OK, you have taken the first two steps in the process of getting private money for real estate investing. First, you developed a Business Plan to give to your prospective lenders. Next, you created a Lender Fact Sheet, outlining exactly what you are looking for from a private lender. Time for Step Three.

The major question on your lender’s mind is, “What’s in it for me?” Everybody asks that question when they consider parting with their hard earned money, and your prospective lenders are no exception. You have answered that question by giving them your Business Plan and Lender Fact sheet, showing them the rate of return they can expect. They have only one major question left.

How is my interest protected?

You see, people are motivated to do things, or NOT do them, for all sorts of emotional reasons. Fear is one of the most powerful. To be successful getting people to loan you private money for real estate investing, you must help them to see that they have nothing to fear by lending you the money. You must allay their fears and doubts.

This is accomplished by using a Security Agreement, both in your Lender Information packet (alongside your Business Plan and Lender Fact Sheet) and attached to every one of your private notes as they are created for each deal.

Your Security Agreement tells your prospective lender that their money is secured by the value of the real estate you are buying. In other words, they will have a lien against the title of the property filed with the proper government authorities. You will personally file the security documents in each and every private lending transaction, and you will provide certified copies to your lender. Their investment will always be backed by the real estate. » Read more: How To Get Private Money For Real Estate Investing – Step Three

South East Asia has always had a special appeal for me. I first began spending time there about 5 years ago. I love the organised chaos of the roads in Bangkok, the food that is cooked right in front of you, and the haggling at the markets. Amazing.

Altogether I have spent over 3 months in Thailand and I have so many fond memories, add to that the fact that it is halfway to Australia and QANTAS offers a stopover of only 45 minutes which gets you to Oz quicker. It’s a great destination.

I usually spend a week stopover on the way back to the UK. It gives me a break after 2 gruelling weeks with the family and friends and the 2 hour massages for around £7. What more could you want?

So naturally l thought if I’m spending so much time here l might as well buy a property. Then naturally if I am prepared to buy and have done extensive research why wouldn’t my investors also buy as well?

Having looked into Phuket property before the tsunami, I thought I would check out Pattaya (pronounced “Pat-e-ya”) which is only around 1 hour 20 minutes drive from the new international airport in Bangkok (the capital).

Pattaya is a seaside town (tick-These ticks and crosses are my due diligence) with a new highway which will mean it will only take around 45 minutes to get to and from the airport. (tick).

Pattaya has 3 distinct property markets.

The first is the local market. The properties are priced between 1 and 3 million Baht (70 Baht to £1) So £15,000 – £45,000. Sounds good right. Well maybe not. Unless you are a local it’s unlikely you would buy at this level.

You could only rent to locals and the investment returns I don’t feel would be great enough. (Cross)

The second and most interesting market is the 20 to 30 million Baht. £285,000 – £430,000. Incredible you say? Well thats what I thought too. In fact forget incredible — l was downright shocked. But this is the market of the off plan speculators. In my books, another word for ‘speculator’ is ‘gambler’ and hopefully you know by now what I think of gamblers.

I do believe you can make money on these, but only by ‘flipping’ before completion but obviously there are no guarantees with prices already so high. Incidentally, this market has seen an incredible amount of growth so that waterfront apartments are as expensive as central London, Sydney or New York. (Cross)

I feel that this market has been driven by paper gains rather than underlying fundamentals. I see this happen quite often, and it’s one of the reasons I deal in properties 99% of people would rent.

The final level is the 5 to 9 million Baht. So £70,000 – £130,000. This is the retirees’ and expats’ market. You would be more than happy with these houses. 3-4 Bedrooms, large open spaces, ensuites, parking and best of all – air conditioning.

These I feel would be ideal for investment and present your best opportunities. (Tick)

Rentals are great as a lot of major multinationals have offices in Bangkok and the expats are happy to commute up daily or it’s cheap enough to rent a place in Bangkok during the week while spending the weekend home in Pattaya. (Tick)

As an investor in Thailand the first thing you have to realise is that you cannot own land (Cross) so at present you have two choices: either buy in the name of a Thai company and have Thai nationals who own it (but you have a signed deed saying you can replace the Thai nationals at any time). It’s a reasonably secure way of buying. » Read more: Should You Buy a Property in Thailand?