Would appreciate some advice please

[tinyterry]

Hi all,
May I introduce myself I am Terry and I am currently living in England. I have been reading a lot on this site and find that many members have very good knowledge and accordingly I would like to ask a couple of questions as I hope to move to the North East of Thailand in the near future. I do have a girl friend who I have known for over a year. She lives in a small town called Si That which is south west of Kumphawapi.
Her sister wishes to sell urgently her house and land that my gf is currently living in with her son. The land is 1.45 rai and she grows vegetables and rice. The sister says the house and land are worth 450,000 baht but is willing to sell to her sister for 350,000.
My question is does this seem to be a fair price?
Is there a way in which I can send her money to buy the house which I understand must be in her name? I think that if she cannot prove money is not hers then government may force her to sell house??
Many of you gentlemen, oops and maybe ladies too, have much knowledge of ways around problems through experience and I would welcome some advice please.
Thank you for your time and hope you may be able to guide me. Cheers Terry

[laphanphon]

i would be a little cautious, on buying a house for someone you have only known for bit more than a year, and guessing on a part time basis. how many actually days have you known her, been in her presence. that's not a lot of money, but also not a pittance. without pics and location of house, very hard to place a value on it, it sounds decent enough, if at least 80 sq mts, and block house with some comforts. though if in the middle of nowhere, could build a new one for just a bit more, that size.

go slow, without you being here and putting lien or paperwork to protect your investment on the chanot/land papers, you risk loosing your funds. rents are very cheap here. if selling house, it won't be going anywhere for some time. would guess renting something that price would be around 2000 baht a month, in a village, ball park price. technically, she is not allowed to by with foreigners money, unless given as a gift, w/all rights released to her............no refund/splits/anything, if relationship fails. though that rule is rarely enforced in rice paddy land.

but everyone thought that about the big bikes, lax enforcement, now they are enforcing to the letter of the law, so it's a crap shoot. more importantly, you really don't know her that well, i would think. if someone new at work, asked you for a loan of that size, and you knew them for same amount of days, would you lend them the money, with no collateral.................

[beer monkey]

Hello Terry....
First thing that springs to mind is (and this will put doubts in your mind)...... you need to make sure of is that you are not buying the house and land that are already in your girlfriends name....ie: selling her own land to herself....ie: just a way of getting 350.000 baht from you....sorry but thats my first thoughts, i does happen., whats the urgency with the sale....and if you didn't buy it where would she stay..?
Can't you be there to see whats going on for yourself..(not that you will see much or understand any of it..)

350k...? depends, road access,Electric,water, decent landfill already, deep in the sticks, house needing rebuild...etc etc...

[arjay]

Being something of a cynic when it comes to things such as this in Thailand, whilst it sounds like a good idea, it sounds more likely to be a well thought out plan to relieve you of a lump sum of money, particularly as I would suggest you don't really know your "girlfriend" well or long enough.

Personally, I would only entertain such an idea if I had been living with my GF on a full time basis for well in excess of 2 - 3 years and considered I knew AND trusted her.

In answer to the part of your question of can you send money to her, - that's the easy bit, -just ask for her bank details and then go to your Uk bank and ask them to transfer the amount to her bank. However, I would only do that if you are prepared to "right-off" that money and can afford to lose it completely!!

If you really feel you trust someone that you have only known "at arm's length" for about a year, and want to help, what about suggesting to your GF that she approaches her bank with a view to borrowing the money to buy the house from her sister, and you then assist her with repayments on the mortgage/loan. That way you haven't put the full amount at risk from the outset.

Or indeed, better still, why can't she come to an agreement with her sister to buy the land and house from her, and to repay her every month? Again, you could offer to assist her with those (more modest) monthly repayments. If they were genuine, she shouldn't object to that. If she objects, it would make me even more suspicious that she was wanting to relieve you of your money quickly!!

To reiterate, I would NOT consider it, unless I had known and lived with my GF a lot longer than in your situation. Be warned, be careful, go slowly!!

[BobHelm]

I must admit that RJs idea of her getting a BANK loan (mortgage) sounds exceedingly sensible.
I would think that the bank would do some preliminary checks to ensure that the loan was being legally secured on the land & house and that a full legal title to the land is being sold - rather than something else. I say this as (ultimately) if the mortgage is defaulted on then the bank will need an 'asset' to re-coup the loan. This would not be the case if the "loan" was with some other 3rd. party. The loan could be for anything (old gambling debts, old or new boy friends etc.)....
You are still being a 'knight in shining armor' as you are helping her with a place to live.
Note: If she starts throwing up all sorts of reasons why this plan is NOT a good idea that would be seen as a 'red flag' by me.....

[BKKSTAN]

The short answer is don't do it!Unless you are here to check all the details,want to have that house as your family abode!
If your G/F's family ids decent,they would not abandon your GF and her son.I would question the ''urgency'' involved anyway!Who is she going to sell a village house to anyway.Unless someone in the village has the money and desire,the house will NOT sell unless it is the steal of the Century,which this is not even close.It has already been mentioned that village homes,new,won't cost much more!

