Buying a condo in Thailand

Everywhere you look around Pattaya – and in other tourist places it will be no different – ​​more and more condo complexes are being built. Large buildings with often many floors, which are divided into many condos, say flats or apartments.

Buying a condo is attractive to many foreigners, either as an investment or for own residence. The Pattaya Trader recently published a story by an Englishman in which he describes how he bought a condo and what procedures he went through. It won't be the same for everyone, but I thought it would be nice and interesting to tell his story here.

“I had decided to buy a condo and drove quite a few kilometers on my motorbike to see condo buildings under construction on the left and right. Some of those projects have a sales office and I have also visited a number of them for information. In one of those sales offices, where I finally succeeded, I was kindly greeted by a receptionist and then a salesperson. He showed me a map of the various condos in the complex, which was still under construction.

I was interested in a certain type of condo, which was supposed to cost about 1,6 million Baht. At that moment I was able to choose the desired floor and the location – sunny or shady side. If I wanted to buy, I had to immediately pay 10.000 Baht as a “booking fee” and another 50.000 Baht as a “contract fee” within a week. This money was not in addition to the price of the condo, but was part of it. After a week I would have to sign the contract and then make a monthly payment. They presented me with a plan to pay 15 Baht for 30.000 months - that's how long the construction took. At the end of that period, I had to pay the remaining amount, which was about 1,1 million Baht. The latter amount included some additional costs for transfer and taxes, but no more than approximately 30.000 Baht.

The condo I selected was a “shell unit” that still had to be fitted with a floor, kitchen and furniture. The bathroom was ready, but I still had to calculate how much the other amenities and furniture would cost me to make it habitable for me. The complex itself would be equipped with a swimming pool, shops and a restaurant. I had carefully studied the location of my condo in the building, looked closely at its exposure to the sun, and then chose a condo on a higher floor with a sea view on the shady side.

After an hour of talking with the staff, who answered all my questions nicely, I made the decision and paid the 10.000 Baht reservation money. I handed over my passport for a copy, which was needed for the contract and thought that things could possibly still go wrong until the contract I would have lost “only” 10,000 Baht. I left the office with a pleasant feeling and I celebrated the purchase exuberantly in the evening.

The next morning I went to a local bank, in my case the TMB, to open an account. That went without a problem, I only had to show my passport. The entire procedure at the bank took about twenty minutes, after which I left the bank with a bank book, an ATM card, an account number and the Swift code of the bank to transfer money from my home country to Thailand. The cost was only 500 Baht and of course I had to deposit a small amount into my account when opening the account.

The next step was to contact my bank in England to arrange the transfer to my Thai bank account. I was still asked whether they should send the money in Thai Baht or British pounds, but I was quickly done with that. Of course you do not buy Baht in England, but have the Pounds transferred, which is then converted into Baht by the Thai bank at a much more favorable rate. I ordered an amount in Pounds to be transferred, which would amount to approximately 150.000 Baht, so that I could pay the initial costs for the contract as well as a number of monthly payments.

The money arrived within a few days and when I went back to the sales office a week later to finalize the matter, I had the necessary money at my disposal. The contract (fortunately in the English language) was now ready for signature, which I did after checking all the details. The contract still required a declaration from me, as a foreign buyer, that the money for the purchase actually came from abroad. This statement, necessary for the formalities at the Land Office, was issued by the bank without any problem. I did the whole transaction without a lawyer, because I had already screened the developer myself and determined that she had a good reputation. I left the office with the contract and was able to schedule further payment.

I had a monthly transfer from England to Thailand for the next 15 months so that I could pay the monthly installment of 30.000 Baht. That amount was not too large for me and I could also save that way to make the final payment later. For that I had to put away 55.000 Baht every month. After those 15 months I had collected the outstanding amount of 1,1 million.

At the end of the 15 months, the building was completed and the pool and surrounding garden were finalised. I can inspect my condo and found everything in perfect order as agreed in advance. I paid the outstanding amount and also handed over the Tor Tor 3 document from the bank as proof that the money paid came from abroad.

The developer arranged everything with the Land Office and the next day I had the papers as proof of ownership in my possession and was handed the key to the condo. I have been living there for three years now and to my complete satisfaction”