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Ballsburstin
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Torq,
I'm not the expert, but recently talked to a relatively reputable real estate agent in BKK to get an idea about condos there. (His recommendation, btw, was to buy condos no younger than 5 years of age, as many of the condos in the last 5 years have been built with cement that was not properly mixed, oops!)
Anyway, he told me that I can't get a mortage loan from a Thai bank (as a U.S. national), so I'd have to pay cash for the thing. That means getting a second against property here in the U.S., or just paying cash. Right now, IMHO, is the wrong time to be buying condos in BKK, as they are way overpriced for what you get (as opposed to what you pay for a house upcountry).
I bought a little scrap of land a year or so ago for my TGF upcountry in her village for very short bucks, with the idea that someday we might build on it. I consider it a walkaway investment (as I view anything in LOS -- I don't trust the government or the locals to give me a fair shake financially), even if we were to build a house there, as I don't get controlling interest in the property, financially.
So for right now, I'm still a renter, and am spending my real estate money in the States. But I will be interested to see how your project goes, as sooner or later (probably later, after the next crash), I will probably be buidling a (walkaway investment) house in the stix too. I've toyed with the incorporation idea, or with the idea of using a reputable proxy corporation (of which there are some) to get better financial leverage.
- Balls
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:49 pm on Jan. 5, 2005
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Broken Leg
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Just to add to ballsburstin post I have no knowledge of the legal side of buying in Thailand or a speculative bubble in the Thai real estate market.
However I do believe IMHO that the Thai Baht may well appreciate along with the other asian countries' currencies against the other major currencies in the world, basically because it is likely that China sooner or later will move towards unpegging their currency against the US dollar which should allow some appreciation in the other asian countries obviously because their competing price wise with china in exporting.
Thai baht is rougly the same against the dolllar now at 12m ago and the dollar is taking a kicking so the other ccs have been appreciating however the idea to wait a few years for a crash may not be so simple.
of course I have now idea when china finally will float the renimbi
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 6:23 pm on Jan. 5, 2005
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Torq
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Thanks DrLove I'll try Sunbelt.
BTW I am neither trying to save the world or doing the getting rich by opening a bar sort. I guess I'm not the sort you've seen run onto the rocks so often in your 20 years in Thailand.
On my 1st trip it was immediately clear to me that you needed a significant cashflow or net worth to be happy in Thailand. This makes Thailand no different than anywhere else. With enough money relative to the cost of living almost anywhere can be a paradise or sorts. Thailand offers some unique benefits though.
The purpose of my initial land purchase and cow buying wasn't part of some delusional get rich quick scheme. It is a measured step in my desire to spend more time in the LOS.
One of the things that strikes me about the Thais upcountry is their near complete lack of planning. I discussed this with my TGF and she told me that that was truly the case. Thais tend to take it as it comes there and live on an almost subsitance basis.
For my part I like to plan. Life always seems to work better for me with a plan. I have noticed that a lot of expats almost anywhere I've been don't seem to have had much of a plan.
The tourist areas provide grim evidence of this. Take Phuket before the disaster or Samui now. I will bet you that you can walk almost randomly down any beer bar soi and find a pub or bar for sale. 
Another sad one is the, "Gee I bet what they need here is another English (German, Dutch, Finnish, French, Mexican, insert ethnic about to fail style food) restaurant"...
Or if you dream the impossible dream, you could be like a few sad falangs I saw recently in Chiang Mai selling crap in street stalls.
Nope not my plan. Many people go on vacation and decide to buy a condo or timeshare or something on a whim. It almost never works out. Take Maui for example. You could have made money 2 1/2 years ago on a condo development there. Great deals were to be had. Foolishly I didn't do it.
In that case I knew that the money would come from appreciation not as rental income. What happens on Maui is that the hugely corrupt local government works with the major hotels to ruin the condo rental business for small owners.
They do this to prop up the big operators who pay them under the table. What happens to many people who buy the wrong kind of property or buy it for the wrong reason (see planning) end up with a lot of bills and little or no income. I mean how often can you go on vacation?
Unless you have good income a second mortgage and other expenses can eat you alive. They get harrassed by the local government and end up losing their asses. In this market you need to make you're money on resale. Anyway just an example.
Another weird thing is that many people seem to think they are going to retire to LOS on a skimpy pension and paint the town. That is scarey to me. Like I said earlier I thought that you needed a pretty good income to be happy there.
