My brother in law has a mortgage with GH Bank on a small condo in the Rangsit area. He has no equity in the property and just needs to be freed of the mortgage. My wife and I would like to take ownership, pay the mortgage off and hold the property as a rental. We are in the US right now but will be in Thailand for the month of April and would like to take care of this during that time if possible. In my naive mind, I am hoping it would be easy as going to the bank, clearing the debt and having them take care of the documentation necessary to record the new ownership in the land office. Kind of like one stop shopping.

Alternatively, if there is typically more time and effort involved than can be covered in the limited time that we will be there, maybe it would be better contacting an agent in advance to check the property for all outstanding liens, draft up the paperwork and have everything ready for us and the BiL to sign when we get there.

I appreciate any insight or experience as I have no experience in Thai property transactions.

Caveat emptor....

To save problems in the future think about all that could go wrong and who will end up owning it.

Get a lawyer that is working for you and only you and get it all checked out and then get your money out.

Especially with families involved there is very often a trick or angle or something you regret later.

There should be enough time to do all the above.