Apartments + Offices on Twitter Apartments + Offices on Facebook Apartments + Offices News
Home San-Francisco Apartments & Villas For Sale Guide to Buying a Condominium in San-Francisco


San Francisco Guide to Buying a Condominium in San-Francisco

The aim at Moveandstay property for sale partners is to make the purchase of a condominium in San-Francisco as pain-free and easy as possible. The first step is to familiarize oneself with the legalities involved, especially when considering freehold purchases (covered in part 5).

1. Search and Research

It is important that you research what is available in the market – at Moveandstay property for sale partners they can help you to filter your search by the type of property you want and also by the area you are looking to buy in. If you are looking for a straight-out investment, for example, then a one or two bedroom condo on Sukhumvit Road ideally close to a skytrain station would be an attractive option – Bangkok is however a multifarious market, with many sought-after areas.

2. Background Checks

Moveandstay property for sale partners carries out a number of different checks on any property a client has their heart set on. The primary check is for the deed – to make sure that the seller is actually the rightful owner. It is also important to check whether the condo is in the building’s Thai or foreign quota (again, see section five on freehold ownership).

On top of this, the title deed will be examined to ascertain if any collateral has been taken out on the property and the Juristic person (or the organization which speaks for the building or complex) will be contacted to make sure that those selling the condo have paid all the common expenses and also that the building or complex is not coming up for any major renovations or other procedures which would incur a lot of cost.

3. The negotiation process

When a client picks out a property or number of properties, Moveandstay property for sale partners can help in the negotiation process in order to secure the best deal – they will help resolve issues like:

  • The payment terms
  • Who will pay tax on the agreement
  • The cost (if any) of furniture included
  • And the best overall price for the client

4. Determining the purchase agreement

Once all parties have come to a suitable agreement, then both the seller and buyer will draft their respective sales and purchase agreements which will contain:

  • The agreed price for the property
  • The terms and provisions of payment
  • The date of the transfer of funds and title

5. Placing the deposit

After the purchase agreement has been finalized and agreed upon by both parties, the buyer will put down their deposit which is normally in the range between 100,000 to 1 million Thai baht.
In general the deposit will be larger if there is a longer waiting period between when the deposit is paid and when the final transfer of funds is made. The usual time between the two is around ten days to two months time.

6. Freehold ownership

If you are looking for freehold ownership of a property then there are several important points to adhere to. The first essential is that the condo must be in the building’s foreign quota, which is usually only forty nine percent of the building – this can be ascertained by looking at the title deed of the property.

The funds transfer must also be conducted according to very specific rules. Firstly, the money has to come from outside of Thailand, being in another country’s currency. The cash transfer can go into the accounts of either the developer, lawyer, agent or buyer but the remittance statements must clearly state the reason for the transfer.

Secondly the buying party has to get a Foreign Exchange Transaction from the bank into which the money has been transferred. It is also essential that the account that either the money is sent to, or the account it is sent from belongs to the buyer – even if the issuing bank prefers to send the mortgaged money directly to the sellers account.

Thailand is very strict with making sure all of these rules are adhered to and no condition is wavered, but Moveandstay property for sale partners can be there every step of the way to guide buyers through.

6. Additional Expenses

Generally common expenses are paid in advance in either six month or yearly periods, so buyers will have to reimburse the seller by a cashier’s cheque for the outstanding period. Utility providers also usually need to be paid in deposits, so this will need to be accounted for when looking at additional expenses.

7. Payment

Payment must be made in the form of cashier’s cheques and the usual procedure is to make out at least two cheques to minimize the tax (levied only on the property itself). Furniture and other decorations etc. are usually paid in another separate cashier’s cheque.

8. Transfer

When it is time to transfer the title deed, this happens at the offices of the Land Department, and can take anywhere from two to six hours to complete. Generally a buyer gives power of attorney to their agent or lawyer who will complete the name-change on the title deed on their behalf. The cashier’s cheques will normally be required the day before transfer is to take place, because the seller is issued with a faxed copy of the cheques prior to proceeding with the transfer of title. Once the transfer has been completed, a copy of the new title deed will be forwarded to the building’s juristic person their records.

More Information