Buy A Condo In Koh Samui - Used Or New

[sitta]

Looking to buy a 1 bed room condo in Samui, mainly as holiday home, around 3 times in a year., is it better to buy a NEW or used?

Any advice on good location / price?

Thanks for any info.

[notmyself]

Save ya money

[motocrosser]

Play condos in bangrak are a very good buy,i know a few people who have brought them,start at 850,000b.i would buy if had the spare cash.

[Samui Coconut]

Play condos in bangrak are a very good buy,i know a few people who have brought them,start at 850,000b.i would buy if had the spare cash.

Would agree to certain extend, price is okay, size with 28 sqm very small, shoebox, but I guess it would suffice for 3 times a year. As far as I know, this project is the cheapest on the market at present.

[sketcher]

I wouldnt buy anything that isn't finished yet.

[Rooo]

Ok the OP asked about the pros & cons of buying new versus used. Please do not take this opportunity as a free plug for developments. If you wish to recommend a project please do so via PM.

[evadgib]

Be sure to thoroughly investigate water supply. All to often this is overlooked & many condos etc run dry.

[Tropicalevo]

Be sure to thoroughly investigate water supply. All to often this is overlooked & many condos etc run dry.

and check the electricity rate (govt is 3.5 ish) as well as the annual/monthly maintenance charges. Some condos go into disrepair because people get ripped off on the charges.

A good q to ask is "Who decides fees/and what work gets done? Owners or developers?

[Rooo]

I have deleted one post. Again no mention of developments please.

[John 1]

I have deleted one post. Again no mention of developments please.

If you are not Thai I would suggest if you inquire about any condo and want to buy in your name make sure it's registered as a condo complex and there is an allocation for foreigner to buy.

[sitta]

What would be the price for a 1 bed room condo in boh but 48.1sq meter unit, fully furnished?

[nod]

I wouldnt buy anything that isn't finished yet.

Totally agree!

[SamuiRes]

Be sure to thoroughly investigate water supply. All to often this is overlooked & many condos etc run dry.

and check the electricity rate (govt is 3.5 ish) as well as the annual/monthly maintenance charges. Some condos go into disrepair because people get ripped off on the charges.

A good q to ask is "Who decides fees/and what work gets done? Owners or developers?

Electric rate has just gone up. Now about 4.5/unit inc vat.

[BigC]

you donot get much for you money on samui. space wise.

as for getting a return on the place shall makeiteven harder.

for 3 million bhat for example you could get something very nice in pattaya or bangkok and it should be well maintained when you are not there

samui i have seen houses for around 3-4 mill that are on a secure compound. be aware of maintantce fees. i agree that everyone should pay them as if you pay your fees but your neihbour does not then it devablues your place. The maintance fees should be fare and meaning you should get the right quality for your money and normally after the 1st few years after the housing complexs have been built the tenants have to pick their pwn maintance company and pay a share equall to the land they own.

maybe in samui it might be different.

As for condos. it is not hard to work out that land on samui is very expensive. being an island they do not make any more.

which means that condos and houses shall also be more expensive.

for 3mill i have seen tiny places. when you look at how long you could rent a placeby the month for 3million baht it you could stay anywhere in thailand and get nice hotels plus themoney canl last a long time.

depends if you are buying as a holiday second home in thailand or as a first home.

there are some houses going very cheap in some places where Europe has crashed people need to sell quick as they are skint. remeber that!

Ifyou buy off plan then if it is back by a company with a good reputation then you should be safe but that is the risk of buying off plan. you get cheaper at higher risk.

ALso wait for the rain season to see where and were does not flood. probably pissed a few people off who are trying to sell. but others probably made happy.

Edited July 20, 2012 by BigC

[sitta]

Buying a house using a Thai company can be troublesome, anyone here have any experience using a company to buy house?

[Tropicalevo]

Buying a house using a Thai company can be troublesome, anyone here have any experience using a company to buy house?

I and all of my neighbours own house and land here. No real issue other than doing it correctly.

Owning the house is not the real issue - a foreigner can own a house. It is the land that needs to be Thai owned.

Condos are a different game entirely. As long as the condo follows the rules for Thai/Foreigner % ownership - there wil not be a problem.

Edited July 20, 2012 by Tropicalevo

[sitta]

""Owning the house is not the real issue - a foreigner can own a house. It is the land that needs to be Thai owned.""

Do I need a Thai partner to buy a house, can you advice about "doing it correctly"?

Thanks.

[BigC]

Buying a house using a Thai company can be troublesome, anyone here have any experience using a company to buy house?

no problems.

one thing you can do but you shall need help. is makethe company then 30 year lease to your self or a family memeber to give u extra stablity.

the better a law firm you use the better and more stable technques you may get.

