14 September 2008 - New Home - Thailand

New Home – Thailand
14 September 2008

We are no longer living in a hotel room after 6 months.

Last Monday we completed the transaction to purchase our home in Udonthani. We had committed to buying it almost 90 days ago and we were hoping that my house in California would have sold and provided the necessary funds to complete the deal.

After realizing that California real estate was not moving very fast I made alternative arrangements for the money.

I knew that the money had been deposited into my account in California and subsequently action was taken for it to be wire transferred to my account in Thailand. On Monday morning, we walked over to the Provincial Land Office. We were to meet Jack and his wife, Furn at the office to close out the deal.

Jack is from Australia and since foreigners cannot own land in Thailand, the house is in Furn's name. For us, the house will be in Duang's name.

Even though I did not have the money confirmed in my bank account, Jack said not to worry.

Even though they were leaving the next morning for their new home down south, I could just wire the money to his account when it got to my account. Things are done much differently over here.

There were no real estate agents involved for either party. Jack had tried two agents before. One showed his house to 2 people in six months. The second agent said that he could get out to the house in two weeks to take photographs. When Jack complained about the time, the agent said that he couldn't take photos because of the rain (It rains just about every day and the house is well built so there is no rain inside to hinder interior shots).

Jack took digital photos himself, put a sign on the fence and posted an ad on the local expatriate (expat) website.

In May I contacted the same reluctant realtor. He had wanted me to wire the money for a house to his account because there was some money laundering paperwork that his company knew how to handle. I was a little suspicious at that. When I went to the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles during my visit back to the USA in late May I found out that there was no problem in bringing money into Thailand.

When I returned with my visa in June, we visited the reluctant realtor. We met and reviewed his listings, and found a home that we were interested in. As it turned out, the house was not available for viewing until the next day. We left understanding that we would be called the next day to view the house. We were not. That was it. I was no longer interested in dealing with him. As it turns out there are no real professional realtors here in Udonthani. Most property is sold directly between individuals. Contacts are made through word of mouth - someone knows someone who is selling or someone who wants to buy.

I saw Jack's ad and called him. We viewed the house that day and placed a deposit with our commitment to pay the remainder within 90 days - 12 September 2008. The next day Jack brought over the letter of agreement for signature. Then we all waited for the money to arrive.

As was the case in Brasil, property is purchased mostly on a cash basis. There is no big mortgage industry here. No Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

No mortgage banking industry collapse or need to bail out people who gambled in real estate and failed.

Buying the property was very simple but with this being Thailand there was a little twist. Jack's wife had figured out and confirmed that the selling costs were around 50,000 Baht ($1,470 USD). The previous week, when she went to the Land Office to confirm the amount, the representative said that it was 80,000 baht. Furn raised a stink and it turned out that the big boss was at the desk next to her. He got involved and said it was wrong and that the amount was to be 45,000 baht.

On Monday the entire process of signing documents, dealing with the man who did not get his extra 30,000 baht lasted 45 minutes. In the end the selling/purchasing costs ended up being 41,000 baht. I mentioned to Jack that perhaps we should wait until the next day or two days later to see if the price got any lower.

At the office Furn was asked why she didn't give extra money to the man who wanted the extra 30,000 baht. She didn't reply and just walked out.

Duang and I walked out with the original land title with her name added and stamped as the new owner. All in 45 minutes!! Also without paying any of the money that we still owed Furn. They were happy. As we got in the truck to continue our errands, I noticed a set of keys on my seat. I mentioned to Jack that he had left his truck keys in the truck. He gave me his big Aussie grin and said "No mate, them's your keys now. Keys to your house".

