Foreigner with no Thai Bank Account Purchasing Condo

[MB1]

why buy a condo? they cost a lot more than houses, and even though you are the owner (unlike those who "buy" houses), selling it, if that becomes necessary, will probably be a big pain in the derriere.

anyone over the age of about 65 should be renting, whether housing or condo. Depending on your personal circumstances, of course.

Obviously, if you abandon permanently your country of birth, it may be wise to buy, but not necessarily.

If you are 65 and live to 85, you could rent a condo for 20 years. (Say 20,000 pm x 12 x 20 = 4,800,000. It probably would cost 6 million to buy that condo.) Case closed?

So a condo or house costing 6 mill baht and some one who bought it lives there for twenty years with no rent to pay saves 4.8 mill baht on rental at the figures you used as an example which leaves 1.2 mill baht outstanding and owner then sells on and gets back the 6 mill baht paid so if this was the case he or she would have saved 4.8 mill baht buy buying a property and having no rent to pay, me personally would use the buy a property route, paying rent is DEAD money.....

Case re-opened your honour....?....

There are other small considerations - like the interest from keeping your 6 million baht in the bank for 20 years at 3 per cent or better, and the saving by not converting it into Thai baht in the first place, plus the service charge, community fees or whatever that may not be passed on in a rental agreement, plus at age 85 you may not have the time or the mental health or the family to sell it or bequeath it, in which case it is possible that someone you wouldn't approve of will get it for nothing.

I'd still go down a buy route rather than a rental route and make sure I had a will in place and someone to bequeath to, I still say renting is dead money even though I could end up being dead before reaching 85....

[catweazle]

why buy a condo? they cost a lot more than houses, and even though you are the owner (unlike those who "buy" houses), selling it, if that becomes necessary, will probably be a big pain in the derriere.

anyone over the age of about 65 should be renting, whether housing or condo. Depending on your personal circumstances, of course.

Obviously, if you abandon permanently your country of birth, it may be wise to buy, but not necessarily.

If you are 65 and live to 85, you could rent a condo for 20 years. (Say 20,000 pm x 12 x 20 = 4,800,000. It probably would cost 6 million to buy that condo.) Case closed?

So a condo or house costing 6 mill baht and some one who bought it lives there for twenty years with no rent to pay saves 4.8 mill baht on rental at the figures you used as an example which leaves 1.2 mill baht outstanding and owner then sells on and gets back the 6 mill baht paid so if this was the case he or she would have saved 4.8 mill baht buy buying a property and having no rent to pay, me personally would use the buy a property route, paying rent is DEAD money.....

Case re-opened your honour....?....

There are other small considerations - like the interest from keeping your 6 million baht in the bank for 20 years at 3 per cent or better, and the saving by not converting it into Thai baht in the first place, plus the service charge, community fees or whatever that may not be passed on in a rental agreement, plus at age 85 you may not have the time or the mental health or the family to sell it or bequeath it, in which case it is possible that someone you wouldn't approve of will get it for nothing.

I'd still go down a buy route rather than a rental route and make sure I had a will in place and someone to bequeath to, I still say renting is dead money even though I could end up being dead before reaching 85....

MB is right - rental payments are money down the toilet. Blazes forgot in his "accounting" that by buying a condo you acquire an asset that can be sold (most likely with profit) at a later stage. The only positive point about rental that I can think of is that you are more flexible and independent since you are free leave at any time without obligations (depending on the contract length). Property and construction is my bread and butter, thus I know what I am talking about.

BTW: Money in the bank will be worth nothing in a very short time from now.

Edited August 15, 2013 by catweazle

[KittenKong]

There are other small considerations - like the interest from keeping your 6 million baht in the bank for 20 years at 3 per cent or better, and the saving by not converting it into Thai baht in the first place, plus the service charge, community fees or whatever that may not be passed on in a rental agreement, plus at age 85 you may not have the time or the mental health or the family to sell it or bequeath it, in which case it is possible that someone you wouldn't approve of will get it for nothing.

Precisely.

The interest I get from 3MB deposited at the bank more than covers my rental payments, yet if I bought my condo with the 3MB I would not be getting any interest and would have to pay the common fees, cable TV bill and repair bills, all of which are currently being paid by my landlord. As for making a profit from a sale, I know many people who have had their condos for sale for years at the price they paid for it, without success. I also know people who have sold places for less than half what they paid for them.

OK, some of them may have made a paper profit from exchange rate fluctuations, but they could have done that with cash in the bank also.

