Home Loan For Farang

[prighas]

I have been living and working legally in Thailand for past 6 years. I have been married to a Thai citizen for the past 3 years. I currently work fulltime but she is currently still a college student. We have been wanting to get a loan from a bank to buy a house/condo. I understand that loans are only available for Thai citizens. I also do know of a farang who was able to get a loan using his wife's name though she is not currently working. I don't know how much the law has changed in regards to that.

Is there any way I can apply for a home loan even though I'm not a thai citizen? Do you have any suggestions on to go about this?

Thanks in advance.

[kiakaha]

Do you mean farang or foreigner(non-thai citizen) ?

I know of a foreigner who has a mortgage.He has PR though.Don't know if that makes a difference.

[prighas]

non-Thai Citizen or Foreigner (in this case a European Citizen)

[Moonfruit]

It is possible if you have 50% deposit.

I have a friend just got a 50% motgage over 15 years from SCB.

I thought it wasnt possible at all, but i was wrong.

[alexth]

It is possible if you have 50% deposit.

I have a friend just got a 50% motgage over 15 years from SCB.

I thought it wasnt possible at all, but i was wrong.

Hi Moonfruit,

Could you elaborate? Does your friend have a work permit? Is he a resident or something alike? Was the loan made under his wife name or his? As many details as possible would really help. I would be very interested as I am very keen to buy a condo I found, unfortunately I only have a few more than half of the amount. Thanks in advance.

Alex

[Bobm1]

It is possible if you have 50% deposit.

I have a friend just got a 50% motgage over 15 years from SCB.

I thought it wasnt possible at all, but i was wrong.

Hi Moonfruit,

Could you elaborate? Does your friend have a work permit? Is he a resident or something alike? Was the loan made under his wife name or his? As many details as possible would really help. I would be very interested as I am very keen to buy a condo I found, unfortunately I only have a few more than half of the amount. Thanks in advance.

Alex

My wife was just at Krung bank in Pattaya yesturday and was told that she could get a 50% mortgage by using me as a guarentor, she brought the paperwork home that shows the required documents, my bank statement for the last 6 months (US bank) my last pay slip, passport with visa (she explained that I do not have a type "O" only a tourist visa and they said it is OK) maraige licence (again she explained that we are not legaly married but they told her that would be OK too, we just need to show the kids birth certificate naming me as the father) also her bank books, the house book for our condo and the shop house ect. I'm a bit skeptical, I don't see how the bank can use me as a guarentor with only a tourist visa but she assured me that she brought it up several times and the bank manager told her he understood and could still grant the loan. Seems it is a new law that has only been in effect for a few days???

[onlooker]

The bank doesnt care at all who the guarantor is, if she defaults and they cant get to you then they get the house and can resell it for nice profit if it's already 50% paid for

[prighas]

It is possible if you have 50% deposit.

I have a friend just got a 50% motgage over 15 years from SCB.

I thought it wasnt possible at all, but i was wrong.

Hi Moonfruit,

Could you elaborate? Does your friend have a work permit? Is he a resident or something alike? Was the loan made under his wife name or his? As many details as possible would really help. I would be very interested as I am very keen to buy a condo I found, unfortunately I only have a few more than half of the amount. Thanks in advance.

Alex

My wife was just at Krung bank in Pattaya yesturday and was told that she could get a 50% mortgage by using me as a guarentor, she brought the paperwork home that shows the required documents, my bank statement for the last 6 months (US bank) my last pay slip, passport with visa (she explained that I do not have a type "O" only a tourist visa and they said it is OK) maraige licence (again she explained that we are not legaly married but they told her that would be OK too, we just need to show the kids birth certificate naming me as the father) also her bank books, the house book for our condo and the shop house ect. I'm a bit skeptical, I don't see how the bank can use me as a guarentor with only a tourist visa but she assured me that she brought it up several times and the bank manager told her he understood and could still grant the loan. Seems it is a new law that has only been in effect for a few days???

Thanks for the message. Does your wife have any job? Did they ask for her salary documents in order to find out how much she is earning per month?

Edited December 5, 2006 by prighas

[Bobm1]

Thanks for the message. Does your wife have any job? Did they ask for her salary documents in order to find out how much she is earning per month?

She has a small convience shop on the ground floor of the shophouse and rents rooms upstairs but never makes much of a profit, max around 10K per month I guess but does not keep proper records to prove it. Although she can show about 100K per month going in and out of her bank account from the money i deposite for expences ect. She was not asked to show employment documents.

[prighas]

Thanks for the message. Does your wife have any job? Did they ask for her salary documents in order to find out how much she is earning per month?

She has a small convience shop on the ground floor of the shophouse and rents rooms upstairs but never makes much of a profit, max around 10K per month I guess but does not keep proper records to prove it. Although she can show about 100K per month going in and out of her bank account from the money i deposite for expences ect. She was not asked to show employment documents.

Thanks for the reply. It's been quite helpful. I'm going to try this out and see what happens.