I then called Bangkok to determine if my household goods could be brought up and unpacked at the house the next day. The man said that he would check. He called 30 minutes later and said yes but there was a 13,000 baht fee for the three months storage which I was well aware of. I agreed and committed to transferring the funds that day from my bank account to his company's bank account at a different bank (no big deal in Thailand or Brasil)

We headed to the Water Company to change the service over from Furn to Duang. It was easier to buy the house than to change the name on the water bill. Duang and Furn had to show their National ID cards to the man in the upstairs office. Duang had to show the land title with her name on it. An assistant then pulled out one of five hand written ledgers - 2 red and 3 black. She filled out a whole bunch of information in blue ballpoint pen. I don't know what the computers and printers against the wall are used for.

After she completed her work, she sent us downstairs. We went and saw another representative. He had a computer and dot matrix computer on his desk. Duang and Furn went through the process again and he entered it into the computer using a MSDOS program. After he realized that he made an entry mistake, he corrected the data and then filled out a small form utilizing CARBON PAPER!! All and all, changing the water account into Duang's name took 60 minutes - 15 minutes more than buying the property and getting the title recorded.

We then went across town to transfer the name for the electric bill. This went smoother but with this being Thailand there was a twist. At the power company, the women had to show their national ID cards, Duang had to show the property deed, and Furn had to show a previous electric bill.

There had been a 2,000 baht deposit to establish service for Jack and Furn. The deposit could not be returned for two days. Jack and I had discussed deposits and final bills for utilities. We had agreed that I would get the returned deposits and I would pay Jack's final bills. He was going to pay me the amount that he paid for the previous month. It was straightened out and no big deal. Well when Furn told the representative that they were leaving the next morning, he offered to return her 2,000 baht deposit immediately if she paid him 500 baht. So to get back her 2,000 baht, he wanted her to pay him 500 baht. Jack said "No, not 500 Baht, offer him 200 baht" After some discussion and negotiation, Jack walked out with 1,800 baht of his original 2,000 baht. That is the way things often work around here. But as we say here "Good for you, Good for me, Happy, Happy" After 40 minutes everyone was happy, the name on the account was changed, and I did not see any carbon paper being used to complete the transaction.

Since Jack and I use the same Thai bank we decided to go over to the big branch at the mall to take care of some individual banking business. As we negotiated the narrow crowded streets to the mall, I got a cell call from the main office of the bank in Bangkok. My money had arrived and the bank was filling out some paperwork and needed to know what the money was going to be used for. I told her and she said "OK - No problem" I guess this proves that no special expertise is required to "fill out the forms" as stated by the real estate guy. In case anyone is thinking about corrupt or dishonest Thais - this guy is a Scandinavian. Well with that call from the bank I was truly happy -now. I told the woman that we were on the way to pay for the house. She said that she would have it released in 10 minutes. When we arrived at the bank, I took care of two other transactions, and then started the transfer to Jack's account. Lo and behold, the US wire transfer was credited to my account. The transfer of the funds to Jack took all of 5 minutes.

From the bank we went to the telephone company to change names on the account and to get ADSL Internet access. It went rather smoothly but the twist here was that Jack had been paying 700 baht a month for 1 mbps ADSL. I am now going to pay 590 baht a month for 2 mbps service. Win some - Lose some. Like many things here, I cannot explain why, I just accept it.

We went to lunch and headed to get a new "House Book" "House Book" is a very important document in Thailand. It is a blue book in which every Thai living in a particular house is recorded. It is used in conjunction with the individual's ID card. That took an hour but Duang now has a brand new "House Book".

The day ended at 3:00 PM with all tasks completed and all four of us exhausted. The deal was closed on 8 September with a deadline of 12 September.

Just in time - to the extreme.

We moved in on 9 September and the House Warming was to be held on Friday 12 September. According to Duang and her consultations with the Monks - Friday 12 September was to be a "good" day for we and have a new house...

Tomorrow's blog will be all about the House Warming Party including the 9 Monks who came to breakfast (they don't eat past 12 noon so they do not come to dinner.)

If someone says "Guess who's coming to dinner?", you can rest assured that it will not be Buddhist Monks.