When I die my inheritors wont have to try and sell a condo at a loss from the other side of the world, they can just cash in my time-deposit.

And the real clincher for me is if someone decides to build a new condo right in front of the cracking sea view of my rented unit, or if someone decides to open a karaoke bar in the car park, or if the building management goes bad, or if the unit above mine gets invaded by Russian tap-dancers, or termites eat their way up from the basement, I will just leave the key under the mat and walk away, loosing at worst a couple of months' rent.

Edited August 15, 2013 by KittenKong

[MB1]

There are other small considerations - like the interest from keeping your 6 million baht in the bank for 20 years at 3 per cent or better, and the saving by not converting it into Thai baht in the first place, plus the service charge, community fees or whatever that may not be passed on in a rental agreement, plus at age 85 you may not have the time or the mental health or the family to sell it or bequeath it, in which case it is possible that someone you wouldn't approve of will get it for nothing.

Precisely.

The interest I get from 3MB deposited at the bank more than covers my rental payments, yet if I bought my condo with the 3MB I would not be getting any interest and would have to pay the common fees, cable TV bill and repair bills, all of which are currently being paid by my landlord. As for making a profit from a sale, I know many people who have had their condos for sale for years at the price they paid for it, without success. I also know people who have sold places for less than half what they paid for them.

OK, some of them may have made a paper profit from exchange rate fluctuations, but they could have done that with cash in the bank also.

When I die my inheritors wont have to try and sell a condo at a loss from the other side of the world, they can just cash in my time-deposit.

And the real clincher for me is if someone decides to build a new condo right in front of the cracking sea view of my rented unit, or if someone decides to open a karaoke bar in the car park, or if the building management goes bad, or if the unit above mine gets invaded by Russian tap-dancers, or termites eat their way up from the basement, I will just leave the key under the mat and walk away, loosing at worst a couple of months' rent.

"Precisely" ???...

The interest you'd receive on 3 mill yearly at 3% per annum would be approx 90,000 baht which would give you 7500 baht per month for your rent, if your happy living in a condo/house for that then good for you....But I don't think your going to get the best of condo's/house or area for 7500 baht per month rental fee,even 10,000 wont get you much, if a condo/house cost 3 mill I doubt very much you'd be able to rent it for 7500 per month, and renting a 6mill condo for a 7500 rental fee, no chance IMHO..At the end of the day some choose to rent and others choose to buy, the latter is my preference as renting is DEAD money..Buying to rent out is an even better proposition for some as the annual yields are better than having your money in the bank,,

Edited August 15, 2013 by MB1

[KittenKong]

The interest you'd receive on 3 mill yearly at 3% per annum would be approx 90,000 baht which would give you 7500 baht per month for your rent, if your happy living in a condo/house for that then good for you....But I don't think your going to get the best of condo's/house or area for 7500 baht per month rental fee,even 10,000 wont get you much, if a condo/house cost 3 mill I doubt very much you'd be able to rent it for 7500 per month, and renting a 6mill condo for a 7500 rental fee, no chance IMHO..At the end of the day some choose to rent and others choose to buy, the latter is my preference as renting is DEAD money..Buying to rent out is an even better proposition for some as the annual yields are better than having your money in the bank,,

Actually I get 4.6% for my deposits which almost exactly equals the rent I pay for my condo, which the owner thinks is worth 3MB. He then pays the agent, the common fees, the cable TV fee and repairs.

YMMV but not everyone is stupid enough to pay more than 5% of market value as rent. I certainly wouldn't: there are far too many empty units around for that.

[KittenKong]

The Tor Tor Sam is not required to export the funds the paper issued by the land office at the conclusion of the transfer which contains details of the transaction such as the price paid i.e. monies received (which is the amount that can be exported) is in practice , in my experience, sufficient.

But if you dont have an FEC/TT3 then you could be exporting money that was never imported in the first place. You aren't supposed to be able to do that.

And you cant buy a farang name unit without an FEC anyway (except by resorting to illegal procedures).

[MB1]

The interest you'd receive on 3 mill yearly at 3% per annum would be approx 90,000 baht which would give you 7500 baht per month for your rent, if your happy living in a condo/house for that then good for you....But I don't think your going to get the best of condo's/house or area for 7500 baht per month rental fee,even 10,000 wont get you much, if a condo/house cost 3 mill I doubt very much you'd be able to rent it for 7500 per month, and renting a 6mill condo for a 7500 rental fee, no chance IMHO..At the end of the day some choose to rent and others choose to buy, the latter is my preference as renting is DEAD money..Buying to rent out is an even better proposition for some as the annual yields are better than having your money in the bank,,

Actually I get 4.6% for my deposits which almost exactly equals the rent I pay for my condo, which the owner thinks is worth 3MB. He then pays the agent, the common fees, the cable TV fee and repairs.

