Buying a condo in Thailand from abroad

[raynmon]

Hi there, has anyone had experience with purchasing a condo while out of the country? We are looking to move to Hua Hin, have eyes on a couple of prospects that we looked at recently for a condo purchase; we don't have a bank account, we don't have a visa. Anyone have experience in doing this? Thanks, Raynmon

[caller]

Welcome to the forum.

Might sound a daft question, but have you checked the qualifying conditions for securing a visa that would enable you to stay here for the long term?

[Big Boy]

I've not got any experience, but I would just say be very careful if you are doing it remotely. There are plenty here with feet on ground that have been ripped off, never to see their cash again. Please proceed with extreme caution.

[pharvey]

I've not got any experience, but I would just say be very careful if you are doing it remotely. There are plenty here with feet on ground that have been ripped off, never to see their cash again. Please proceed with extreme caution.

Well said and completely agree.

Whilst not a Condo, we purchased a Villa and a 25 Year Lease (supposedly 25+25+(?)) and whilst met the expat agent, saw the plans, site and other builds first hand plus spoke with other owners, we did a fair bit remotely (all be it from the "Neighbourhood" in China). Believe me, there were huge issues with regards to the developer the agent "quitting" mid-contract and dropping us in it and subsequent travels back and forth to deal with issues. Without friends based in Thailand and HH with local knowledge and being able to make the trip to HH from China fairly cheaply and at short notice, things could have gone a lot worse. All was sorted in the end, but personally I class ourselves as being lucky - we jumped in too quickly without doing the research.

As Big Boy says "Please proceed with extreme caution", get recommendations for a decent lawyer and try and get first hand knowledge of what is required. There are several expats here on the Forum who will have experience regarding lawyers, permits, condos, property et al. I would make a point of asking questions. LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP as they say....

"Caller's" comment re: Visas is a very valid one - check to see what you and or your partner is entitled to, the workings of obtaining them and the cost. Again, there are several on here that have the experience of Thai Visas and "Visa Runs". There's a great deal of information available.

[Nereus]

Hi there, has anyone had experience with purchasing a condo while out of the country? We are looking to move to Hua Hin, have eyes on a couple of prospects that we looked at recently for a condo purchase; we don't have a bank account, we don't have a visa. Anyone have experience in doing this? Thanks, Raynmon

To start with, you cannot do it without a Thai bank account. The Land Dept. requires proof of the funds being deposited from abroard into a Thai bank for that specific purpose, in your name.

[Henry 14th]

Can only agree with all of the above.

To have the condo and title deeds transferred into your name the Land Office will want to see that the funds came into your THAI bank from overseas.

This is really important should you ever wish to sell the condo and repatriate the funds back to where they came from.

Do not transfer ANY funds (that includes a despot) from overseas directly to the seller as the paper chain will not tally and the title deeds will not be signed off to you.

It is a straight forward process providing you follow the rules.

A lawyer can advise you on all of this and will help you coordinate with the land office.


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[Dannie Boy]

Hi there, has anyone had experience with purchasing a condo while out of the country? We are looking to move to Hua Hin, have eyes on a couple of prospects that we looked at recently for a condo purchase; we don't have a bank account, we don't have a visa. Anyone have experience in doing this? Thanks, Raynmon

So the advice from above is unequivocally no, you can’t to it, so presumably you’ll have to revert to plan 2 - good luck!!

[raynmon]

Thank you all so much for your helpful responses. I do understand that I need to have a bank account in Thailand in order to buy a condo, but it seems unequivocally that I must be physically in country to obtain one. We do have qualifications for an OA visa. I heed your advice on being cautious about the transaction. I do have questions about due diligence which I think is a separate topic so I will post this in a separate thread in this forum.

[Dannie Boy]

Thank you all so much for your helpful responses. I do understand that I need to have a bank account in Thailand in order to buy a condo, but it seems unequivocally that I must be physically in country to obtain one. We do have qualifications for an OA visa. I heed your advice on being cautious about the transaction. I do have questions about due diligence which I think is a separate topic so I will post this in a separate thread in this forum.

In case it doesn’t get mentioned again, look into getting an O visa instead of an OA, which requires you to have medical insurance, whereas (currently) an O visa doesn’t.