Overseas Property Thread

[p5mmr9]

My understanding with Thailand is that you can only own in a condo/co-op - not a freestanding property. The condo must be 51% Thai owned - yet there are horror stories of them having the foreigners pay a higher proportion of the HOA fees.

This is somewhat true - although there are certain areas where the "community" can be freehold...so, you can buy a villa in Koh Samui or Phuket that is freehold. And yes - there probably are foreigner HOA rates depending on the property. You have to be really careful in Asia regarding the builder and who will take over property management once the builder is out of the unit. The real horror stories revolve around trying to get a unit repair completed that meets the building's regulations established by the management company - or worse - a repair that is external and one where the building must handle the repair (like an exterior leak). It can be a real problem...especially for older buildings. It's one of the reasons why re-sale can be quite difficult later on in the life cycle of a unit/building.

 

[farce©]

This is an interesting thread, but I don't really understand why you would immediately buy property in a new country. @hereiam39 has been renting for years, and I'm sure that's what I would do as well. If some form of investment is a visa requirement, instead of foreign real estate I would much rather put the money into local investments to maintain a greater level of liquidity than afforded by real estate.

That said, my wife is a Canadian citizen so we have that option available to us. We are getting rid of our US real estate with the exception of a small home by Lake Erie in Ohio that my father-in-law currently lives in. We are renting now while our primary home is on the market. I want to be as liquid as possible should we decide to move. If this blows over with minimal damage we will be sitting on the cash to buy another house, but to be honest, at my age I'm not averse to renting from now on.

 

[hereiam39]

Does Portugal have a wealth tax like Spain?

Sorry about the delay in replying. After the last two days' effect on the market, we needed a spirit lift and went to the beach.

Not totally sure as to what you mean, but Portugal´s tax rate is hefty:

Personal Income Tax (PIT)

Access the analysis by PwC experts in the scope of Taxes on Personal Income Tax (PIT) regarding the State Budget for 2025. Keep up to date with all the news here.

www.pwc.pt

This is in Euros, and Social Security is not taxed.

I don´t pay any taxes because I moved here under a different plan, called NHR, which is totally gone now. My plan was no tax for 10 years and then 10% after that, excluding Social Security. I have 3 more years tax-free.

This is how free health care is paid for.

 

[hereiam39]

@farce© I have rented the entire time while living here. I am an only child with no children and deceased parents. My wife has 2 older siblings who are fairly well off. She does have a daughter, but the daughter will never come here and is a classic rural NC Trumper. So why make it difficult for her whenever we pass?

 

[mpaer]

, but to be honest, at my age I'm not averse to renting from now on.

Yes

 

[hereiam39]

I will throw this out there for everyone, and then I am done. Now again, I don´t pay taxes in Portugal, but I do in the US, so add on probably another 30-40% to your budget.
My wife and I visit the US twice a year, and take about three to four trips around Europe each year, plus travel around Portugal about once monthly.
We live off of $4400 a month after taxes. And that includes Health insurance*. We have a 4-bedroom apartment on the edge of the historic Centro area. We don't have a car and rent one when we need to (2 days rental this weekend was $20, but gas, half a tank, and tolls will be $60-70).

*We prefer the quickness of using private hospitals for most routine procedures, plus we have two within a five-minute walk of us. Nothing wrong with the NHS other than it can take a long time to be seen. In a private hospital, you can schedule things almost immediately. After the first year here, you don´t need health insurance if you don´t want.

 

[p5mmr9]

Spain has a progressive wealth tax. It is basically an annual tax on your wealth holding based on fair market value. There is a 750k EU exemption and then everything else is taxed anywhere between 1.7 and 3.5% based on a progressive scale. Portugal does not have a wealth tax. Spain, Norway, and Switzerland have a net wealth tax while Italy and France have complicated tax laws that tax certain assets annually (and could be considered a wealth tax but function a bit differently).

 

[hedge]

White Lotus didn’t destroy Maui or Sicily and it won’t destroy Koh Samui. Better chance the Euro backpackers will destroy it all on their own.

I wasn't a backpacker but I spent a couple of weeks on Koh Samui in the mid-90's. Stayed in a hut on the beach. It wasn't the Four Seasons, but it was only about $5 a night. Perfectly splendid...