Looking for a condo upto 1.5 mil

[alesypalsy 0]

Hello all,

I am relocating shortly over to LOS, I am wondering if any expats there know of any one selling a condo, I am looking for something reasonable, not a studio has to be a 1 bed unless it is a massive studio, must have pool, balcony, and nice view, prefer sea view but not really bothered if its nice, I am currently in the UK and will not be able to view for around a month so any one with pics etc would be most welcome, i am a cash buyer and want in my name not a company, any area considered if in baht bus route or walking distance of 10-20 minutes from beach road areas, Does any one know if i can bring £s sterling travelers cheques to purchase or does it have to be via bank transfer.

Many thanks all

[Eneukman 1]

I think you could struggle to find what you want at your budget. PLenty of studio units are on sale for 1,500,000 baht or less but very few 1 bedroom condos. Take a look at some estate agents' web-sites and perhaps e-mail them to see what they have available. A few suggestions to look at are -

 

http://www.realestatethailand.com/

http://www.scrhomefinder.com/life_in_pattaya.htm

http://www.thailand-property.com/

http://www.thaiproperty.com/renting.htm

 

A further difficulty could be that you will almost certainly need to find a condo that is already in a farang name.

 

I am pretty certain that you will need to prove that the funds to purchase the condo came from outwith Thailand so a bank transfer would seem to be required.

 

Good luck with the move when you make it.

 

Alan

Edited October 7, 2005 by Eneukman

[Soi7 1]

I am pretty certain that you will need to prove that the funds to purchase the condo came from outwith Thailand so a bank transfer would seem to be required

 

Yep Alan is correct funds must be Transfered from outside of Thailand

[alesypalsy 0]

Cheers chaps, I hope you will let me buy you a beer when i arrive

Regards

Alex

[BigDUSA 71]

Gary the owner of the Alamo Bar on soi 8 has a decent condo. I'll see him later this week and ask if he still has it for sale. I like the sound of that later this week.

Edited October 8, 2005 by BigDUSA

[marleyboy 140]

just my two pence worth! i bought a house in pattaya two years ago and i used travellers cheques! but thinking about it we had to prove the money was transferred! anyways we went to a few real estate agenta but i wasnt impressed by any of them!im a brit and 2 of the places i went to hadbrits working in them who were real "arthur daleys!" ie. i didnt trust nor believe them! try looking at oyher ads in thailand they have a fre property mags there or even look out for any ads in complexes you like or just meet up with ex-pats living there they will know of any condos for sale! there are some real bargains to be had in pattaya but as everywhere its knowing where they are! good luck!

[alesypalsy 0]

Marleyboy, I am a bit confused, was it ok that you used travelers cheques then? and did the cashing place give you the tor 3 or whatever bit of paper it is you need to prove the funds came from abroad.

cheers mate

I know what you are saying on them slippery arthur types, i dont trust em either.

[marleyboy 140]

yeah alespalsy the bank which changed the cheques gave us " a piece of paper!" which i presume is the tor 3? my wife is thai so that obviously helped! the "piece of paper" from the bank is needed apparently by the land registry when you go to register the property? we bought a house in soi khaota in a complex which is still being built so the girls from the sales office went with us to the land registry to help smooth things along. i presume the same conditions apply when buying a condo? according to my wife the bank asked where the money came from and she told them from my savings salary etc and they were satisfied? apparently they were checking this money wasnt "dirty" ie drug money gang money! etc! ive a friend living in a studio condo (right on the baht bus route off central pattaya road) until his house gets built, and the condos there sell for about 500,000 baht, like i say they are studios but they are big! and quite well located! so i think for one and a half million you will be ok! (my 2 bed-roomed house didnt cost that much!) so just get about and hunt the properties out and meet up with ex-pats living there! im sure if you buy them a beer im sure they would be willing to help! im there myself in 12 days time! cant wait! good luck mate!

[wacmedia 277]

I bought a house in pattaya two years ago and i used travellers cheques!

Hi

 

As one of our American cousins have said " Patttaya is full of all types of scam merchant's " Thats the way it is!!!!

[Shit_Happens 31]

yeah alespalsy the bank which changed the cheques gave us " a piece of paper!" which i presume is the tor 3? my wife is thai so that obviously helped! the "piece of paper" from the bank is needed apparently by the land registry when you go to register the property? we bought a house in soi khaota in a complex which is still being built so the girls from the sales office went with us to the land registry to help smooth things along. i presume the same conditions apply when buying a condo? according to my wife the bank asked where the money came from and she told them from my savings salary etc and they were satisfied? apparently they were checking this money wasnt "dirty" ie drug money gang money! etc! ive a friend living in a studio condo (right on the baht bus route off central pattaya road) until his house gets built, and the condos there sell for about 500,000 baht, like i say they are studios but they are big! and quite well located! so i think for one and a half million you will be ok! (my 2 bed-roomed house didnt cost that much!) so just get about and hunt the properties out and meet up with ex-pats living there! im sure if you buy them a beer im sure they would be willing to help! im there myself in 12 days time! cant wait! good luck mate!

