Advice welcomed

[BobHelm]

Steve whatever some people say it has little to do with courage or lining other people's pockets and all to do with a persons' personal financial circumstances and the law concerning land ownership in Thailand. Do not be 'bullied' into buying property - its value does go down as well as up. Ask the thousands of people who bought in 2008 & are trying to sell now.
Secondly you cannot own it. This is always worth remembering.
Thirdly paying 2Million baht for a house that is not yours is paying 20 years rental up front as you can rent it for 8,000 baht a month. The huge advantage of renting is that if the neighbours are from hell you can cut your losses & go. If you have bought it you are stuck.
Being cautious should not be equated with lacking courage, just as being spontaneous should not be equated with foolhardiness.
2 million baht locked up in a house saves you 8,000 baht a month rent & is not available for other uses - that is the actual facts of the matter...

[thrilled]

Definitely some good replies here.Maybe someone should write A small book or panphlet with some of these things in it.Maybe sell it at A small price to farangs moving to thailand.I mean many of you had to learn about thailand life the hard way.I think each and everyone of you is doing A great service to this website.

[Eazy-Going]

Words of wisdom from Mr Helm. Take heed Steve, you are only 48 and have a lot of years, (God willing), in front of you. The bravado of some posters on here do not tell the whole story. They may have a lot more disposable income than you or be in a better financial situation, loosing a couple mill baht to them is nothing and if in 70/80's, their savings only has to last 20/30 years max, (plus they have a pension to subsidise their outgoings),.....on a good day. You may have a good 30/40 years ahead of you, tread carefully and cautiously at first Steve. Test the water first and do not be prepared to invest more than you are prepared to loose. I'm quite comfortable at the mo but who knows what's around the corner, it really could go tits up with definately no recourse. Please remember this is Thailand and we, (farang), have very little legal right to anything, keep a level head.

Good Karma to you and best of luck working your way through the minefield of info you get on here. The decision is ultimately yours.......!!!!

[Bandung_Dero]

The one in Brisbane certainly does and will doit via post if required

NO it certainly does NOT do the OA visa. YES it will do the O visa by post.

Perth and Canberra are the only OA issuing centres in Australia.

[maaka]

dont be foolish and sell your aussie home digger..its a source of rental income, and your ace in the hole should things go belly up in your relationship, or in thailand, or if you find afew years down the track, living in thailand wasnt what you thought it would be..rent first until you have afew years under your belt, and you and your misses have a track record, and always remember that if you buy, you wont own it, the misses will. farang cant own land in thailand. I would hate to see you sell your aussie home and buy in thailand in the wifes name, only to find 5yrs down the track you are divorced, and you have lost the money that would have been your aussie home..your only 48, so you need a constant income if you are to live in thailand, renting you aussie house will give you that, even if working in thailand comes a cropper, its still there giving you and your wife an income enough to live off, and it will gain in value as the years go buy..buy abit of dirt in thailand if you so wish, and keep it as a retirement venture, and if you are still in thailand ten years from now, and look at building...only fools rush in mate...take your time.

[Khun Paul]

Ok, advice welcomed, well from what I have seen advice abounds in plenty.
I have not read all of the previous posts but I suspect the general feeling was, do not sell your Australian house, use it as a source of income for the future, which is very sound advice and one that will only appreciate in value not deteriorate hopefully.
Two
I noticed you wished to emabark in farming, may I respectfully suggest to chat to Nobi a farmer here as well as a restaurant owner, his advice from a foreigner perspective would be very advantageous and contary to belief Thai's are not really the best source of info regarding succesful farming, their abilities normally lie in subsistence farming, ie making enough to live on with a little extra maybe.
Three
Should you wish to purchase land may I also suggest that you either get a lease or another thing,( which for the life of me I cannot remember), which will ensure you will have access and control of the property until you either elect to leave or die, this will ensure your money is secure while you wish it so, it will also protect you from Thai willingness to on occasions to apply Thai logic to something, ( its mine and your out) .

Initially renting a place would be the first option as then you can see how your ( now ) close relationship will pan out, no matter what you say, once you are here it will change. You could say that now her MAN has made a commitment attitudes can and often do change , friendly warning to the newbies as it were.

Whatever you decide relating to land house etc, get a good lawyer, there are a few, DO NOT ACCEPT FAMILY PEOPLE use accredited lawyers ask anyone they will supply a list of good decent lawyers.

Whatever you decide to do the last piece of advice I am sure has been written before ,
WHATEVER YOU SPEND BE SURE THAT IF YOU LOSE IT YOU WILL : A, NOT BE DESTITUTE , B, CAN SURVIVE WITHOUT IT, C, BE ABLE TO STILL ENJOY YOUR CURRENT STANDARDS WHEREVER YOU ARE.


HOPE THIS HELPS

These are not tidings of doom and gloom. but advice we have all learnt either from experience or from others who have fallen foul of Thai ladies and their families, trust me they are experts at this.

[Aardvark]

"Userfruct" KP

[bumper]

Well you have got some good advice, in what you plan to do to make money, would be illegal a far as I know, Yes your wife can do it, But, me I like having the knowledge that nothing is held over my head.

