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How to buy real estate on
Koh Chang
Click here for information on purchasing Agricultural land.
Click here for information
on purchasing fisherman's houses.
Chanote & Nor Sor 3
land
Having visited the land, verified the land boundaries, which will be shown
on the title deed, and agreed a price for the property the simplest option
is to put the land in the name of a Thai national - a partner / spouse etc.
if that isn't an option, putting it in the name of a Thai registered company
is the best bet. Setting this up requires the services of a reputable,
experienced law firm, such as the Pattaya based Thai Legal & Associates.
Note that
long leases, 30 years + 30 + 30 are possible - again you'll need the services of
a lawyer with experience in property law to enable you to do this. It’s easy to
hire a Trat based lawyer but in reality they will have very little experience in
setting up companies or drawing up lease agreements for foreigners. Head to
Pattaya or
Bangkok,
for legal advice from well-established, English speaking Thai lawyers.
If you do
not have the funds in place, and immediately accessible, this initial contract
will be the equivalent of a 'Letter of Intent' described in ‘Buying Agricultural
land’ section.
When the
time comes to complete the purchase the seller and the buyer, or their
representatives, must go to the Land Office, located in Trat town on the
mainland, and submit an application to register the sale of the land and any
buildings thereon.
The Land
Officer will check all the documents (from both the seller and the buyer)
submitted with the application. He will also compare the original title deed
with the original copy kept at the Land Office. All information in both original
title deeds must be the same. If everything checks out OK, he will proceed with
the registration of the transfer of ownership.
The two
parties can sign the sales agreement at the land office and the officer handling
the transfer will then record details of the sales transaction at the back of
the original land title deeds (those held by both the land’s owner and the Land
Office).
This
sales agreement is often a standard sales contract drawn up by the Land Office.
You do not need to sign a contact for the sale in advance of the visit to the
land office unless you require specific clauses relating to the purchase or land
to be formally agreed.
The Land
Officer will calculate all the registration fees and expenses and ask the
parties to pay and submit to him the receipts.
The
registration fee is 2% of the appraised value calculated by the Central
Valuation Authority (CVA). The seller has to pay a 1% withholding tax on sale
price or CVA, whichever is higher. If the Seller is a company, withholding tax
is calculated on the greater of the appraised value and the sale price.
The
seller has to pay 3.3% of sale price or CVA, whichever is higher, in Specific
Business Tax on transfer. The 3.3% Specific Business Tax includes a 0.3% local
tax component.
The
registration fee, withholding and specific business taxes are collected by the
Land Office. The cheques for the taxes are payable to the Ministry of Finance
but collected by the Land Office.
The Land
Officer then attaches the receipts to the application, and submits all documents
for approval of the registration of the transfer. Once the registration is
approved, it is deemed completed. The seller will receive one copy of the
registered sale agreement. The buyer will receive another copy of the
registered sale agreement and the original Land Title Deed.
If the
land includes property, the transfer of the building occurs in the same process
at the same registry as for the transfer of the land. The Seller will therefore
need to produce the construction permit and household registration of the
building to transfer the building.
Regarding
the actual contract signing. The same applies as if you were buying
Agricultural Land, a Thai citizen will need to sign the contract on your
behalf.
With the
contract signed and banker's draft handed over you are now in possession of your
own plot of land on Koh Chang. When you leave the Land Office you will have an
updated title deed in your possession.
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