Looking to Buy a Pool Villa

[SteveBC]

45 minutes ago, Golfingboy said:

.I just realized that one afternoon in Jomtien was like the only time I was ever South of say, Soi Arab or Imsomnia. Been up to 3rd Road, but never even Darkside. I must explore next trip 

Do so Golfie, there's a whole new and at times exciting new world out there.....

[maipenrai]

5 minutes ago, SteveBC said:

Do so Golfie, there's a whole new and at times exciting new world out there.....

I've been spending a lot of time in Jomtien during my last few trips, renting condos there for a couple of months at a time; I like to get my exercise doing walking  tours of the GC's in that area - I'd be happy to show Golfie around when he makes it back over there, it's a fine way to stay in shape. 

[Golfingboy]

1 hour ago, maipenrai said:

I've been spending a lot of time in Jomtien during my last few trips, renting condos there for a couple of months at a time; I like to get my exercise doing walking  tours of the GC's in that area - I'd be happy to show Golfie around when he makes it back over there, it's a fine way to stay in shape. 

Appreciate that. We can do like a drinking game Gord, but with ladies…..one block walked, one ST session. See how long we last…..

[maipenrai]

1 hour ago, Golfingboy said:

Appreciate that. We can do like a drinking game Gord, but with ladies…..one block walked, one ST session. See how long we last…..

Not very, lol - I'm talking about km or miles between some of these places...

[ChiFlyer]

15 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Tommy I believe was referring to urban sprawl. A lot of land that was previously jungle and scrub brush has been paved over and developed in the last dozen years. IHMO, the pace of development has accelerated in the past six years, with only a temporary pause due to the China virus. Probably won't be long before ChiFlyer has a shinny new shopping mall on the vacant land north of his new villa.

You are probably correct, but I think the pace of that development directly near the Baan Dusit Villages will be somewhat slower. These villages as @tommy dee pointed out are heavily Russian. For me "people are people", but I am a little concerned about what effect the failing Russian economy (due to the invasion) may have on an area in Thailand that is significantly Russian. 

The development just off of the main intersection of 7 and 3 (10 minutes from these villages) is already intense. I actually welcome that as I think some better shopping options will become available.

I did not realize how significant the Russian presence is in these villages, until after I made an offer. The streets of the village are not very busy these days and prices on some nice pool/villas are dropping. Maybe I blindly lucked into a bargain and maybe I made a mistake. Time will tell.

[tommy dee]

20 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Tommy I believe was referring to urban sprawl. A lot of land that was previously jungle and scrub brush has been paved over and developed in the last dozen years. IHMO, the pace of development has accelerated in the past six years, with only a temporary pause due to the China virus. Probably won't be long before ChiFlyer has a shinny new shopping mall on the vacant land north of his new villa.

thanks and yes.

 

jomtien was the backwater 12 plus years ago.  2nd road from pattaya tai was full of scrubland and not many buildings,  in fact i dont think it had too many streetlights.  nowadays jomtien is the place developers love as it has more land close to the ocean unused and is or has spread back to the sukhumvit already.  if the real number of condos for sale was every listed, people would freak,  but houses are a safer investment as there is more demand.  as to the russians, well a wander down pratumnak is the best gauge.. go down at night and look up.  at the condo buildings, and see how many have lights on!    basically in a lot of cases, no one is at home, because they arent here 

a plus point is that whereas before i would never have considered jomiten to live in, because of the nightmare drive at weekends to get out and anywhere in traffic, noe the new motorway link  makes it super easy

[tko]

On 11/27/2022 at 4:55 PM, ChiFlyer said:

The thing that has occurred to me is that because this is setup through a company, from a US perspective that means that I will now own shares in a foreign company. As a US citizen that may mean that I have to report this holding on my FBAR. hmm - just read through last year's FBAR and I think FBAR only covers financial accounts and that is not what this is.

Anybody know better?

 

 

We have two houses here, and you are correct that the FBAR doesn't require reporting them.  Only financial assets.

Edited December 3, 2022 by tko

[CampariO]

On 11/30/2022 at 12:25 AM, ChiFlyer said:

 The streets of the village are not very busy these days and prices on some nice pool/villas are dropping. Maybe I blindly lucked into a bargain and maybe I made a mistake. Time will tell.

I hope you haven't bought anywhere near one of those houses that are rented out daily as "Pool Villa" which seems to be allowed at Baan Dusit Park as there are quite a few of those.

I saw an offer there for a house for 3.5m, 66 TW and pool. However, it seems that the neighbor at the back is renting out his 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house for up to 15 people, more pay extra.

Two doors down another "pool villa" for daily rent. Will look at it tomorrow but if it's the house I think it is I'll let it pass. Lots of cars blocking the driveways, loud noise and music until 6am, we had experienced that for a while in our village until we called the authorities. Now it's quiet again.