[BigC]

""Owning the house is not the real issue - a foreigner can own a house. It is the land that needs to be Thai owned.""

Do I need a Thai partner to buy a house, can you advice about "doing it correctly"?

Thanks.

a lawyer can explain all this clearly. you need to makea thai company. at first you shall own 39 % for the first month then they can transfer you another 10 % making you the majority share holder

the lawyers can find other share holders but the trick is that the thai share holders sign their share transfer forms and give them to you ( keep them safe )

then if you want to take that thai out of your company you can justget another thai to sign the share transfer form and sign a new one to give you a new copy of the the new forn..

in other words yo u shall have full control of the company,

sounds complicated but once you have beeb set up for about 1 year it is very easy.

also if you declair the share capital of 2, million baht you can give yourself a work permit. ( if you wish )

the capital has to be 2 million baht per forang in your comapny

[John 1]

""Owning the house is not the real issue - a foreigner can own a house. It is the land that needs to be Thai owned.""

Do I need a Thai partner to buy a house, can you advice about "doing it correctly"?

Thanks.

a lawyer can explain all this clearly. you need to makea thai company. at first you shall own 39 % for the first month then they can transfer you another 10 % making you the majority share holder

the lawyers can find other share holders but the trick is that the thai share holders sign their share transfer forms and give them to you ( keep them safe )

then if you want to take that thai out of your company you can justget another thai to sign the share transfer form and sign a new one to give you a new copy of the the new forn..

in other words yo u shall have full control of the company,

sounds complicated but once you have beeb set up for about 1 year it is very easy.

also if you declair the share capital of 2, million baht you can give yourself a work permit. ( if you wish )

the capital has to be 2 million baht per forang in your comapny

Sitta as you can see this is all complicated and I'm not sure 100% legal also you will need to file tax return for company. Some lawyers will say 100% legal but just make sure.

[Tropicalevo]

""Owning the house is not the real issue - a foreigner can own a house. It is the land that needs to be Thai owned.""

Do I need a Thai partner to buy a house, can you advice about "doing it correctly"?

Thanks.

You do not need a Thai partner to own a house - but you do need one to own land.

Please go and talk to a reputable lawyer - preferably from an International company. If you are only concerned about owning the house - it is quite simple, but it does involve going to Bangkok a couple of times to visit one of the ministries.

Any advice given here, whilst being well-intentioned, may be out of date. Then again. as with a lot of the laws here - interpretation is what counts.

[sitta]

So all points to buying a freehold Condo is safe bet?

[Tropicalevo]

Safer - nothing in life is guaranteed. (But check the ongoing costs - management fees etc)

[PattayaPhom]

I think the going rate is 50k sqm...so a decent one bed will be in the region of 2mil +

[BigC]

Yes it is hard to be 100 per vent legal

Forang cannot own land but they can be a majority share holder in a thai company that can purchase the land

I have a few companies set up and you shall have to pay some taxes how much tax depends on how much you value your company at

Also land and house tax which is calculate by sqr meter

You shall need an Accountant to keep tou up to date with all your taxes

You could set up a company now

The if. You decide to buy land or house or both then your company is already set up

Unless you buy from another forang then it might be better to buy the company and. Change the share holders to you but make sure your lawyer investigates the company first make sure it is not in debt or something like that

[SamuiRes]

Sitta the advice you are getting on this web board is simply wrong. Go and talk to a good lawyer. Big C you cannot as a foreigner own the controlling shares in a Thai Land owning company.

[sitta]

Hi All, Thanks for the advice and info's, will stick to buying a 1bed room 40+ sqm Condo under 2.5Mil.

Will be Samui mid Sept.

Cheers.

[BigC]

Sitta the advice you are getting on this web board is simply wrong. Go and talk to a good lawyer. Big C you cannot as a foreigner own the controlling shares in a Thai Land owning company.

I am not a lawyer but I know a for ant can own 49 per cent

I have had a company for over 10 years so there must be some truth in what I am saying

I also agrees with you that a lawyer would have to be consulted no one is silly enough to do what someone says be ausr it says so on here.

Normally you split the other 51 per cent between I think minim 3 Thais it used to be 5

But you must get then to sign a share transfer form but leave the new treferee blank and do not date it

[Tropicalevo]

Hi All, Thanks for the advice and info's, will stick to buying a 1bed room 40+ sqm Condo under 2.5Mil.

Will be Samui mid Sept.

Cheers.

Have fun - I do

[BigC]

I need to know what I said that was wrong it is the only way I learn cheers