YMMV but not everyone is stupid enough to pay more than 5% of market value as rent. I certainly wouldn't: there are far too many empty units around for that.

Okay so you rent, up to you, you have your money invested in a bank or with other financial institutions, what you going to do if the bank goes bust or whoever you invest with goes bust, how much are you going to get back if this happens, an example for you, in the UK under the FSCS scheme I believe I'd get back 8.5% compensation, now if I have a million UK pounds in the bank I only get back £85,000, what's the percentage in Thailand if this happens, what will you get if a bank or other finanancial Institution you have your money invested whithin Thailand goes bust ...??.. Is it 1 million Baht with the new rule brought in...???

Now if I bought property for cash and own it outright , how much would I lose... Just a thought...

Edited August 15, 2013 by MB1

[MB1]

For those who are interested in what you might receive back under Thai law if a bank goes bust I've copied and pasted the below, source Wikipedia..Which also covers many other countries...One of if not the safest Is Ireland, where your covered 100%, guarenteed by the government I believe..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deposit_insurance

The complete deposit protecion system was introduced in Thailand by the establishment of the Deposit Protection Agency (DPA) on 11 August 2008, in accordance with the Deposit Protection Agency Act B.E. 2551. The objectives of the Agency as specified by law are providing protection to deposits in financial institutions system; administration of institutions subject to control under the Financial Institutions Businesses Act and liquidation of financial institutions whose licenses have been revoked. Deposit in Thailand is fully guaranteed until 10 August 2011. From 11 August 2011 until 10 August 2012, the coverage drops to 50 million baht per depositor per bank. Thereafter, coverage is limited to THB one million per depositor per bank....

So spread your money around the banks and don't put all your eggs in one basket, seems safer to me...

Edited August 15, 2013 by MB1

[Dork]

BTW: Money in the bank will be worth nothing in a very short time from now.

Thanks, that's excellent news. I owe the bank lots of it.

[besth]

Open a Thai bank account or send the money to the seller account. In both cases you have legal proof. second option

good luck to get it back if he doesn't deliver.

[KittenKong]

....what you going to do if the bank goes bust or whoever you invest with goes bust, how much are you going to get back if this happens, an example for you, in the UK under the FSCS scheme I believe I'd get back 8.5% compensation, now if I have a million UK pounds in the bank I only get back £85,000, what's the percentage in Thailand if this happens, what will you get if a bank or other finanancial Institution you have your money invested whithin Thailand goes bust ...??.. Is it 1 million Baht with the new rule brought in...???

I have several deposit accounts in the UK, and all except one are just below the 85,000GBP maximum for 100% deposit protection. I have faith in these on the principle that if things get so bad that the British government cant honour that protection then we will all be completely buggered anyway.

I have a much smaller amount in Thai banks (enough to cover about 3 years of my total expenditure here) and all of this is covered 100% by Thai bank deposit protection, in which I have somewhat less faith (as far as I know this cover has been recently extended to 100% up to 50MB, per bank per depositor). I actually never go above 1MB per Thai bank, which was the level of cover that was supposed to be in force at this time.

And about 25% of my investments are in things that offer no capital protection at all.

[KittenKong]

From 11 August 2011 until 10 August 2012, the coverage drops to 50 million baht per depositor per bank. Thereafter, coverage is limited to THB one million per depositor per bank....

I think you will find that the 50MB cover has been extended and is still valid.

[MB1]

From 11 August 2011 until 10 August 2012, the coverage drops to 50 million baht per depositor per bank. Thereafter, coverage is limited to THB one million per depositor per bank....

I think you will find that the 50MB cover has been extended and is still valid.

Link to valid website please...

[MB1]

....what you going to do if the bank goes bust or whoever you invest with goes bust, how much are you going to get back if this happens, an example for you, in the UK under the FSCS scheme I believe I'd get back 8.5% compensation, now if I have a million UK pounds in the bank I only get back £85,000, what's the percentage in Thailand if this happens, what will you get if a bank or other finanancial Institution you have your money invested whithin Thailand goes bust ...??.. Is it 1 million Baht with the new rule brought in...???

