Post: #1

I have a general question about investing in SEA. I know that in Thailand and in Vietnam foreigners (except expats etc.) are not allowed to own land. Is this the case for all of SEA? I'm interested in all non-landlocked countries, especially cambodia, the philippines and malaysia. Does anyone in here already own land there?

Maybe I'm too old-school-thinking but I wouldn't want to buy real-estate without the ground below belonging to me.

Post: #2

Those property ownership issues are usually only superficial. I.e. you can register a local company and use it as an investment vehicle to own property.

Start your research here: http://www.globalpropertyguide.com

Post: #3

Owning land through proxy corporate or business entities is the oldest trick in the book but you really need to do your homework concerning this. For example the Thai government has repo'd swathes of land owned this way by rich foreign investors. They don't need a lot of legal reasoning to do it..all they need to do is have someone look through the company and figure out that the owners aren't legitimate or are just local individuals hired to put their names down as 51% corporate owners. If the court finds this out they will almost always side with the local (usually powerful) person prompting the investigation and your shit will get seized unless you can pony up immense tea money to keep this from happening.

There's also little you can do about it either.

You might be able to stay under the radar if you are small fry but just keep in mind that this sort of thing for circumventing property law is not ironclad.

Post: #4

I have some apartments in Thailand (both Koh Samui and Pattaya), I bought them all off plan and upon completion the value shoots up, usually 40%+.

The buying process was easy, for example you pay 20% up front then pay the rest off in installments as it's being built and another chunk at completion. I have a guy in the UK who gets in touch when a new development is about to be launched (by a reputable developer) and I buy at the lowest price.
If you want to know more, examples of the types of developments, the company I go through etc give me a shout.

Post: #5

Brisey,
I've looked into buying a condo in BKK or somewhere by the beach in Jomtien and plan on buying something there within the next 1-2 year as a base. Vey interested to hear more on that from you.

Post: #6

(11-19-2013 03:21 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Brisey,
I've looked into buying a condo in BKK or somewhere by the beach in Jomtien and plan on buying something there within the next 1-2 year as a base. Vey interested to hear more on that from you.

Hi mate, the company I go through to buy them is www.knightknox.com

I have 2 in Jomitien, first one is Laguna Beach which will be ready next year. Pre launch price was 800000 THB, they are already going for 1200000 THB without even being completed yet. The site shows regular construction updates/pics so you can see how they are progressing.

Next one is called Abatalay, the site is not as slick, but they have a few developments and I got a good entry price.

Most recent purchase is at a relatively under developed location called Bang Saray which is not too far from Jomitien. Very close to the beach and should be ready in 2016. Here is the knightknox link
Payment plans are interest free and pretty flexible so there is no big hit at once.
Drop them a mail and see what they say.

Post: #7

Cambodia or Philippines advice would be great in here too.

Thailand, you can own condos but not the land.

Post: #8

(11-19-2013 07:11 AM)2014 Wrote:  Thailand, you can own condos but not the land.

That's typically what happens with condos in most countries anyway, so don't let it put you off. You usually never own the land when you buy a condo, and if you do it would have covenants on it so you can't do anything without the agreement of the other owners. In other cases the land is owned by a trust or condo company.

Post: #9

You never had any problems with reliability from these guys, or investments not following through?

Post: #10

(11-19-2013 08:21 AM)Doc_J Wrote:  You never had any problems with reliability from these guys, or investments not following through?

No problems buying in Thailand so far, I think they are pretty tight on their due diligence. They ensure the developer has the cash to build rather than waiting on investors first.
I did get a bit burned a few years back with an investment in Slovakia, it was a ski resort in the Tatras mountains, that got delayed and they eventually ran out of money. I was able to reclaim most of what I paid via the legal route but I lost a couple of grand.
So there are risks with buying off plan but in my experience the reward is worth it.

Post: #11

What about need to go and check it out on the ground? Do you do that, have any people checking it out for you, or always go in blind?

Post: #12

(11-19-2013 08:43 AM)Doc_J Wrote:  What about need to go and check it out on the ground? Do you do that, have any people checking it out for you, or always go in blind?

The first place in Thailand I bought was based on the history of the developer, they had won awards, had a solid portfolio and their resorts were rated in the top 10 on Tripadvisor. I used the same guy for subsequent purchases and his advice has always been solid. I recommended the places to a couple of friends who are based in Singapore and they flew over to check them out. Their feedback on the location, progress and developers was positive so I wasn't worried.

Post: #13

Nice! I might get into it as well. I'm thinking Brazil as well. But I'm always weary of the scams around these places...
Thanks for the information anyway.

Post: #14

(11-19-2013 09:01 AM)Doc_J Wrote:  Nice! I might get into it as well. I'm thinking Brazil as well. But I'm always weary of the scams around these places...
Thanks for the information anyway.

