Buying a house in the wife's name but she's not working - advice request please

[mattk1]

Hi guys,

My situation is this;

I would like to buy a house on a new Moo Bahn estate I have seen but I don't want to buy it with cash (I don't have the cash!) so I was wondering of a way to be able to have my wife buy it with a mortgage.

The problem is she doesn't work at the moment as she is a full time mum to our 1 year old boy and we have another due in November. She will go back to work eventually but for now I want her to take care of the kids.

I know that borrowing from a bank requires the applicant to be in work and to also have wage slips. I had this checked by a Thai friend who works at a government bank.

My idea was to perhaps put around 15k Baht into my wife's own bank account every month for say 6 months, and then to say that she earns this money by either renting out land or maybe even selling some product over the internet.

Problem is no wage slips as she would be seen as self employed if we went ahead with my idea.

Have any of you guys been in a similar position and got round it or do you think my idea could work?

I know some will say don't bother to buy etc etc but really I have my reasons and with my rapidly expanding family I am keen to get somewhere solid sorted out.

I do appreciate anyone's offer of advice and opinion - good or bad.

Thanks a lot !

[CWMcMurray]

Do you work in Thailand with WO and decent salary?

If so, may still be possible to get a mortgage

Best thing to do is go to the moo Baan sales office and fill out the mortgage paperwork

As they will have preferred banks and relationships to help push through if "borderline"

If the Moo Baan sales tells you can not get approved through "their preferred lender", likely little chance you could do it on your own applying to bank directly

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[CWMcMurray]

Above should say.....Do you work in Thailand with valid WP (work permit)....

Wouldn't let me modify post....

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[meatboy]

have you got the cash or not? you say you dont want to but with cash,then in brackets you state you dont have cash.if you got a regular income and a thai bank acc.enough for a deposit then i would asume there shouldnt be a problem,as for arranging through the owners of the moo-ban just be wary of what they offer you,like the community charge or not enough for the deposit there are some on our moo-ban that are paying 1% a month thats 12% a yr.

[mattk1]

CWMcMurray,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. You may have given us a little bit of hope with your suggestion

As you asked, yes I do currently work here with a work permit, as for the decent salary.. well it used to be until some major cut backs this year. However in Thai terms it's still a good wage.

My reason for wanting to get a place is sorted is because I want to go off and work out of country for a little while. I would feel much happier about doing so in the knowledge that I have taken care of my wife and kids properly.

[marcusd]

Hi guys,

 

My situation is this;

 

I would like to buy a house on a new Moo Bahn estate I have seen but I don't want to buy it with cash (I don't have the cash!) so I was wondering of a way to be able to have my wife buy it with a mortgage.

 

The problem is she doesn't work at the moment as she is a full time mum to our 1 year old boy and we have another due in November. She will go back to work eventually but for now I want her to take care of the kids.

 

I know that borrowing from a bank requires the applicant to be in work and to also have wage slips. I had this checked by a Thai friend who works at a government bank.

 

My idea was to perhaps put around 15k Baht into my wife's own bank account every month for say 6 months, and then to say that she earns this money by either renting out land or maybe even selling some product over the internet.

 

Problem is no wage slips as she would be seen as self employed if we went ahead with my idea.

 

Have any of you guys been in a similar position and got round it or do you think my idea could work?

 

I know some will say don't bother to buy etc etc but really I have my reasons and with my rapidly expanding family I am keen to get somewhere solid sorted out.

 

I do appreciate anyone's offer of advice and opinion - good or bad.

 

Thanks a lot !

 

 

You want to buy a house but no I.come or no money??' DANGEROUS GROUND IN A FOREIGN LAND

You can deposit each month but you will 20000baht salary to.her .

Also depends on how much the house is.

Ask the moo baan sales office. They want risk seek and don't care who pays. Understand you well no protection only love.

Sent from my GT-N7000B using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[mattk1]

Meatboy thanks for the reply.

To clarify, i don't have the cash unfortunately. However i do have the regular income and and a Thai account etc. As for the deposit, depending on how much they require I can sort that out.