The best advice I ever got was never bring anything here you can't afford to lose.

Leave your money in Oz take your time. This a very hard place without money.

Sounds like a nice dream though. I wish you luck no matter your choice.

[Khun Paul]

Tks Aard

[wynnsiensheng]

I think renting a place at first makes sense irrespective of the issues of ownership of title and/or Tilak relationship.

Whenever someone moves to a new place, anywhere in the world, IMHO it makes sense to try a few houses and areas "on for size" before committing to buying. I've lived in 5 countries and lived in two different provinces in Thailand and on the whole haven't followed this advice. I've been lucky and not had a disaster, but you know what, most times after a year or so, I could tell you an area, street or house which I would have preferred to the one I owned...if only I had waited a bit. Even more important in the countryside in Thailand since property is less liquid when it comes to selling, than in urban cities and so a mistake would be harder to correct.

A year renting means you'll also have the chance to get to know the in's and out's of having a house built in Thailand, little quirks like the work force disappearing at certain times of the year to plant rice etc.

Good Luck.

PS I retired at 50 and haven't missed working a bit.

PPS My wife had a Canadian boyfriend before she met me. Nothing funny about it, he just wanted to trade in for a younger more racy model and moved on when something caught his eye.

[bumper]

I retired at 55 that was the age allowed when I retired. But, I had my monthly retirement. Went back to work for 90 days, had to be the hardest 90 days I worked. Job was easy I hadn't worked for two years and was out of the mode.

A very wise friend once said to me no one on their death bed wished they had worked one more day in their lives.

Been offered good jobs I don't need it and turned them down. I would not have retired if I was relying on cash on hand. To many tings can go wrongs. For example when I retired the baht was 44 to 1 . now 32 to 1. that is a big difference. Used to buy fuel for 15 to 21 baht not anymore.

My point is really think this through. I would not rely on my telot wife ect. These days it's till death do you part or a judge rules on your case. Make sure that your plan includes the possibility of going alone.

If a few more years at the grind stone will make that difference do it now while you are used to it. Going back is not easy.

I actually had my retirement five years earlier, so I could have joined the 90 day tourist guys. No one bothered about it in those days. That changed, I wasn't willing to take that risk. But, that's me I planned carefully you may have no problems doing the activities your talking about to earn money. Many don't But, others at some point have ticked someone off and have major problems.

You know no matter what your economic situation, Thais believe your rich and in many instances compared to them with the amount of money you are earning you are. But, more then likely you won't earn that money here. They know nothing of huge house payments, insurances Ect. What they see of us is we sit here and money just falls out of the air. The don't see the hard hours and planning that makes that happen.

I don't l know what your situation is in life I'm just saying think this through clearly, don't burn bridges that you may need to travel on again.

I can't even imagine how it must be for those who came here ill prepared, lost what they had here and had nothing to return to.

In any event no natter what you do I wish the best of luck and a happy life.

[collingwood]

Plenty of good advice from posters particularly from Maaka. Hang onto your home in Oz if you can. If you do stay in Thailand long term and plan to apply for the Ozzie age pension at 65,please be aware that there is a residency requirement to qualify for the age pension. To qualify for the age pension you are required to reside in Oz for the 2 years prior to applying for the pension at age 65. Certainly another good reason to keeping your house in Oz as at least you would have a place to stay during the qualifying period. Good luck with your plans.

[Aardvark]

Thanks for that Colli, something Aussies should be aware of

[jackspratt]

I am not sure I fully agree with collingwood's advice (and that has nothing to do with the horrible football team he is associated with ).

My understanding is that at the time you apply for the old age pension, you must be "resident in Oz". There are a number of tests which determine whether you are resident, one of which may be that you have been living there for the previous 2 years.

Equally, if you returned to Oz 6 months (or 3 or 2, I guess) prior to turning 65, but were able to demonstrate your intention to stay (car, house, bank account etc, etc) past your 65th birthday, you should be entitled to the pension.

Once it has been granted, you can then move overseas and continue to receive the pension.

Of course, residence is only 1 of the qualifying factors (length of time lived and worked in Oz, assets and income are others).

[Bandung_Dero]

You really need to sift through this thread to get a good overall picture, there seems to be many variables:-
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/163 ... d-pension/

Post 438 (near the last) is a good one and I'd be in that catagory if I was to apply.

[Bandung_Dero]

Further to this I was talking to an Aussie yesterday both Jackspratt and I know who is on the OAP. His story, being a long term visitor to SE Asia.

He had been on a disability pension for many years and governed by the rules applying to that handout. He timed a visit to Thailand 12 weeks prior to turning 65. Just after turning 65 he phoned the Hobart CentreLink office telling them where he was and his situation. They initially told him he had to come home to apply but he didn’t have the funds to do that so after a short internal discussion they granted him the Old Age Pension immediately. He was told that it would be reviewed in 6 months and if he had not returned he would loose the addon privileges eg. phone and pharmaceutical allowances etc. That has only cost him about $45 AUD per fortnight. He has the pension paid into an Aust. bank account.

He keeps in contact with CentreLink every 6 months with just a phone call and speaks to the same person every time. No hassles as yet.