Magna Carter Legal - Any Experiences?

[breadbin]

Friends

My mate has his house under offer and has said he will use Magna Carter Law in Pattaya.

Any experiences?

They will charge him 15,000bt for a transfer of property, go to land office etc.

He lives in Pattaya with his wife so he is local.

House is 2 beds and in a Thai name.

Full chanote title etc.

Cheers

[topt]

They get a lot of recs on another forum and have a UK guy who interfaces a lot between clients and the Thai solicitors. Never heard anything bad but they are not the cheapest.

Also if your mate is selling then does he really need a solicitor? There was a recent thread I think in the Real estate forum which mentioned this.

You could argue for peace of mind it is worth it - especially if they draw up a sales contract with a non returnable deposit should the purchaser drop out for any reason......

edit - its actually Magna Carta - unless its a Thai copy........

Edited September 14, 2012 by topt

[breadbin]

Thanks for your reply.

I did post in another forum about this issue.

I think he wants peace of mind and as you say the contract can stipulate a non refundable deposit in their favour should teh buyer wish to waste theor time.

I'll mak ehim aware, I dont think a few thousand baht saving will interest him! I think easy life and easy transaction comes to mind.

would you say a 10% non refundable deposit is best? This will then allow him to 'test' his buyers intent?

[cathy211]

Deal with Tony Justice only and get a free quote.

[breadbin]

The chap he emailed was Peter and has been told that a lady called Apple deals with this tyoe of thing?

Also, can I ask, while you around, should he pay upfront? What the deal there?

I know in UK we pay after the deal is done.

[ericg1953]

I have had dealings with Tony Justice at Magna Carta and all my experiences were good. It is well worth the money to have them do your sales contract and let them deal with the buyer..I dont feel comfortable trusting any estate agents with the deposit/closing of the house sale and that is the other option

[LeCharivari]

15,000 baht is more than double the normal rate. Most lawyers, such as the Lawyer House on North Pattaya Road who specialise in property transfers, charge 7,000 to 8,000 baht.

Who you use also has a considerable effect on how much transfer tax you pay, as some lawyers will declare the full sales price (and pay the full tax due) while others who know the system (and the staff!) declare a considerably lower amount (the minimum acceptable according to the official land/house value tables) and pay a considerably lower amount of transfer tax.

This is NOT just "a few thousand baht" but can be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of baht.

[jbrain]

I have had dealings with Tony Justice at Magna Carta and all my experiences were good. It is well worth the money to have them do your sales contract and let them deal with the buyer..I dont feel comfortable trusting any estate agents with the deposit/closing of the house sale and that is the other option

Why does one need to use a fake name?You not gonna tell me his real name is Justice Yeah.

[topt]

I have had dealings with Tony Justice at Magna Carta and all my experiences were good. It is well worth the money to have them do your sales contract and let them deal with the buyer..I dont feel comfortable trusting any estate agents with the deposit/closing of the house sale and that is the other option

Why does one need to use a fake name?You not gonna tell me his real name is Justice Yeah.

Yeah - that's his real name - I have a copy of an email from him signed off with it. Make you feel better....

[topt]

Thanks for your reply.

I did post in another forum about this issue.

I think he wants peace of mind and as you say the contract can stipulate a non refundable deposit in their favour should teh buyer wish to waste theor time.

I'll mak ehim aware, I dont think a few thousand baht saving will interest him! I think easy life and easy transaction comes to mind.

would you say a 10% non refundable deposit is best? This will then allow him to 'test' his buyers intent?

I think it depends on the buyers means and what level you think they can get......enough to make them think twice if they are not serious.

The chap he emailed was Peter and has been told that a lady called Apple deals with this tyoe of thing?

Also, can I ask, while you around, should he pay upfront? What the deal there?

I know in UK we pay after the deal is done.

From my limited exposure they seem to want upfront especially if they do not know you - so not unusual.

[yankee99]

I hear magna carta is good. 15k is a lot but still cheap if it save a headache.

[simple1]

15,000 baht is more than double the normal rate. Most lawyers, such as the Lawyer House on North Pattaya Road who specialise in property transfers, charge 7,000 to 8,000 baht.

Who you use also has a considerable effect on how much transfer tax you pay, as some lawyers will declare the full sales price (and pay the full tax due) while others who know the system (and the staff!) declare a considerably lower amount (the minimum acceptable according to the official land/house value tables) and pay a considerably lower amount of transfer tax.

