Property contracts
Before you sign a property contract, check the people, the property and the terms
Prepare before you reserve, buy or rent with a checklist for the other party, the property details, the money you must pay and the terms that should be written down clearly.
Once you have found a house or room you like, the next step is usually to reserve it and sign paperwork. But the price and location you have discussed are not the whole picture. Before you decide to transfer any money, read the contract until it answers who you are agreeing with, what property you will get, when you must pay, and how things will be handled if plans change.
1. Know who the other party is and who has authority to sign
Ask for documents that confirm the name and rights of the seller or landlord, and compare them with the name in the contract. If you are dealing through an agent or a property manager, ask clearly who will sign and who will receive the money. Simply being the person who shows you the property does not confirm that someone has authority to make a contract on the owner’s behalf.
If someone is acting under a power of attorney, check whether the power of attorney covers the act in question. If the other party is a company, check its legal entity details and signing conditions against current documents. Keep only the copies you need, and note the purpose they are to be used for.
2. Identify the property so that it matches what you went to see
The development name or unit number alone may not be enough. The documents should point clearly to the same property, especially when you buy a house together with its land, where both the land and the buildings on it must be checked.
- Address, unit number and floor, or the Chanote title deed (โฉนดที่ดิน) number and plot location, depending on the property type
- The size of the area and the basis used to calculate the price, and how adjustments will be made if the actual area differs from what is stated
- The list of furniture, appliances, parking and rights to use common areas that have been agreed
- The condition of the property on the inspection date, including repair items and the handover deadline
3. Itemize each payment and write down the refund terms
Make a simple table showing what each payment is for, who it is paid to, by what date, and whether it counts toward the price or the rent. The terms reservation money, earnest money, security deposit and advance rent should not be used interchangeably, to the point where no one knows what each payment is for.
An example of a question that should be answered before you pay is: “If my loan is not approved, is the reservation money refunded, which documents are needed, and by when is it returned?” Record the answer as an agreement that both sides accept. A payment slip helps confirm that a payment was made, but there should also be a document stating the reason for the payment and the terms on which it was received.
4. Distinguish between the reservation, the agreement to buy and sell, and the transfer of ownership
Each stage’s document does a different job. Making a reservation or signing an agreement to buy and sell (สัญญาจะซื้อจะขาย) does not complete the transfer of ownership. An outright sale of immovable property must be made in writing and registered with the competent official under Section 456, so the date and the registration steps should be set out clearly.
Renting is a different kind of relationship. Do not take a sale form, change only its title and use it as a rental agreement. If the landlord runs a business renting out buildings for residential use, also check whether it falls within the scope of the contract-control notification, and use the correct form and the relevant terms.
Sources: Revenue Department: The meaning of immovable property and legal transactions (Section 456) · Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB): 2025 notification controlling residential building rental contracts, and the standard contract forms
5. Check the final version, then keep the documents together as one set
Read the version you will actually sign, including the annexes and attached lists. Do not rely on your memory of earlier drafts. If there are blanks or wording that has not been agreed, resolve them until both sides understand them the same way before you sign, and ask for a copy with the complete, identical text from the day the contract is made.
- The start date, end date, handover date and payment dates fit together
- A clearly stated way to report problems, request changes, postpone a deadline or terminate
- Promises about repairs, free extras and costs recorded in writing
- Keep the contract, annexes, proof of payment and important correspondence in the same folder
