10 House Buying Traps You Must Not Ignore When Buying a House in Thailand (Part 2)

Trap 6 for buying a house in Thailand: Can you apply for a long-term residence visa by buying a house in Thailand and move to Thailand?

It is not impossible to apply for a visa to buy a house in Thailand, but please note that there are conditions. Many advertisements on the market use immigration to Thailand as a sign to attract investors to buy properties in Thailand, but Thailand is not an immigration country (this is the same as most countries). Unless you invest more than 10 million in buying a property in Thailand, you can apply for a long-term investment visa.

If you want to move to Thailand, in addition to buying a property worth more than 10 million yuan in Thailand, there are several other ways:

• Retirement visa: If you are over 50 years old and can deposit 800,000 baht in Thailand, you can apply for a Thai retirement visa. The 800,000 Thai baht can be used after obtaining the visa, so it can also be used as a fund for buying a house in Thailand. However, the retirement visa is only issued once a year, so please be aware that you must prepare sufficient savings when extending your visa.
• Elite Visa: The Thailand Elite Visa, also known as the Thailand Special Long-Term Visa, is basically a national membership status sponsored by the Thai government. The official name is Thai Elite Privilege Card, and there are various membership plans ranging from 5 to 20 years to choose from to meet different visa periods and needs. On average, the cost of applying for a visa is quite cost-effective. Learn more about the Thailand Elite Visa
• There are also work visas, student visas, etc.

The seventh trap for buying a house in Thailand: Not understanding FET clearly will lead to illegal transfer of ownership!

One thing you should be very careful about when buying a house in Thailand is that foreigners buying a house in Thailand need a bank to issue a Foreign Exchange Transaction (FET) certificate. Without FET, the process of issuing a warrant cannot be completed.

There are three elements involved:

1. The payment must be made from the buyer's own account

2. All money must be remitted from Thailand

3. Cannot transfer Thai Baht

We once had a customer come to us for help. Because he was not aware of the above regulations, the local bank was unable to issue FET after buying a house in Thailand. We then assisted the customer to redo the process and only then was the transfer issue resolved.

Trap 8 for buying a house in Thailand: Buying a house in Thailand also requires renting it for several years? Such a good thing!

Buy a house in Thailand and the rent will be guaranteed for you for 2-3 years! This really exists! So where is the trap? The trap lies in which developer sets the leasing conditions. The developers who usually offer house purchase and rental packages in Thailand are small and unknown developers. So how do they usually do it? That is, the rent money is added to the total price of the house and then returned. Naturally, these small developers are unlikely to actually manage the properties. That is to say, after investors buy a house in Thailand, the developer will slowly return the money on a monthly basis, and the house will be idle or rented to very poor tenants. When the agreed period is up, the developer will disappear, and the property may be destroyed or become a real overseas orphan.

Of course, if large listed developers launch lease packages, they are most likely limited-time discounts or just small-scale promotions. Most listed developers have cooperating property management companies, or they entrust the management to a larger team like us, which is very safe. So it is possible to buy a house in Thailand and rent it out, but the choice of developer is very important!

Trap No. 9 for buying a house in Thailand: After paying the final payment for buying a house in Thailand, you can easily rent it out without any hassle!

It is very important to rent out a house bought in Thailand. Many real estate agents will promote how high the rental rate of houses bought in Thailand is. About 90% of new houses will be rented out. So as long as you pay the money and wait for the house to be built, you can sit back and relax. This is only half true, because when you usually buy a pre-sale house in Thailand, the developer will only give you some basic facilities after the house is built (but houses bought in Thailand are basically not just unfinished houses). If you want to rent out the property faster than others or increase the rent, you still need to purchase some home appliances, decorate and arrange the space so that you can rent it out faster and at a better price than others.

The basis for decorating a house before renting it out in Thailand is actually very important. In addition to considering the population living around the property (mostly locals or foreigners), it is also very important to find trustworthy suppliers of materials and home appliances. It is usually not recommended for buyers who purchase properties in Thailand to carry out the renovations themselves. In addition to the language barrier, the Thai people’s work efficiency will usually delay the completion time, which will also delay the time to start renting out the property. If you have already bought a property in Thailand, you can ask us for some information before the house is delivered.

5. Choice of floor and orientation

Generally, high-rise buildings in Thailand can only be built on main roads. Such projects are located on the main road and adjacent to the light rail, with a wider field of vision, brighter lighting, and spectacular views. The actual living experience will be much better than that of low-rise buildings hidden in deep alleys.

When choosing the direction of the room, due to weather reasons, Thais prefer the north side, which is the coolest; the second best is south and east, and the last choice is west, unless there is a special view on the west side. When buying a house in Bangkok, you should choose a high floor with a good view, because it will be more competitive in a building and easier to resell than other rooms.