I think we will take a trip to the Moo Bahn we like and have a chat with the sales office people..

[Gsxrnz]

I am always confused by the "need" to buy a house whether that be in Thailand or anywhere. And I'll leave out my opinions as to buying a house that cannot be in your name.

Question - do you have sufficient for a deposit? If not, you're screwed anyway. You have an income. Income equates to cashflow. You are therefore able to pay rent, or hypothetically pay a mortgage. If your cashflow reduces and you rent, you have the opportunity to relocate to a cheaper form of rental at no cost. If you own, the chances are that you will have the house taken from you, possibly sold off cheap - you lose the deposit, you lose your principal payments, you/wife get a bad credit rating.

It seems to me that you're not in a financial position commensurate with home ownership (insurance, maintenance, mortgage, village charges etc.). You only have cashflow and from what you have said, little if anything in the way of emergency or fallback cash.

Home ownership is a lifestyle choice. It should rarely be considered an investment. If you have the cash/assets to support that lifestyle choice then go for it. If you don't have the cash/assets/income to ensure that you can safely pay the mortgage and still remain solvent EVEN AFTER ALLOWING FOR THINGS SUCH AS LOSS OF JOB OR INABILITY TO EARN, then pay rent and let the property owner worry about all the ownership issues.

[mattk1]

Gsxrnz, very sound advice my friend, thank you. I like this forum a lot as it often sparks two very different sides of people's opinions and gives me more to think about.

Your assessment of my financial position is almost spot on.

[Huayrat]

I'm doing the same as you and putting 30k in my wife's account every month.. After 6 months you can apply for credit.. Her Aunty owns a business and so is going to say she works there.. Goodluck

[mattk1]

Thanks Huayrat, good luck to you too!

Won't the bank ask to see wage slips though when you apply? Unless her aunty can knock them up for her?

[meatboy]

Gsxrnz, very sound advice my friend, thank you. I like this forum a lot as it often sparks two very different sides of people's opinions and gives me more to think about.

Your assessment of my financial position is almost spot on.

this is good advice,we are lucky that we are financialy pretty well off,we were thinking about buying another property to rent out as there are always farangs around our moo-ban and the ones nearby that want to rent,but there are so many going emtpy you are lucky to get around 4-5% for your investment.so have a look round and price some rental property's you will find some good deals,our moo-ban is one of the most wanted place to live yet bungalows are renting for 8k.

[Huayrat]

Thanks Huayrat, good luck to you too!

Won't the bank ask to see wage slips though when you apply? Unless her aunty can knock them up for her?

We haven't got around to applying yet but if they need wage slips then her Aunty will knock them up for us... When she opened her bank account they said if you put in a minimum of 15k over 6 months then you can apply for a housing loan.. So you seem to be on the right track..

Best wishes David

[Soutpeel]

I am always confused by the "need" to buy a house whether that be in Thailand or anywhere. And I'll leave out my opinions as to buying a house that cannot be in your name.

Question - do you have sufficient for a deposit? If not, you're screwed anyway. You have an income. Income equates to cashflow. You are therefore able to pay rent, or hypothetically pay a mortgage. If your cashflow reduces and you rent, you have the opportunity to relocate to a cheaper form of rental at no cost. If you own, the chances are that you will have the house taken from you, possibly sold off cheap - you lose the deposit, you lose your principal payments, you/wife get a bad credit rating.

It seems to me that you're not in a financial position commensurate with home ownership (insurance, maintenance, mortgage, village charges etc.). You only have cashflow and from what you have said, little if anything in the way of emergency or fallback cash.

Home ownership is a lifestyle choice. It should rarely be considered an investment. If you have the cash/assets to support that lifestyle choice then go for it. If you don't have the cash/assets/income to ensure that you can safely pay the mortgage and still remain solvent EVEN AFTER ALLOWING FOR THINGS SUCH AS LOSS OF JOB OR INABILITY TO EARN, then pay rent and let the property owner worry about all the ownership issues.

