Who On Here Has Bought A Condo? What Are The Conditions Of Purchase?

[Farside]

I keep getting conflickting evidence from diffent people, Someone on this forum has said i can buy a condo in my own name and it is MINE, I own it. But on another website i was given this info:

In order to purchase a condominium certain requirements must be met, for example:

1: A foreigner has permanent residence in Thailand in accordance with Thai Immigration Law, or

2: A foreigner is allowed into or resides in Thailand in accordance with Thai Investment Promotion Law, or

3: A foreign legal entity is in accordance with the Announcement of the Foreign Business Act BE 2542 (AD 1999), and has been granted an Investment Promotion Certificate in accordance with the Investment Promotion law, or

4: A foreigner or foreign legal entity who brings foreign currency into Thailand, or brings in Baht currency from the account of a person residing abroad, or uses foreign currency from their deposit account. This requirement is normally met by the presentation of a Dor Tor 3 form which is provided by the bank receiving an incoming remittance from abroad.

So is the above true?

If so, Then i cannot buy a condo until i retire as i can only use option number 4 when i would have my pension paid into my bank account

I have another 38 years yet until i retire

[thaigene2]

Notice the word "OR" after each bullet point. They are trying to indicate to you that unless you live here as a permanent resident or are a registered Thai company (a Juristic person), you must IMPORT ALL OF THE PURCHASE PRICE of the condo in foreign hard currency.

It's not about visas, etc. It's a requirement that foreigners who are not BOI approved or permanent residents (different rules apply to them - they are like citizens almost) must bring the cash from abroad and cannot amass it here in Thailand. In other words they want your hard currency from abroad.

[Livinginexile]

Notice the word "OR" after each bullet point. They are trying to indicate to you that unless you live here as a permanent resident or are a registered Thai company (a Juristic person), you must IMPORT ALL OF THE PURCHASE PRICE of the condo in foreign hard currency.

It's not about visas, etc. It's a requirement that foreigners who are not BOI approved or permanent residents (different rules apply to them - they are like citizens almost) must bring the cash from abroad and cannot amass it here in Thailand. In other words they want your hard currency from abroad.

I just bought a new condo on Sukumvit Soi 13. Rule 1...use a good thai based farang law firm. They will guide you through it. There is no problem owning a condo outright as long as you follow the rules.

GET A LAWYER TO HELP, its well worth the money especially if you are buying second hand.

Martin

[billaaa777]

I bought, renovated and sold over 20 condos last year. This is what you need to buy a condo in Thailand.

A) The money

Copy of your passport

I have sold condos to people that did not have one BHT in the country on Monday, much less a bank account and closed on and owned the condo on Tuesday. Everything else you read is BS. All the so called experts that are going to post other requirements are wrong, all you need is the money and a copy of your passport, everything else can be worked out quickly.

[FRM-BKK]

I bought, renovated and sold over 20 condos last year. This is what you need to buy a condo in Thailand.

A) The money

Copy of your passport

I have sold condos to people that did not have one BHT in the country on Monday, much less a bank account and closed on and owned the condo on Tuesday. Everything else you read is BS. All the so called experts that are going to post other requirements are wrong, all you need is the money and a copy of your passport, everything else can be worked out quickly.

Dear Billaaa777

Although I do not purport to be an expert in the buying of condos in Thailand, I have been through the process. I think your article is misleading and incorrect. Moreover to dismiss other contributors experiences and practices as BS shows a degree of ignorance on your part. This forum is about the exchange of information that is considered of value or best practice.

You may be comfortable with money and a copy of your passport in your back pocket, I question the validity of your statement; but then again I am not buying a condo from you!

My recommendation to anybody wishing to purchase a condo in Thailand is to conduct much research before you start the process of buying. Use this forum as a start and ask questions. Familiarise yourself with the legal requirements and restrictions. Make a visit to a reputable property agent. You will soon begin to build up a picture of what you can and what you can't do.

Would you buy a flat in your own country with just cash and a copy of your passport.....???