This is NOT just "a few thousand baht" but can be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of baht.

+1

[Swiss1960]

15,000 baht is more than double the normal rate. Most lawyers, such as the Lawyer House on North Pattaya Road who specialise in property transfers, charge 7,000 to 8,000 baht.

Who you use also has a considerable effect on how much transfer tax you pay, as some lawyers will declare the full sales price (and pay the full tax due) while others who know the system (and the staff!) declare a considerably lower amount (the minimum acceptable according to the official land/house value tables) and pay a considerably lower amount of transfer tax.

This is NOT just "a few thousand baht" but can be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of baht.

Yeaaaahhh... but you will get yourself in trouble if you either want to get the full amount ouf of Thailand or use it for buying something else... you will lack prove of where it came from and can't use it... so you will only be able to use the undeclared amount for personal spending within Thailand... as long as you can live with that...

[dsfbrit]

I cannot comment whether 15k is a good price as I have not sold a place over here.

However, I have been involved with Magna Carta for 9 years now, since before they called themselves Magna Carta in fact..

They originally set up and now do my house/company accounts, they set up my Thai Will and have carried out other work for me over the years.

Their work has always been professionally carried out and in the last few years I have dealt only with Tony Justice in the first instance and then I have been handed over to someone else, usually Thai, to do the actual work.

I did use another company - British Law - for some oaths I needed to make recently as they were a lot cheaper than Magna Carta.

So as suggested by other posters, they may not be the cheapest lawyer in Pattaya, but they will do a good job, that I am sure of.

[LeCharivari]

15,000 baht is more than double the normal rate. Most lawyers, such as the Lawyer House on North Pattaya Road who specialise in property transfers, charge 7,000 to 8,000 baht.

Who you use also has a considerable effect on how much transfer tax you pay, as some lawyers will declare the full sales price (and pay the full tax due) while others who know the system (and the staff!) declare a considerably lower amount (the minimum acceptable according to the official land/house value tables) and pay a considerably lower amount of transfer tax.

This is NOT just "a few thousand baht" but can be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of baht.

Yeaaaahhh... but you will get yourself in trouble if you either want to get the full amount ouf of Thailand or use it for buying something else... you will lack prove of where it came from and can't use it... so you will only be able to use the undeclared amount for personal spending within Thailand... as long as you can live with that...

Just who would you be required to "prove" the source of your funds to?

If you want to "use it for buying something else" you have no need to "prove" where your funds came from, unless you are buying a condo in a foreign name in which case you have to show that the funds came from overseas - if they are the proceeds of a property sale here, obviously they didn't come from overseas however much (or little) they are. In the unlikely event that the proceeds of such a sale are questioned the additional funds can be justified by including furniture, fittings, landscaping, etc, in the sales price, none of which are taxable by the land Office

This, I am afraid, is nonsense.

[yankee99]

15,000 baht is more than double the normal rate. Most lawyers, such as the Lawyer House on North Pattaya Road who specialise in property transfers, charge 7,000 to 8,000 baht.

Who you use also has a considerable effect on how much transfer tax you pay, as some lawyers will declare the full sales price (and pay the full tax due) while others who know the system (and the staff!) declare a considerably lower amount (the minimum acceptable according to the official land/house value tables) and pay a considerably lower amount of transfer tax.

This is NOT just "a few thousand baht" but can be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of baht.

In the op case assuming he is not thai and the house will be in his name there is no transfer tax........In the case of a condo the value is set at the land office...The land office here in pattaya everyone pays the same ie: two condos same size same building same tax.....no such thing as lower amount of transfer tax

[yankee99]

Yeaaaahhh... but you will get yourself in trouble if you either want to get the full amount ouf of Thailand or use it for buying something else... you will lack prove of where it came from and can't use it... so you will only be able to use the undeclared amount for personal spending within Thailand... as long as you can live with that...

There is no issue wiring money out of thailand. 1.5 years ago i sent 3m baht out although they [bot] had a limit per day but it was reasonabe. Bangkok bank no problems at all.

[striderman]

Deal with Tony Justice only and get a free quote.

have used him twice, no problems at all, more than happy with his service

[breadbin]

Thanks all.

My mate has had an email from Peter. He has said that a girl called Apple will deal with him. No mention of Tony Justice.

He also said he had another quote from Siam Legal who wanted 50,000bt but as a gesture of good will would reduce to 30,000bt!!

He is no fool and has lived in Thai for over 20 years, just not really internet savvy.

Thanks again