Starting new house

[Tmymaimee]

My first post at Thai Visa! Very exciting day for me...first post for my new house blessed and my dream home has been started. I will be moving to Thailand in October to start a new life and no more snow:).

Couldn't be happier after saving for so many years for this moment; its very satisfying to work hard towards a goal and finally realize it after so long. Happy to join the board and learn all about Thailand.

[benalibina]

Well done to make your dream come true.

Best of luck.

[Stradavarius37]

Best of luck. Don't let the doomsayers and barstool sexpats of TV get you down!

[craigt3365]

Congrats! Welcome to TVF. It's been a great source of information for me. Hope it turns out to be the same for you.

[Scully]

Congratulations and well done, however I am probably telling you what you already know, but do everything under Thai law to protect your assets. Sorry to ruin a feel good thread but after witnessing so many people lose money when simple procedures could have been put in place.

Again enjoy your dream

[arthurwait]

Best of luck. Don't let the doomsayers and barstool sexpats of TV get you down!

Have you seen his username ?

[kikoman]

Welcome to Amazing Thailand, one word of caution on TV, while you can meet great people and learn a lot of ways of doing things on this forum.

There also is a bad side there are a lot of negative people on this forum, try not to rely on their posts to influence your thoughts of life in Thailand.

Give yourself a chance to get to know Thailand outside of the Falang bar scene.

Make up your own mind about Thailand and its people, if you do, you will find living in Thailand is as Welcome change from the life of the hustle and bustle of the West.

Again welcome,

Cheers:

Edited June 15, 2013 by kikoman

[Tmymaimee]

Welcome to Amazing Thailand, one word of caution on TV, while you can meet great people and learn a lot of ways of doing things on this forum.

There also is a bad side there are a lot of negative people on this forum, try not to rely on their posts to influence your thoughts of life in Thailand.

Give yourself a chance to get to know Thailand outside of the Falang bar scene.

Make up your own mind about Thailand and its people, if you do, you will find living in Thailand is as Welcome change from the life of the hustle and bustle of the West.

Again welcome,

Cheers:

Thank you. I'm not really interested in the whole bar scene as I find it pretty boring and many of the girls a little bit simpleminded. Yes, I know what you mean about some bitter people as they are here as well but I like to surround myself with positive people. I was married to a Thai for 5 years and I couldn't be happier to be on my own now. Lots of friends already living in Thailand (but working out of Hong Kong). Really looking forward to the experience.

[chrisinth]

Yep, welcome to TV Whereustay!

As you have got to the stage of building a house, I would assume that you have a Thai partner living here at this time and are up-to-date with the laws and requirements?

The reason for asking is to make sure that you have someone monitoring the building work, on a daily basis.

This is no disrespect to the builders you are using, I have no doubt that the structure will be sound, but unless monitored by a knowledgeable person, you might find that the original design turns out to be truly Original, ie, not what you wanted!. Seen this too many times; it is actually worth employing someone for this task to save on correction work at a later stage.

Certainly not trying to bring the thread down, and hope you have a great new chapter in your life over here. Where are you moving to?

[kevvy]

welcome, do you have anyone to help you on building your house , sorry to tell you , but you cannot trust alot of builders , please get some help first .Would not like to see you get hurt in your first experience here. Thailand is a wonderful place to live and when you get use to the cultuure you will find your life will change for the better.. once again welcome to the wonderful world of thailand.

[Tmymaimee]

Yep, welcome to TV Whereustay!

As you have got to the stage of building a house, I would assume that you have a Thai partner living here at this time and are up-to-date with the laws and requirements?

The reason for asking is to make sure that you have someone monitoring the building work, on a daily basis.

This is no disrespect to the builders you are using, I have no doubt that the structure will be sound, but unless monitored by a knowledgeable person, you might find that the original design turns out to be truly Original, ie, not what you wanted!. Seen this too many times; it is actually worth employing someone for this task to save on correction work at a later stage.

Certainly not trying to bring the thread down, and hope you have a great new chapter in your life over here. Where are you moving to?

Thanks..yes, I have someone I can trust at the work site every day, all day and he has built over 30 homes in the same location. The demo homes were very well done.

I have no Thai partner and intend to keep it that way for now.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Whereustay

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I have no Thai partner and intend to keep it that way for now. My Thai lawyer can put the land under my name as its less than the 1 rai maximum for foreign ownership.

No he can't you silly boy, you have been conned.

Foreigners cannot own ANY land in Thailand, not even postage stamp size.

Edited June 15, 2013 by AnotherOneAmerican

[Tmymaimee]

I have no Thai partner and intend to keep it that way for now. My Thai lawyer can put the land under my name as its less than the 1 rai maximum for foreign ownership.

No he can't you silly boy, you have been conned.

Foreigners cannot own ANY land in Thailand, not even postage stamp size.

