Bringing Money to LOS to buy a house

Post by **mally** » March 11, 2008, 4:34 pm

Hi Guys,

I'll bet this has been discussed before, but I couldn't see it, so ,
I want to bring some money to LOS to purchase a house, and some furniture etc: so 3 things I need advice on.

1) What is the best way to bring £50,000 sterling into LOS, Before you go into too deep a system, remember that I am not a financial wizz kid, I am an electrician who knows just about everything about the 'unseen force', but NOTHING about the financial markets. The aim is of course to get the best exchange rate possible, with of course no risk to my hard earned cash.

2) I want to buy a place to live on my own (for now anyway), although I have a TGF I want to be free to spend time making sure before taking the plunge. Therefore I would like a way of purchasing without committing the house to the TGF, until I'm sure, & then I don't mind transferring it to her name (with the lease of course). Is it possible to buy house this way ?

3) Am I right in assuming that the rest of my cash is better off staying in the UK, transferring living costs over as I need them, if so what is the best way to transfer smaller amounts (say £500 each time).

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Mally

Post by **rickfarang** » March 11, 2008, 5:04 pm

1. (How to get the money to Thailand.) Open a savings account at a bank in Thailand and have your bank in your home country wire it to your account. The bank in Thailand can give you the information that you will need to provide to yoru bank in your home country in order to make sure the money winds up in the correct account.

2. (Own land?) No. You cannot buy the land that a house sits on unless you are either a Thai person or your are a Thai company the majority of the shares of which, are owned by Thai people.

3. (Best place for your cash). Your guess is as good as most people's.

It sounds like you have not lived in Thailand. I suggest leaving your money in your home country because then you won't have to worry about how to get it back out of Thailand if you decide to leave. Also, the Thai baht is highly volatile, though it has been gaining in value consistently for the last few years (that can't last forever, can it?)

I would also suggest not buying any property until you have lived here for a couple of years. Things change, and you might not want to settle down in the first place you live.

Good luck........!

Post by **jackspratt** » March 11, 2008, 5:11 pm

Fully agree with Rick!

Post by **gulfman** » March 11, 2008, 5:23 pm

Mally, I think that most of the forum members living in Thailand will endorse rickfarang's comments. Come and rent for a while, and keep your money in pounds.

Post by **wiking** » March 11, 2008, 5:25 pm

rent a nice place, put your money in the bank, for the interest you can rent

and if you want to move, very easy

Post by **monkeyman** » March 11, 2008, 6:30 pm

Bring the smallest amount of money over possible,

keep rest tucked away

Post by **polehawk** » March 11, 2008, 11:28 pm

Gotta go along with those who have said (over and over), go slow. Rent for a year or two to make sure you can handle living here and that your relationship with your TGF is as permanent one as you can expect to get over here. We hear far too many horror stories about guys dumping their life savings in houses and such over here and then they get fleeced. Don't become a Water Buffalo University alumnus. Good luck with it all.

Post by **izzix** » March 12, 2008, 12:12 am

are you prepared to kiss this money goodbye for good ? rent ! for 2 years then have a think again. you might love LOS now but in a few years you might not .
DONT BURN YOUR BRIDGES .
how many gents do i know who bought a house and then returned home penniless in a few years after being cleaned out.
THERE ARE 1000S OF HORROR STORIES DONT BE ANOTHER .

Post by **BobHelm** » March 12, 2008, 12:29 am

There is some really good advice above Mally..PLEASE take it...
As for moving 'small' sums of money into Thailand then the most sensible approach is via ATM. It depends where your money already is... but Nationwide do ATM transactions for free, HSBC do it for free, as long as you are in a 'premium' account - which costs 12 GBP a month, but does have other benefits..

Post by **mally** » March 12, 2008, 3:11 am

Wow, wasn't expecting so much advice so fast, but striking as you are all singing in unison. Must be some truth there then.
OK, I think I'll explore the possibility of renting when I arrive for the next visit, but as I enjoy gardening & having mates round for a barbie & drinks it'll have to be a 3/4 bed house, a flat/appartment doesn't sit well with me.
As for the money, I normally bring cash over with me, but have used the ATM a couple of times, but I have been stung good style by my bank (Lloyds TSB) with charges for foreign transaction, and a lousy exchange rate, and this is with a premium account (Platinum, which costs me 17 pounds / month), so that is not an option. I'll look into opening an account with Nationwide or HSBC.
I've asked the bank about the transfer of my funds to a Thai bank, this will cost me 20 pounds per transaction plus a charge from the Thai receiving bank. That is of course if I can get one, on my last visit I was told it wasn't possible because I was on a tourist visa.
Well, thanks for the advice fellows, I think the TGF will protest strongly about renting, but I'm sure I'll think of a good excuse - if not then it'll be back on here for more ideas from you lot

Mally

P.S. I've NO intention of enrolling on a course at the WBU ! read wayyyyy too much on here to be foolish with what little money I have, I had to work hard for it !

Post by **BKKSTAN** » March 12, 2008, 9:21 am

Sounds like a change of banks to Nationwide is the first order of things!Everyone I know that use them are really satisfied!

If you don't have control of your TGF as far as major decisions are concerned,you are already enrolled in WBU!

Do you know the difference between the workmanship, quality of materials and building guarantees in Thailand versus those in the West?

When buying,location.neighbors,family or not are very important!What is your acceptance level to loud music,loudspeakers,barking dogs and your neighbors that attempt to ''borrow''!Do you have enough experience living amongst neighbors that are strangers and no matter what you think, will never take you to their hearts and with the wrong attitude or action on your part,might become enemies!

These are some very important reasons to rent and take your time.Do not be influenced or rushed by your Thai counterpart that most likely doesn't think like you when it comes to spending or saving for the future!

