How to properly transfer funds for Condo? FET Cert etc.

[KittenKong]

Keep in mind my purchase included Land and a House, so it may be different for a Condo. But I don't think so.

It is extremely different for a condo. Not least because a condo is the only sort of registered property that any normal foreigner can own in his own name in Thailand.

Is it really that extremely different? How So? Have you bought a Condo as well as a House and Land in Thailand before to compare?

I dont need to buy one to know they are very different.

A condo you can buy in your own name but normally you must used imported funds for which you have an FET certificate. You must also have a debt-free certificate and your purchase must respect the farang/Thai ratio in the building.

A house/land you can never buy in your own name and no one will be at all interested where the money comes from (except if it is being bought in your wife's name and you have to declare that you did not provide the money). And there are no other requirements at all.

So I would say that's very different.

Edited May 24, 2015 by KittenKong

[KittenKong]

Does the land office keep the TT3/FET certificate? If so, will I get it back when if/when I sell my condo? If not, is the TT3 sitting in a file drawer in the realtor's office?

The Land Office should copy it and return the original. You should hang on to the original. If you have lost it then your bank should be able to provide a copy, at least for as long as they keep the records. I dont know how long that is.

The Land Office may be able to give you a copy of their copy, if you ask nicely.

[Langsuan Man]

In my case the Land Office kept the original and gave me a copy, which my SCB bank manager said was the normal procedure

[KittenKong]

In my case the Land Office kept the original and gave me a copy, which my SCB bank manager said was the normal procedure

That would make more sense. My original looked like a copy anyway so I cant really tell. Maybe I do have a copy.

[wpcoe]

Thanks for the clarification. I guess if/when I sell the condo, I'll ask at the land office for a copy and if that fails, try to get a copy from SCB. I guess I could pester the real estate office to see if they still have a copy from ten years ago, but probably not worth the effort.

[WorkingTourist]

OP, if the amount is above $50,000 then the Thai bank will likely need you to sign a form and make a copy of your passport as part of their anti-money laundering process.

So it does make sense to contact the bank first, although if you don’t, they should contact you.

I see many recommending that you should put “for condo purchase” in the text, definitely doesn’t hurt, but in my case, I had 6 transfers (done over half a year) used to fund a 50% downpayment, where I hadn’t given any reason for the transfer. When I asked the bank about FET documentation for these 6 transfers, they said it wasn’t a problem (as clearly, the money are from abroad).

[wpcoe]

I inquired at Bangkok Bank if they could issue a FETC for a transfer done via the special method of transferring funds electronically from a USA bank to Thailand and the reply was yes. Since there is no way to add any comment to that process saying "for condo purchase," I wonder how important that notation is these days.

[KittenKong]

I dont think it's important at all. Certainly in places like Pattaya the LO seem to only care about the amount of the certificate(s) being enough to cover the declared purchase cost, which after all is the only relevant point.

[trogers]

Put your deposit in an escrow account with a lawyer.

Make sure you are aware of thai laws regarding what happens to condos of foreigners once they die-e.g. those who inherit have one year to sell (actually it's more complicated than that- lots of good info on thai forum about this).

Not all that complicated. If the heir wants to keep the condo in a foreign name then they must use the foreign transaction form to wire the money out of the country and then wire it back and register the transfer at the land office

Or, as already stated, within in one year sell it to a foreigner and have them import the money to comply with the Condominium Act to retain the farang quota status

Not true at all. I had just got my name put into the title deed of my late dad's condo unit two days ago.

All I had needed to show the Land dept are the final court order authorizing me as the legal executioner of my dad's will, my dad's will in my favour, the original title deed, and debt-free certificate and percentage of foreign ownership from the juristic office.

I needed to pay just the stamp duty in Thai Baht.

Also, they wanted to see the originals and kept a copy of death certificate and other documents that were initially submitted to the court.

Edited June 30, 2016 by trogers