The Search

Since I decided to settle down and marry Nee, I've been planning to buy or build a house for my retirement.  I've looked around for a Thai built house that I like but the ones that I have found have not been suitable.  Some have had building quality problems.  Some have had design problems (lots of wasted space).  Some have had location problems.  And, I want to build a single story house that's easy to live in when I get old. 

Finally I decided that it would be necessary to design and build my own house to get what I want.  This was not an easy decision because the prospect of building a house in a foreign country where I'm not fluent in the language is daunting. 

We started looking for property in September 2006.  I wanted to find property that was close to my job--teaching English at Rajabhat University--and in a quiet location.  Finding property is not easy.  We went to one of the two real estate companies in Udon but they only had very expensive land for sale.  I sent an email to my colleagues and looked at the properties they recommended.  Again, the land prices seemed high.  My goal is to build a house for 1.5 million baht (around $40,000 USD).  So, money spent on land means less money for amenities.

There are many properties available but most are priced high because they were purchased prior to the 1997 collapse of the Thai baht.  So, the owners (in many cases the banks) don't want to take a loss by selling at current rates.  And, prices for property inside the "Ring Road" are higher.  But, building inside the Ring Road insures the city services I want such as electricity, water, cable TV, telephone, and a high-speed internet connection.

The main method of finding property seems to be word of mouth or finding property with a for sale sign.  We spent several hours each week on the motorbike searching in areas that I liked.  One of my colleagues showed me a property less than one kilometer south of Rajabhat University.  The price was good but it was about twice as big as I needed and consequently twice as expensive as I wanted to pay.  However, the location was good.  So, Nee and I started looking in the same area.  We found several properties but all except two were too expensive.  Then we got lucky.  We found two lots at the end of a paved road near the boundary of the Thai air force base.  I was worried about the noise because my current townhouse is on the flight path and very noisy.  However, due to prevailing winds very few flights take off over the property we found.  And, we were there for the take off of a commercial airliner  and the noise level was acceptable.  We found a lot next to a canal.  Our neighbor is a Thai policeman (good for security) and across the street lives the mother of one of Nee's friends.

The property, however, was very narrow (only 12 meters).  I re-designed the house plan for a narrow lot and was able to make it fit.  We started talking with the owner about price and came to an agreement at 380,000 baht ($10,200).  And, the owner also agreed to sell us an additional 1.5 meter strip along one side of the property for 4,500 baht per dtaa lang waa (4m²).  This will add about $1,850 to the cost but, I think the additional cost is worth it for the additional space.  The lot will end up at about 468 square meters. 

After checking out the chanot (title) at the land office, Nee signed the purchase agreement.  You see, I can't own property in Thailand.  It must be owned by a Thai.  Fortunately, the FFF (fickle finger of fate) smiled on me.  While cooling our heels in Bangkok waiting for Nee's US visa interview I was wandering around and looked at a display in the SE ED bookshop and--viola--I found a book Buying Property and Building in Thailand.  And, the book contained the best information I've seen yet about Thai land titles and purchase procedures for farangs (foreigners).  There is one method which allows lifetime control that reverts to the owner.  So, it's perfect for a farang with a Thai wife who wants her to have the land when he dies but wants to control the land during his lifetime.  For more information check out http://www.buildingthailand.com/.  This method is not widely used because a lawyer doesn't make any money.  The usual method is to sign a 30 year lease with a 30 year option with your wife.  This, of course, requires a lawyer.  The usafruct method costs a registration fee of about $2 and can only be done at the time of title registration.  Best of all, the notation is made directly on the chanot.

I was pleased to avoid working with a Thai lawyer.  Why?  Because, so far, the information I've received from Thai lawyers has not been accurate or current.  Finding a competent lawyer in Udon Thani is not easy.  I'm still looking.

The next challenge involved getting the purchase money from my US account into Nee's account.  I called the customer service number of Siam Commercial Bank and got great news...all I had to do was write a check to their favor and then deposit it to Nee's account...24 hours later the money would be available.  So, we went to the main Udon Thani branch to take care of the transaction.  But (TIT...This is Thailand) the local branch said this was not possible and that writing a check would involve 30-45 days for fund clearance.  This is a perfect example of the challenges involved in getting things done in Thailand.  Accurate information is rare.  So, I had to use an online wire transfer.

My bank has an online international wire transfer function on  their secure website.  I thought it would be easy.  So I entered the info and the SWIFT code for Nee's bank.  I got a message to call and confirm so I used Skype to do it.  Four days later nothing had happened so I called again and the rep said they were waiting for me to confirm my SSN and date of birth.  They said they had called but not connected.  I gave them the "critical info".   

The money took about 4 days to arrive in Nee's account.  We went to the bank and got a cashier's check and made an appointment with the seller.  Apparently a cashier's check is a new concept here so Nee had to show the owner the receipt the day before the appointment.

Ahng was nice enough to meet us at the land office to help with the paperwork.  I suggested that they make sure that the whole process including my lifetime tenure was included in the process because it took about 2 hours to "take a number" and get to a clerk.  Everything went smoothly with the sale but when we got to the lifetime tenure we had to "take a number" again .   Then it was discovered that the computer form could only enter a maximum of 30 years.  Much discussion ensued and a 500 baht "gratuity" changed hands before "forever" was properly entered on the chanote. 

With chanote (title) in hand we went to the property.  Now that we own the property it's time for the next step:  Raising the land above the flood level.

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© Copyright 2000-2006  Merrill Hartman