Good Luck and don't be hasty in your decisions

Post by **BobHelm** » March 12, 2008, 9:35 am

Mally, if you are coming over for a while then Tourist visa is not the way to go. Get a multiple entry non imm 'O' visa. Depends which Thai Consulate you are near, but, if all else fails you can do by post from Hull - really quick turn round.

http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/

Then you will be able to open a Thai bank account. By the way if my memory serves me correctly you can only transfer a max of 10,000 GBP in one go. HSBC told me it was to prevent money laundering, personally I think it was to collect the fee as the maximum to pay for 1 transfer is about 22GBP...

Renting is certainly the way to go. A 3 bed house will cost about 6,000 baht a month (depending where you are) but to buy exactly the same house will probably cost at least 1.5 million so that is 250 months worth of rent - never forgetting that even if you buy unless you are VERY careful (like LA

) it is rarely actually yours. The interest you get from not buying & leaving the money in UK bank will even pay your monthly rent...

Post by **aznyron** » March 12, 2008, 10:23 am

I am with you Bob leave the money in your home country and let the % pay your rent
IMHO I do not see any advantage of buying a house here unless it a gift for your wife
so she has a place after you depart this cruel corrupted war mongoring world

Post by **mally** » March 16, 2008, 3:22 am

Sound advice chaps, I'm taking stock of what you say, so a visit to the Hull consulate is on the agenda, and I'll be looking around the rental market when I arrive.
No worries really on the TGF protesting, I've already laid the ground rules,
i.e. 1) my money = my decision
2) you get pocket money = all requests from family / friends are settled from that.
3) if you don't like rules 1 & 2 you're free to go. (but hopefully she won't).

Although if things do go well I would like to leave a place for her & her daughter
after I 'depart' this world. Time to think about that after I've accepted life in LOS.

On a serious note, I take in what Stan said about location/neighbours, this is something I must take account of, no matter how good the house is. I was thinking about a place on one of the newish estates, are these any better ?

Not too worried about being buddies with them, but cocks crowing at 3 am would p*ss me off !

Post by **izzix** » March 16, 2008, 5:16 am

yes badass neighbours are a posibility ! especially when they are drunk and in a threatening mood . they can call by and demand a beer from the fridge in a menacing manner. then roosters howling at 3oclock ! and rubbish burning in the early morning with plastics going on the fire and accrid fumes. Noisy and badass dogs as well which may beyond control and the owners wont do anything to control them.
Loud speakers from the local monastry very loud on a sunday morning announcing the roll call of the dead for that year .They may be public loudspeakers at max volume at all hours with a national anthem at full volume at 6 .
local carpenter with a planer going all hours !
all these things may come your way !

Post by **izzix** » March 16, 2008, 5:27 am

you have to get on with your neighbours otherwise its bad vibes and they will stir things up against you telling lies and plotting and scheming until you have to move !
they all gossip non stop so if you fall out with anyone they will make your life hell.

Post by **Ricohoc** » March 16, 2008, 5:35 am

jackspratt wrote:Fully agree with Rick!

And at the risk of causing heart failure to some, I agree with jackspratt and Rick.

Post by **jackspratt** » March 16, 2008, 9:40 am

Bloody hell Ric - and here I was thinking you neocons never had "soft" moments.

You shouldn't do this too often (even though it is good for you), or you will be accused of siding with the enemy

Remember the Shrub's famous words - "if you are not with us, you are against us" (ahh...such wisdom!)

Post by **arjay** » March 16, 2008, 11:06 am

Yes, I don't think I would ever want to live out in the villages. The best place would surely be in a small relatively high class development, where your neighbours are farangs and who live/work away most of the year.

If ever you think of buying, - buy a condo in your name, or lease from the developer, then you can keep things independent from your GF!!

If you want to provide for your GF you can always leave her some cash in your Will, if she's still with you when the time draws near!!!

Post by **arjay** » March 16, 2008, 11:58 am

To maybe play devil's advocate a little here, - as one who usually strongly supports the "rent don't buy" camp, I have been finding myself weakening a bit lately.

My reasoning is that I am thinking of the future when perhaps I will be less active, agile or enterprising, and won't want the hectic lifestyle or congested traffic of Phuket (where I currently spend most of my time), or find myself caught up in a tourist invasion every high season. So I have been thinking of finding and creating a base somewhere quieter and more compact (smaller), which has all the essential facilities and they are within quick and easy reach.

I could then initially split my time between both places, but gradually transfer my base to the quieter location, as circumstances change. I have looked at many places, but have been homing in on places like Loie and Nong Khai.

Ok, so why not rent there, you may say!!

It tends to be more difficult to rent somewhere on a long term basis, and not live there all the time. It seems wasteful paying rent if you are not going to be there (if you have purchased you can just lock it up and go away, with nothing to pay). Though I guess you would argue that I could pay rent for 6 or 12 months at a time in advance.

It is also more difficult to find a decent rented place, or at least without having to pay much higher rents, and it will usually be without things like fridge/freezers, washing machines etc, which if you go to the trouble and expense of buying, then have to be moved or sold if you need to move on later.

If you have bought a nice decent place ideally on small exclusive development, you can have things just how you would like them - e.g. furnish it to your taste, install washing machines, etc, - whatever you want. And you are least likely to have problems with neighbours, dogs etc.

Not having a Thai wife, for me there isn't the same risk factor in buying, or at least it's a different set of risks!

I see the major downsides as being the loss of access to the capital and the loss of income/interest from it, as well as the inflexibility if you find you are in the wrong place, or don't want to be there anymore!!

So I have been having some second thoughts recently!!

PS. The above all said, I certainly wouldn't want to live out in a rural village. That wouldn't work for me, though maybe it does for some.