It is hard to accept,but this is a known ploy to get money out of distant ''sponsors''!I don't know what your future plans are with your GF and whether you are planning to be together here or there,but if it is the first,and the family would be ''kicking them out'',she could rent outside the village or ,possibly even within it for a couple of thousand baht per month!

First thing to learn about long distance relationships,don't part with large sums of money to Thais in Thailand!

[SanukJoe]

Hello Terry.... I agree totally with BM that there could be a possibility of a nice attempt to get a large sum of money (in Thailand that is) out of your pocket. So the first thing I would do is get more info on the situation, photos, description, location, electricity etc.
The best way to be sure of the ownership of the land plus house is to ask your gf to email you a copy of the blue house book (page 1 and 2 -1 is about the house, 2 is about the owner) and a copy of the land paper (front is situation plan, back shows the actual owner of the land). These two papers can take away any suspicion or not, anyway it makes things clear.

A bank mortgage is not the easiest way as banks are not very keen on mortgages concerning people not working for the government. Even if your gf has a job it will not help, unless she is a teacher or working for the government.

Get the situation clear first and if all is ok you can think about how to send the money and to what conditions if at all).

Good luck
Joe

[rick]

My first Thai girl friend was also from Si That. All i will say, is be very careful as other posters have said. If her name is Aoy, be very, very, careful! she was a bit of a classic, although no sick buffalo. She wanted to 'rebuild' house because old, among other requests, after only 5 days. Maybe true, maybe not, did not wait to find out, the bell was ringing....

[beer monkey]

Come to think of it...if you didn't buy for your girlfriend who else would her sister be able to sell the land too at the moment....? I don't think they will be queuing up at the gate to hand over the baht.

Give us a little more info on the situation Terry...so we possibly could get a more favourable picture.
Thanks.

[arjay]

All of the above are very valid points.

If your GF's sister "owns" it already, then it's already in the family. Why would she want to sell it and evict her sister, and as said who would or could she sell it to. The more I read and think about this, the more I see it as a plan to get money from you. Be careful.

If you were to later come to Thailand to live, with this GF, or another one, or on your own, you wouldn't want to live in the family's village, so it wouldn't be providing for your future.

Earlier this year, a friend came to Thailand, and spent a few days in Pattaya. He spent 2 nights with a girl from a bar in Pattaya, and within a couple of weeks of returning home, she was emailing him that her she had had to return home, because her sister had lost her job and could he help her out with some money. These girls are very professional and accomplished with their scams and ideas. It's something of a "cottage industry" here. Think of another solution, - one that doesn't involve you in stumping up any money.

[RALPHCUSENS]

Terry,

Welcome to the forum, my advice would be to wait until you come here to visit, you will then be able to evaluate the situation first hand. All the above advice is to be bourn in mind, but by seeing first hand what the true situation is you can then make a decision on what you have seen (ie land title, location and value), not what you have been told! It could be a bargain, or it could be a con!

[beer monkey]

you wouldn't want to live in the family's village

Ohh i don't know about that one...why not, Village life is great, as long as you got a peaceful area thats yours(or the wifes), and a walled/gated large personal space, a few rules laid down to keep the ponces and pi$$heads out they will soon get to know you....its great sitting in the garden early and late evenings very peaceful and early morning cocks cocking with early risers people getting ready to go off to work....kubotas plop plopping past...buffalo sauntering along looking in....kids on old motorbikes....the smell of fires.....old women chit chatting under a bit of shade....all is quite during the day.. then kids come home the workers return then the fires restart everyone eats ....the sun goes down...then the TV goes on and they watch TV till 8-9pm....then all's quite once again.....

[parrot]

Beer Monkey's Da Vinci painting of village life is one that's available.
Another is the painting of village life by Salvador Dali: momma-in-law awaking at 4AM, bangs out her daily chew on the pavement outside your bedroom window. Roosters telling you the time at 2AM and 4AM. The nice neighbor next-door who decides to raise a few pigs. The other nice neighbor who quits his job in Bangkok and returns to bankroll a karioke bar or maw-lahm setup. And there's the neighbor behind you who uses your old flipflops to start the morning stickyrice fire.

Village life is great.......but it largely depends on where you live and who your neighbors are.

[beer monkey]

Exactly...positioning is everything.....and in around 1 rai ....great if you got rice paddys oppersite...even better at the sides, buy land surrounding you perfect....walls gates railings keep the natives at bay and away from your beer and Marlboros.

The other version 'could' be a nightmare for a long term stay.......

[tinyterry]

Hi All,

What can I say but thank you for your concerns, comments and suggestions. Without a doubt they have all been interesting to read and please believe me I will tread very carefully. I do have some photos of the house and field but have no idea how to put them on to this thread. For further info the house is a brick/block thype construction raised one level up from ground. The ground floor is just used for storage and the property does have full electric.
I have already asked the question on why the sister wants to sell in such a hurry and await a reply on this. The sister already owns her own house and seems to have a down on her younger sister. But if I get a reply on this I will let you all know.
The suggestions on here have been great and I cannot thank all concerned for their candid replies and the speed in which my question was answered. Sincere thanks again, what a great site and membership.
Regards Terry