 

[CampariO]

Just got a phone call that someone paid a deposit. Good deals are gone quick.

Or ist it cheap looking deals are gone quick?

[ChiFlyer]

5 hours ago, CampariO said:

I hope you haven't bought anywhere near one of those houses that are rented out daily as "Pool Villa" which seems to be allowed at Baan Dusit Park as there are quite a few of those.

I saw an offer there for a house for 3.5m, 66 TW and pool. However, it seems that the neighbor at the back is renting out his 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house for up to 15 people, more pay extra.

Two doors down another "pool villa" for daily rent. Will look at it tomorrow but if it's the house I think it is I'll let it pass. Lots of cars blocking the driveways, loud noise and music until 6am, we had experienced that for a while in our village until we called the authorities. Now it's quiet again.

 

We seem to have some protection against what you have described. We are on the last soi so we have a limited number of nearby neighbors with none behind us at this time. A couple of the neighbors appeared to be at home and to be more family type folks. We also have some isolation with our side walls and high fronting shrubbery. We shall see. We looked at 3 pool/villas during our first visit and one of those was gone in 2 days. I can always sell the one we are buying, if it does not work out. I think I am buying in a buyer's market. I think a lot of shit. Some of it turns out to be true.

[ChiFlyer]

4 hours ago, CampariO said:

Just got a phone call that someone paid a deposit. Good deals are gone quick.

Or ist it cheap looking deals are gone quick?

Most likely all of the above. 🙂

 

[ChiFlyer]

I am moving into a new situation somewhat visa wise with this home purchase. Up until now I have always used my rental contract for my annual extension of stay process.

I am buying this pool/villa under the company 49-49-2 rules where I have the only voting rights. Since the company owns the house and I own 49% of the company, how do I submit that I live there to Immigration when it is time to extend my permission to stay?

Is this covered in the Blue Book - Yellow Book rules. No immediate problem with this, just trying to understand how it works.

tia,

CF

[tommy dee]

simple.  list it as your address.  IF they ask for a rental contract, then your company can issue one BUT, beware of having a non thai, you, as a shareholder when doing that, as they will ask often for a report, DB, onthe company to show shareholders.

[LorLing]

Just a thought for @ChiFlyer:

Once you have your pool villa;

Why not also pick up a cheap place for example a place like @CampariOhas for rent, in Nirun at the centre of Pattaya as well.

You can pick up a small place for the 0.5M ish mark in Nirun.

You can then chill at the pool villa most of the time, then when coming into town, have a comfortable place to stay, returning to the villa when the traffic is not so bad, some time the next day or 2.

This is what a couple of my friends do.

[thegrogmonster]

18 hours ago, LorLing said:

Just a thought for @ChiFlyer:

Once you have your pool villa;

Why not also pick up a cheap place for example a place like @CampariOhas for rent, in Nirun at the centre of Pattaya as well.

You can pick up a small place for the 0.5M ish mark in Nirun.

You can then chill at the pool villa most of the time, then when coming into town, have a comfortable place to stay, returning to the villa when the traffic is not so bad, some time the next day or 2.

This is what a couple of my friends do.

We have had our place on the darkside for 20 years this month and thought of buying a small apaartment in town for the purpose you suggest. Then we just decided that when we want to stay in town the few times a year it was easier to book a hotel room for the reuired nights. I find the Zip hotel in Soi Diana a good place to stay these days.

[ChiFlyer]

On 12/28/2022 at 2:04 AM, thegrogmonster said:

We have had our place on the darkside for 20 years this month and thought of buying a small apaartment in town for the purpose you suggest. Then we just decided that when we want to stay in town the few times a year it was easier to book a hotel room for the reuired nights. I find the Zip hotel in Soi Diana a good place to stay these days.

I am thinking more in these terms at this time. We actually seldom go into Central Pats these days. Additionally, we will have paid rent on a nice VT2A condo through July of this year.

[ChiFlyer]

On 12/27/2022 at 5:01 AM, tommy dee said:

simple.  list it as your address.  IF they ask for a rental contract, then your company can issue one BUT, beware of having a non thai, you, as a shareholder when doing that, as they will ask often for a report, DB, onthe company to show shareholders.

Sounds like some good overall reasons to keep using an established agent for the annual extension of stay. I used Manareet most recently and was impressed with them getting the job done.

[ChiFlyer]

Still moving along on this. The US cash for the house purchase is now ready to send to Thailand. I converted an equity and took the RMD on my IRA to get the cash ready. I waited until after the first of the year to covert the holdings in order to push the Capital Gains and RMD hits into next year's tax filing.

I will review all the numbers with me tomorrow (Friday) morning before hitting the send button. I am a little frazzled tonight and also getting a little drunk after a 10 hour drive back from Khon Kean to Pattaya. Traffic sucked to some degree, especially at the 201 stop lights and also with truck related backups on 2. I have seen worse.