I have several deposit accounts in the UK, and all except one are just below the 85,000GBP maximum for 100% deposit protection. I have faith in these on the principle that if things get so bad that the British government cant honour that protection then we will all be completely buggered anyway.

I have a much smaller amount in Thai banks (enough to cover about 3 years of my total expenditure here) and all of this is covered 100% by Thai bank deposit protection, in which I have somewhat less faith (as far as I know this cover has been recently extended to 100% up to 50MB, per bank per depositor). I actually never go above 1MB per Thai bank, which was the level of cover that was supposed to be in force at this time.

And about 25% of my investments are in things that offer no capital protection at all.

Nice to know your spreading your eggs in the UK and are not all in one basket, I also hope you know which banks, building society brands, financial institutions are sharing the same FCA authorisation because if several brands share the same banking licence and you have money in more than one of those you'll only be able to claim up to a total of £85,000 as the sole account holder if things went wrong, there are different rules for joint accounts.

As an example which I believe is correct, if you had savings in the Bank of Scotland, Halifax, Birmingham Midshires (BM Savings) and the AA Financial Savings then you'd only be able to claim up to a total of £85,000 across those brands because they all operate under the deposit taking banking licence of the Royal Bank Of Scotland plc. RBS also has other brands which share the same FCA authorisation.

.

If you banked with First Direct and HSBC, then you only get to claim £85,000 total as an individual account holder as HSBC hold the FCA licence for both.

There are other licence holders in the UK who also have other brands so unless you know who's who you could end up out of pocket if things went wrong.

[54321]

Case well and truely open

It all depends on if you have the 6 million now and your personal situation

Based on your figures, at 65 years old I would rather buy and have an asset that appreciates as opposed to waking up at 85 and finding my 6 million has depleted to just 1.2million

why buy a condo? they cost a lot more than houses, and even though you are the owner (unlike those who "buy" houses), selling it, if that becomes necessary, will probably be a big pain in the derriere.

anyone over the age of about 65 should be renting, whether housing or condo. Depending on your personal circumstances, of course.

Obviously, if you abandon permanently your country of birth, it may be wise to buy, but not necessarily.

If you are 65 and live to 85, you could rent a condo for 20 years. (Say 20,000 pm x 12 x 20 = 4,800,000. It probably would cost 6 million to buy that condo.) Case closed?

[NeverSure]

There are other small considerations - like the interest from keeping your 6 million baht in the bank for 20 years at 3 per cent or better, and the saving by not converting it into Thai baht in the first place, plus the service charge, community fees or whatever that may not be passed on in a rental agreement, plus at age 85 you may not have the time or the mental health or the family to sell it or bequeath it, in which case it is possible that someone you wouldn't approve of will get it for nothing.

Precisely.

The interest I get from 3MB deposited at the bank more than covers my rental payments, yet if I bought my condo with the 3MB I would not be getting any interest and would have to pay the common fees, cable TV bill and repair bills, all of which are currently being paid by my landlord. As for making a profit from a sale, I know many people who have had their condos for sale for years at the price they paid for it, without success. I also know people who have sold places for less than half what they paid for them.

OK, some of them may have made a paper profit from exchange rate fluctuations, but they could have done that with cash in the bank also.

When I die my inheritors wont have to try and sell a condo at a loss from the other side of the world, they can just cash in my time-deposit.

And the real clincher for me is if someone decides to build a new condo right in front of the cracking sea view of my rented unit, or if someone decides to open a karaoke bar in the car park, or if the building management goes bad, or if the unit above mine gets invaded by Russian tap-dancers, or termites eat their way up from the basement, I will just leave the key under the mat and walk away, loosing at worst a couple of months' rent.

"Precisely" ???...

The interest you'd receive on 3 mill yearly at 3% per annum would be approx 90,000 baht which would give you 7500 baht per month for your rent, if your happy living in a condo/house for that then good for you....But I don't think your going to get the best of condo's/house or area for 7500 baht per month rental fee,even 10,000 wont get you much, if a condo/house cost 3 mill I doubt very much you'd be able to rent it for 7500 per month, and renting a 6mill condo for a 7500 rental fee, no chance IMHO..At the end of the day some choose to rent and others choose to buy, the latter is my preference as renting is DEAD money..Buying to rent out is an even better proposition for some as the annual yields are better than having your money in the bank,,

Buying is dead money if this condo bubble crashes. Look around you. You sound like the guys in the US just before the housing crash. Real estate always goes up so buy, buy, buy. But I see way too many condos and way too many starts and I'm on the sidelines.

