Home Morgage For Thai Wife

[matthew80]

I would love to buy a house in Hua Hin. Unfortunately, I am a decade from retiring, and have no "lump sum" of 5million + baht to throw at a developer. BUT, I am planning on getting married to my lovely Thai lady. She has no money of her own to speak of....so here's the question: after our marriage, would SHE be able to get a morgage through a Thai bank, and then I, through our joint bank account, make the payments? (Which I could do) Are such morgages possible?

[buksida]

Having just tried this myself I can offer my experiences and conclusions, its not fact so don't quote me on it and you may have better luck.

The first think the finance company/bank will check is if she has any existing debts, if she has any its an instant no.

Second thing they'll look into is if she already owns and land or property, its an asset and a plus point if she does.

Third thing is her bank account, if she has a job and a salary (regular deposits) it'll make life a lot easier and you shouldnt have a problem. If she doesnt then again its probably a big fat no.

A foriegner cannot get a mortguage or be part of one, so the joint account may not be possible for these purposes. You can pay on her behalf though, I don't think they care where the money comes from. Best thing to do is start transfering regular sums to her account so it appears she has a regular income.

When you are legally married you will have to sign a form at the land office stating that the money is not yours and effectively signing away all of your legal rights to the land - this law I found particularly offensive, but hey this is Thailand, give us your money and piss off.

[sargeant]

exactomondo buksida my experience virtually to the letter.
I am not married but my girl puts my money in her account every month and got a credit rating.
They do come and inspect everything take photos etc but that is normal.
As you correctly state Falangs cannot borrow money by law and so the property will be in her name.
Having lost an extremely nice residence by putting all my money into it and got subsequently conned .This way i can only loose the deposit.
By the way the whole process only took a month.
The important thing is getting your wife /girl a credit rating.

I will point out i wasnt clever it just worked out this way

[Guess]

Buksi has covered it all.

One more thing that our bank told us is that it is always good to see regular amounts going into the bank. We put all spare cash in to my wife's account. When we need it she takes it out. It basically shows that she is solvent and has no pressing private debts which the banks cannot trace. E.g. Your car payments may be up to date but you could have massive gamblig debts.

That of course is an extreme example to show the point. We all know that no Thai woman would mount up gambling debts.

THe other point is questionable and I am not sure of the right answer but I have heard differnt accounts. It is regarding the farang involvment. I have been told that it can be better notv to mention farang involvement and others to say that it will help to convince the bank the money will be repaid.

The thing is in a secured loan in this economical climate the banks risk is almost zero so if they had any sense they would lend money to anybody subject to surveys and ownership checks. Unfortunately the short sighted view by retail banks is something that Thailand has imported from the West.

[matthew80]

Thanks to all for their responses! Greatly appreciated!

[sargeant]

mathew just one point i forgot to mention my money goes into my account for my retirement visa and then into my girls account for her credit rating.

double wammy

[Guess]

Very sensible idea Sarg but keep one eye on the retirement visa changes at the same time.

There has been cases of the same 800,000 baht being passed araound a syndicate to enable 20 people to get visas every year with just one 800,000 baht. The authorities are aware and before and after checks on the account movements are in the pipeline if not already being excecised.

The ideal method is to send 800,000 baht from outside Thailand and then transfer it in monthly chunks to the missus.

All banks prefer regular incomes to lump sums.

[sargeant]

Thanks guess i was asked questions and so was my girl that sort of alluded to that but my money comes from the u.k. so fingers crossed think i am ok

One small point the exchange rate seems to be far lower than the bank when they are working out your finances. S make sure your pension figure is before tax if you pay any like i do in the u.k

[migrant]

Does anyone have any experience when the Thai lady is in the west? My Thai fiance has lived here in the states 10 years, and works (2 jobs). She owns some land near Cha Am, and has about 400,000 bt in a Thai bank, and money over here.

We are about 4-5 years away from moving fulltime, but if something comes up, it would be nice to be able to get it.

I own a house here in the states, but the equity is cross collateralised with my business, so a equity loan is out of the question.

Thanks!