Sorry, I edited that out earlier as that was a plan way back and forgot it had changed.

[simple1]

I have no Thai partner and intend to keep it that way for now. My Thai lawyer can put the land under my name as its less than the 1 rai maximum for foreign ownership.

No he can't you silly boy, you have been conned.

Foreigners cannot own ANY land in Thailand, not even postage stamp size.

OP: Not trying to teach you to suck eggs so I assume you have leased the land. Has the lease agreement been registered with the Land Office and before signing did you have a third party translate the agreement from Thai to English for your review?

[Tmymaimee]

I have no Thai partner and intend to keep it that way for now. My Thai lawyer can put the land under my name as its less than the 1 rai maximum for foreign ownership.

No he can't you silly boy, you have been conned.

Foreigners cannot own ANY land in Thailand, not even postage stamp size.

OP: Not trying to teach you to suck eggs so I assume you have leased the land. Has the lease agreement been registered with the Land Office and before signing did you have a third party translate the agreement from Thai to English for your review?

Thank you. I will double check because they just started work. I do know the land and house are seperate contracts and are written in both Thai and English but I checked just to make sure the Thai was translated correctly and it was fine.

[habfan]

Welcome to TV and Thailand and good luck with the house and settling in. TV is a great source of information and there is always a member willing to help out with any advice you may need.

[greg71]

Good luck to you , you will a heart of steel with what you are about to endure.

[Tmymaimee]

Good luck to you , you will a heart of steel with what you are about to endure.

Sorry, what am I about to endure? Did you have a lot of problems when you had your house built?

[boosta]

Good luck to you , you will a heart of steel with what you are about to endure.

Sorry, what am I about to endure? Did you have a lot of problems when you had your house built?

-

That's been far from straightforward for all but lucky few. But perhaps he meant the grilling you'll be getting in this thread.

If you're willing to clarify the circumstances under which you're holding the land on which you're building your house it may be helpful to many of us, and possibly yourself, to ensure that basis is secure. . .

[chrisinth]

Yep, welcome to TV Whereustay!

As you have got to the stage of building a house, I would assume that you have a Thai partner living here at this time and are up-to-date with the laws and requirements?

The reason for asking is to make sure that you have someone monitoring the building work, on a daily basis.

This is no disrespect to the builders you are using, I have no doubt that the structure will be sound, but unless monitored by a knowledgeable person, you might find that the original design turns out to be truly Original, ie, not what you wanted!. Seen this too many times; it is actually worth employing someone for this task to save on correction work at a later stage.

Certainly not trying to bring the thread down, and hope you have a great new chapter in your life over here. Where are you moving to?

Thanks..yes, I have someone I can trust at the work site every day, all day and he has built over 30 homes in the same location. The demo homes were very well done.

I have no Thai partner and intend to keep it that way for now.

Whereas there are a few ways to "Own" land here legally, there are also a lot of ways you can be conned into thinking you have something when you don't.

Make sure whatever contract you have has all the i's dotted and t's crossed. Remember, it is not recognized as a legal document here unless it is in the Thai language, so ensure the translation is absolutely correct by an authorized translation service (they will stamp the translated documents for you). Unless of course you can speak Thai already (from your previous marriage) to a level that understands Thai law.

[Tmymaimee]

At the moment I am open to any ideas on the most secure arrangement for "usage" of the land. The developer currently owns the land and will give me title after the house is complete as I am making payments as he progresses.

One of the biggest problems I have is my lawyer says she can advise me on the law but then says the actual interpretation in a courtroom can differ should problems arise later on. She also says civil proceedings can draw out for a long time so make sure everything is clear heading in. She will not even contemplate a Thai partner to own the land with a leaseback because of possible issues on the lease renewal.

All my friends rent around Bangkok so they can leave without any complications. I started this house idea with my ex wife and there was never an issue as she would own the land in her name. We never contemplated divorce and now I'm on my own as far as continuing with this property. Title to the land is still with the developer / builder.

[chrisinth]

At the moment I am open to any ideas on the most secure arrangement for "usage" of the land. The developer currently owns the land and will give me title after the house is complete as I am making payments as he progresses.

One of the biggest problems I have is my lawyer says she can advise me on the law but then says the actual interpretation in a courtroom can differ should problems arise later on. She also says civil proceedings can draw out for a long time so make sure everything is clear heading in. She will not even contemplate a Thai partner to own the land with a leaseback because of possible issues on the lease renewal.

All my friends rent around Bangkok so they can leave without any complications. I started this house idea with my ex wife and there was never an issue as she would own the land in her name. We never contemplated divorce and now I'm on my own as far as continuing with this property. Title to the land is still with the developer / builder.

Probably was a good idea on your part to post on TV.