Not knowing you or your wife and just being a bit suspicious I would check that piece of paper.

Farangs cannot buy a house and if you bought it in your wifes name she would not need a tor3, but, thai women married to farangs must prove that the money used to buy a house does not come from the farang husband but is her own money and that he has not got any call on the funds in the future.

If you cannot speak or read thai? And do you have total trust in your wife?

Well, I would be getting a trusted translater to have a look at the documents, house title etc.

[torrenova 644]

You need a tor tor 3. The money should also be transferred in your local currency and exchanged at this end (through the receiving bank). I use Bangkok Bank as their correspondent bank is HSBC in Bangkok and I can use HSBC in the UK or Hong Kong to wire the money.

 

As for your price, you'll be lucky to get a 1 bed in a good block on the bus routes or near the beach. remember the old adage - buy the smallest in the best block rather than the best in the worst block.

 

As for whether you really need a 1 bed. If guests come, they can stay in an hotel. Sure, having a bedroom is nice but not an absolute necessity.

 

I would advise coming and renting for a couple of months and seeing where you want to live rather than being constrained by your budget and then finding out that you don't realy like the area, the block or the find transport inconvenient.

[marleyboy 140]

well i speak a bit of thai, i obviously dont read it! the house is all payed fpr registered etc etc, and if i cant trust my wife of 11 years or if anyone couldnt trust their wife whats the point of buying anything with them in the first place.ive been going to thailand for over 23 years nothing surprises me over there anymore, farangs can and do buy houses (with a registered company) buy a condo, buy cars takre driving tests etc. there seems to be a lot of scepticism to what ive said, i personally dont care, im just saying what ive done. (i also know lots of other brits who have bought property over there) . the house is in my wifes name-so what? it only cost me what most people pay for a car anyway! im only 45 so i aint gonna retire to that house, ill buy another before then. to me the plus of getting a house in my wifes name is she can take care of any problems.to the guy who said do i trust my wife all i can say is get a life!. seems people like going to thailand but dont like thai people? anyway rant over and i wont bother offering my "advice" any more! to the original poster as i say ask the people in thailand who have actually done what you want maybe they may have more "relevant" knowledge than some of these posters!

[alesypalsy 0]

Marleyboy, Dont worry about the other comments made, I was happy to read your comments.

Reply any time to any of my postings as i am interested,

kind regards

[marleyboy 140]

ok cheers mate! had a bit of a rant cos im having a bad day! first of all i thought i wasnt gonna be able to go over next week as im under the doctor! seems ok now though! then! i had the wrong return date on my ticket! thats also ok now! then! today i had to go into work to see a boss about my recent sick ness and on the way home i jumped over a bloody tiny wall and fell awkwardly on my anke! its aching like hell now! so im sure the gods are conspiring against my trip next thusday! (my first time without the missus as well!) good luck!

[Soi7 1]

alesypalsy,

 

They have a wealth of Info regarding buying property and banking as far as what you need and don't need to do this on the Thaivisa board and you are a member there I think check it out.

Edited October 12, 2005 by Soi7

[Panda 2]

Farangs CAN own a house, but they CANT own the land. You can take out a 30 year lease on the land quite legally though.

The bogus Thai company with the farang holding a 49% share still doesn't give the farang ownership of the house. The company would own it and if the 51% Thai shareholders wanted to sell it or boot the farang out, they could.

 

My Thai wife and I bought a house and land recently. The land title had to be in her name only. And I had to sign a document saying that I had not contributed any money to the purchase. Which was a total lie of course. But it was the only way they would transfer the title deed to my wife. TIT.

[Shit_Happens 31]

well i speak a bit of thai, i obviously dont read it! the house is all payed fpr registered etc etc, and if i cant trust my wife of 11 years or if anyone couldnt trust their wife  whats the point of buying anything with them in the first place.ive been going to thailand for over 23 years nothing surprises me over there anymore, farangs can and do buy houses (with a registered company) buy a condo, buy cars takre driving tests etc. there seems to be a lot of scepticism to what ive said, i personally dont care, im just saying what ive done. (i also know lots of other brits who have bought property over there)  . the house is in my wifes name-so what? it only cost me what most people pay for a car anyway! im only 45 so i aint gonna retire to that house, ill buy another before then. to me the plus of getting a house in my wifes name is she can take care of any problems.to the guy who said do i trust my wife all i can say is get a life!. seems people like going to thailand but dont like thai people? anyway rant over and i wont bother offering my "advice" any more! to the original poster as i say ask the people in thailand who have actually done what you want maybe they may have more "relevant" knowledge than some of these posters!

Calm down Marleyboy. As I said I do not know you and I was just generalizing.

As for me my wife owns our house in Bangkok and I own our unit in Jomtien.

I posted just in case somebody does not know the local rules and arrives in LOS thinking they can buy a house and land. It happened to a guy I know in Australia.

Bought a place with the girlfriend from very friendly sales reps and found out when he returned that she had sold the house and moved on never to be seen again.

Shit Happens

Edited October 12, 2005 by Shit_Happens