Well....... perhaps you would!

FRM-UK

[thaigene2]

I bought, renovated and sold over 20 condos last year. This is what you need to buy a condo in Thailand.

A) The money

Copy of your passport

I have sold condos to people that did not have one BHT in the country on Monday, much less a bank account and closed on and owned the condo on Tuesday. Everything else you read is BS. All the so called experts that are going to post other requirements are wrong, all you need is the money and a copy of your passport, everything else can be worked out quickly.

Yeah, if your a member of a foreign Motorcycle Club maybe. Of course you can BUY the place as long as you have the money.

But that doesn't mean you OWN the place in the eyes of the Land Registry.

Once you buy the condo you go the land registry office with the Foreign Exchange Certificates from the Thai bank that proves a record of you bringing the money into the country. Once they see these they will then take your other documents from the sale and register you as the owner of that condo. But they will also first check to see if that condo building is still within the 49% foreign ownership requirement. If it's already at the 49% level they won't register you.

1 - YOU MUST SHOW you have imported the money into Thailand originally from a foreign currency and show the FECs amounting to the purchase price to PROVE it.

2- BEFORE YOU BUY you must first be assured (not just be the seller of course - check it carefully with someone who knows what they're doing) that the place is within the 49% threshold - that means 49% of the floor space of the building - not the number of owners.

[steveromagnino]

I bought, renovated and sold over 20 condos last year. This is what you need to buy a condo in Thailand.

A) The money

Copy of your passport

I have sold condos to people that did not have one BHT in the country on Monday, much less a bank account and closed on and owned the condo on Tuesday. Everything else you read is BS. All the so called experts that are going to post other requirements are wrong, all you need is the money and a copy of your passport, everything else can be worked out quickly.

Since middle of this year things have changed.

Also, never heard of foreigners not need the Tor Tor 3 if they weren't old retirees or PRs or have Thai blood. Can do fine on the sale and purchase agreement, but they are going to have problems showing up at the land registry.

I didn't bother with a lawyer, but if you don't speak Thai, then either you need someone who does or a lawyer would be good.

That said, if what you mean is that it isn't hard, well, no, it isn't that hard :-)

[naturalpoints]

I bought, renovated and sold over 20 condos last year. This is what you need to buy a condo in Thailand.

A) The money

Copy of your passport

I have sold condos to people that did not have one BHT in the country on Monday, much less a bank account and closed on and owned the condo on Tuesday. Everything else you read is BS. All the so called experts that are going to post other requirements are wrong, all you need is the money and a copy of your passport, everything else can be worked out quickly.

Spot on mate................True as hel_l..........The rest is BS!

[GoodHeart]

I found this article to be quite enlightening, maybe some of you will as well.

Residential Conveyancing in Thailand – Differences in legal and commercial issues

Quote: "Based on correspondence received by TPR, this month’s article is designed to deal with some of the issues which may well be unfamiliar to an investor in Thailand, even if they have grounded professional real estate transactional experience in a different jurisdiction."

Residential Conveyance

[Sophon]

I keep getting conflickting evidence from diffent people, Someone on this forum has said i can buy a condo in my own name and it is MINE, I own it. But on another website i was given this info:

I don't see where the conflict is.

Yes, you can buy a condo in your name and it will be all yours. But in order to do so, there are some requirements you need to meet. One of the requirements is that the money for the purchase needs to come from outside Thailand (assuming you don't fall into one of the other categories mentioned).

Sophon

[malcolminthemiddle]

How do you relate:

In order to purchase a condominium certain requirements must be met, for example:

4: A foreigner or foreign legal entity who brings foreign currency into Thailand, or brings in Baht currency from the account of a person residing abroad, or uses foreign currency from their deposit account. This requirement is normally met by the presentation of a Dor Tor 3 form which is provided by the bank receiving an incoming remittance from abroad.

with

So is the above true?

If so, Then i cannot buy a condo until i retire as i can only use option number 4 when i would have my pension paid into my bank account

I have another 38 years yet until i retire