I Am Considering Renting A House Long Term

[Zodiac]

I have been renting a condo here in Thailand for many years. But my lease expires in a few months and I might decide to change to renting a house. Can anyone give me some advice as to what to look out for when I inspect and negotiate for a house rental?

If the property is in the name of a company does that cause any problems? Any way to easily check the ownership of the property? Do I need to do so? If the "owner" is a foreigner and has the property in a company name will that cause me any problem being a tenant?

Apart from finding a house in the right location for me, when I actually go to view and inspect the property what should I look for out for about the place and what questions should I ask etc etc?

Anything that ought to alert to me the fact that I should steer clear of any particular property?

Many thanks in advance for your input!

Edited March 20, 2011 by Zodiac

[trogers]

Location - If away from CBD and mass transit, be prepared for a couple of hours traveling time.

Neighbourhood - What kind of neighbours will you have? Do they double park cars or block the access road to the house?

Security - Landed property left vacant for some time are prone to break-ins.

Flood prone - The house and the roads leading to it.

Owner - If lease agreement is signed with a company, you are liable to deduct tax from the rent and pay it to the nearest tax department.

Others - Conditions of the house. Leaking roof or water ingress on ground floor? State of plumbing, water pressure, toilet flushing ok?. Electrics and any leakage protection. Are air-con units old and inefficient? Insulation against solar heat of the house good or poor? Any sign of termites infestation? Good or poor natural light and ventilation through the house during the day? Adequate lighting in every room and front porch, balconies during the night?

[aussiebebe]

great post from Trogers, I'd add that in my opinion the ownership of the house won't affect you as tenant; you should cover yourself legally by purchasing your own home insurance policy (as a tenant) when you rent. Of course ask before, but don't assume honesty! There have been some nasty legal issues reported in the papers over the years.

Be especially careful to check the habits of the neighbours as they can as Trogers wrote, block access (have to ask them to move their cars all the time etc). To guage the environment effectively you need to visit it repeatedly over the course of several weeks at different times of the day and night, holidays weekends etc to check for potential sources of noise pollution ie - all of which can and will present themselves at anytime of the day or night.

[Zodiac]

Many thanks to trogers and aussiebebe for the astute and high quality replies. May I ask for some clarification:

trogers says:

" If lease agreement is signed with a company, you are liable to deduct tax from the rent and pay it to the nearest tax department"

May I ask under what law this arises? How much is the tax deduction? And what if I do not comply? I assume I can make it a term of any future lease that any tax due is paid for by the owner/landlord?

I currently rent a condo with a lease signed by me with an agent-a limited company- the foreign owner lives abroad. Does this tax provision apply to condo's as well? there is nothing in my current standard form lease- which is written in Thai and English- about tax.

aussiebebe writes:

"I'd add that in my opinion the ownership of the house won't affect you as tenant"

-I realize its just an opinion but even if the limited company is a sham for foreign ownership you are saying I as the tenant am protected? is that right?

thanks again!

Edited March 23, 2011 by Zodiac

[trogers]

Many thanks to trogers and aussiebebe for the astute and high quality replies. May I ask for some clarification:

trogers says:

" If lease agreement is signed with a company, you are liable to deduct tax from the rent and pay it to the nearest tax department"

May I ask under what law this arises? How much is the tax deduction? And what if I do not comply? I assume I can make it a term of any future lease that any tax due is paid for by the owner/landlord?

I currently rent a condo with a lease signed by me with an agent-a limited company- the foreign owner lives abroad. Does this tax provision apply to condo's as well? there is nothing in my current standard form lease- which is written in Thai and English- about tax.

aussiebebe writes:

"I'd add that in my opinion the ownership of the house won't affect you as tenant"

-I realize its just an opinion but even if the limited company is a sham for foreign ownership you are saying I as the tenant am protected? is that right?

thanks again!

A company receiving an income that is entered into the books (and issuing official receipts) is subjected to withholding tax of 5% (and another 7% for VAT if so registered). The law regarding taxation compels the payer to deduct such taxes from the payments and pay them to the tax department and the receipts issued by them will be credited to the company.

If the payer does not do so and assumes the receiving company will make such tax payments, and the company does not do so, the payer will be held liable for unpaid taxes and the penalties that apply.

[astral]

I would add to Trogers excellent reply,

1. Visit the area at different times of day, particulary night time,

to see if there are any noisy restaurants/clubs in the area.

2. Look out for stray dogs, barking at night when you want to sleep can be a real problem

3. If the house is on an estate, who pays the estate fees each month? Normally the landlord, but not always.