Foreigner married to Thai - laws regarding home ownership

[statman78]

On 11/14/2016 at 11:11 AM, NickJ said:

Hard or near impossible to get a mortgage. My friend had all his salary deposited into his wife's act for two years so it looked like she was the earner. He works on line and gets paid well. A bank here bought into his fabrication. many turned her down. Age is also a factor. they will almost never give an older person a mortgage. The person getting the loan also need to pre pay a life insurance policy with the bank as the beneficiary. 

Nicki, good points.  I would like to add my experience although it was 7-8 years ago.

I am an American and was looking for a mortgage in Thailand to buy or build a house for me and my Thai wife.  I did find a company that would only provide a mortgage until I was 65.  It would have only been for less than 10 years.  They required a 50% down payment and life insurance equal to the value of the loan with the as the beneficiary.  I also remember that the interest rate was outrageous.

 

A few years after that we found some new construction going on here is Chiang Rai.  With a 20% down payment were we able to finance the remainder with them for 5 years with an interest rate of 1% above the interest rate they were paying.

[renaissanc]

The house and land have to be in your wife's name. If she kicks you out, you have no recourse.

If you are concerned about the above, consider asking a lawyer what kind of document can be drawn up so that if the relationship goes belly up, the property will be sold and you get 50%. Something like that.

 

Do I have that kind of document? No. With my first Thai wife (married for 15 years), the houses were sold to give the money to our children. With my second wife, divorce isn't an issue even after 17 years. We're in the marriage until we die. Also, we have 25 cats to look after together.

 

In short, before buying  house ask yourself: "How stable is our relationship?"

 

You can buy a condo, but you might hate the confined space after a short while. The cost of a spacious condo might be 10-20 million Baht. For that you can build yourself a mansion in a rural setting.

 

 

[john donson]

you rather end up death than a 50/50 split in divorce... cyanide in coffee, anyone ? or a car accident or run over, or mugging... life is cheap....  so RENT

[bkk_mike]

On 11/14/2016 at 12:11 PM, NickJ said:

Hard or near impossible to get a mortgage. My friend had all his salary deposited into his wife's act for two years so it looked like she was the earner. He works on line and gets paid well. A bank here bought into his fabrication. many turned her down. Age is also a factor. they will almost never give an older person a mortgage. The person getting the loan also need to pre pay a life insurance policy with the bank as the beneficiary. 

Got a mortgage no problem. Based on offshore income.

Paid a higher rate because of the perceived higher risk from being paid in a currency other than Thai baht.

Definitely helped that I work for a multinational, rather than some tiny company they had never heard of.

Also helped that we were borrowing something like 1x salary, not some crazy multiple.

[Phil1964]

On 11/12/2016 at 2:34 AM, trogers said:

And being in your Thai wife's name means all of it belongs to her.

No 50/50 split should the relationship goes sour.

And once she and her family have that 'power' confirmed boy you're screwed.

 

[kuzie57]

On 11/12/2016 at 9:51 AM, craigt3365 said:

A friend of a friend owned some 5 condos.  When they split, it was 50/50.

Condos can be owned by a foreign person. 

[khunPer]

On 11/11/2016 at 9:53 PM, sdultra said:

I have done my research but there seems to be conflicting answers.

I am from the USA and my wife is Thai. We are considering buying a house/villa and I can't seem to get a straight answer on the legal issues.

Also since we are currently living in the US what are the chances and/or issues with securing a mortgage?

If anyone has first hand knowledge of this type of situation I would really appreciate any guidance you can provide. 

 

Thanks

Foreigners can own a condo within the 49% allotment, both single and married to a Thai.

 

Foreigners can own a building/house/villa, but not the land under it. If the building is not separated from land during construction, it cannot be separated later. A new built house can have foreign ownership, but needs a superficies or similar permission, and building permit issued to the foreigner.

 

Being married to a Thai don't gives the foreign spouse any benefits in owning land in Thailand. The only way to own up to 1 rai of land – a rai equals 1,600 square meters – is to get an investor visa, and invest 40 million baht in pre-assigned possibilities. According to recent media story, this has solution has so far been used by little less that 10 foreigners.

 

Apart for having land in a Thai-spouse's name, some also use the so-called company limited method to own land. Having land in a spouse's name, you can make a registered agreement for usufruct (use of the fruits of the land), or superficies (permission to build on the land), or habitation (rights to live in the property). However, be aware that any agreement made between husband and wife can be terminated upon divorce. Agreements like above should be made with the previous owner before the land is transferred to a Thai spouse.

 

Mortgage is to my knowledge possible up to 50% of the valuation of the property (I don't use it myself, so no direct experience). It's the owner – i.e., Thai national or juristic person – that can have a mortgage. As foreigner you might be able to get a mortgage in a building; I know about of some construction companies that offered some level of mortgage when building a house – my foreign lawyer, partner in a Thai law firm, used mortgage, when building his villa – but I don't know any details.

[Klonko]

Is it possible to grant a (non-interest bearing) mortgage to the spouse from pre-marital funds with a lien on the land and house for financing the purchase of the house in the spouse's name?

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

51 minutes ago, Klonko said:

Is it possible to grant a (non-interest bearing) mortgage to the spouse from pre-marital funds with a lien on the land and house for financing the purchase of the house in the spouse's name?

 

I think post-nuptial contracts between spouses are not valid under Thai law or can be repudiated by either party at any time. 

[Klonko]

It is correct that post-nuptial contracts are not valid, but I question that a mortgage loan from pre-marital assets qualifies as post-nuptial contract. Otherwise, no business contract (excluding marital assets) may be valid between spouses. My question is also if a foreigner can grant a loan secured by property owned by a Thai.