No problem, I looked at some places in Brazil last year but didn't have the cash at the time. Could be worth a look with the World Cup and the Olympics coming up.

Post: #15

Yeah the site you mentioned has some property near a Worldcup stadium. But I also read its overvalued property and beyond world cup there is no real expectation for serious valuation.
Id like to invest in something short term like 1 or 2 years.

Post: #16

Brisey,
Those look good specally the one on Laguna Beach is simply awesome! What's the catch? It looks to good to be true almost, such a unit in such a nice building, like a resort almost, right on the beach!!! I am totally interested in buying a unit in such a building!

Tell me I'm dreaming here:
http://www.knightknox.com/property/searc...=on&page=1

Are these prices for real? Are they not forgetting a 0 at the end? This is insane as simple as that!!!!

Post: #17

(11-19-2013 10:30 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Brisey,
Those look good specally the one on Laguna Beach is simply awesome! What's the catch? It looks to good to be true almost, such a unit in such a nice building, like a resort almost, right on the beach!!! I am totally interested in buying a unit in such a building!

Tell me I'm dreaming here:
http://www.knightknox.com/property/searc...=on&page=1

Are these prices for real? Are they not forgetting a 0 at the end? This is insane as simple as that!!!!

They are legit mate, the catch is they are off plan and you have to wait a year or 2 before they are ready/can move in. The Laguna Beach units are more expensive than they were due to the late stage of construction but the company that builds them, Heights Holdings have a couple of newer developments I think, their Maldives project looks good.
There is a guy on the sales team called Oliver so it could be worth giving him a shout as you'll probably get a better deal going directly through the developer rather than the Knightknox site I mentioned earlier.
If you need to know anything else give me a shout.

Post: #18

How is resale on these units? OnNut here in bkk is exploding with new condos, and out of the half dozen buildings I've looked at, they all had many vacancies. Seems there is more supply than demand, at least as far as rentals go.

Post: #19

Briskey,
I def wouldn't mind at all waiting a year or two in such a place/deal! Do you live in LOS? Would love to Skype with you to pick your brains on buying property in LOS. PM me your Skype please!

Rio,
What's the going rate on the On Nut properties? Any link to these?

I will be buying a place in LOS within the next 18 months either in BKK or in one those killer deals on the beach so any info would be highly appreciated.

Cheers.

Post: #20

(11-20-2013 03:29 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  How is resale on these units? OnNut here in bkk is exploding with new condos, and out of the half dozen buildings I've looked at, they all had many vacancies. Seems there is more supply than demand, at least as far as rentals go.

I haven't sold any of the Pattaya ones yet so I can't really comment, it's still possible to do whilst they are being built but i'll get more once they are finished. With the influx of Chinese and Russians, the location, plus it being more of a holiday destination I expect them to sell relatively quickly.

I bought a studio in Koh Samui in January 2011, it was completed in December 2012 and i've been renting out for a year (handled a management company). I enquired about the resale timeframe recently and they advised it was only a month or two.

Post: #21

VP, no links but Rhythm Sukhumvit just opened up a month ago. It is right next to me. Prices started at 2.9 I want to say. Not sure what they are now that it's complete. That seems to be the starting price for most places around OnNut. About 100k US. They look to be renting from 20k up a month. Not sire how the rentals are doing because that seems pretty overpriced from what I've seen. Ideo Mobi I think it's called is about to open across the street also. Ideo opened the Mixx a couple years ago right next to OnNut bts.

Two other new buildings are getting close to open here also. Can't remember the names, one is a Q House I think, but only 50% sure on that.

Post: #22

@Brisey

Thanks for the valuable input and the links! February is my first trip to Vietnam, and hopefully to Thailand, if I like it there I'll shoot you a message.

Post: #23

Also appreciate the links Brisey. I was in Pattaya a couple of months ago but in the magazines the prices for places like this started at around 3mil baht.

Are those prices of 27k pounds correct or for a % of construction? This link for Laguna has the apartments at 3.09m baht
http://www.heights-holdings.com/projectD...oject_id=2

Or is that the off-plan pricing?

Post: #24

(11-27-2013 09:57 PM)hun73r Wrote:  Also appreciate the links Brisey. I was in Pattaya a couple of months ago but in the magazines the prices for places like this started at around 3mil baht.

Are those prices of 27k pounds correct or for a % of construction? This link for Laguna has the apartments at 3.09m baht
http://www.heights-holdings.com/projectD...oject_id=2

Or is that the off-plan pricing?

The Laguna Bay development was completed in April 2013 so now you'd just pay normal price (27k) because it's ready to move in. For good deals and providing you can wait a while then off plan is the way to go.
Check out the available projects and look at the status on the right hand side to see the expected completion dates.

The newer the development the cheaper the cost. There is usually a floor plan/price list as well so you can see what is available.

Post: #25

so knight knox is the best one you've gone with or was is heights holdings? or are they the same?? Thanks bro!