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Home » Reader question » Reader question: Build a bungalow in the Isaan or buy an existing one?
Dear readers,
For the past 7 years I have been staying in Thailand for six months in the region of Khon Kaen. Am now in Belgium but leaving back in August.
Have a good Thai girlfriend, who has a house in Nongruea (basic thai comfort). I bought a piece of land behind her house of about 3 square meters 300 years ago.
Now I am considering building a small bungalow for myself there: one normal bedroom, one small bedroom, one bathroom with toilet (possibly separate toilet), a (storage) wet room for fridge and washing machine and a practical (open) European kitchen ( also inside). Covered with a terrace outside so that I can also sit outside when it rains.
Also received a tip to look around for an unfinished house (due to lack of money) and to buy it and then finish it to my taste ... (must be in Nongrua or in a radius of 5 km).
Please provide any advice and/or information.
With thanks and best regards,
Karel
Just as I added a bedroom with bathroom to the existing house with more than basic comfort, you can do the same.
Place the new building against the old building, live in the new building in the evening and night and use the old building for kitchen, storage, garage, washing machine, etc. You will see that the partner and her family, and neighbors and friends are in the old building during the day, that they may prefer to cook in a traditional way and that way everyone is happy and you save a lot of money.
Dear Karel,
You will have a title deed in your name on the piece of land you have purchased. Have you already had this document translated and legalized? . . before proceeding with your building plans.
Bottoms
buy a piece of land as a foreigner in Thailand????
I think it is impossible to rent or lease for a long period of time
or on a Thai person's name.this would be good news for all foreigners living here like me
You know that the LAND will never and will never become your property?
So you are and remain entirely dependent on the whims of the land dweller.
I have been dealing with Thailand since 1993, but in 2006 I came to the conclusion after a fairly lengthy lawsuit: “greetings TH, see you in the next life” (popgan chat na)
I would say start small and expand it. I just don't understand how you can get existing construction on your purchased land.
What I am even more curious about is how you can get 300 m2 of land in your name in Thailand. I thought that was not possible for a foreigner. And I'm curious how much you paid for it. (if necessary in a pm)
Regards, Will
If you are going to build, pay VERY close attention to who is building and whether you get a warranty (although that often means nothing). I live south of Khon Kaen and in our house it is often people without any training who build and the result is poor (my neighbor - Thai - has had 7 !!!!!!!! different contractors and the result was : tear it down and start over, but then the money ran out, so nothing was built up). So be on your guard.
You can inherit land, but you must then sell it within a year.
So land cannot actually be owned by you. So when you build your house, it's on someone else's land.
Or do you transfer it to your girlfriend's name and attach a 30-year (renewable) lease contract to it for yourself?
If there are any problems, hopefully not, are you still using the house? Or break it down and take it with you. Or will you take your loss?
It is also possible to rent a house nearby; for not too much money.
New construction has the advantage that you can build and furnish it the way you want.
Disadvantages: the Thai quality is not always what we are used to, so stick to it during construction.
Every minute, because you turn around and they might do something else.
And buy a pack of paracetamol for the headache, but hopefully you have a really good construction crew.
Having a Thai supervised can be difficult for that person: not used to the desired European quality, do not want to come across too hard on the builders (family, fellow villagers).
Make a specification/specification in advance and have a written detailed quotation(s) issued, so that no problems arise. Quotation split into wages and materials, so number of employees, number of hours, wages/hour for workmen and supervisor; in addition, specification of types, quantity and quality of the material to be used. This way you can also compare offers properly. Pay in parts: wages on time (usually weekly) and material as soon as delivered, sometimes manageable advance required for the purchase of expensive elements, but then delivered to the construction site on the same day. Do not pay in advance, so that you as a client still have an upper hand.
Holds a final term until final things are satisfactorily arranged.
Also record those payment moments in advance.
Buying an existing home has the advantage that you can see what and how it has been built, possibly negotiate the price and move in quickly.
Good luck.
Dear Karel,
You are also the 1st and not the last to be misled.
You should NOT let yourself be fooled, but it is 100% that way.
And of course your girlfriend will say that this is not true, love you dearly, and stay with you forever.
You can buy that land = pay, but it is in your girlfriend's name.
You can buy the house = pay, but if ever (I hope not) there is a hair in the butter, you will not have a leg to stand on, even if you have paid everything.
And if your girlfriend puts you out on the street, you can just kick it off without mercy.
And don't say, it won't happen to me, there are already 1000s of stories of farangs known, who have lost everything and have lost it.
So Karel, good advice, please don't do it.
Unless you can put wheels under your house.
It may not be nice to hear this, but it is the harsh reality.
Greetings.
Gino.
A strange story to say the least. You bought land? Impossible in Thailand. And why poke around for an existing home to convert it?. That is a) more expensive, because ALL affordable Thai houses are built the same-premitively to your wishes as you describe them and b) what you want will cost you approx. 4-6 million. Not even counting the ground.
