BUYING IN BANGKOK
Buying here is not hard. It is just unfamiliar.
Most of what stops foreign buyers is not the money — it is not knowing what is normal. We have taken buyers through this for twenty years. Ask us the awkward questions first, then look at homes.
Ask us the awkward questions first
ON THE MARKET NOW
Homes for sale in Bangkok.
Each card says whether the unit is foreign-quota where the owner has told us, and what the building is actually like to own in — the two things listing sites leave out.
For sale฿41,000,000฿125,767 per m²
For sale฿190,000,000฿337,868 per m²
For sale฿89,000,000฿222,500 per m²
For sale฿5,900,000฿42,754 per m²
For sale฿15,100,000฿43,143 per m²
For sale฿55,000,000฿402,311 per m²
For sale฿19,000,000฿122,281 per m²
For sale฿39,500,000฿135,739 per m²
Before you view anything
The questions foreign buyers actually ask us.
Plain answers from twenty years of doing this. Where something needs a lawyer, we say so and introduce you to one.
Owning it
01Can I own a condo in my own name?
Yes — freehold, in your own name, as long as the building has foreign quota left.
The quota is 49% of the total floor area of all units. Every unit we list tells you which side of that line it sits on, because it changes what you can do with it and what it is worth when you sell.
02What about a house with land?
Not outright. You lease the land long-term, or hold it through a Thai company.
Both routes are common and both have real trade-offs. The company route is where we stop giving opinions. This is a legal question, not an agency one. We will introduce you to a lawyer we have worked with for years and sit in on the conversation if it helps.
Paying for it
03How much do I need up front?
A small reservation deposit, then a contract deposit, then the balance at transfer.
The contract usually follows the reservation within a few weeks. We put the whole schedule in writing before anything is paid, so you are never guessing what comes next.
04Do I need the money to arrive from abroad?
For a foreign-quota condo, yes — in foreign currency, with the bank’s paperwork.
Getting this wrong is the single most common reason a transfer is delayed, so we walk through it with your bank before you send anything.
05Can I get a mortgage here?
Rarely as a foreign buyer, and never on the terms you would get at home.
Most of our buyers pay cash or borrow against something in their own country. If a Thai loan is genuinely possible for you we will say so — we will not pretend it is the normal path.
Selling it again
06What happens if I want to sell later?
What you buy decides that — quota, floor, view, and how the building is run.
Those matter far more than the finish. We tell you what we think a unit will be like to sell in five years, and we would rather lose a sale than pretend a hard one is easy.
How paying works
Reservation deposit (small)
Contract deposit (within a few weeks)
Balance at transfer
We put the whole schedule in writing before anything is paid.
What it costs to complete
Four numbers, settled before the deposit.
Transfer costs here are negotiated between buyer and seller, so the split matters as much as the rate.
2%
Transfer fee
Of the appraised value, at the Land Department. Split 50/50 by custom — and negotiable.
You pay half
0.5%
Stamp duty
When the seller has held the property more than five years, instead of business tax.
Seller pays
3.3%
Business tax
Instead of stamp duty when they have held it under five years. It shapes the price you are quoted.
Seller pays
Varies
Withholding tax
Worked out on the seller’s own tax position, not yours. We settle the figure before you commit.
Varies
Rates are the usual case and are worked out on the Land Department appraised value, not always your purchase price. We calculate the exact figures for the specific unit before you commit, and a lawyer confirms them at transfer.
Start with a conversation, not a viewing.
Tell us the budget, whether you need the unit in your own name, and roughly where you want to be. We will tell you honestly whether what you want exists at that price — including when it does not.
or call 089-412-0111, 9 am – 5 pm, Monday to Saturday
- We tell you the foreign-quota position of a unit before you view it, not at contract stage.
- We put the cost split in writing before any deposit changes hands.
- Where a question is legal, you get a lawyer, not an agent’s guess.
- If what you want does not exist at your budget, we say so on the first call.