All good advice here but let me give the practical solution to your question of mortages which is factually correct related to mortages from SCB, but granted this was quite a few years ago, as I went through this process

SCB will grant your Mrs a mortgage even if she is not working provided you are working in Thailand on a WP and can provide 12 months payslips,and your company provides a letter which basically states you are on long term employment, you will have to counter-sign the loan and only your income is considered, you dont need to be married and you possibly can get a 100% mortgage and the only upfront money are some admin fee's which in my case totalled around THB 55,000.

The one thing I dont know is what the income threshold is in this sort of case..ie if your earning below a certain amount of money they will not give her the mortgage.

In my case the whole process took about 6 weeks and only had to go the bank once to sign and was a pretty easy process...12 months payslips, copy of PP/WP, letter from the company, and my Mrs & the bank took care of everything else

[colin2]

I am always confused by the "need" to buy a house whether that be in Thailand or anywhere. And I'll leave out my opinions as to buying a house that cannot be in your name.

Question - do you have sufficient for a deposit? If not, you're screwed anyway. You have an income. Income equates to cashflow. You are therefore able to pay rent, or hypothetically pay a mortgage. If your cashflow reduces and you rent, you have the opportunity to relocate to a cheaper form of rental at no cost. If you own, the chances are that you will have the house taken from you, possibly sold off cheap - you lose the deposit, you lose your principal payments, you/wife get a bad credit rating.

It seems to me that you're not in a financial position commensurate with home ownership (insurance, maintenance, mortgage, village charges etc.). You only have cashflow and from what you have said, little if anything in the way of emergency or fallback cash.

Home ownership is a lifestyle choice. It should rarely be considered an investment. If you have the cash/assets to support that lifestyle choice then go for it. If you don't have the cash/assets/income to ensure that you can safely pay the mortgage and still remain solvent EVEN AFTER ALLOWING FOR THINGS SUCH AS LOSS OF JOB OR INABILITY TO EARN, then pay rent and let the property owner worry about all the ownership issues.

gsxrnz s advice is on the nail. You obviously don't have the finances to play with the big boys !. Just rent. If you screw up then you loose, simple as !.

[johnnyk]

For those putting money into a Thai woman's bank account, chok dee mak mak.

10-1 it won't be there in six months, or not much of it anyway. Up to you.

[bunnydrops]

Anyone in family to co-sign?

[belg]

pay slips is not a paper statement from a bank that she "got" some small 15k a month;..

keep renting something, less problems in the short and long run

don't live above your means

[MrRealDeal]

Banks want to lend and make as much as possible if you have to lie to get a loan your odds of not being able to repay it skyrocket.

[fatalan1]

I bought a condo last November for 800k, borrowed 950k to cover costs and a bit of deco. We tried many banks with only SCB willing to take a chance on a farang. The income thresh hold is 50k a month. The banks don't want to lend to foreigners! We heard every excuse going to knock us back with many saying about it's illegal to lend to a foreigner so we had to have my wife's name as owner and me paying the morgage. My wife is in the same position as yours, gave up work to look after our son. The 950k was the limit the bank were willing to risk on a foriegn husband / Thai wife combination. We wanted a house but every moo ban wanted either cash 100% or minimum 30% deposit on a high salary for this combination.

[LawrenceChee]

I agree with most posters here ...renting seems to be the wiser financial options for you

[Smee]

My advice: rent, don't buy.

I speak as the purchaser of a house (for cash) in Thailand that is in my wife's name and which has now been mortgaged, twice, by my wife without my knowldge or consent.

The security I sought for my children has now become a liability and neither I nor they have any control over the property at all,

Its cheaper to rent in Thaland, you will simply be buying (morgtaging in your case) a property for your wife's family that they will most probably regard as a family asset to use as colateral for the financing of new pick up trucks, cash loans or simply as something to sell whenever they need a little extra. There is zero security for your kids if you buy a house for your wife. I don't care how much you love her or how much you trust her - remember that there is no such thing as a Trust Fund or equivalent under Thai law. If you die, it goes to your wife, not the kids. If you were both to die, in a car crash, for example, it goes to her mother,,. not the kids.

