Great forum for a Newbie!

[harrymand]

Hi, I am a Norwegian working on the Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Sinze I have to travel " half the world" to spend my time of, some of my friends persuade me to come to Thailand, as many of them already lived there. After 1 trip, I was convinced! Working for the USD with to days exchange rate to the NKR, Convinced me even more to stay! So here I am, Leased 1 rai outside Krabi and start building hopfully this year. Fortunately I found this forum. Here it seams that you can get the answer to most of the questions regarding Thailand and house building. Fantastic! Will need your advice for sure!

Best regards,
Harry

[slimboyfat]

welcome harry.

unfortunately i dont know anything about building or thailand but there are plenty here who do

[Thetyim]

Hi Harry, welcome.

How long is your lease ?

[danbo]

Hello and welcome Harry. Krabi is beautiful - You're a lucky man. Can I come and live with you? I'll be good.

[Jet Gorgon]

Hi, Harry. Welcome from a fellow newbie.
How much do you pay for managing the building site? I think I could do that.

[harrymand]

30 years. Not sure if I go for the "usufruct" contract or not. There is of course a lady involved, and the land is in her name. I find some thread regarding this matter here. Interesting stuff, but confusing!

[harrymand]

yes, I think it´s a nice place. 4km to Ao Nang. What I like, was that the beach is not occupied by restaurants, and that it seam like a quite place.( if anything like that still exist)!

[harrymand]

If that´s you on the picture, we will be the couple of the town!

[harrymand]

Sorry, thats was for DANBO! Danish?

[kingwilly]

dunno abt danbo i think he's welsh, well at least i have trouble reading his posts sometimes

but welcome

[MeMock]

Be careful taking Danbon out on the town as he will eat all of the bananas.

[sabang]

Welcome Harry.
Do make sure you keep us updated on the trials & tribulations of building in Thailand.

[danbo]

Sorry, thats was for DANBO! Danish?

No harry, I hail from London, a small village in the South East of England.

Good luck with your plans in Krabi. You should be witness to some beautiful sunsets.

What I like, was that the beach is not occupied by restaurants

Many beaches are surprising quiet in Krabi, although every time I visit Ao Nang it seems to be growing quite quickly.

[hillbilly]

Welcome through our TeakDoors!

[harrymand]

Hi danbo. Yes. Its filling up. I come across some plans on the lawyers office for the area. Dont think the stillness would last! The whole area up to the school (3km up town) are sold to hotel companys.

[harrymand]

I just looove teak! Have building my own sailingboat for the last 10 years! ( When I found this webside, I was looking for teak for my boat!!)

[RDN]

Hi Harry - Krabi is not too far from Phuket. I've driven there in a few hours before, but didn't visit the beach.

Welcome!

[ShittySmitty]

30 years. Not sure if I go for the "usufruct" contract or not. There is of course a lady involved, and the land is in her name. I find some thread regarding this matter here. Interesting stuff, but confusing!

Hi Harry-I'm renting in Taiwan and am tired of it. Are you actually buying a house in Thailand? What does the 30 year thing mean? Is that the mortgage? Who do I talk to? Business looks better in Thailand than in Taiwan but I am not sure of the housing costs or the food costs.

[William]

^30-year is a leasehold arrangement registered with the Land Department in the relevant area where the land is located. Rarely is a mortgage involved with a lease arrangement as lenders are reluctant to agree to having the lease registered over their charge over the property. The reason why that is the case is because if they want to enforce the mortgage they have a sitting tenant on the land, which makes it much harder to evict the person and free-up the land for sale. As such, generally, leaseholds are registered over lein free property (i.e., cash paid). Also, the OP makes mention to the use of a usufruct, which nearly always means that there is no mortgage registration.

OP: Welcome to TD.

[ShittySmitty]

^30-year is a leasehold arrangement registered with the Land Department in the relevant area where the land is located. Rarely is a mortgage involved with a lease arrangement as lenders are reluctant to agree to having the lease registered over their charge over the property. The reason why that is the case is because if they want to enforce the mortgage they have a sitting tenant on the land, which makes it much harder to evict the person and free-up the land for sale. As such, generally, leaseholds are registered over lein free property (i.e., cash paid). Also, the OP makes mention to the use of a usufruct, which nearly always means that there is no mortgage registration.

OP: Welcome to TD.

So you're taking your chances then. I guess you never really own anything. But will they let a foreigner lease? It looks like you still need a Thai connection(?)

[ShittySmitty]

Thanks for the welcome. I appreciate it.

[William]

SS: As a foreigner you can lease (with a registered lease) for 30-years without too much pain. But yes, you need a Thai (be that individual or company) to own the land that is the subject of the lease.

[ShittySmitty]

SS: As a foreigner you can lease (with a registered lease) for 30-years without too much pain. But yes, you need a Thai (be that individual or company) to own the land that is the subject of the lease.

Therein lies the problem. I know no one in Thailand. I have heard good and bad about what I would call holding companies.

[ShittySmitty]

SS: As a foreigner you can lease (with a registered lease) for 30-years without too much pain. But yes, you need a Thai (be that individual or company) to own the land that is the subject of the lease.

Therein lies the problem. I know no one in Thailand. I have heard good and bad about what I would call holding companies.

How much is a house? In Taiwan they are really condos. Is this what they are talking about?

[William]

^ holdings companies (cross-shareholding) would not be my advice in the first instance, but since the latest clamp-down from the higher ups you are finding an awful lot more project companies who are willing to lease on 30 years. Not that I would want to live there, but a lot of the foreign property transactions in Samui at the moment are direct leases from property development companies. In some cases I have even heard of lenders lending on the term of the lease (i.e. lending to foreigners who wish to lease with lease payments upfront). But, IMO, this is highly speculative (the lending practice that is). That said, I think you will find more and more property developers offering leasehold property (in much the same way you did in the UK in the 1970s).