But what does this have to do with the OP's unworkable question about transferring money in improperly and perhaps with great risk through a friend to buy a condo?

I smell money laundering/tax evasion or something which would cause someone to not want a bank account in LOS for the sake of doing a clean deal and doing the paperwork so he could later get his money out.

But as always I could be wrong.

Edited August 16, 2013 by NeverSure

[KittenKong]

It all depends on if you have the 6 million now and your personal situation

Based on your figures, at 65 years old I would rather buy and have an asset that appreciates as opposed to waking up at 85 and finding my 6 million has depleted to just 1.2million

There are a lot of "ifs" there. Like I said, I know many people who were unable to sell their Thai property at the price they paid for it.

And living to 85 is not exactly a certainty in my book.

[KittenKong]

I also hope you know which banks, building society brands, financial institutions are sharing the same FCA authorisation ....

I do, thanks.

[Straight8]

Who's to say that condo you paid 5 million baht for now won't be less when time comes to sell, unless you think the price of property is undervalued in Thailand / BKK.

I see ads, starting from 150,000 per Sq. for condos being built. Now that sounds like a bargin!!

If your confident making 5% + with the money you would otherwise use to buy a condo in Thailand, avoid risks and rent.

[Dork]

Transferring funds out of Thailand is not an issue these days. My branch no longer asks me for a reason as long as I'm transferring to an account in my own name. I'm not sure if the BOT form that they fill out asks for a reason but if it does my bank must just make up the reason themselves.

At least with Kasikorn, I can also transfer out of Thailand up to THB1M per day online with no human interaction and no questions asked. That facility needs to be prearranged but I recall it was pretty painless to setup.

[ThaidDown]

From 11 August 2011 until 10 August 2012, the coverage drops to 50 million baht per depositor per bank. Thereafter, coverage is limited to THB one million per depositor per bank....

I think you will find that the 50MB cover has been extended and is still valid.

Link to valid website please...

50 mill cover extended to Aug 2015, previously covered on Thaivisa http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/607556-50m-baht-thai-bank-deposit-ins-extended-to-2015/

DPA website was source for quote in the TV post but cannot access from here at the moment. For info that url is http://www.dpa.or.th/more_news.php?cid=42&filename=index___EN

[KittenKong]

Transferring funds out of Thailand is not an issue these days. My branch no longer asks me for a reason as long as I'm transferring to an account in my own name. I'm not sure if the BOT form that they fill out asks for a reason but if it does my bank must just make up the reason themselves.

Fair enough, but even so if you dont have the FEC then you cant buy a farang-name condo unit (unless you resort to some sort of trickery).

Personally I wouldn't touch company ownership structures with the proverbial bargepole so the FEC is a sine qua non.

[MB1]

From 11 August 2011 until 10 August 2012, the coverage drops to 50 million baht per depositor per bank. Thereafter, coverage is limited to THB one million per depositor per bank....

I think you will find that the 50MB cover has been extended and is still valid.

Link to valid website please...

50 mill cover extended to Aug 2015, previously covered on Thaivisa http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/607556-50m-baht-thai-bank-deposit-ins-extended-to-2015/

DPA website was source for quote in the TV post but cannot access from here at the moment. For info that url is http://www.dpa.or.th/more_news.php?cid=42&filename=index___EN

Thank you..

Edited August 16, 2013 by MB1

[tropic1000]

if you live in HK, i would consider to have a Thai attorney prepare a contract, and verify the terms of the transaction to be sure you are getting the deal you want.

Many reputable attorneys also offer a trust account, where you can transfer the money in the name of the law firm prior to the transaction. The funds are then used by the attorney at the time of transfer.

An example is Somphob Law in Bangkok. I have used them many times, and it removes much of the risk and should solve your bank problem.

Edited August 16, 2013 by tropic1000

[Pawpal]

if you live in HK, i would consider to have a Thai attorney prepare a contract, and verify the terms of the transaction to be sure you are getting the deal you want.

Many reputable attorneys also offer a trust account, where you can transfer the money in the name of the law firm prior to the transaction. The funds are then used by the attorney at the time of transfer.

An example is Somphob Law in Bangkok. I have used them many times, and it removes much of the risk and should solve your bank problem.

