Buying a condo from abroad - transfer of funds

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stevieboy
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Buying a condo from abroad - transfer of funds

Post by stevieboy »

I would appreciate anyone's first hand knowledge about what the transfer of funds requirements are for purchasing a leasehold condo in Thailand.

I have talked to 2 separate real estate people with conflicting information. One says all the money needs to be sent from abroad and the other says it doesn't.

One question is on a cash sale does all the money need to come from abroad or can the money just be transferred from my thai bank to their thai bank?

The other question is when you do sell is there any problem transferring the money out of the country?

Thanks in advance.
jimmy40
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Re: Buying a condo from abroad - transfer of funds

Post by jimmy40 »

G day Steve,
On one of my purchases I had to show the money to buy it came from my thai bank.
Also when you send the money from where ever, on the deposit say condo purchase.
Apparently it is about money laundering.
All most all transactions are cash here by the way. So it is not unusual to be at the land office with 2 million in a brown bag. Last thing you should a lot a fair bit of time for the land office. If you don't have half a day to waste go and use the sponsor on here, its hua hin legal service. They will send someone to wait for you.
Good luck
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Nereus
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Re: Buying a condo from abroad - transfer of funds

Post by Nereus »

I would appreciate anyone's first hand knowledge about what the transfer of funds requirements are for purchasing a leasehold condo in Thailand.
Why would you "buy" a lease on a Condo?
Providing the complex has less than 49% Farang owners, you can buy it outright and have the Chanote in your own name.

I have done this a couple of times, and unless the law has changed in the last couple of years, you DO have to bring in the funds from overseas. You then have to obtain a certificate(forget the Thai name), from the bank that received the funds, and present it at the land office when doing the transfer of ownership.

The funds do not have to be taken to the land office, just whatever amount of tax and transfer fees are due. Up to the seller how he wants the money transferred.

If you are dealing with an "agent" that does not know the proceedure,I suggest that you pay a lawyer to do it all for you.
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Bristolian
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Re: Buying a condo from abroad - transfer of funds

Post by Bristolian »

^^ Likewise, i bought my condo in Bangkok a good number of years ago and the funds needed to be brought in from overseas even though i was getting a mortgage through a Thai Bank (don't ask! it was simply more tax efficient) I already had the cash in Thailand so the Thai Bank arranged for the money to be transferred offshore and then transferred back again in just a few moments. I lost a few hundred baht in the transfer. The bank/mortgage lender was then able to prove to the BOT that I had the necessary funds and that they had come from overseas.

Note.....Not sure that either the local mortgage or onshore - offshore trickery could be achieved today.
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zeitgeist
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Re: Buying a condo from abroad - transfer of funds

Post by zeitgeist »

Nereus wrote:
I would appreciate anyone's first hand knowledge about what the transfer of funds requirements are for purchasing a leasehold condo in Thailand.
Why would you "buy" a lease on a Condo?
Providing the complex has less than 49% Farang owners, you can buy it outright and have the Chanote in your own name.

I have done this a couple of times, and unless the law has changed in the last couple of years, you DO have to bring in the funds from overseas. You then have to obtain a certificate(forget the Thai name), from the bank that received the funds, and present it at the land office when doing the transfer of ownership.

The funds do not have to be taken to the land office, just whatever amount of tax and transfer fees are due. Up to the seller how he wants the money transferred.

If you are dealing with an "agent" that does not know the procedure,I suggest that you pay a lawyer to do it all for you.
It used to be called a TT3 (Thor tor 3) and titled 'Foreign Exchange Transaction' form, it may well have changed names since I last used 1.

Agree with Nereus on several points: 1. If the agent doesn't know the procedure contact a lawyer (I'd also question why use that agent if they don't know the procedure) and 2. Why buy a leasehold condominium? I would imagine it to be impossible to sell in the future
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