As for owning the property it can be done in LOS. Of course anything can happen and you can get screwed. However I will simply not put anything ever into someone else's name. Read never, ever, ever... 
This is just a personal decision, not meant to offend anyone. For the money I'll spend there I could buy myself a 3-Series BMW. Why would I buy someone else a BMW??? No, I work too damn hard for it. I can share I learned that when I was 3 but no I will take my toys home when "we" are done playing with them. 
Besides lots of American companies buy stuff over there all the time without a hitch. A lot of guys on this forum make it sound like grifters are coming down out of every ceiling on wires 24/7.
I appreciate the caution but I was just hoping for a nice reference to an incorporation attorney...
Cheers
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:32 pm on Jan. 5, 2005
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Torq
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Well waiting for a bubble to burst...
I mean we are only talking about $6700 worth of land. Even if it goes down by half who cares? Sage advice for sure but it is just a few acres in East Jesus after all.
The house will cost somewhere between $20-25K USD to build. Again the cost of the materials even if they fall to half is only what 12K?
I am not banking on this as my life savings (I hope). It is just another investment. It is like a mutual fund really. One part of a larger overall personal strategy.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 6:37 pm on Jan. 5, 2005
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Broken Leg
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Torq,
My experience was in Indonesia buying land, although as far as I can gather the law regarding property ownership seems quite similar.
The ones who got themselves into trouble overthere were firstly unlucky in who they dealt with and were also quick to act or acted without proper care and attention to cover themselves as best as possible
that doesn't sound like
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 6:47 pm on Jan. 5, 2005
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koolbreez
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From what I've been able find, I have similar interests, it is going to be impossible for you to buy residential land, even under a corporation. The incorporation exemption is for business's only, and in areas that are zoned as such. Also, the corporation will be at least 51% Thai owned. This can be circumvented with proxy corporate officers, 7. There are also restrictions on the type of businesses that can be foreign owned. agriculture is one of the restricted businesses. Basically as a foreigner you can't own the little farm in the country to retire on. Your Thai wife can own the land, but you can't.
If you find a way around this, I would be very interested.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:17 pm on Jan. 5, 2005
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BigDUSA
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Another weird thing is that many people seem to think they are going to retire to LOS on a skimpy pension and paint the town. That is scarey to me. Like I said earlier I thought that you needed a pretty good income to be happy there.
Torq,
I spent one month in Pattaya and had a budget of 1K per day including hotel and live in BG. I had a good time on the 30K I spent. I didn't go out every night but I don't go out and drink every night at home.
From what I understand living up country is even cheaper. I plan on moving to Thailand in two years and I will have about 70-80K per month to live on.
I'm thinking of living in Udorn, Chaing Mai or Nong Khai.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:39 am on Jan. 6, 2005
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Abrak
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Torq,
Your problem is this.
Your investment is relatively small while the cost of owning it under a Thai corporation will be high. You have to set up a Thai company and then get the Thai corporate audited yearly under Thai law. I own properties in Thailand and my annual legal and accounting fees are higher thanyour land investment.
Sometime back I did email the guy at http://www.coolthaihouse.com and asked him how he got around this problem. He told me that a Thai corporate can be set up for around Bt20,000 and that annual auditing fees were about the same amount. (This is not my experience but then my investment is several multiples higher than yours).
My advice is to contact this guy for legal and accounting recommendations. (He certainly did a good job at building his house cheaply (be warned building costs have risen at least 30% since) ).
I suspect you will eventually find that it is not viable to go the Thai incorporation route and it is better to say put it in your TGF's name (and risk losing it in the future). The costs of simply transfering the land into the Thai corporate will work out at around 5% of the land value, then there are the legal and accounting fees.
If you want some quick and dirty advice it is this - it is possible to own a land and property in Thailand but the legal and accounting fees mean that it is not really viable for a property worth less than US$150,000.
A cheaper alternative that you might like to look into is this. Put the land in your TGs name but when you build the house lease it from her to yourself for 30 years. You will then own the house legally for the next 30 years. The cost of this set up should be minimal.
If you find a cheap legal and accounting route please let me know either by pm or in the forum.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 2:28 am on Jan. 6, 2005
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expatchuck
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Surprisingly, my house is in my 11 year old daughter's name. She has dual citizenship.
Under the law, she cannot sell it until she is 21 so I can be an overbearing father for a few more years.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 3:14 am on Jan. 6, 2005
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