Are interest rates on first mortgages and property tax still a income tax deduction in USA? ......sweet deal you have...
To sell or not to sell
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Cowtown Comedy
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jumpjockey
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For those people who re-mortgaged to buy in Thailand they may well have a bit of a shock if they took out a low start.
To get the best deals you are now going to need equity in your house of 40% as opposed to 25% just a couple of weeks ago.
That means if your house costs £200.000 you'll need a mortgage of no more than £120.000 to qualify for the best deals, a couple of weeks ago that mortgage could have been as much as £150.000.
Other deals are available if you have less equity but you will pay a higher interest rate and possibly a bigger fee.
With house prices in freefall you may not qualify for any deals except your lenders standard variable rate.
With more Bank of England base rate cuts predicted experts say trackers are the best type of mortgage to have, but many lenders took their trackers off the market when the base rate cut was announced.
Some have brought in new trackers but comparison site mform.co.uk says their interest rates are slightly higher than they were before the base rate cut and much more expensive than they were a year ago.
Last year the gap between trackers and the base rate was 0.3%, now its 1.66%.
To get the best deals you are now going to need equity in your house of 40% as opposed to 25% just a couple of weeks ago.
That means if your house costs £200.000 you'll need a mortgage of no more than £120.000 to qualify for the best deals, a couple of weeks ago that mortgage could have been as much as £150.000.
Other deals are available if you have less equity but you will pay a higher interest rate and possibly a bigger fee.
With house prices in freefall you may not qualify for any deals except your lenders standard variable rate.
With more Bank of England base rate cuts predicted experts say trackers are the best type of mortgage to have, but many lenders took their trackers off the market when the base rate cut was announced.
Some have brought in new trackers but comparison site mform.co.uk says their interest rates are slightly higher than they were before the base rate cut and much more expensive than they were a year ago.
Last year the gap between trackers and the base rate was 0.3%, now its 1.66%.
Migrant,
I think you raise a very good point here on Hua Hin homes compared to European/American home prices.
Correct me if I am wrong here but the huge debts on things like mortgages coupled with the rising interest rates and living costs (petrol & food) that are common in the west are not as common in Thailand. Sure petrol and food has recently gone up and petrol has come down a bit, but there is not a country riding on the wave of credit/debt, which is why they can offer what ever price they like and it is take it or leave it basically.
My mother in law has been buying land for over 20 years and never made a loss on land, though she tries not to get into property because it takes more work like up keeping. She has never gone into debt to buy land and waits for people to come to her to buy only if they really want the land.
Her trick is quite simple, find the person who is desperate to sell and haggle down the price. She can pay cash too, which is always tempting.
So in my opinion, prices will only fall when the "average" property/land owner cannot afford and has to sell because of debt or just high living costs (they may not earn enough).
In saying his though, I am aware of the growing number of Thais turning to the banks for mortgages and borrowing cash for investment, so this time it may be different...
I think you raise a very good point here on Hua Hin homes compared to European/American home prices.
Correct me if I am wrong here but the huge debts on things like mortgages coupled with the rising interest rates and living costs (petrol & food) that are common in the west are not as common in Thailand. Sure petrol and food has recently gone up and petrol has come down a bit, but there is not a country riding on the wave of credit/debt, which is why they can offer what ever price they like and it is take it or leave it basically.
My mother in law has been buying land for over 20 years and never made a loss on land, though she tries not to get into property because it takes more work like up keeping. She has never gone into debt to buy land and waits for people to come to her to buy only if they really want the land.
Her trick is quite simple, find the person who is desperate to sell and haggle down the price. She can pay cash too, which is always tempting.
So in my opinion, prices will only fall when the "average" property/land owner cannot afford and has to sell because of debt or just high living costs (they may not earn enough).
In saying his though, I am aware of the growing number of Thais turning to the banks for mortgages and borrowing cash for investment, so this time it may be different...
I think that's right and its going to depend a lot on what happens to interest rates back home.So in my opinion, prices will only fall when the "average" property/land owner cannot afford and has to sell because of debt or just high living costs (they may not earn enough).
