Building a house in Thailand

@Ralf Bachmann

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Interesting that you had a home built.

Did you find the construction completed in a reasonable

amount of time and you felt the workers were competent

and fairly priced?

Thank you

Hello, I put all experience including many pictures on a website for everyone to know how we did. Give it a try, it answers most of the common questions:

thaihome.pics

comments are welcome. The website covers a timeframe of 2 years with many pictures. But I must say everything went very smooth.

@Ralf Bachmann Hello, where is that website?

Hello everyone, welcome Ralf !

Please note that I have opened a new thread from Ralf's post on the Thailand forum so that you may better exchange information.

All the best

Bhavna

@Julien
Hello, I am not really new to Thailand, I came to Thailand for retirement 3 years ago. In 2021 i build a home in a rural surroundings together with my girlfriend. I made up a lot experience with anything that is related from buying a piece of land to build a house, where we live now. So if anyone has questions about our project let me know.
have a nice day!

-@Ralf Bachmann

If you bought a piece of land,it's in your girlfriend's name. You forgot to mention that. That might also be the case when it comes to the house.

@Bhavna   How do I find this persons pictures? 

Hello, I put all experience including many pictures on a website for everyone to know how we did. Give it a try, it answers most of the common questions:
thaihome.pics

comments are welcome. The website covers a timeframe of 2 years with many pictures. But I must say everything went very smooth.
-@Ralf Bachmann

@ Thailand4me Copy and paste the following in your browser : thaihome.pics

@Bhavna 👍🏻thanks

@Leeds forever! Yes ownership in Thailand is a hot item, why get tired from this hussel, who owns what or not is not important for me as long we enjoy the things we did and do, thats more than a piece of paper.

@Ralf Bachmann

You can't own the land in thailand as a foreign national. If you're going to build a house it has to be on a land lease. As a foreigner were restricted to buying condos. And at least fifty percent plus one of the condos must be owned by Thia nationals.

@crump238

Dear Sir, Another possibility for foreigners to own property in Thailand is to establish a Thai company. The owner of the company can then purchase property under the company name. I have not tried this myself, but I know several people who have done so. I also have personal experience with setting up a Thai company, which is a relatively straightforward process.

@Leeds forever! You can buy land in a company name using nominees, his gf need not have anything to do with it . That is a common myth that gf must own the land.

@crump238 Not true, that is outdated information

Our daughter has ownership of land and properties on the land, also to prevent transfer and tax costs if I/we pass away.

You need to trust wife and/or daughter or set up a collateral loan with the house as collateral, payable on your request at any give time, and registered at the land office.

Most of us 'take care' of wife and kids, ask yourself how they will live after any undesirable event.

    @Leeds forever! You can buy land in a company name using nominees, his gf need not have anything to do with it . That is a common myth that gf must own the land.
   

    -@Terrymedlicott

We're talking about individuals here,not companies. The percentage of foreigners buying land in a company name is ridiculously low. So, buying land in a gf's or wife's name is the most common way. Period.

People here always  have something to say re  Land can only be in GF name

This is a myth and also if you two are really happy does it matter

The negative always seems to come out in comments re Thailand and in ten years i have just enjoyed my time here

When I die the house goes to my wife anyhow or if she is dead to her son and in the meantime I have a wonderful relationship with the whole family. Six brothers and sisters who literally carry me on their hands.

I would just like to see the pictures and congratulate  Ralf

You take the words right out of my mouth 👍🏻you can watch the photos at thaihome dot pics

thanks

    People here always  have something to say re  Land can only be in GF name
This is a myth and also if you two are really happy does it matter
The negative always seems to come out in comments re Thailand and in ten years i have just enjoyed my time here
When I die the house goes to my wife anyhow or if she is dead to her son and in the meantime I have a wonderful relationship with the whole family. Six brothers and sisters who literally carry me on their hands.
I would just like to see the pictures and congratulate  Ralf
   

    -@barrytaylor

"People here always  have something to say re  Land can only be in GF name.

This is a myth and also if you two are really happy does it matter."

Who said a piece of land can only be in a gf's name? It can't be in a foreigners name,in this case  yours. Period. So, what myth are you talking about? Having land and the house built on it in a wife's or gf's name is very common in Thailand.

You seem very naive and you also think 10 years here is a long time. Loads of foreigners have been  lied to by Thai wives and gf's and lost a lot of money and that's a fact. I'm not saying it happens all the time,but it does happen.I do think it was more common years ago. I've been around since 1989 and I think I know a bit more than you about this. I've also known people getting robbed of houses they paid for.

@Leeds forever!

Depends on the wife  or GF. Anything can happen  but I am anything but naive .I have been  around my whole life  investigating crime as a detective for 52 years and by this time i have a feeling for people

Anyhow her brothers and sister are all professional people and they have told me in no uncertain  way that the house is mine irrespective what their sister may ever say. The same from both her parents so i feel safe

i am 80 and obviously have a shorter life  than my wife who is in her sixties

I also have a contract  for 30 years for renting the house signed by her

There are times when you have to decide what the risk factor is

I see naive people everyday of my life even today here in Thailand.

There is only one person in my life who I really trust and that is myself

Hi Ralf

What a lovely gallery of photos

You are a perfectionist

Just some advice get yourself Grafted Durian trees they bear much faster

You need two cultivars for cross pollination for good fruit bearing trees the same with avos bear much faster. Get yourself some avo trees as they bear reasonably well depending on the temperature  but also  always buy grafted trees

There are several on Lazada and but I bought some trees from a guy called Steve Nutt who had a lot of trees for sale. His email i have

I have 15 avo trees and 12 Durian trees. Your grafted avo trees should bear after four years where pip trees take 12 to 14 years and some never bear fruit

All you need to know about trees is mostly on YT as the most Thais still farm the traditional way

Cheers Barry; Prachin Buri

  Thanks good to hear, I will give your advice to the gf she is the garden boss and responsible for growing I only watch say woow and make pictures.

@Ralf Bachmann

hi Ralph i live in England and am English  my wife is Thai and we have two young kids. i am 60 and am retiring to Thailand in 18-24 months.

we are just buying land in Buriram, about 2.5 acres and plan to start building a house soon.  we have to put earth on the land first apparently.

i would appreciate any tips you have about it. what sort of pitfalls should we agoid  i have insisted on a lawyer for the land purchase.  My wife said no need but I insisted.  what else should I think about.

thanks

andrew banks

I should add I know about the land restrictions etc.  we have been married 8 years and i have no problem with it being in her name.  i know the risks but I know my wife.  im 20 years older than her so wont be around so long so she will inherit my assets anyway

@andrewwnbanks hi Andrew, I'm doing similar but near to Udon Thani, will be interesting to see what advice is given.....

Simon

@simonbolton79

I have built a house recently

I used a 3rd party to check on the phases and paid per phase.

I withheld 5% of each phase which was released when the build was checked and done.

Builder understands as it's similar to how banks work

Drawings etc need to be very very clear... any deviation they need to discuss first before doing anything.

Even when they see an improvement but especially if they doubt anything...

My wife checked the build daily and almost daily there were (small) issues

The ownership etc is whole different animal....

Depends on and is different per personal situation