Condo Purchase

[johnnort]

Ladies and Gentlemen, My wife and I have bought and sold four houses in Thailand but I understand our next project, the purchase of a condo, follows different rules. I am aware of the positive implications of being able to register the sale in the name of a foreigner if there are Thai/Foreigner trust issues, but here is what I am not sure of. Are there any additional costs and hassles involved in purchasing a foreigner owned and registered condo and putting it into a Thai name? It is not as stupid as it sounds as I do have valid reasons. And conversely, if the condo is owned and registered in a Thai name, at the point of resale, are additional costs and hassles involved if a foreigner then wishes to purchase the condo and register it in his/her name? Would this complicate the issue? Thank you in advance for your comments.

[Delight]

There will never be a problem registering a condo in a Thai Name -one that was originally in Foreign name. The restriction is 49% foreign-no restriction with respect to Thai allocation.

Going the other way -Thai to Foreign ,again no problem if 'space' in the foreign allocation is still available.

The chances are,however, that the 'space' in foreign allocation that you originally created will now have been taken to the advantage of others. Its all down to the availability of foreign 'space'

The cost of transfer ,in either direction ('space wise) ,is unaffected.

[KittenKong]

"Are there any additional costs and hassles involved in purchasing a foreigner owned and registered condo and putting it into a Thai name? It is not as stupid as it sounds as I do have valid reasons."

It certainly does sound stupid, but I'll take your word that it isn't.

But why not just buy a Thai-quota unit in the first place? Such a unit would normally be cheaper in a building where the farang quota is maxed out. Of course if the farang quota isnt maxed out then it is a complete non-issue anyway.

Apart from that the answer is "no", but you are just throwing money away if you do it in a building where the farang quota is full.

[davejones]

If it's foreign-owned now and part, it could be worth more than a similar Thai owned condo in the same building. If you buy in Thai name and then another condo transfers from Thai to foreigner, you may only be ab;e to sell to a Thai in the future. And the condo could then be worth less. Depends on current allocation, future buyers, etc. If the condos are popular with foreigners, maybe best to keep in foreigner name, as will be easier to sell to another foreigner in the future.

[bocceball1]

"if the condo is owned and registered in a Thai name, at the point of resale, are additional costs and hassles involved if a foreigner then wishes to purchase the condo and register it in his/her name?"

At the point of sale ....costs and hassles, are the same. Only difference, though, as pointed out above, is to make sure the foreign quota is under 49%. For that you should hire an attorney to search ALL the properties in the building to see who owns what and to verify that the quota is still open for foreigners to buy. Don't rely on the seller asserting that the quota has not been met.....Now, with that being said I don't think (and I don't know) if the land title office keeps a running tab of condo ownership (Thai vs foreigner) ....I say this because there are probably many condo's where transfers have taken place from Thai to foreigner where the quota has already be met....be careful, if they ever audit, could cause a problem in the future.