Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:24 pm Post subject: Foreign ownership of real estate in asian countries
Can foreigners own land in Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, China etc..? I'm one of those people who hate renting _________________ There are only 2 certainties in life.
In the Philippines, foreigners cannot own land, or with a very few exceptions, property.
The exceptions include, for example, when one is married to a Filipina who owns land and who then dies and leaves it to her husband.
One can own apartment,s but only if a majority of the complete block if Filipino owned, thus one doesnt get a complete block all owned by foreigners.
Whilst the law is intended to prevent foreigners and large foreign corporations owning masive amounts of the country, one effect is that it severealy reduces the ability of Filipino companies to borrow on the International market, as if a bank lends money against the security of land, it is unable to forclose in the event of default.
In the Philippines, foreigners cannot own land, or with a very few exceptions, property.
The exceptions include, for example, when one is married to a Filipina who owns land and who then dies and leaves it to her husband.
One can own apartment,s but only if a majority of the complete block if Filipino owned, thus one doesnt get a complete block all owned by foreigners.
Whilst the law is intended to prevent foreigners and large foreign corporations owning masive amounts of the country, one effect is that it severealy reduces the ability of Filipino companies to borrow on the International market, as if a bank lends money against the security of land, it is unable to forclose in the event of default.
Sounds like you're talking about Thailand. Is it a coincidence that Thai and Philippino laws regarding foreign ownership of land ae very similar?
Laws are similar but I wonder if ways of getting around the laws are also similar? There are a variety of ways here that foreigners use to gain ownership of real estate. register a company with proxy shareholders is a common method. 30 year registered leases are also popular.
I believe foreigners can purchase up to 1 rai of land (about 1/3 of an acre)
if they meet certain requirements such as bringing in 40 mil baht into the country.
A thai woman who marries a foreigner losses her right to purchase land but I believe she can keep whatever she owned before marriage. Thus many foreigners buy in their "wifes" name and never get legally married.
Filipinas can own land, married or single.
Some guys buy land in their wives or girlfriends name. The obvious risk is if they stop being ones wife / gf.
The ways round the law are similar.
Long leaseholds are now becoming more common, especially for commercial land / premises.
Putting land / property in the name of nominees, again common, but again there is a risk.
Filipinas can own land, married or single.
Some guys buy land in their wives or girlfriends name. The obvious risk is if they stop being ones wife / gf.
The ways round the law are similar.
Long leaseholds are now becoming more common, especially for commercial land / premises.
Putting land / property in the name of nominees, again common, but again there is a risk.
It depends where you are looking.
In some of the wealthiest area of Manila, duch as Forbes park, you can spend well over $1 million on a house, but in the provinces, yes, $20k will buy you something.
I know one guy who just bought a decent size lot for under $1500.
Big enough for 2 houses, one for him 1 for his inlaws.
Build costs are low, and lower if a local pays rather than a foreigner!
A thai woman who marries a foreigner losses her right to purchase land but I believe she can keep whatever she owned before marriage
In Vietnam when a woman marries her hubby is entitled to half of what she has, so if anyone is into marrying a Viet lady pick a wealthy one with lots of land...
I read recently in the Phuket Gazette that foreigners can now no longer buy condos, apartments etc, comes back now to the old rule of something like 49% foreign owned and 51% Thai owned or some such ruling...
There was a period of 5 years where one could purchase a condo but that period expired just before Christmas...
Those who purchased during this period are still the legit owners of the condos and are not affected by the new ruling...
However I have read that if you were to create a business( IE a Thai corporation) you can purchase land and houses in the corporations name...
A thai woman who marries a foreigner losses her right to purchase land but I believe she can keep whatever she owned before marriage
In Vietnam when a woman marries her hubby is entitled to half of what she has, so if anyone is into marrying a Viet lady pick a wealthy one with lots of land...
I read recently in the Phuket Gazette that foreigners can now no longer buy condos, apartments etc, comes back now to the old rule of something like 49% foreign owned and 51% Thai owned or some such ruling...
There was a period of 5 years where one could purchase a condo but that period expired just before Christmas...
Those who purchased during this period are still the legit owners of the condos and are not affected by the new ruling...
However I have read that if you were to create a business( IE a Thai corporation) you can purchase land and houses in the corporations name...
Foreigners in thailand are not allowed to own more than 49% of any condominuim project. As far as I know there has been no change in the law and foreigners can still prurchase up to 49% of the units in a condo.
A thai woman who marries a foreigner losses her right to purchase land but I believe she can keep whatever she owned before marriage
In Vietnam when a woman marries her hubby is entitled to half of what she has, so if anyone is into marrying a Viet lady pick a wealthy one with lots of land...
I read recently in the Phuket Gazette that foreigners can now no longer buy condos, apartments etc, comes back now to the old rule of something like 49% foreign owned and 51% Thai owned or some such ruling...
There was a period of 5 years where one could purchase a condo but that period expired just before Christmas...
Those who purchased during this period are still the legit owners of the condos and are not affected by the new ruling...
However I have read that if you were to create a business( IE a Thai corporation) you can purchase land and houses in the corporations name...
Foreigners in thailand are not allowed to own more than 49% of any condominuim project. As far as I know there has been no change in the law and foreigners can still prurchase up to 49% of the units in a condo.
Foreigner can own property in the Philippines. They can not own land. Law states that if a foreigner owns a property, he can rent the land for an initial maximum of 50 years, with a maximum of 25 years renewal. all within the original contract when the property is bought.
Also if the land is under the filipina wife's name and property under the foreigner's name, the husband has a resunable amount of time to sell the property (with the land) without worry of who owns the land. Failure to do so result in the land going to the wife's father, and if deceased, the wife's brother. Of course if you have a 50+25 land lease and she dies on year one, then that resonable amount of time is 75 years.
Condo's, I have never read that law mentioned, nor heard of it, (and I did some law courses at Silliman U in Dumaguete but I never graduated). All I know about condo's in the Phils is a foreigner can own it without any worries, just like in Canada.
Look around, condo's can be much less trouble and a 1-bedroom appartment in the new building being built can be had for P800,000 (about US$15,000) and a nice studio condo in those same new building in Metro Manila (Makati) can be bought for under $10,000... great thing about those new buildings is that you don't have to worry about titles and previous owners showing up claiming its still his. (but thats not just Phils, its every country in the world if title search is not properly done - which is harder in the Phils than Canada/USA.)
Foreigners can only own condos if more than 60% of the whole development is owned by Filipinos.
As for "property", there are some cases where foriegners can own buildings, for example, on the Govt (PEZA) owned export processing zones.
They CAN NOT own the land that the buildings stand on, though.
As for other property, there was one recent case of the foriegn owner of a boat (a large expensive boat) discovering it being claimed that this was "property" and almost losing it over the legal wrabgle about whether or not he could legally own it. Wisely, he sailed away.!!!
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