What Is Safer Buying Through A Company Or Usufruct?

[egdirb]

Accepting that a foreigner cannot own title to land in their own name, what would be the more preferable option to protecting an interest in house and land.

Many people are saying that using a company for the sole purpose of acquiring an interest in land is dangerous.

I would be very interested and grateful to know the advantageous/disadvantageous of using a company set up compared to usufruct and vice versa.

Many thanks.

[Langsuan Man]

The Usufruct is the safest way to protect yourself when "buying" the right to use land here in Thailand

Unfortunately it all depends upon the seller or owner of the land. Between husband and wife it is only good if entered into PRIOR to the marriage, otherwise it is null and void since the Thai community property law will take precedence in the case of a divorce

Some developers will not get involved in a usufruct since they want to get in and then get out of the development and don't want to have a sale staying on their books

In order to get the Land Office to include the usufruct on the Chanote the full amount must be paid at the transfer so that the "transfer" taxes can be paid

I will let the anti company route brigade chime in here to give you all the reasons why the thousands of us who have purchased property via the company are wrong and why the sky is falling.........

[Gary A]

Buying a condo in your own name BEFORE marriage is the safest. A 30 year lease is pretty solid EXCEPT if you try to lease from your wife. A usufruct from your wife is useless if she decides to invalidate it. Thousands of farangs have set up companies and few, if any have had any problems. As for myself, I like to sleep at night and would be nervous waiting for some politician to decide that these companies are NOT legal and to pull the plug. I think it is only a matter of time. The reason it has been permitted this long is that these bogus companies employ lawyers, accountants and pay fees and taxes. Why anyone would buy a house through a company and have to pay the fees and taxes is beyond me.

Face the facts. Thailand does NOT allow farangs to own land here and any means used to skirt the law and control land is subject to big problems.

​I looked very carefully at all the options and decided to put land I have paid for in my wife's name. Regardless of the legal expense and connivance you may go through, if things were to go bad, she would likely own it all anyways. Before I was married, I decided the lease route was the safest but knowing I would eventually get married and my future wife would have nothing after the lease expired made that a no go.

The best option is still the advice to NOT buy anything you cannot afford to walk away from.

[chiangmaibruce]

Some of these threads, like this one, err towards being dangerously simplistic. You can't really say say one route is "better" or "safer" for all people.

There are many routes to seek to own or control real estate in thailand. each has its own strengths and weaknesses from the perspective of each individuals own circumstances, and all feature a significant degree of uncertainty. None is perfect ... well the closest to perfect is probably the condo in your own name ... but that still doesn't make it a good idea from an investment point of view.

The OP needs to invest some hours/days to read threads and google on the topics to get a handle of the different variables of these and other different methods. Best starting point is probably a legal web site like samuiforsale or thailawonline. I don't mean to be rude, but if you are not prepared to spend the time and effort doing this then play it safe and rent. This advice applies even if you intend to use a lawyer.

With the company route, I think you need to differentiate between people who set things up prior to about 2007/8 and those doing so (or thinking of doing so) subsequently. At around that time the first of a series of strongly worded memos started emerging from Land Dept HQ out to the regions urging greater scrutiny of such arrangements. I believe that this has occurred, although perhaps unevenly from one region to the next. There would not appear to be any evidence that there was retrospective examination of earlier property transfers. Just because "thousands" MAY HAVE safely (SO FAR) gone this route, does not mean that someone trying it on now will also enjoy an easy ride.

Edited March 11, 2012 by chiangmaibruce

[Delight]

The Usufruct is the safest way to protect yourself when "buying" the right to use land here in Thailand

Unfortunately it all depends upon the seller or owner of the land. Between husband and wife it is only good if entered into PRIOR to the marriage, otherwise it is null and void since the Thai community property law will take precedence in the case of a divorce

Some developers will not get involved in a usufruct since they want to get in and then get out of the development and don't want to have a sale staying on their books

In order to get the Land Office to include the usufruct on the Chanote the full amount must be paid at the transfer so that the "transfer" taxes can be paid

I will let the anti company route brigade chime in here to give you all the reasons why the thousands of us who have purchased property via the company are wrong and why the sky is falling.........

The concept of a usufract is new to me. It does however intrigue me.

Is it possible for me to do a deal with a willing Thai investor along the following lines:-

1) Sell my condo (currently it is foreign owned) to a Thai investor.

2) Organize a usufract - the main points being .

1) I pay 50% of the sales price to the investor.

2) I have this legal device until I die. It is still valid even if he dies.

3) I satisify him that his investment will be cared for.

This way I get some monies back -get to keep the condo -so no change for me.

He has an asset (potentially appreciating over the years) that he can bequeath to his family.

I suspect that the supply of such investors may be limited-but maybe not given that he only pays 50% nett

Any thoughts any one?