How to Choose a Real Estate Agency in Phuket

Anyone can put up a website and call themselves an agency in Phuket. Ask for the registered company name and its registration number, then check it with the Department of Business Development (DBD) at the Ministry of Commerce. Visit the office. Find out who owns the business and who will personally handle your purchase. If an agency won’t give you a company name, or only has a mobile number and a Facebook page, keep looking.

Reviews are the closest thing Phuket has to a track record, so read them properly. Use Google, where the agency can’t pick which reviews appear, rather than the testimonials it shows on its own site. Look for:

• Recency: reviews from the last year or two, not a burst from years ago.
• Specifics: real reviews name a property, an area, a problem that was solved, or the person who helped. Short generic praise tells you little.
• The critical ones: every busy agency gets some. How the agency responds tells you how it will treat you when something goes wrong.
• People like you: reviews from buyers or renters in a similar situation to yours.

This is the criterion that matters most for foreign buyers, and where a weak agency does the most damage. Thai law limits what foreigners can own. A good agency explains the limits before you fall in love with a property, not after. It should be able to tell you in plain language:

• Condominiums: foreigners can own a condo unit freehold, but only within the building’s foreign quota (49% of the total sellable floor area), and the purchase money has to be sent into Thailand from abroad and documented.
• Villas and land: foreigners can’t own land freehold in their own name. Common routes are a registered leasehold (up to 30 years per registration) with a separately owned building, or other structures that need proper legal advice.
• Nominee arrangements: a Thai company whose Thai shareholders are only there to hold land for a foreigner is illegal. Treat any agency that suggests one casually as a red flag.
• Independent legal advice: your lawyer should work for you, not for the seller or the developer. A good agency recommends one and is comfortable when you choose your own.

A property can look perfect and still have a problem with its title, access road, building permits or developer. Before any deposit, the agency should make sure someone has checked the type of title deed and who the registered owner is, mortgages and encumbrances at the land office, legal road access, construction permits and zoning, the developer’s track record for off-plan, and the real running costs: common-area fees, sinking fund, and any rental programme you would be bound by.

Phuket is a small island with very different markets. Bang Tao and Laguna, Rawai and Nai Harn, Kathu and Phuket Town each suit different buyers and rent out differently. Ask how long the agency has worked in the areas you’re considering, whether it has visited the specific projects, and what it thinks the downsides are. An agency that can’t name a downside doesn’t know the area well enough.

The best agency for one buyer isn’t the best for another. Match the agency to your situation:

• First-time foreign buyers need patient explanation of ownership, costs and process more than a long list of properties. See our buyer FAQs.
• Investors need realistic rental yields, occupancy and running costs, not developer brochure figures. Ask for comparable rental data.
• Families relocating need an agency that understands schools, commutes and long-term rentals as well as sales. See our guide to Phuket schools.
• Luxury and private buyers need discretion and access to homes that are never publicly advertised.
• Sellers need a marketing plan, professional photography and international reach (see below).

Ask for a written breakdown of every cost before you commit: transfer fees, taxes and how they’re split, lawyer’s fees, common-area fees and the sinking fund. If a verbal promise matters, such as a rental guarantee, a completion date or furniture included, it belongs in the contract. Agency commission in Thailand is normally paid by the seller, so ask who is paying the agent on your deal.