Any advice for buying land, please?

[christopher.fox]

Dear fellow forum reader,

I'm from London and after 3 yrs. of renting in Thailand, it is  time for me to bite the bullet and buy land for my Thai wife & make us a proper home to raise our family in.

Does anyone have any tips, advice or stories to tell about buying a land and getting a house built on it?

I am feeling alone with my thoughts on this subject, and the prospect of being ripped off in a land deal is a large worry......for example, how can I reduce the number of zeros that a Thai landowner will add on to his land price when I coming knocking for a quote on it?  

Thank you in advance of any tips/advice/tel.nos. offered, they will be most welcomed.

Regards,

Chris.

[george]

Let your lady take care of the negotiations. Depending on the loaction and quality of the land it's hard to measure. Only an idea: Remote upcontry land can go for everything from 10,000 Baht per rai up to 100,000 Baht per rai.

How many rai is the land?

Is it prime land or rice field?

Remote location or near municipally?

[fester]

Chanod (Land Title) would be a good first step when considering any particular purchase. You can take this to a bank to get an estimate of the land's current market value.

How to buy land:

How to buy land in Thailand

[Rinrada]

Let your wife deal with it..You stay well back,cover your head and make out that you are a buffalo (do NOT ever say this to a Thai)Should you buy the land /house you can only lease back via your wife for 30 years anyway..and after that time ?

[jayenram]

Land in Isan is currently around Bht 20,000/rai for paddy outside the municipality. If it's already filled and surcharged, you may have to pay 3 or 4 times this. However, inside the city boundaries, in, let's say, a prime location, the price may be anything up to Bht 1,000,000/rai.

Check with the banks as they usually have land/property up for sale as a result of foreclosures. This should give you an idea of land/property prices in your area.

As a precaution you may wish to register your land and property in your children's name(s).

[mjcl]

Have heard that farangs can now purchase up to five rai of land in their own name.

Dont know how true this is but worth checking up on.

[REGGIE]

LEASE IT.

How to buy land in Thailand

Published on Nov 15, 2002

Thai property law states that with a few exceptions – like a Board of Investment approval or suitcases full of money deposited in a Thai bank – foreigners are not allowed to own freehold land. They can only lease the land for a maximum of 30 years. But Thai law has many grey areas; in fact, it seems at times it has more grey areas than black and white areas.

In 1999, the government lurched out of the 19th century to amend the property law to allow a Thai spouse (male or female) of a foreigner to buy land.

Unfortunately it only lurched as far as the early 20th century. For the spouse to buy land, proof is required that the money used to purchase the land is legally the Thai partner’s, with no foreign claim to it. Get divorced or separated and the Thai “ex” gets to keep it all. Even if the Thai spouse dies, the foreigner has no claim to the land and there is nothing to stop the relatives from moving in (if they haven’t already) and booting you out.

If you want a house to call your own without the prospect of your spouses’ relatives circling hungrily, this is not a good option.

Most foreigners who “own” land and houses – as opposed to condos, which can be owned outright – go for a leasehold agreement of typically 30 years, with two prepaid 30-year renewals. The lease will include clauses that automatically allow freehold ownership if the laws of foreign ownership change in the future, and the right to sell and/or transfer the property.

This gives you 90 years with strong backup, making it effectively ownership.

Just to complicate things a little, while you can only lease land, all the buildings – either on the land when it was purchased, or improved or built by you after purchasing the land, are yours freehold. Technically this means that once the lease expires, the owner of the land must purchase the building(s) at an independently and legally valued price, or negotiate another lease period. God knows how that can work.

The structure of a lease agreement needs to be watertight. But because this has become the preferred way of holding land in Thailand for foreigners, this type of lease agreement has become more or less a template, with add-ons to suit individual buyer’s needs.

But don’t draw it up yourself. Get the advice of a lawyer versed in such things. And don’t sign anything or hand over any money until you fully understand and are happy with what’s written on the lease agreement.

                         TIGERMAN

[Buccaneer]

George, "from 10,000 Baht per rai up to 100,000 Baht per rai.

" well I think that for upcountry prime locations you can adjust the lower value to 3000, but for as long as the economic crisis last. We have purchased a lot that was sold by the bank (Thai buy without having the money, then loose it to the bank) for about 3000 per talang wah. This is on a very prime area in the Rayong provence, a leading golf and country club. But it was sold for 15,000 per talng waht early 1997. So its advisable to have a good look around and , "AVOID THAI INTERMEDIATES" AS THEY ARE ALL ON THE COMMISSION BANDWAGON

Cheers

Mar

[fester]

Clarification on the measures:

400 Talang wah = 1 Rai = 1,600 Square Meters =

17,109 Square Feet = 4 Ngan

[desertrat]

DON'T

[tw25rw]

DON'T

You dug up a 6yo thread for a 1 word answer?

[Lite Beer]

Yes but it was worth waiting for.

[tattoodrob]

now im wondering if he did buy some land,maybe we have to dig him up????

[harrry]

now im wondering if he did buy some land,maybe we have to dig him up????

Depends on if the land has high balconies.

[thailand_tom]

do yourself a favor keep renting..buy some land build a house and the next thing you know..your wifes parents along with all her brtothers and sisters move in with their kids...if you feel the absolute need to own in thailand..get a condo ..in your name.

[Maestro]

Closed. posting on a topic that has has been dead for six year is totally useless.

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Maestro