Finally, after over 50 responses -- most of them off-topic, petty, and totally worthless in terms of addressing the original question -- a post that actually provides some useful information. Thanks so much!

[tropic1000]

I know this is a bit off topic but while the funding via a trust account has really worked well, it is really just one benefit of the lawyer.

The idea of using a lawyer to reduce risk, especially for foreigner involvement, has many facets and applies to everyone whether you live in Thailand or not.

Here are some of the issues and risks where buyers can benefit from some professional help in Thailand: [1] there is no western style escrow system in common practice [i.e. your team must verify all deal points, the documents and the property beforehand], [2] there is generally very poor disclosure incentive/compliance by the seller, [3] valuations are tricky because of historically unreliable transaction records and [4] you are usually best off to negotiate the transfer taxes/fees at the same time as the price and terms [5] you want to be sure to protect your deposit and [6] that you have a strong contract such that seller is legally bound to deliver and not sell to someone else.

The actual transfer process is pretty basic, the buyer brings the money and the seller brings the deed, you lay them out on a table at the land office, and the officer massages the documents for a few hours and voila, transaction complete. For me, i give a power of attorney to my lawyer and let him go to the land office too. With all the potential things that could go wrong, it's better to have the lawyer check every thing and do the calculations first, otherwise? surprise surprise can rears its head or the deal can fall apart. A lawyer does add some cost to the deal, but it does reduce risk.

Good luck!

Edited August 16, 2013 by tropic1000

[Pawpal]

I know this is a bit off topic but while the funding via a trust account has really worked well, it is really just one benefit of the lawyer.

The idea of using a lawyer to reduce risk, especially for foreigner involvement, has many facets and applies to everyone whether you live in Thailand or not.

Here are some of the issues and risks where buyers can benefit from some professional help in Thailand: [1] there is no western style escrow system in common practice [i.e. your team must verify all deal points, the documents and the property beforehand], [2] there is generally very poor disclosure incentive/compliance by the seller, [3] valuations are tricky because of historically unreliable transaction records and [4] you are usually best off to negotiate the transfer taxes/fees at the same time as the price and terms [5] you want to be sure to protect your deposit and [6] that you have a strong contract such that seller is legally bound to deliver and not sell to someone else.

The actual transfer process is pretty basic, the buyer brings the money and the seller brings the deed, you lay them out on a table at the land office, and the officer massages the documents for a few hours and voila, transaction complete. For me, i give a power of attorney to my lawyer and let him go to the land office too. With all the potential things that could go wrong, it's better to have the lawyer check every thing and do the calculations first, otherwise? surprise surprise can rears its head or the deal can fall apart. A lawyer does add some cost to the deal, but it does reduce risk.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the excellent advice.

I know it varies from case to case, but any idea how much the lawyer's fee would be for a relatively straight-forward condo transaction involving the resale of a unit in an already completed building in Bangkok (both seller and buyer are foreigners)?

[jonjo]

I know this is a bit off topic but while the funding via a trust account has really worked well, it is really just one benefit of the lawyer.

The idea of using a lawyer to reduce risk, especially for foreigner involvement, has many facets and applies to everyone whether you live in Thailand or not.

Here are some of the issues and risks where buyers can benefit from some professional help in Thailand: [1] there is no western style escrow system in common practice [i.e. your team must verify all deal points, the documents and the property beforehand], [2] there is generally very poor disclosure incentive/compliance by the seller, [3] valuations are tricky because of historically unreliable transaction records and [4] you are usually best off to negotiate the transfer taxes/fees at the same time as the price and terms [5] you want to be sure to protect your deposit and [6] that you have a strong contract such that seller is legally bound to deliver and not sell to someone else.

The actual transfer process is pretty basic, the buyer brings the money and the seller brings the deed, you lay them out on a table at the land office, and the officer massages the documents for a few hours and voila, transaction complete. For me, i give a power of attorney to my lawyer and let him go to the land office too. With all the potential things that could go wrong, it's better to have the lawyer check every thing and do the calculations first, otherwise? surprise surprise can rears its head or the deal can fall apart. A lawyer does add some cost to the deal, but it does reduce risk.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the excellent advice.

I know it varies from case to case, but any idea how much the lawyer's fee would be for a relatively straight-forward condo transaction involving the resale of a unit in an already completed building in Bangkok (both seller and buyer are foreigners)?

I just completed on a condo deal last week both myself and seller are foriegners and I paid b25,000 lawyers fees in Pattaya good service well worth it, as tropic says.... reduced risk.