TIP: if you are only there for 6 months / year, I would rent=cheaper. And you can rent what you like. This also has the advantage that during your absence no parts are expanded that were urgently needed elsewhere in the family or simply, . . were sold.
Dear Karel, I read a lot of good advice again: “Don't build; unreliable Thai girlfriend; land not owned; etcetera……." You've probably read a lot of those things already!
You paid for 300m2 of land. I say paid, because you can't own land, but you probably already knew that. If so, you can take out a lease with your girlfriend and have it registered at the Land Office (Thai Land Registry). It is then recorded on the “chanot” that there is a lease on that piece of land. There is also something like “usefruct”, say right of use, but I would not advise that, in connection with Thai inheritance law.
Once your lease has been registered, you can start building. You want to build a small bungalow with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, possibly a second toilet, a storage room with options for a washing machine, etc. and an open kitchen. I immediately read ridiculous amounts of 3 to 4 million baht. Take it from me, what you have in mind, you can build for 500 thousand to 1 million baht. Take an average of 750 thousand baht and then you have a very nice bungalow with Western facilities. Of course no golden taps and no 250m2+ of living space. You don't need the latter here either, as you mainly live outside. Build a nice sala with cooking facilities next to your bungalow and you'll be perfect.
I live near Khon Kaen myself and if you need more information or help, my email is [email protected]
750 thousand for a bungalow with facilities as known in our country. Of course that's possible. I have to say, that could have been about 5 years ago. The brick that cost 3 baht back then, you now pay 8 baht for. So now 3-4 million is very realistic. And not all plots in Thailand have a chanot, but you can buy them. A lot of land goes through the sapakor bureau and never get a chanot.
Leasing the land from your girlfriend doesn't give you any advantage. If she kicks you out tomorrow, your lease contract won't help you one bit. You can, however, put the house in your name and contractually have a lifelong right to consider the property. That is legally enforceable. I think that here too the handle is different than reported and told by many?.
Karel talks about a small bungalow, so not a “2 storey 400m2 living space” house. Then you do indeed pay 3 to 4 million baht. Recently built here in the village a nice bungalow of approximately 150m2 living space with 2 bedrooms; 1 bathroom annex toilet; 1 kitchen and living room for under 1 million baht. Everything completely with western amenities. So you can still build a nice bungalow for under 1 million baht.
Putting a house in your name is often written. Contractually a lifelong right to consider the land (whatever that means?). All complete nonsense. At the land office, only ownership of land is registered with any right of use based on it in the form of a lease, for example. In fact, lease is gradually becoming the only thing that offers security in Thailand. Also read this:
http://property.thaivisa.com/can-foreigners-property-thailand/
You lease for a period of 30 years with an option to extend for another 30 years. Lease agreement is registered at the land office. Lease is safe because it also remains legally valid when the land is sold by the lessor/lessor and/or in the event of inheritance due to the death of the lessor/lessor.
Karel benefits from clear and, above all, correct information, so let's provide it.
I also bought, or so they say, with a long lease registered on the land register, which is also on the chanoot. A real chanoot because the red garuda also appears on another 'property' paper that is not a property paper at all.
I assume that's what Karl means.
Usufruct is not accepted at all registers if you are not married. In that case, and especially because it is 'bare' land, the right of superficies comes into play. I often hear a word like 'superficies' but the right word is building and planting rights.
The advice to Karel should be : examine the title deed and if it is not a chanoot then don't start it or see it as prepaid rent. If it is a chanoot, have your rights recorded at the land register in the form of building and planting rights or long-term lease, max 2 x 30 years. Because it is bare land, the rent is low.
Consult a Thai expert such as a lawyer; after all, there will have to be an agreement in two languages.
Do you maybe have something to do with this?
http://www.thailawonline.com/en/property/superficies.html
Superficies turns out to be Latin! Well, I'm not a high school student either.
Might also be useful; find a really good lawyer and have them draw up a contract, in Thai and English, between you and your girlfriend stating that you act as a mortgage lender and your girlfriend takes it from you.
Include in this; Until she has paid it off (which never happens) you have the right to use the home.
After death, these rights and/or obligations pass to the heirs.
Make sure that you transfer money from the Netherlands to your own Thai bank account and state in your transfer that the money will be spent on the purchase of a home. If you want/have to sell your house in the future and go back to the Netherlands, you will need this to transfer the money back to the Netherlands.
Keep the Chanot and papers in your possession with all copies of bank transfers and payments to manufacturers etc..
You can of course also put the house in your name (because you may not own a land, but you can own a house), but then you run the risk that in the event of a divorce your girlfriend will sell the land and you will no longer be able to access your home unless the house is on the property boundary.
Oh and how strong you really are if it comes to a lawsuit after a possibly. divorce can always be seen, after all, you are not in the Netherlands.
So maybe you prefer to rent or take your loss in the event of a divorce.
AmazingThailand, always exciting!
Good luck and most of all enjoy.
