Top 10 questions about buying a property in Thailand
I get questions all the time about how to invest in a property, here in Thailand. This video will answer to the 10 questions I received the most.
The challenges you may enconter right now:
Buying a property in Thailand, especially as a foreigner, comes with multiple challenges and questions:
- How to be sure that I really own the property?
- What are the scams I should be careful of?
- I see thousands of property for sale. How should I chose?
- I get advices from the agency, but are they honest, since they also sell the properties?
- The sale agent tells me that cheaps old building are really a bad idea. Is he honnest with me?
- I get advices from someone, but he actually doesn't buy property for himself. Is it weird?
- The people who give me advices always want to sell me properties. How to trust them?
Have you tried the following (not working) things?
Many investors (including me at the beginning) follow basic methods, with uncertain results.
Visiting multiple agencies: Asking what they have for sale, visiting 2-3 apartments, but leaving not sure if one of them was actually a good investment or not.
Speaking with property sellers in malls: Finding their apartments overpriced and very small, but the 6~10% guarantee profitability is still attracting you. Is it real?
Contacting sellers on Facebook Marketplace or real estate websites: Getting little to no response and feeling stuck.
Trusting the big international property agencies: If they are big, they may provide good advice, no? (I'm not targeting anyone, but the biggest agency who speaks my native language gave me the worst advice ever: 'buy only an apartment with a swimming pool, otherwise you will not find tenant'.
Do not trust any advice from people who also have plans to sell you their apartment!
Getting advice from "a friend's friend who is supposed to knows well": If your friend learned the market as a professional, can share his honest numbers (profitability) including his vacancy rate, get advice from him! Otherwise, don't.
Thinking the 'most beautiful apartment' will be the best investment: Often, the 'dream apartment' are actually the worst deal and the worst profitability.
The person who will actually earn money will be the seller of this apartment, not you. Better to be in the position to buy a standard apartment, make it as a 'dream apartment', and then rent it or sell it out.
What you actually need is to understand and learn the Thai property market, in order to be able to know by yourself if a property is a good investment or not.
The solution: understand and learn the thai property market
What you need is actually simple:
1) Know the Thai laws
You need to know what is legal to buy, and what is not, to make sure nobody steal your property in the future.2) Understand the Thai property market
The thai property market is very different to our european or western property market.Here is an example of a difference:
3) Identify exactly the kind of apartment that you want
By knowing the property market, you will be able to identify exactly the kind of apartment which is good for your profil and your goal (investment, living here...)If you don't know what to buy, how will you find it?
Once you will know exactly what you want, you will be able to visit the property agencies, telling them that you want an apartment about x sqm, about x thb / sqm, in the building x y z, or in the exact location x.
This is how you gonna find your perfect apartment among thousands. And with your knowledges of the thai market, you will be able to confirm the profitability of this investment.
4) Know the basics scams, to avoid it
Each time there is huge money involved, scamers are here. Buying an apartment here is very safe, as long as you can recognize the basics scams.This is what I'm doing since 2017. And it's working!
I personnally used this method to buy my apartments one by one. Since it was working and I always had a great profitability, I bought more & more apartments, and I have now more than 15 apartments, that I'm renting out, for an average of 15% brut profitability, and 12% net profitability (including all fees, salaries of the housekeepers, and taxes).
Show the detail of the profitability calculations
For getting advices, who could you trust more than someone who is actually applying his own advices on himself, buying 15+ apartments?
Because property in Thailand is something that I know and I can teach, I decided to create this online course.
What will I learn in this course?
- Know the thai law to don't fall in scams, buying something that you are not allowed to buy
- Be able to identify exactly what kind of apartment you want (size, old building or new building, location...)
- Identify a few buildings which match your criterias
- Be able to visit the agencies, telling them exactly what you want
- Prospect with other channels than the agencies, to find private deal (that's how I bought 80% of my apartments)
- Know how to visit an apartment, what to ask, how to negociate the price (or not)
- Use a strategy to take a wise decision very quickly, since good deals are always sold out in 1-2 days
- Know how to do the transaction, and save on the lawyer fees (saving on the lawyer fees will already refund you this course)
- Know how to rent our your apartment
- Know if you should do daily rental or not
- Know the taxes on the rental income
- Know all the basics scams, which made me lose some money and a lot of time, but you will not
- Know how to renovate, and what renovation strategy you should use
- Know about the possibilities to get a loan in Thailand
- Join the private Facebook Group in which you can ask all your questions to me and to the community
What is the plan of this online course?
Here’s what you’ll learn step by step in this online training:
Modules Overview
Module 1: Real estate laws in Thailand
- What can you buy as a foreigner?
- What can't you buy?
- The lease hold, freehold.
- Creating a company to 'own' a land.
- What about a BOI?
Module 2: Why Thailand?
- Why (IMO) Thailand is a better investment than other countries (Cambodia, Philippines...)
Module 3: Old building or new building?
- For the same price, you may buy a 50sqm in an old building, or a 23sqm in a new building.