You really need to sort this issue out right now as to who owns the land and how it is going to be transferred to your name. I would seriously question your lawyer on this and don't proceed any further until she shows you what she means by her statements.

[boosta]

Well I have to say you're open to a lot of ridicule and abuse for putting money into something without doing the proper research about the laws here.

First of all how can you be sure you can trust your lawyer? Many here are scam artists engaged in systematic fraud of foreigners in collusion with corrupt government officials, including at the land registry. The absolute worst areas for this phenomenon are those most popular with foreigners, especially Phuket, Samui and Pattaya/Chonburi.

Many many foreigners think they have control over their land under various "creative" workarounds, but if the government ever decides to really "crack down" and enforce the actual Thai law, they risk losing everything they've invested.

If you have Thais you know you can really trust to own the land on your behalf, then it's do-able with the right information and advice, but getting that is also risky and expensive.

From what I've learned the best way is to lease the land from the Thai owner for a maximum of 30 years. Everyone will tell you that a contract rider that extends for another 30 years is enforceable but it's not, only subject to the owner's agreement after the first 30 years are up.

You may well get all kinds of different advice from others, but do take it all with a grain of salt, especially if they work in (or get income from) the real estate industry.

Best of luck!

[bunta71]

Upon completion, whose name will the chanote be in? I am still trying to wrap my head around the ex-wife who never contemplated divorce.Are you still married and separated?The only two times I hired attorneys here they openly worked for the opposition. Lots of missing info here still.

Edited June 15, 2013 by bunta71

[Tmymaimee]

The lawyer is not Thai, she is falang and works at a very high end, international law firm in Bangkok. She is just saying there is the law and then the Thai factor which can skew the judgement.

If you put the land in a Thai person's name and then lease it, would it not decrease the value of the house if you chose to sell it? Also, what if the Thai land owner doesn't agree to sell the land concurrently with the house?

I never had any concerns when I started this as I just assumed like most people that the land would go in my wife's name.

[craigt3365]

As you can see, land ownership here is a bit complicated. Everybody has an opinion. And will express them loudly. There are several ways to go, including the nominee company route. Before anybody jumps down my throat, I'm not recommending it, just saying thousands of foreigners here have done this.

Since this is starting to head towards real estate, home building, land ownership, etc., I think it's best we move this over to the real estate forum. Plenty of good...and bad...advice over there. OK?

[Tmymaimee]

Upon completion, whose name will the chanote be in? I am still trying to wrap my head around the ex-wife who never contemplated divorce.Are you still married and separated?The only two times I hired attorneys here they openly worked for the opposition. Lots of missing info here still.

We are now divorced in Thailand. The divorced is settled and she is not involved at all in this house. We never used a lawyer for the divorce and are still friends.

[arthurwait]

I was going to say maybe you should try living with your wife in Thailand before buying , but she's your ex ?

You're paying money to someone for a house on land that you can never own ?

If the land is still going to be transferred to her name then she owns it all anyway and she will own it all once the divorce goes through as it was bought during marriage and you can't legally buy it.

Edit: just seen other post about divorce is settled.

Edited June 15, 2013 by arthurwait

[arthurwait]

The lawyer is not Thai, she is falang and works at a very high end, international law firm in Bangkok. She is just saying there is the law and then the Thai factor which can skew the judgement.

If you put the land in a Thai person's name and then lease it, would it not decrease the value of the house if you chose to sell it? Also, what if the Thai land owner doesn't agree to sell the land concurrently with the house?

I never had any concerns when I started this as I just assumed like most people that the land would go in my wife's name.

Foreigners can't practice law in Thailand can they ?

[Gsxrnz]

To the OP

I'm sure you now realise that you're in a predicament that is not desirable. Your situation is different to somebody "buying" a house here as you are dealing with a developer to boot. My considered advise is this, and as suggested take it with a grain of salt:

1. Don't waste too much time on this thread as you will be getting mixed and confusing advice, as well as increasing amounts of ridicule. You don't seem to have basic knowledge of the laws so much of the advice you are getting (as good as some of it is), will be confusing to you.

2. Do your own research on Google relating to Thai property ownership laws and gain at least a rudimentary understanding of what issues you are facing. Avoid publications by developers (although they are worth a read to see how they gloss over the whole situation), and focus on Thai legal sites and extracts from the actual statute books. Spend a good few hours doing this at least.

3. Relate the information you learn to the specific situation you're in with regard to any existing contracts, promises, legal opinions etc. as by then you will have a greater understanding of your predicament and what possible alternatives you have.

4. Form a list of specific and detailed questions to clarify specific options and then start a new thread here, clearly explaining the details so that those that have had similar experiences can offer informed advice.

5. After narrowing down your alternatives and with advice/opinions from TV members, find a BKK lawyer with a proven track record and discuss with them the alternatives and related risks.

Good luck