Buying a condo

[jgd1004]

Hi everyone.

I was in Thailand a week ago and my friend said to me why don't I buy a condo as I visit Thailand quite a lot. I didn't take much notice at the time after seeing the prices starting at 1 million baht as i just assumed it was expensive but after working it out I see its only 20k GBP and up which is ridiculously cheap by western standards.

My question is, how easy is it to buy a condo in Thailand? Can I simply go there with my payment ready and buy (using a solicitor) or is it hard work full of scams?

I would like somewhere in or near pattaya where I could call home and visit regular when I travel to Thailand.

Also I would probably buy a used condo rather than brand new.

If I was to buy would it be safe to leave it empty for the time I'm not in Thailand? Also how safe would my investment be? I may decide to rent it out in the future.

Thanks in advance

[JB300]

Have you actually seen any condos you like at £20,000 or are you going off of the advertising billboards you see everywhere for units typically 1) Shoe Box in size, 2) Out in the sticks & 3) Yet to break ground...

Have a look on DDProperty (http://m.ddproperty.com/en) for Used Condos for sale, should be relatively straight forward if you find ones that are already in a Foreign Name... Make sure you get yourself a decent solicitor (a couple advertise on here) & make sure you get a certificate from your Thai Bank stating that the money to pay for it came in from overseas.

Edited May 27, 2015 by JB300

[Walter Travolta]

It depends where in Pattaya you want to be regarding price (like anywhere) but you can pick 1 up at nirun condos on soi arunothai for half that. Many people do not like the set out there and the corridors look like a prison landing but to be fair, they are secure and once you are in your room or outside, no problem, you dont live on the landing!!

They have security entry system, communal pool and everything you need shopwise are located on the ground floors, like laundry, farmacie, 7/11 round the corner, security guard, food and they do not allow dogs which, for me, is a massive irritant in thailand

At that price you wouldnt worry about renting out, but if you did, you can charge around the 6.000baht a month mark which aint a bad return on investment

I stayed there for a month but wanted to be a bit nearer central ( i dont have motorbike and use shank's pony! ) so moved out but room was decent enough

Only advice I cannot offer is the difference between thai ownership and foreign ownership and how what they mean when buying. I was thinking of buying one and wandered what that meant but never got that far into it to ask.

Pattaya Property on FB is ok but most condos advertised are up market and in Jomtien

[jgd1004]

I was going off the billboards and some online. I know that price is a starting from price but I don't necessarily need a large place as I usually stay in hotels anyway. But I could always look for something a bit more expensive and larger. I wonder if it could be a good idea to share ownership with another 'farang' as I wouldn't be living there

[jgd1004]

Also is it safer to buy a condo rather than a house. I see something saying if we buy a house we do not own the land?

[coulson]

I was going off the billboards and some online. I know that price is a starting from price but I don't necessarily need a large place as I usually stay in hotels anyway. But I could always look for something a bit more expensive and larger. I wonder if it could be a good idea to share ownership with another 'farang' as I wouldn't be living there

Have a read of other threads on the same subject, many things to consider from people who've bought and advice on what to look out for.

My 2 cents, don't ever buy off plans, buy as if you were going to live there, don't look at it as an investment or a rent-saving scheme you'll fork out more on furniture and management fees that will easily offset any short term benefit and if it happens to appreciates at all by the time you've no further need for it, pat yourself on the back.

To give yourself an idea of the headache involved you could always just prepare your documentation process by opening a local bank account (if you don't already have one) and once that headache is over then decide then how much more time you want to spend trying to make sense of the litigation process in Thailand.

[Happy Grumpy]

You need three things:

Document stating the foreign quota of the building.

Document stating that there are no outstanding bills or payments.

Both of these are gotten by the juristic office of the condo.

3rd is a FET Cert showing that the funds were transfered to Thailand for the purpose of buying a condo. Read up on that.

Done.

[KittenKong]

Also is it safer to buy a condo rather than a house. I see something saying if we buy a house we do not own the land?

I think you need to learn a lot more before getting your wallet out.

There are thousands of agents and vendors here who will be delighted to sell you a company name house or a company name condo or a 90-year lease without bothering to explain exactly what that may mean.

Buying in Thailand is very easy: selling is very hard. Never invest more here than you can afford to lose.

[Happy Grumpy]

Absolutely.

Only bring play money to Thailand.

If you'll get upset at losing it, put it elsewhere instead.