It depends on where you are going to build and then in which part of the area. A bungalow like you propose is for sale at different brokers for prices of between 1.5 to about 4 million. Just google -real estate-. If others offer something cheaper, it is a bungalow in the bush bush or mountains behind Chiang Rai, but not in Khon Kaen. You can also ask a local construction entrepreneur?. Then you quickly know which prices melody is being played. I would like to read an offer from a local Khon Kaen real-estate or contractor who will build your dream house Karel as you described it for 750.000.
Through a lawyer, you and your girlfriend can establish that as long as you live, you have the right to -reach- your bungalow, which is in your name. You can arrange this in 1 hour with a lawyer. Have it laid down that in the event of a conflict about the language explanation (translation) the Dutch language always has priority. So there is -a road- on the plot (or path) that is fixed and over which you can reach your house.
I think you would benefit from realistic information about the prices and costs of a house now in 2014. It does not help you there that you are given a price of a house built by Thais (with Thai help among themselves).
Dear tlb-ik, You write a mountain of nonsense! It is already known where Karel will build; he has already bought land behind his girlfriend's house. That could be in the “bush, bush”, as you describe it! In any case, it is in the province of Khon Kaen, as Karel has described.
You can indeed buy bungalows from real estate agents for 1,5 to 4 million baht. In fact, you can buy houses from real estate agents for 10 million baht and more, but Karel does not ask for that.
Karel already has land and just wants to build a house! I get the impression that you haven't quite understood that yet! Of course you can build houses for 1 million baht and also for 100 million baht! Karel does not ask for that either! Karel wants to build a nice bungalow and that can be done for under a million.
Furthermore, I do not know what you have arranged with a lawyer in an hour, but I am sure that in Thailand you cannot arrange that the Dutch language has priority in a dispute. In fact, you can't even arrange that in the Netherlands!
Just give real information, but don't sell nonsense!
Karel did not buy land but paid for it, perhaps for his girlfriend, that is not certain!
Now 6 years ago we have in Dan Khun Thot, 50 km. west of Korat and on the edge of the vast rice fields, had a bungalow built by a local contractor. Large: 8 mx 10 m, 5 meters high and the floor at 1,5 m above the ground with a beautiful living room, 3 bedrooms, a bathroom with toilet and a small kitchen. All that for 400.000 Baht. In addition, the following year we had our own bungalow built on the same ground by another contractor, large: 18 m in front, 12 m deep, 8,5 m high and the floor also at 1,5 m above the ground. With a large living room (8 mx 10 m), 2 bedrooms, large kitchen, 2 bathrooms with toilet and a computer room. Granite floors and a staircase at the front and back, also in granite and with a garage: 5 mx 10 m. and a concrete path of 3 m wide and 60 m long. Cost price, all finished: 3,3 million. Baht. We are now a few years further, but the prices will not be very different from 5 – 6 years ago, I thought. So in Khon Kaen it will be in the same order regarding prices. If Karel builds a nice comfortable bungalow, it must certainly be under 1 million. Baht I think.
Hi Roger, am also from Dan Khun Thot as you know. Ban Nong Han, Nong Kl(r)lat, 30210 Khorat.
Bungalow 3 bedrooms cost 450.000 THB on the land of late Thai my friend. Afterwards some extra costs, renovation works, large concrete rain barrels, pond excavated and construction of pergola, etc. Can therefore broadly confirm your quotation.
If allowed: profile picture with image on http://www.facebook.com/Daffyd.Van.der.Veken
See you soon, back from Oct/Nov.
So think that Karel will work it out, whether it is his land, leased, or that is in someone else's name.
Tip: hire a good site manager and stay close by. Are you digging a pond or building on damp ground, pour a concrete foundation on piles if necessary; so that your house does not sink or start to tear; see that happen regularly…
Dear Karel,
I'm quite handy but certainly not a techie. But how do you want to get that unfinished house on your 300 m2 of land due to lack of money?
It is of course important who owns the land behind the house and what the rights are for using it.
Normally house and land belong together.
A house built on another's land will be gratefully accepted by the owner of the land.
The land has been paid for by the applicant. He will know what can be built on it and what the consequences are for property rights.
No. 1, Karel has given the financial means to buy an extra piece of land behind his girlfriend's plot. Second possibility, Karel has bought a piece of 300m2 from his girlfriend, but then he is not the owner. If she told him that, he was cheated. So I start from statement no. 1.
Because no real measurements were given, a correct estimate is difficult. But if you build with a 1 brick wall (Thailand standard), no roof insulation, no thermal ceiling insulation, no roof resistance against sun rays, no plastic surface against rising moisture, do not build at height, take cheap hardware store doors and windows and single glass, cheapest tiles on the bathroom wall, cheapest fixtures etc. etc, then you can build a chicken coop for 750.000. Then you only have 1mt of space next to your bed on each side to get in.
In addition, you then pay a lot for the air conditioning and fan electricity costs to keep that thing habitable. If you have worked all your life to live in such housing, well then I would rather stay in the Netherlands. Because you are guaranteed to live more comfortably there, due to the building regulations that prescribe minimum sizes. . in Dutch as the main language.