Category: Blogging
Koh Lanta
Scams and Complications http://krabiagents.multiply.com/
Real estate agents run advertisements saying that you, the farang, can now own property in Thailand, and that the laws have changed. This is often just a ploy to get you thru their door first, before you get hooked by any other real estate agent. What you will find (or should find, if they're trustworthy at all) is that yes, you can own property, just like you could 10 years ago in a certain sense, and yes, the laws have changed ... a little bit.
There are scams out there. Make sure that the land coordinates on the deed of the property you buy are accurate, and that you're not signing to buy a swamp in another location than the one they've been touring you in and around and negotiating a price on. This is a scam that is simple to protect yourself against, but it's happened, and not just once. The land title deed is a public document available from the Land Registry, so it's straightforward to verify, for those of us who can read Thai.
If you are considering buying a condominium, rather than renting, then you should be careful about great deals on high rise condos that are sparsely populated. There are many stories of condos which have not been kept up because the building owner and management company are out of money or have decided not to put any more money into the property at the moment. Stories include things like lifts (elevators) not being repaired, amenities like swimming pools being neglected, security disappearing, overgrown lawns, etc. You're left to deal with these matters on your own together with the other tenants, and it's probably less expensive and more productive to deal with the physical problems directly (and quickly) than to pay lawyers to deal with the owner and management company via the court system while you live for time without an elevator. Because labor is cheap here, this should be no problem with either your neighbors or an operation like ThailandGuru dot com just a phone call away.
Likewise, if you are buying land with a house on it, there should be paperwork and deeds on both the land and the house. Sometimes, there is only for the land, not the house. Why is a mystery, but may have to do with taxes.
Make sure you get the full scoop on taxes before you buy.
Read more: http://www.myspace.com/krabiagents/blog#ixzz0xa3kmirq
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