If you want to secure your children's futire in case of incapacity or death, buy an appropriate life insurance policy - and don't tell the wife about it.

Rent. Or perhaps buy a condo that you can own in your name and make a will through a reputable lawyer that protects your children's intersts and ownership rights to the condo as best as possible. But don't buy a house unless you can afford to regard it as a non-returnable gift to your wife and/or her family, which is almost certainly how they will view it.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Smee

[Maseratimartin]

All to complicated...

Only money every month for 6 months means nothing without the proof of employment.

But you should know that banks check the employer...and if aunty has only a nudle shop and you want to fool them with 15-30K salaries....???....good luck.

If aunty is realy good enough to qualify as employer, so why not simply guaranty for the loan.

[davidkas]

You can do it. I work outside Thailand and dont have a work permit. The Kasikorn and Siam Commercial Banks offer mortgages. You need 20% deposit and money to cover the costs of transfer fees etc. You need at least 6 months pay slips and information on the company you work for. I work for an Internationally recognized company so it probably helped. I got a 4Mil mortgage on a 5mil property.

Hope this helps, any questions PM me as I dont review the sight that often.

[sam1973]

I agree that you should discuss this with the housing estate sales office. They will have preferred lenders and preferred rates. As long as you are validly working, have an appropriate deposit, and are willing to guarantor the loan, this should not be an issue. I have done this myself thru Bangkok Bank. But don't be surprised if the deposit percent required is much higher, and the term much lower, than perhaps you are used to back home. You may also find your repayments are calculated on an inflated fixed rate, even if your mortgage is variable. All of these things are to reduce risk to the bank. Simply put you will pay the home off faster. You may also find the deposit percent is substantially higher if you go above BHT $10M.

[bitcoinbob]

Best advice is to rent , way too much overbuilding going on , and part of the government populist mental getting banks to loan 105 % of purchase price for thais, looks like 2007 United States before the big break in real estate. be patient prices will be a lot lower

[lucjoker]

if you buy a little house of 1.5 mill bht and loan it from the bank ,than you will pay about 3 mill bht back to the bank in 25 years.

The house however will not be owned by you or your wife for at least 25 y !

25 years you will be bound by hands and feed ,wile the house will never be yours.

If all went well ,you still have nothing, it's your wifes,so keep good care of your wife,she 's the boss !

If something happens ,you loose it anyway !

So min 10 000 bht every month to the bank

about 50 000 bht to take care of your little family

so minimal 60 000 bht net salary needed for your dream.

If i had 100 000 bht/month i would not even risk it.

[NCFC]

rent every time. you can't predict the future.

[sam1973]

Some of you blocks must have miserable lives. The poor guy asked about buying a house, not advice on how risky his marriage was, or who owns what in 25 years. Would you carry on the same way with a woman from your own country, or are you just arrogant with Thai woman?

[F4UCorsair]

Rent! Rent!! Rent!!! Rent!!!! Rent!!!!! Rent!!!!!!

I haven't read all the thread, but I'd be renting. if you don't have the cash, then don't get mixed up with borrowing via a convoluted path that will likely leave you with nothing in the event of a bust up.

Additional to that, you don't have any worries about falling property values, rising interest rates, greedy relatives, or you being worth more dead than alive.

If you do have the money, and for whatever reason feel you MUST buy, lend it to your partner (paperwork first), secure it with a water tight loan agreement, and a mortgage for far in excess of the market price of the house, firstly to allow for inflation that would not require a new agreement for many years, and secondly, prevent further loans being taken out against the property.

Sam, having been divorced and donated a massive amount to my ex (my income exceeded hers by a factor of 6 to 1 but she got 50%!!) I would treat any woman here exactly that way, along with a prenuptial agreement that trussed her up so tight she wouldn't be able to touch anything of mine. If she wasn't happy with that, I wouldn't be happy with her.

I can't get rid of the treble line spacing, something to do with the 36 point font in the first line.

Edited June 24, 2013 by F4UCorsair