Rules enforced by the TESTED legal systems of the respective countries involved..

All bets are off when you are attempting to buy property in 2nd and 3rd world countries.

Quite possibly you do not speak the language and do not even immediately understand the units of measurements used to describe properties. 

Nor is the playing field neutral or level. The First World has put a lot of time and wishful thinking into convincing itself that ethnicity, tribalism, nationalism and religion are creatures of myth and the past. 

World events have proved very much otherwise.

You are an outsider in other countries when it comes to business, at least.

“When it comes to money, even honest men are thieves”.

Somebody, whose best friend was his camel, told me that one night a long time ago in the Jema El Fina of Marakesh, Morocco. 

I’ve certainly met enough honest men like that.

I’ve been offered beach front property in Indonesia by natives who claimed the property had been in their family’s possession “Forever”. And perhaps it had been in their possession exactly that long.  But they had never legally owned it!

Remember, if somebody makes off with a cash deposit of yours, the chances are he can easily disappear into some part of his country and never be seen by you again.  Law enforcement will be too busy laughing to go look for him.

Nor can you fully put your trust in any professional you hire.   Real estate agents are salespeople, and in the long chain of professionals from money finders to contractors to agents everybody makes money even if you lose all of yours.

Sounds bleak?   It often is.

When you hear stories of “Couldn’t be happier with our purchase of property in country X”, remember three things.
 
A lot of these happy transactions are done by quite wealthy people.  When you have that kind of money you just pay your way through red tape and downright extortion. 

A lot of transactions are done in the name of a foreign company or corporation. As above, they have money to pave the way, and  make phone calls to people in power when necessary.

They may have bought into a planned development for foreign retirees. Somewhat safer, but very pricey.

You don’t speak the language, you don’t know what the unit of measurement is, and you are looking to buy land in countries which have been governed by verbal laws, by handshakes, for centuries.

You are going to distribute very large amounts of cash in countries where actual cash in the hand money is still a very rare, and very much desired, thing. 

You could start a  Feeding Frenzy.

You are lucky if there is one book which documents the process, in the country you are interested in.

You need a real estate attorney, yes.  Can you trust him?  Not really.

Of course, purchasing real estate in other countries is going to get easier as the decade grows older.  It is a tremendous growth market after all, restrained only by its difficulties.

BUT, this report is about CONDOMINEIUM purchasing……….

I recently spent months researching condos in the Pattaya, Thailand, area.  I talked to a lot of experts and participants in the field.  I came away with the feeling that it’s a lot easier to buy property overseas when the money it costs represents relative pocket change to the buyer. There are so many variables-sewers, noise, people, politics – that could cause complications that it would be best not to have everything riding on one purchase.  You don’t want a suicidal case of buyer’s remorse.

I like condos for a lot of reasons.  In Thailand they can be bought by foreigners in their own names. There is no need to incorporate a Thai company. Or have the property in the name of a Thai friend or lover who may just slip out the back, Jack; and legally take or sell the property with them.

Units higher up in a building are my favorites. More breezes, better views. Mosquitoes and other insects usually can’t make it past the sixth floor.  And, there are a lot of condos built, and a lot more being built each day in Pattaya in particular and Thailand in general. 

I am not an attorney, let alone a Thai real-estate attorney. But having talked with many, I would like to offer this overview of what a Thai condo contract should include. 

For educational purposes only!!!!!!!

DETAILS OF A CONTRACT!

Full names and details of parties involved.

A paragraph stating what the goals of all parties involved are!
Then a section of legal and real estate definitions to make sure everyone is talking and understanding a common language.

Any legal encumbrances (on the unit) should be stated at this time.

Any furniture involved should be noted.

Only after all these issues are addressed, experts say, should the heart of the contract be written.  This includes the address and map location of the unit-(floor, number, etc.), any tenant common areas, dates of completion of sale and possession by the new owner, parking spaces, etc.

Then purchase price and terms of payment are stated.  In the third world real estate transactions are mostly and purely cash. Not for the faint hearted putting their life savings out there!  Dates of payment, also.

Penalties to be encored by either buyer or seller, if they fail to abide by the terms and dates of the agreements, are then stated.

Somewhere in the contract, usually at this point, it is stated which party pays which fees, including cost of transferring the title.