Its not a large percentages of buyers who borrow to buy here, you have the sell up and retirees and a large amount of expats in Mid East, Sing and HK buying with cash.
UK report:
"It also increases the chance of the Bank of England cutting its base rate by at least 0.5% next month. Some forecasters are even pencilling in a full percentage point cut to two per cent, from the current 3%, equalling the lowest on record" Then ofocurse do the banks follow suit ?
Also many people rent their places with a return of 8/9% after agents fees, but not accounting for any empty periods, still a better return than their borrowing payments back home.
SJ
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sandman67
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SJ
read this in todays BKK Post:
The post above re landbuying is spot on. Ive had a girlfriend who bought loads of land after the 97 price crash, sat on it till 2004, then sold it off.....Thais seem to do a lot of that, and the jungle infested empty plots around town would seem to suggest he same.....
Mrs S just buys cheap land in Issan and makes more rice fields or eucalyptus plantations....the way she is going she will need a sodding combine harvester soon....
read this in todays BKK Post:
whats your take on the potential effects of that then? I dont understand the economics part, but it seems that the property sector is already feeling the pinch.Tax breaks may be extended
WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI
The Finance Ministry will propose extending tax breaks for the property sector until March 2010 to bolster the economy.
Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech said cabinet ministers will consider the tax programme today.
The proposal will extend for one year a policy approved earlier this year cutting specific business taxes for the property sector to 0.1% from 3%. Land registration taxes were also reduced, to 0.01% from 2%, and the mortgage registration fee to 0.01% from 1% under the programme.
Mr Suchart said the extension would help homebuyers and property developers alike, as well as related industries such as building contractors, furniture manufacturers and interior designers.
Economic growth is now projected to fall below 4% in 2009, from around 5% this year, as a result of the slowing global economy.
The government has approved a supplemental 100-billion-baht spending programme to help spur growth and also plans to accelerate public and state enterprise investment plans to help offset decelerating export growth and sluggish domestic demand.
Mr Suchart said the Finance Ministry had also finalised a US$1 billion (about 35 billion baht) loan funded equally by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help finance various economic stimulus measures, including new mass transit routes in Bangkok and a health centre.
Funds are expected to be disbursed in early 2009, he said.
The World Bank loans are over a 17-year term, while the ADB loans will be from 15 to 24 years.
The post above re landbuying is spot on. Ive had a girlfriend who bought loads of land after the 97 price crash, sat on it till 2004, then sold it off.....Thais seem to do a lot of that, and the jungle infested empty plots around town would seem to suggest he same.....
Mrs S just buys cheap land in Issan and makes more rice fields or eucalyptus plantations....the way she is going she will need a sodding combine harvester soon....
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
Hi mate, they are extending the property tax reductions they bought in last year. But it only saves you a few hundred quid at the land office on an average price house as real prices generally aren't declared anyway and tax was already low, plus 50/50 with seller.
Couldn't see then or now it will sway anyone into buying. It's handy though.
They need to do longer leases.
SJ
Couldn't see then or now it will sway anyone into buying. It's handy though.
They need to do longer leases.
SJ
Concerning resales:
Working as an agent I presently see an increasing number of properties being offered for resale at more realistic asking prices than in the past (when the preference was to make a big fat profit). The trend seems to be that folks who have decided to quit Thailand will take whatever they can get for their properties, and those who are selling to finance another purchase are nowadays willing to listen to reason.
cd.
Working as an agent I presently see an increasing number of properties being offered for resale at more realistic asking prices than in the past (when the preference was to make a big fat profit). The trend seems to be that folks who have decided to quit Thailand will take whatever they can get for their properties, and those who are selling to finance another purchase are nowadays willing to listen to reason.
cd.
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. (Edmund Burke).
This would be the group holding out for profit, whether the market supports this or not. Fine if the property for sale has some rather special, unique attributes, bit of a waste of time otherwise.Big A wrote:What about people willing to sell but under no particular pressure to sell. Surely there must be a a lot of this category as well.
cd.
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. (Edmund Burke).