Buying A House In Bangkok

[Gigabyte]

Hello all,

I live an work in Bangkok, and my g/f and I decided to buy a house soon (we're not married).

I'm well aware that foreigners cannot own land and houses in Thailand (at least not under their name), however I'm not sure if we can weight in the balance when it's time to apply for a mortgage loan. I tried to find that information myself first before posting here, but all the information that I found was about various ways to indirectly own a property.

My g/f salary would barely cover the monthly mortgage, so I doubt that the bank will accept her. However that would not be a problem at all if I can jointly apply with her for the loan.

I'm not sure at all if the bank will accept me as joint applicant/backer (even if I do have a good credit score in Thailand) because I can't own that house (so they can't take it back from me in case of no payment). The ladies at the sales offices always say "Yes can do!" with a big smile, of course, but I never believe what sales people say.

Anyone with that kind of experience?

Thanks in advance!

[jackdawson]

let me see

u CAN'T own the house and ur asking if a bank will give YOU a loan based on the house as collateral

hmmm

why don't you just give whatever the house costs to your girlfriend ?

you'd save a lot of steps

[stgrhe]

You can in fact own the house but, as you said, not the land. You can ensure ownership of the house in several ways and you had better talk to a property lawyer for the best alternative in your particular situation. The options you have are:

1) Land lease

2) Land lease plus superficies 

3) Usufruct

If it is an non-existing house ensure that the building permit is in your name, and make sure you do everything before you reister your marriage.

The thing that complicates the matter is that you say you will be requiring a house loan. The good thing is that you are looking at the Bangkok metropolitan area because this gives you an option to talk to a non-Thai bank. Why don't you pay a visit to HSBC at Rama IV and talk to them. You will need some cash to open an account with them though. The second choice would be Kasikorn Bank. They have several times proved to be more flexible than e.g. Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank.

Good luck

[otherstuff1957]

If I understand these things correctly, the loan will be in the name of your girlfriend and you will be the guarantor of the loan.

In order to do this, you must have some legal proof of income (Thai tax returns would be ideal) and the term of the loan cannot go beyond your 60th birthday (65 if you are self-employed or a business owner). As for the usufruct or the lease, I don't know if you can do them before the bank loan is paid off. Someone else here will probably know better than I though!

[donx]

Look at This thread about how much of a mortgage others have been able to get.

[Gigabyte]

Thanks all!

So it seams that there is a chance after all, thanks for all the information and advices.

At this point I'm only looking at financing, not ownership. If I can get my name somewhere to ensure that some of it goes back to me if things turn bad, then it's a plus. However I do not see any difference if I pay a my g/f mortgage or a rent to the landlord. Money's gone anyway... ;-)

Have a nice Sunday!