is having a house built. When I asked him how he'd managed it he said that this was some kind of development company in Krabi. He said it was probably some kind of development initiative (post tsunami) to rebuild the area. He seems quite confident in the arrangement (unless someone else knows something different).

[Sumitr Man]

Welshman:

It is not uncommon in Phuket to find developers offering leasehold rights over land (30/60 year lease), as opposed to freehold sales, where foreigners are involved. Under such a structure, the freehold in the property remains with the property development company.

Also, not too long ago I was hearing rumblings out of Phuket where bungalows were being registered under the Condominium Act. I'm not sure if this is true, and so far I know this would be the only place in Thailand that would be attempting this.

SM

[deedeeone]

Hi,

I'm thinking of buying a villa in Hua Hin but am getting quite confused trying to understand whether I'll be able to get a mortgage in Thailand. An agent I will be meeting up with has indicated that it shouldn,t be a problem but that doesn't seem to coincide with what I'm reading on these pages.

Is it possible to get a Thai mortgage?

Many thanks

[calibanjr.]

I'm not an expert in this area, but what research I have done seems to suggest that it's not that hard to buy land with an LLC, and you can write your bylaws so that even though you are a minority shareholder in your own company, you make all the business decisions. There are law firms that specialize in helping foreigners do this, and it seems a little less risky than a 30/30 lease, where the landowner, or his heir, may change his mind about the terms and you're pretty much boned. Starting a company seems a natural thing to do anyway, given the business opportunities in Thailand. Give some of your Thai friends an interest in the company, and pay them a small percentage of your take every year. Just make sure you file your annual financial reports and that you really are doing business, because if you start the company just to buy land, your land can be taken away from you. I will never rent again though -- buying property is like putting your money in a bank instead of spending it.

As far as getting a loan, check out this thread: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31071

which has some good info on this subject, and maybe someone can answer the questions I left there too.

Almost forgot -- if you have 40 million baht they'll waive the statute against foreign land ownership. If you have 40 million baht, gimme some.

Yes, buying property is a lot like putting your money in a bank, if:

1)The value of the land doesn't decrease substantially.

2)If you REALLY own the land that you've "bought".

I've been here for only 4 years running an export biz to the states. I deal with Thai government officials (customs, fine arts dept, immigration, labor) weekly, though it seems more like every waking hour.

Put kindly: I would do a LOT OF HOMEWORK before I would think of buying anything.

Put more realistically: Anybody who buys any real estate in Thailand with any money they can't afford to lose completely, is DAFT.

Edited June 15, 2007 by calibanjr.

[bangsaenguy]

Got plenty of unrequested advice?

Bottom line. Yes, you can get a home loan. I have one with SCB

[retirednavyman]

My guess is 'no' on all questions...

Since a farang can't own property, no Thai bank will give a loan for it..

And, no, you can not get a loan to buy a house with your wife. She can't use 'your' money to buy a house, and she must sign a paper attesting to that, last I heard..

Why couldn't she use "his" money, after all it's community property or do the laws of Thailand not reflect that?

Curious to know what the answer is on that. Thanks

[eljeque]

If you are interested in Pattaya, I know a man selling a coule of houses and will offer a mortgage for 12 years at 10% / year. 20 % down payment. If you are interested, please PM me.

"""Also, not too long ago I was hearing rumblings out of Phuket where bungalows were being registered under the Condominium Act. I'm not sure if this is true, and so far I know this would be the only place in Thailand that would be attempting this."""

I heard this was being done in some of the outskirts of Pattaya as well. In this case, the buyer would own the building (house) but not the land under it. I thought it was a rather clever idea.

[quiksilva]

Your wife will need an income to apply for a mortgage (just like anywhere else) and you can act as her guarantor, however you must waive all rights to ownership in the house.

So as some others have implied, it all comes down to trusting your partner, do you? Really? Would you bet your house on it?

If yes, great go for it, if in doubt, do not fork out.

By the way we got our 95% mortgage with UOB a few months ago (she doesn't work at a bank, she has a decent job though) and last week two of my friends got loans approved with Krungthai Bank.

One of my friends arranged in advance for his wife (who was not working) to have an income for 12 months prior to applying for the loan which helped. I think his company needed to provide paperwork to support this though.

[Zeid]

Got plenty of unrequested advice?

Bottom line. Yes, you can get a home loan. I have one with SCB

wow what papers did you have present over how many years?

[bangkokrick]

Having stirred up a real hornest nest, mind if I toss another couple of hand grenades in here ?

Firstly, you say that I can own a Condo. I don't particularly like the idea of living in an apartment for the forseeable future but if need be. However I had thought that these places were only built in commercialised areas such as Bkk, Pattaya etc - what about the smaller towns in the provinces ?

Secondly, I was speaking to someone here in the UK over the weekend who is having a house built. When I asked him how he'd managed it he said that this was some kind of development company in Krabi. He said it was probably some kind of development initiative (post tsunami) to rebuild the area. He seems quite confident in the arrangement (unless someone else knows something different).

I have been here for around 8 years and i have had my dreams of owning a house shattered many times in this period. As most of the posters have said you cannot own land here period. You can of course buy a house in your wifes name by basically giving her all your hard earned cash and then signing on the dotted line to state that it all belongs to her. Stupid thing to do in my opinion as you cannot predict the future.

There are a few ways to stay reasonably safe one is the 30 year lease whereby you buy the house in your wifes name and lease it back from her for a 30 year period. Again i think dodgy in your situation.

The next option is to take out a usfruckt (spelled wrong) which means that you can stay in the property until you die. Either way the house is never yours. This can also be complicated if the wife dies before you or indeed you separate. See the thread about the German guy who was recently shot in Pattaya.

I will go down the condo route purely because it means that i can own the property in my name and i think that this is the safest bet available right now.

I dont relish the possiblility of being homeless in a foreign country having burned my bridges in Blighty.

Cheers Rick

[thaigene2]

Your wife will need an income to apply for a mortgage (just like anywhere else) and you can act as her guarantor, however you must waive all rights to ownership in the house.

So as some others have implied, it all comes down to trusting your partner, do you? Really? Would you bet your house on it?

If yes, great go for it, if in doubt, do not fork out.

By the way we got our 95% mortgage with UOB a few months ago (she doesn't work at a bank, she has a decent job though) and last week two of my friends got loans approved with Krungthai Bank.

One of my friends arranged in advance for his wife (who was not working) to have an income for 12 months prior to applying for the loan which helped. I think his company needed to provide paperwork to support this though.

Quiksilva

Did the bank basically ignore you/your own income and deal directly with her? Or did you guarantee the loan (and does that require PR status?)

Also, regarding the two friends at Krungthai Bank, did they buy in a Thai's name? Or was it for a condo in their own name (again did they have PR?) Now getting a loan to buy a condo without PR in Thai Baht that the Land Office would accept and allow registration (no Thor Thor 3s)...now THAT would really be big news..

[mrgreg]

Just a few things to clarify the situation:

As far as I know, a mortgage and a loan are totally 2 different things:

- a loan is an amount of money that you borrow from a financial institution.

- a mortgage is the security for the financial institution in case you cannot pay back the money of your loan. Therefore, you are using one of your property (House, condo...) as collateral. The mortgage has to be registered at the land office and if the property used as collateral is in Thailand, I see no reason why the officer at the LO would refuse to register it.

Finally, yes, a foreigner can own a house in his own name. Where is the law saying that he cannot?

A foreigner cannot own land in his own name, that's it (Annex 1 of the Foreign Business Act - B.E 2542).

Hope this will help some...