Due Diligence: what do you pay a lawyer for? Buying Property in Thailand

In legal practice, Due Diligence is a series of actions aimed at obtaining comprehensive information about the object in which you plan to invest money.

Do you need Due Diligence services when buying an apartment or house in Thailand? To answer this question, you need to understand what is included in these services, how adequate their cost and whether you can do without these services.

The Due Diligence service package should include the following below:

1. Checking the chanot (title deed for the land or apartment in the condominium). You will receive the following information:

- owner of real estate (does it coincide with the specified person in the draft contract)

- whether the property is free for sale, or it is under mortgage, in a long-term lease or are there any other encumbrances that prevent the conclusion of the contract

- does the area of the property correspond to the area declared by the seller

- estimate price of real estate and the amount of taxes and fees to register a transaction in the land department

2. Verification of the draft sales contract:

- compliance of the data of the chanot with the data specified in the contract

- how much the actual value differs from the cadastral value of real estate

- distribution of costs between seller and buyer

- Is liability for breach of contract bilateral

- Are the rights of the buyer protected

3. In case of land purchase – inspection of land:

- Checking the boundaries of the plot - marked with special columns indicating the plot’s number

- Verification of the presence of buildings on the plot (legal and illegal)

- Use of the plot by third parties (both legal and non-legal may be an obstacle to the use of the plot by the owner)

- Checking boundary plots and the presence of public roads

4. In the event that construction is planned on the plot:

- Is it possible to obtain a building permit for a particular object

- The maximum number of floors of the building that can be built on this plot

The cost of a lawyer may vary depending on the type of object and the value of the transaction. You can understand how adequate it is by assessing your risks, and how Due Diligence minimizes them. Taking into account that all documentation is in Thai language, it is difficult to learn the specifics of local legislation in a short time, and real estate agents, not having special legal knowledge, may miss important details, minimizing the risks when using Due diligence will be significant.

We will talk about Due Diligence services when buying an apartment from a developer in the next article.

For all questions of checking documents and supporting transactions of real estate sale and purchase in Thailand, please contact us: + 6687-348-57-03 (WhatsApp, Viber)

Author: Aleksandra Agapitova

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