[Khonwan]

Your proposal should be possible. I did this nearly six years ago.

I was/am on an "O" Non-Imm Visa (for support of my Thai child). Bangkok Bank provided a mortgage to my de -facto Thai wife with me as guarantor. She had no income. My income was from overseas (transferred fairly regularly [variable commission-based] into our joint Bangkok Bank savings account. We provided the bank with documentation proving her assets (land, vehicles, etc) and documentation proving my additional overseas income (ie in addition to our banking history with them, which they of course already had). They also took photocopies of my UK Personal Pension Policy (which could not be vested for another nine years, at that time).

I know we received more than 50% - I think it was 60%; 5-year loan. It took several weeks to arrange since, according to them, I was setting a precedent.

It may be useful to know that they originally offered us the same mortgage in joint names (the property being purchased was a condo) but we had to switch to her name only (with me as guarantor) when the land registry office explained the condo purchase could not be registered to us jointly since I had never transferred funds into Thailand specified as for the purchase of a condo; since the title deed could not be in joint names, neither could the mortgage.

[Neeranam]

It is possible if you have 50% deposit.

I have a friend just got a 50% motgage over 15 years from SCB.

I thought it wasnt possible at all, but i was wrong.

I believe it's possible without any deposit. I've been told by the bank that they want copies of my WP and letter from my work. My wife doesn't earn anything.

I'll let you know the outcome soon.

[bendix]

if this is the case, doesnt this contradict pretty much everything we've previously understood about farangs being granted mortgages?

[Khonwan]

if this is the case, doesnt this contradict pretty much everything we've previously understood about farangs being granted mortgages?

What did you previously understand?

[Moonfruit]

Mt friend is a farang (female actually) single with WP. Has been in Thailand around 5 years, all with work permit and well documented.

I would be interested to see the outcome of Neeranams endeavour. I thought it was not possible too!

[Neeranam]

I would be interested to see the outcome of Neeranams endeavour. I thought it was not possible too!

My wife went to Krung Thai bank this morning and was offered a 90% loan over 30 years. They'll actually lend us more money so that we can afford the down payment. If anyone's interested I'll post more details later.

Remember that this is Thailand and no rules are written in stone. It's been my experience that there are ways round anything.

[sibeymai]

In my experience (I have posted elsewhere in the forum on this topic) Thai banks are happy to accept you as a guarantor on a loan for a Thai citizen. Usually you'll need to put up 50% deposit and usually the loan can not be longer than when the oldest person reaches 60 years (or maybe it's the guarantor's age...but in most cases with male falang/female Thai the guarantor will be the eldest). The 50% deposit rule seems to be somewhat negotiable depending on the assets of the guarantor and other assets (not income) of the Thai. Banks seem happy with the 50% as previously said, they have enough equity in the property to sell out at a discount and still make a profit.

Bottom line is that mortgages are possible, ownership is not. The loan and the property title will both be in the name of the Thai. Siam Commercial Bank (office on Sathorn near the BTS route) does these loans. Having a good working history with WP, or a verifiable income stream which you can demonstrate over a period of time will help.

Don't make the mistake of believing a bank will loan more than 50%. this is the exception rather than the rule. Never take a bank's word that you will get the loan either. Always get their approval in writing before commiting to a purchase. Make any purchase contract conditional on mortgage approval and aways insist the deposit paid is fully refundable in case the mortage is not approved.

If you buy a condo "off plan" from the developer things usually go a lot smoother than buying in the private or used property market.

Good Luck.

[alexth]

I would be interested to see the outcome of Neeranams endeavour. I thought it was not possible too!

My wife went to Krung Thai bank this morning and was offered a 90% loan over 30 years. They'll actually lend us more money so that we can afford the down payment. If anyone's interested I'll post more details later.

Remember that this is Thailand and no rules are written in stone. It's been my experience that there are ways round anything.

Is she working? What papers did they asked for?

[Neeranam]

Is she working? What papers did they asked for?

No she hasn't worked since we got married over 5 years ago.

The 50% deposit rule seems to be somewhat negotiable depending on the assets of the guarantor and other assets (not income) of the Thai. Banks seem happy with the 50% as previously said, they have enough equity in the property to sell out at a discount and still make a profit.

Don't make the mistake of believing a bank will loan more than 50%. this is the exception rather than the rule.

Like I said before, anything is possible in this country. My wife took someone along, who is an influential figure in city I live in. My wife and I have no assets at all. I earn 29,500 baht a month. The factor here that probably makes it the exception is the 'poo yai' being there, who no doubt has very big dealings with the manager of the bank.

[sibeymai]

So NEERANAM, a "poo yai" is just like having money in the bank...haha !

[smartecosse]

I earn 29,500 baht a month.

you earn or you pay tax on?

[Neeranam]

QUOTE(Neeranam @ 2006-12-12 16:57:08)

I earn 29,500 baht a month.

you earn or you pay tax on?

Both.