Anyway to finally get to the point of this post, I am noticing that I will have a highest point Thai bank balance for the year 2023 as very near $200K US. I have never had a high point Thai bank balance over $70,000 in the past. I remember reading that if one exceeds $100K your FBAR gets a longer look and you may get some special attention proving that one is not the reincarnation of Pablo Escobar. 

Anyone have experience with exceeding the look at him closer limits? Words of advice?

[biggles]

No expert but I recall reading that when you transfer money into Thailand to purchase property you need to get a form called Tor Tor Sarm (sp) Apparently without this form it is difficult if you want to transfer that money out in the future. 

[ChiFlyer]

11 hours ago, biggles said:

No expert but I recall reading that when you transfer money into Thailand to purchase property you need to get a form called Tor Tor Sarm (sp) Apparently without this form it is difficult if you want to transfer that money out in the future. 

I did list on the transfer instructions all of the info about the house location. Schwab will include this on the transfer to Bangkok Bank. When I go over to the Bangkok Bank branch to have a Cashiers Check cut for the balance, I will inquire about the Tor Tor Sarm form. Will bring the Thai Wife with for that conversation, like she would let me go without her. 🙂

Thanks for taking the time to mention this. I also have a decent Thai lawyer riding heard on this. He was recommended by a friend who runs a well known restaurant in the Jomtien area. The lawyer will cost me in total about 15,000 for the various closing work. He has already earned that by spotting that there was an error on the location description and lot map. Some might think that 15,000 is too hefty a fee, but I look at it as a valid investment on my part to ensure that I have the right person working for the success of the greater concern of a 6 M investment.

[Trip]

@ChiFlyerwhat's the latest?

[Toy Boy]

On 12/27/2022 at 1:04 AM, ChiFlyer said:

Since the company owns the house and I own 49% of the company, how do I submit that I live there to Immigration when it is time to extend my permission to stay?

There are a few options I'm aware of, I bought my house in South Pattaya over 11 years ago and Immigration have always been happy with a copy of the monthly TOT internet/phone line bill in my name (not the company's) as proof of address. The electricity and water bills are in the company name, so they're no use, but I gather it's possible to have them moved to your name and and that should keep Immigration happy too. If you go down that route, I suggest you approach the PEA rather than the PWA, as most people I know find the PWA unfriendly and unhelpful, as well as very slow to sort things out.

[ChiFlyer]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:45 AM, Trip said:

@ChiFlyerwhat's the latest?

This is a repeat post from "The Russians are Coming Thread", but well answers the question or so I think.

Just as a note, we completed the purchase of our house and are in the process of moving in. Our immediate neighbors on one side are Russian. Very nice people who offered to help us with any startup needs we might have. The other side is unoccupied at this time. We are in the last soi, so no houses are behind us for now.

The Russian husband speaks no English, but his wife is very good in Russian, English, and Pasathai. My ThaiWife and her are becoming famous friends. The neighbors have been living here in Thailand for 10 years and myself for 7. Chinese people across the street who own 4 pool/villas with a large shared swimming pool. They seem like ok folks as well.

We have been cleaning up the neglect dirt and foliage overgrowth from the 5 months of the house being unoccupied. Neighbors are smiling at us.

[Trip]

thanks

[tko]

On 1/5/2023 at 9:57 AM, ChiFlyer said:

Still moving along on this. The US cash for the house purchase is now ready to send to Thailand. I converted an equity and took the RMD on my IRA to get the cash ready. I waited until after the first of the year to covert the holdings in order to push the Capital Gains and RMD hits into next year's tax filing.

I will review all the numbers with me tomorrow (Friday) morning before hitting the send button. I am a little frazzled tonight and also getting a little drunk after a 10 hour drive back from Khon Kean to Pattaya. Traffic sucked to some degree, especially at the 201 stop lights and also with truck related backups on 2. I have seen worse.

Anyway to finally get to the point of this post, I am noticing that I will have a highest point Thai bank balance for the year 2023 as very near $200K US. I have never had a high point Thai bank balance over $70,000 in the past. I remember reading that if one exceeds $100K your FBAR gets a longer look and you may get some special attention proving that one is not the reincarnation of Pablo Escobar. 

Anyone have experience with exceeding the look at him closer limits? Words of advice?

I've had well over 100KUSD in Thailand for years, and have never been given any special attention.  I've never seen any mention of that 100KUSD issue, do you know where you saw it? 

I know not to exceed the limits that would trigger FATCA reporting, but married filing jointly and living overseas our limits are 600KUSD anytime during the year or 400KUSD at the end of a year.  EDIT: It's half that if you're single living overseas.

I don't plan on keeping that much in Thailand, or in cash anywhere.

Edited January 24, 2023 by tko
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