It is widely viewed that Property contract review in Thailand do contain pitfalls that a buyer may fall into after signing it. Many of these buyers may even think that these are inevitable and that these debacles, when dealing with properties, are always a possibility so instead of out maneuvering the potential pitfalls, they simply look into minimizing their negative impact.
While these contentions are true, they can be avoided altogether before a signature from the buyer will be superimposed on his name on the contract.
A buyer should prudently go over the contents of a contract: if they are in accordance to the advertisements, catalogues and words of the property agents and developers. The buyer must go over the contract draft carefully.
He must scrutinize every words and provisions found in the contract. It his obligation to translate every word but as an expat buyer, chances are he does not know the meaning or the thought of every item especially those written in Thai or those with legal terminologies.
This requires the expertise of Thai property lawyers, specifically those who are first speakers of both Thai and English. They will provide the property buyer a more accurate translation of legal and Thai terminologies used in the contract thereby allowing the buyer to understand more about the contract.
Aside from the terms used, the buyer must also check the details of the property i.e. floor area, issue on parking spaces, availability of utilities and the applicable taxes among many others or he might be surprised that contrary to what is claimed that the public utilities are already in place, the water piping system is yet to be connected.
The contract should be fully filled up otherwise the buyer must not sign any contract that contains blanks.
Some supposedly hidden legal, personal and contractual debacles on contracts can be avoided if a buyer will exercise diligence in going over a contract.
The property buyer should be methodical. It may seem compulsive but prudence should be inherent on a buyer. It is one way that a buyer can use in order to have the contract favorable to him. Another way is to supplement that prudence with the guidance of a reputable Thai-registered property lawyer who can do corrections, suggest and do revisions on the contract to ensure that it is favorable to the buyer’s interests.
In closing, not all pitfalls are hidden. In fact, many of them are in plain view of a property buyer, on the draft contracts, catalogues, advertisements and words of the property agents or developers. Clues for possible pitfalls can be found on these.
The property buyer must only exercise prudence in every step he makes towards possible property acquisition as contracts should not be treated with assumption but with complete understanding of everything written on it.
The buyer must remember that when he affixes his signature on a contract, it will be binding and that he will be obliged to honor the provision in it.