A condo is the one piece of Thai real estate a foreigner can own outright, name on the deed. The law is clear; the failures are procedural. Every horror story we've cleaned up traces to one of five checks that were skipped.
The two legal conditions
- Foreign quota: foreigners may own at most 49% of the sellable area of a condominium building. Popular buildings in Pattaya, Phuket and parts of Bangkok are full. If the quota is exhausted, the unit can never transfer to you — no matter what the agent promises. We verify quota in writing with the juristic person before you pay a deposit.
- FET (Foreign Exchange Transaction) evidence: the purchase money must arrive in Thailand in foreign currency, converted here, with the receiving bank issuing FET certificates referencing the purchase. Send baht from an offshore baht account, or route money wrongly, and the Land Office refuses the transfer.
The five checks before any deposit
- Title search at the Land Office: real chanote, seller actually owns it, no mortgage or lien.
- Foreign quota confirmation in writing.
- Juristic person health: unpaid common fees follow the unit; sinking fund and building finances reviewed.
- Contract review: off-plan contracts from developers are one-sided by default — payment schedules, delay penalties and spec changes are all negotiable before signing, never after.
- Remittance-tax plan: bringing in ฿5M of post-2023 income to buy can create a Thai income-tax bill bigger than the transfer fees. Sequencing the remittance (pre-2024 pot, non-resident year, or LTR exemption) is now part of every purchase we handle. See remittance tax.
Costs at transfer
| Item | Rate | Usually paid by |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer fee | 2% of appraised value | Split 50/50 (negotiable) |
| Specific business tax | 3.3% (if seller owned <5 years) | Seller |
| Stamp duty | 0.5% (if no SBT) | Seller |
| Withholding tax | Progressive / 1% | Seller |
After you own it
Put the condo in your Thai will — a foreign heir inheriting a condo must themselves qualify under the quota/FET rules or sell within a year, so succession planning is not optional. And if you rent the unit out, rental income is Thai-source and taxable here regardless of where it's paid.
What we charge
Due diligence + contract review + accompanied Land Office transfer: ฿30,000–60,000 (fees). On a ฿5M purchase that is under 1.2% for the only person in the deal working solely for you.
Found a unit? Check it before the deposit.
Send us the project name and price — we quote the exact due-diligence fee same day.
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