Property for sale
in Phuket

A foreigner can buy a fully owned apartment in a condominium, villa or house. A foreigner can also arrange an apartment or villa for long-term ownership. A foreigner cannot own land, but can register it for long-term ownership or for a Thai company with foreign participation.

Registration of a property in full ownership in Thailand is called Freehold. There is also Leasehold – long-term ownership. There is also Condominium Freehold option for condominium apartments. All three forms are clearly regulated by local law.

Leasehold is the ownership of a house, apartment or land for a long time with the same rights as when registering full ownership: you can dispose of the property in any possible way (sell, rent, use by yourself, etc.). In terms of terminology, the owner who provides the lease is called the landlord and the owner of the lease is called the tenant. In this case, the buyer receives the same package of documents as with Freehold, and is registered with the local authorities as a “temporary owner”.

This form of ownership is applicable to villas, apartments, townhouses, houses, land. The maximum Leasehold term is 30 years, with the possibility of extension for 30 + 30 years. The agreement may include the zeroing of the Leasehold term in case of the resale of the property.

For a land ownership registration, including plots under construction, a Thai company should be organized. The foreigner’s share in such a company can not exceed 49%, but these restrictions are circumvented as follows:

1. The Thai company is appointed by the buyer, and the nominal partner renounces the shares in favor of the buyer.
2. The Thai shares’ portion is diluted among several nominal Thai people so that the buyer owns a majority stake.

Thus, a foreign citizen actually gets full company and land ownership.

Registration of the property is carried out in the Architectural and Land Committees. The length of the procedure depends on the type of the object and the internal regulations of the seller, and on average it is:

• For a new apartment from the developer from 10 days to 1.5 months;
• For an apartment in the secondary real estate market from the owner to 2 months;
• For a villa, house or townhouse up to 3 months.

The availability of real estate in Thailand does not give its owner any visa benefits. However, there are other options for a long stay in Thailand.

• Business or work visa (B visa): if you purchase a property through a legal entity in Thailand, this company can easily issue a visa. Close relatives at the same time may be in the country on an accompanying visa;
• Student visa (ED visa): a common option to stay in the country for six months. To do this, you must first arrive in the kingdom on a visa-free entry and find a suitable school. The school can be chosen both for studying the language and just for obtaining a visa. The educational institution specialists will prepare all the necessary documents with which it will be necessary to leave for a neighboring country for 1 day to obtain a visa at a Thai consulate.

The second option is to issue an ED visa at the Thai Embassy in your country. For this, a package of documents will be sent to you by mail.

The Thailand Condominium Act defines a condominium as a building that can be separated into units for individual ownership and which include personal and common properties (land on which the building sits, hallways, elevators, etc.). As long as the building is able to hold ownership separately according to the area, whereby each area consists of private ownership in the property and joint ownership in the common property. Thus, the owner of an apartment in a condominium has the right to own a personal unit and is a co-owner of a common property that cannot be divided.

Leasehold is a convenient option when buying real estate in Thailand for investment purposes. In this case, the property is not acquired forever, but for a certain period of time to receive passive income and subsequent resale in 5-15 years. The cost of registration of Leasehold is lower, in many countries this type of registration is equivalent to a lease, so the property does not need to be declared. Freehold prices can be artificially high, as this type of property is in great demand. Therefore, you can buy a unit in Leasehold cheaper than the same one in Freehold in the same condominium.

Acquisition of real estate directly from the builder can be divided into 4 main stages:

1. Depositing. Its size is set by the developer, but usually is within 100 thousand baht. The pledge confirms the seriousness of the buyer’s intentions and insures the developer against damages in the event of the refusal of the first from the transaction.
2. The preparation and signing of the sales contract launches after the deposit is credited to the account of the developer company. The length of this stage depends on how much time it will take for the parties to agree on all the terms of the contract.
3. Registration of ownership of real estate in the land and architectural committees. This procedure falls on the shoulders of the builder, and its duration depends on its internal regulations. Usually it takes from 10 days to 1.5 months.
4. Completing the payment second part. When the documents confirming your property ownership have been registered, the developer issues an invoice for payment of the remaining amount. After transferring money, you get the property papers and become the new Thai property’s owner.

In case of buying property during the construction process, the buyer makes payments in accordance with the payment schedule tied to the stages of construction.

The cost of real estate registration in Thailand includes:

• Registration fee – 2% of the appraised value of the object;
• Stamp duty – 0.5% of the estimated value or contract price, namely, the one that will be higher;
• Withholding tax – 1% of the appraised value or contract price, namely from the one that will be higher.

When registering a property for a long-term lease, it will be necessary to pay:

• Registration fee (registration fee) – 1% of the appraised value of the object;
• Stamp duty – 0.1% of the estimated value or contract price, namely, the one that will be higher.

All these fees are non-recurrent.

Yes, such lending is carried out by commercial banks on the following terms:

• Maximum possible loan amount – 50% of the appraised value of the object;
• Maximum credit period – up to 10 years;
• The interest rate depends on the object after its evaluation, usually it is 6-8%;
• The property is pledged to the bank.

Procedure for obtaining a loan:

• The bank analyzes the activities of the developer and studies its contract;
• Bank experts assess the market value of the facility.
• If the draft is approved they are processing a mortgage.