Buying a Condo in Pattaya as a Foreigner: What I Tell Every Buyer

The question I hear more than any other from foreign buyers is a simple one: can I actually own property in Thailand? The short answer is yes. Thailand is very accommodating when it comes to foreign ownership, as long as it's the right type of property. Here's what I tell people before they buy, after years of running two estate agencies in Pattaya.

Can foreigners own a condo in Thailand?

Yes, but it has to be a condo unit in a development. (Houses are different, because foreigners can't own land; I explain why I'd rent a house instead.) Within any condo building, foreigners can own up to 49% of the total floor area.

That last part catches a lot of people out. Most assume that if a building has 100 units, 49 of them can be sold to foreigners and the other 51 have to go to Thai buyers. It doesn't work like that. The foreign quota is counted per square metre, not per unit. So in a building with a mix of studios and big penthouses, the number of units left in the foreign quota depends on their size, not just how many there are.

How does a foreigner buy a condo, step by step?

Do your research. Work out where you want to live, set your budget, and decide how many bedrooms you need. If you're not sure about areas, I've written about the best area to live in Pattaya.

Find an agent you trust. You want someone who'll share what they know and tell you the things you can't find out online.

Bring your money in from abroad. Once you've settled on a property, the money has to come from outside Thailand, in a foreign currency, not Thai baht, and through a bank. The bank issues a certificate to confirm the money came in. It's then converted to baht and used for the purchase.

You don't have to transfer the exact amount. If you buy a condo for ฿6 million and bring in ฿8 million, that's fine. It just needs to cover what the property costs.

What fees do you pay when buying a condo?

The agency commission is paid by the seller, so the buyer doesn't need to worry about that.

The transfer fees at the land office are usually split 50-50 between buyer and seller. That's negotiable, but it's the general rule. How much they come to depends on the property's value and how long the seller has owned it. At Alan Bolton and East Coast we give buyers the figures as accurately as we can before they go to the land office. Occasionally they move slightly on the day, but never by enough to be a problem.

After you move in, there are ongoing costs. Every condo has maintenance fees, and many also collect a sinking fund. That's money the building's management (the juristic person) sets aside for bigger jobs outside the normal common fees, such as repainting the building. It's usually collected over time, so owners don't suddenly get hit with one big bill.

Should you buy off-plan or resale?

Both have their place. It comes down to a trade-off.

Off-plan. The big advantage is that you spread the payments over construction, which is usually at least four years. Typically you put down 20 to 25%, pay monthly during the build, then a balloon payment at the end. It's a bit like a very short mortgage, and it makes buying far more manageable. If your circumstances change, you can often sell the contract, sometimes at a profit, without ever paying the full price. And when you move in, everything is brand new: the plumbing, the electrics, all of it. Who doesn't want to live somewhere brand new?

The downside is that you're buying a promise, not a finished building. My advice is to stick to reputable developers. Recently we've seen very few cases of a developer not finishing a building at all. What does happen more often is that some of the features promised at the start don't quite turn out as described.

Resale. You know exactly what you're getting, because you can walk around it. But you need all the money up front.

What's the biggest mistake foreign buyers make?

Using freelance agents. I still don't understand it. People meet someone on Facebook and trust them with a purchase worth millions of baht in a foreign country. There's no licensing for estate agents in Thailand, so with a freelancer, the accountability starts and finishes with that one person and their integrity. They often don't have an office and aren't attached to an agency with a track record.

Go to a reputable agency that's been around for years. That's easy for me to say, because I own two of them. But I honestly believe that if I didn't, I'd still give a new buyer exactly the same advice.

Is it worth renting out your condo?

Short term, I don't think so. Preparing the condo, doing the inventory, handling check-ins and check-outs: it's a lot of hassle. More and more buildings are restricting short-term rentals anyway. And every new guest is another chance of a bad tenant.

Long term is different. If you've bought as an investment, one good tenant with an agency managing it for you is a relatively passive income. Expect a yearly return of around 5 to 8%, which is roughly in line with property worldwide. I've written a separate guide to renting out your condo.

But here's the thing. The people I've met over the years who made money from property here didn't do it through rent. They made it on the purchase. Buy smart, in the right building, and the value goes up. (Here's how I see the market right now, and what to do when you come to sell.)

How do you buy a condo smart in Pattaya?

Location. Look for areas that are on the way up, as you would anywhere. Anyone who bought in Pratumnak ten years ago is very happy now, because values there have only gone up.

The building matters even more. Talk to people who already live there to get a feel for it, while remembering they may be biased. And find out about the juristic person, the management company. Some are very good and some are very poor, and it makes a huge difference to how the money gets spent. You can have a fantastic unit, but if the building needs repainting and the funds have been mismanaged, the value of your condo can drop massively. The building is often overlooked in favour of the unit.

Be careful renovating an old building. We often see people buy in an old building, renovate beautifully, and then struggle to sell at the price they want, because the building is still old. It's like putting flashy alloy wheels on a 1980s car. It doesn't make the car worth any more.

My advice

Foreign ownership here is straightforward if you know the rules. Bring your money in properly, understand the fees, choose a reputable developer or a solid resale, and work with an agency that's accountable. Most of all, pick the building as carefully as the unit. That's where the money is made.

If you're thinking of buying, East Coast Real Estate and Alan Bolton Property Consultants can help you find the right building and the right unit.