Thai Or Foreign Condo

[RAZZELL]

I was just wondering are there any real differences in owning a condo in a foreign quota?

Obviously, as a foreigner you can have 100% ownership...but are there drawbacks? Does this make it harder/easier to sell? Is it worth more/or less than "Thai" condos?

Is it perhaps better to "own" a condo in in the Thai quota (albeit owned by your partner/wife?) because they might be easier to sell have more buyers?

RAZZ

[donx]

In my opinion, if everything is equal, then buying in the foreign quota would be better. It has been stated in this forum before that condos sold within the foreign quota can sometimes be worth more. This happens when there is more demand for a particular condo by foreigners than there is supply. If the foreign quota is at its limit, then a Thai owned condo can only be sold to a Thai. However, a foreign owned condo can always be sold to either a Thai or a foreigner.

Because everything isn't equal, there are other issues to consider. For example, the price for the Thai owned condo may actually be less expensive. A foreign owned condo requires money transfers from overseas for the entire amount whereas it is possible to get a mortgage for a Thai owned condo.

Another thing to consider is what happens if your Thai partner dies? See the thread discussing this issue that was recently started in this forum.

So there are several things to consider and much of this depends upon your specific situation. As I said at the beginning, if all things were equal, then buying within the foreign quota has more advantages.

[RAZZELL]

Interesting thoughts...

However, when I read about condos taking forever to sell...maybe they "move" more quickly in the Thai quota simply because they might be cheaper and there are potentially more buyers?

Can you get a mortgage on a "foreign owned" condo if you had the necessary paperwork?

RAZZ

Edited April 11, 2012 by RAZZELL

[donx]

Any condo can be bought by a Thai. Maybe you are thinking that there are buildings that don't actually qualify as a condo where foreigners can own? If a building allows foreign ownership, then a unit owned by a foreigner can be sold to either a Thai or a foreigner. Therefore there is a greater market for foreign owned condos since anyone can buy it.

Cheaper condos are more likely to be owned by Thais because Thais are more willing to live in less expensive condos. Of course the definition of cheaper is relative. I'm thinking of condos that are less than 1 million baht.

I don't know if a foreigner can get a mortgage or not. I think I remember some posts about this in the past and that under some circumstances it is possible. I believe one of the criteria would be having the Thai equivalent of permanent residency. I may be completely wrong about all of this so hopefully someone with personal experience about this will post about it.

[PattayaParent]

Interesting thoughts...

However, when I read about condos taking forever to sell...maybe they "move" more quickly in the Thai quota simply because they might be cheaper and there are potentially more buyers?

Can you get a mortgage on a "foreign owned" condo if you had the necessary paperwork?

RAZZ

The condos that take forever to sell do so because they are overpriced, reduce the price and they will sell. This applies to condos in both the Thai quota and foreign quota.

It's better to own a condo in the foreign quota. What happens if it's in your wife's name and you get divorced or she dies?

[RAZZELL]

I didn't know a Thai could buy a "foreign quota" condo.

RAZZ

[PattayaParent]

I didn't know a Thai could buy a "foreign quota" condo.

RAZZ

Thais can buy up to 100% of any condo development, foreigners are limited to 49%.