Can foreigners get mortgages in Thailand, or is it better to buy with cash or rent long-term?

@Tore ********

my only thought in that is that you can't compound interest if you are withdrawing it to pay rent. Yes, if there is some unrest then that's when the proverbial hits the fan

@Stephen *******

nothing is zero risk obviously. If you sit down and calculate the initial cost, running and unexpected maintenance costs, service cost, renovation every few years. And in the case of Thailand, loss of property value over time.

Then input the initial investment + running cost into a calculator like this. Use a conservative 10% annual average return and compare. You would be surprised. Most people dont realize how fast the compounding snowball effect is.

After deducting rent, you would still have allot left on your investment income.

That said, buying single property can make personal level, but not financially and liability wise. To generate real income from property you need to go big so you can dept scale and leverage to generate cash flow.

Not bashing your personal choice, just trying to explain why rental makes financial sense compared to outright buying property.

One day i will buy property, but it will not be a financially effective choice.

As for investing, think low cost “world market “ etfs which track the global economy. Individual countries are too risky for long term (in my opinion anyway)

Now we haven’t even discussed risk of political instability etc. Renting gives allot more freedom and liabilities in so many ways. Only downside is you may have to move, as its not yours.

@Tore ********

is compound interest not where you leave the interest in the account to get interest on that interest? I didn't say condos were zero risk, but implying that investing in a market to get the return I mentioned wasn't zero risk either.

@Stephen *******

glad you are happy with your situation. But that’s not how compound interest work 😉

Zero risk in condos? Im not gonna even….

@Eddie *****

it's good we are all individually happy 😁

@Stephen *******

That’s kool:

since I sold my condo I invested the proceeds in uk rental property which have doubled in value since with rents at record levels.

I now take business class flights to Thai, and rent the best places, couldn’t have done that had I still got the condo.

It’s a no brainer really, but as you say whatever makes you happy.

@Eddie *****

I'm happy and don't want out 👍🏻

@Stephen *******

no, your stuck with no way out

@Eddie *****

the only if for me would be if I wanted to sell, which I don't. My Condo will owe me nothing after 10-12 years, 5 of which have already passed. When I'm there, I'll save around 30,000฿ per month. When I'm not it'll more than pay for itself in rentals. Or I could just throw my money away renting 🤷‍♂️

@Stephen *******

A lot of ifs in there.

The only few who made anything are the ones like me who bought at 70 baht/£ and sold at 43 baht/£ being lucky to have a buyer appear.

Thailand is now full of falangs with a condo to sell and no chance of selling.

A Thai will never lower the price he wants come what may, they increase it every year.

Then there are the other risks of buying, like all the scam developments that take punters cash and vanish.

Just imagine paying 20 million for a sea view condo in the JCC in Jomtien, and then having a corrupt Pattaya councill allow the building of VT7 right slap bang in front of it.

Or when the developer gets in trouble and mortgages all the title deeds back to the bank, so you end up to lose the lot.

It’s a veritable shithole, but if you want in buyer beware.

@Stephen *******

If you sold at a loss you wouldnt have "saved money". There is a condo for sale along from where I live. It's a relatively new building..maybe 5 years old. There has been a condo for sale there now for 2 years. Very hard to resell them.

@Eddie *****

but you'll not lose it, you'll always have it. Everyone's circumstances are different, if you were in thailand more often, then you would've benefited more from it. So you bought at a bad time, when the markets were probably too high. Then along came 2007 to bring everyone back to earth with a bump. So, say you bought after the crash and grabbed a bargain possibly doubling your money, would your advise still be the same? I was caught out in 2007 and I am still of the opinion that buying is better than renting. Obviously depends on location etc, but if one is happy with an area and happy with a complex then what is there to lose? Can you lose more than the 100% rent that you pay and are losing? 🤔

@Harry ********

incorrect, after 15 years of owing more than the apartment was valued at after the crash, I got just above what I paid when I sold it 2 years ago. Not everything in the UK is as rosy as what's made out. Yes, I got caught at a bad time, but whose to say it won't happen again? 🤷‍♂️

@Stephen *******

but if you sold that UK one now you would have roughly tripled your money.. in Thailand it would still be about the same IF you could even sell it

@Stephen *******

I bought a condo in my name in 2006, and had some rental occupation. Then things flatlined and poor rental occupation and dodgy estate agents. I used it several times on my Thai visits.

The building was like a continuous construction site with condos being fitted out.

It was for sale for 5 years with no interest, then out of the blue in 2017 I got a reasonable offer which included about 15% appreciation so I hotspeeded to Thailand to sell it.

Luckily the buyer went through with it.

Eventually largely because of currency exchange rates I made a reasonable return.

But for that lucky break I would probably still be stuck with it, just as the majority will be.

My advice , only buy it if you can afford to lose it

@Harry ********

the returns I'm getting, albeit can be up or down, would average around ฿ per month. So that's around £550 per month that I doubt I'd get from a bank if I had £60k sitting in it. And £60k won't get much in the UK, I reckon I'd need to double the investment in a property in the UK to get a similar return. Though one could argue that it's safer, personally I'd prefer 2 condo in thailand with twice the return. Both options would depend on location. Last time I bought in the UK was 2007 and was in negative equity, after the crash, for approximately 15 years. So rented it out with a mortgage of around £150, received rent of around £600 and paid off the mortgage early, thanks to my tenants. So if I had to sell back in 2007 I would've faced significant loss in UK. As it stands, I have only gained in Thailand over the last 5 years or so. 🤞🤞🤞

@Stephen *******

I do follow your logic and CERTAINLY I would buy in , again example , the UK ( as I have ) but you ignore the interest you can be getting by keeping the condo money in a bank high yield account which could be a lot depending on its value . So you save rent but you lose interest on the capital it cost you . Also if you had used that capital to buy a place in the UK you could rent that out and get real capital appreciation .

So I think you are missing some crucial points and , again , you also acknowledge that you might lose money which is not going to happen in the UK .

Not trying to cause a problem I’m just saying

@Detlef **********

sorry, still don't get it. Maybe I need another coffee! 555 do explain...

@Stephen *******

you have totally mis read & mis understand my point !!!!!!!!!!! Read it again 🤔 before you go off on a tangent🤔🤺

@Neil ********

so you choose FQ and legally own it. I was replying the comment implying a foreigner cannot legally own a condo 🤷‍♂️