Some of the most common errors made when buying property in Thailand can be avoided and costs saved in litigation if simple rules are followed. These are some of the most common errors made in Thailand. Try to avoid these!
The most common error made by foreigners is that they don’t hire their own property lawyers when the property transaction starts. Many think of saving costs and this is where it becomes costly. They give huge deposits without seeing the contract or understanding what it says. They might think that there is safety handing the deposit over to the lawyer however Thailand does not have a legal insurance aka Fidelity Fund or allow the holding of money in trust accounts. Only of late have banks in Thailand been allowed to run limited trust accounts. If you think your deposit is safe with the lawyer – it’s not!
Consider the area in which you are buying. What is very common in Thailand is that a developer does one building and when it is a great success they try to repeat it by building a copy of the first building next to it. After 4-5 buildings all in the same format and colour the area starts to look like the old Soviet Union where all the buildings had been built the same. A very good example is outside of Bangkok in an area called Muang Thong Thani. Take a look at what started off with one building and ended up being 8 buildings looking the same.
Thailand Property
Now, I am certain you wanted to buy in Thailand and not in the Soviet Union so always ask who owns the land next to the building you are buying into. If it is the same developer then more likely than not – its will be a copy of the one you are looking at.
Again not doing a due diligence on the property leads to problems as you don’t know it this building has been built on government land as has occurred in the past or that the title-deed that the property is on is not correct. There can be a million and one things that you might not be able to think of – until it goes wrong. Have the title-deed checked, the developers reputation and capital checked and above all – have a lawyer read the contract before you sign it.
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