- This module helps you decide based on your profile.
- I share my opinion and explain why each option may or may not suit you.
Module 4: Identify the perfect type of apartment for your needs
- We’ll cover over 10 criteria to help you define exactly what you’re looking for.
- At the end of this module, you’ll know the precise type of apartment you want to buy.
Module 5: Identify buildings with apartments matching your needs
- Now that you know the type of apartment you want, we will find the buildings that have it.
- By the end of this module, you will have identified a few buildings that interest you.
Module 6: Analyze deeply each building
- How to visit a building and analyze it deeply.
- Create a summary sheet about each building.
- What process to follow.
- What specific questions to ask.
- At the end of this module, you will have confirmed your choice about each building (or not).
Module 7: Prospect to find apartments in these buildings
- Explanations of the 4 key channels to prospect.
- How to prospect via the 2 non-public channels (how I bought 80% of my apartments).
Module 8: How to take a wise decision in under 1 hour
- Good deals (20% below the market price) are always sold out within 1~2 days.
- Good deals are like instantly earning $10,000 on a $50,000 apartment—it’s immediate equity in your pocket.
- I missed out on 3 great deals because I wasn’t fast enough (about $20,000 left on the table).
- If you need 7 days to take a decision, you can’t buy any good deals—they will be sold out already.
- My strategy to take a wise decision in 1 hour, without making a mistake.
Module 9: Visiting and negotiating your apartment
- Why negotiation isn’t always necessary (80% of the time, a negotiation beyond 1% means it wasn’t a good deal).
- Exception for private sales—then you have some leverage to negotiate since there is no other buyer.
Module 10: Administrative steps for buying in Thailand
- Land office process.
- How to save on transfer fees and legal costs (saving on legal fees alone can pay for this course).
Module 11: Taxes for buying and selling
- How the taxes work.
- How people usually do to reduce taxes by almost half.
- The additional tax if the previous landlord owned the property for less than 5 years.
Module 12: Three ways to rent your apartment
- How rental agencies work.
- Property management, or not?
- How to make your apartment become the priority of the agencies, and find tenants 3 times faster than other landlords (tips from me that I have never heard anywhere, but are so valuable).
- The TM30 thing: who is responsible, and how to do it?
Module 13: Is short-term rental legal in Thailand?
- Yes, it’s allowed under specific conditions.
- The point is, managing a few daily rentals is like taking on a part-time job.
- Make sure you understand what it involves before setting up the whole activity.
Module 14: Rental income taxes
- How much are the rental income taxes?
- Why 95% of the foreigner landlords don’t pay taxes, and why is that OK?
- Google spreadsheet to calculate the tax you should pay (if you want to).
Module 15: How to resell your apartment
- If you buy an apartment one day, you will sell it for sure another day.
Bonus Modules
Bonus 1: How to avoid scams
I share the three scams I fell victim to and how to protect yourself.
Bonus 2: Renovations
How to plan them, costs involved, and how far you should go for the best ROI (Return On Investment).
Bonus 3: Getting a loan in Thailand
Possible on very specific conditions.
Conclusion
The goal of this course is to save you money. The savings on legal fees alone can cover the course cost, but more importantly, the difference between buying a bad deal and a good deal can amount to tens of thousands of dollars, or even more over 10 or 20 years.
How Does the Online Course Work?
Total Course Duration: 5 hours of video content
Summary sheet for each module: this will help you quickly find key information without having to re-watch the entire video.
Instant Access: After completing the payment, you'll automatically gain access to the course. Your login information will be sent to your email.
Lifetime Updates: You’ll have lifetime access to all future updates.
If I notice recurring questions that aren't already addressed in the course, I’ll create a bonus video specifically to answer them.
Exclusive Community: You will be added to the private Facebook group where you can ask your questions and engage with me and the community.
Master the thailand property market and make successful investment
297€ instead of 997€
Since the course is new, and my marketing is not very aggressive as you can see, I'm selling this course for only 297€ for now.
My goal is to work more on the marketing and increase the course's price to 997€, as it truly is worth that price.
People who buy the course now for 297€ will have the exact same product as those who will pay 997€ in a few months.
What people say about us
"I followed Sylvain's online course (french version) and I was able to buy my first apartment here 2 months later, in Nimman (chiangmai). Sylvain helped me to renovated it, and now it's rented out since 6 months without any problem. Looking forward to buy more apartments when I have more saving. Thanks!"
- Antonin Choplin (www.alucare.fr)
"Completely new to real estate investment, I had access to Sylvain's course. In just a few concrete hours, he managed to address ALL the obstacles that were holding me back with MAXIMUM efficiency. I received the advice I needed to buy my spacious apartment, where I now live with my family.
Thailand has its own unique characteristics, especially for foreign investors, and this course saved me from many pitfalls. Sylvain provides all the necessary information to get started under the best conditions. The advice comes from someone who actually practices what he teaches, and that makes ALL the difference. Thank you for this clear, concise, and comprehensive course!"