Can you sell a Thai condo before the building is finished?
People ask me this after signing, which is usually too late. Yes, you can get out before completion — but not as freely as the sales office implied, and not in every project. Here is how an assignment actually works and which clause I read before the deposit rather than after.
You are not selling an apartment, you are selling your place in a contract
Until the building is finished there is no unit as an object of ownership: no title deed, nothing to register. What you hold is rights and obligations under a contract with the developer. So selling before completion is an assignment: a new buyer steps into your position and takes on your payment schedule and every term you signed.
Two consequences follow that rarely come up over coffee. The transaction does not go through the Land Office, and the developer is a participant in it rather than a bystander.
The developer's consent is not a formality
You cannot hand the contract to someone privately the way you would sell a completed unit. The contract has to be re-issued, and only the developer does that. Most contracts contain an assignment clause, and it comes in three flavours: permitted, permitted with the developer's consent, or prohibited. The third is rarer, but it exists.
- A re-issue fee. Almost always present — sometimes a fixed sum, sometimes a percentage of the contract price. There is no market standard, so the number has to come from your contract rather than from an article.
- A payment threshold. Assignment is often allowed only once a set share of the price has been paid. Below it, you cannot exit.
- A block during the developer's own sales. The developer may restrict assignments while it is still selling comparable units, so that you do not undercut its own price list.
- A right to refuse. “Subject to the developer's consent” with no stated criteria means a refusal is possible and needs no justification.
Tax: what is paid, and when
An ordinary resale after registration goes through the Land Office and attracts the full set: a 2% transfer fee on appraised value; specific business tax of 3.3% where the property was held under five years, or stamp duty of 0.5% where it was held longer; plus withholding tax, which for an individual is computed on appraised value through a progressive formula with a deduction for years of ownership.
An assignment before completion registers nothing, so none of that is triggered at that moment — it arrives later, when the incoming buyer transfers the unit into their name. But the difference between your contract price and your assignment price is income, and it is declarable in Thailand.
Why “I'll flip it before completion” usually disappoints
The possibility is almost always there. The problem is who you will be selling to.
- You compete with the developer. While the project is unsold, it still has units, discounts and payment plans that you do not. Your price is capped by its price list.
- The buyer pool is small. Taking over somebody else's contract in an unfinished building suits very few people. Most buyers wait for handover.
- A construction delay hits you twice. Completion moves, your exit moves, your instalment schedule does not. You keep paying.
- Quota. Selling to a foreigner only works if the unit sits in the freehold quota and the quota has not been used up by then.
Send me the contract and I will read the assignment clause and tell you on what terms you could actually exit.
Message me on WhatsApp →When an assignment is a real plan rather than a hope
When you entered at an early-stage price in a project that is genuinely appreciating, with a developer that is strong and selling quickly, and the contract allows assignment with no threshold and a stated fee. Then an exit before completion is workable, and I model it in advance with the fee and the tax inside the calculation.
And when somebody enters late, at a price close to finished resale stock, and hopes to exit a year later at a profit — I say so plainly. That calculation does not close.
What I read in the contract when an exit is part of the plan
- Whether assignment is permitted and whether the developer's consent is required
- From what percentage of payment it becomes possible
- What the re-issue costs and where that figure is fixed
- Whether assignments are blocked while the developer sells comparable units
- What happens to your instalments if completion is delayed
- Which quota the unit sits in, and what changes if your buyer is a foreigner
In short
Assignment in Thailand is possible, but it is a transaction involving the developer rather than one between two people. Exit terms are written at entry. So I read that clause before the deposit — and I model the return on an ordinary exit rather than a flattering one.
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Frequently asked
Can I sell a Thai off-plan condo before completion?
How much does a contract re-issue cost?
What tax applies to an assignment before completion?
What is payable on an ordinary resale after handover?
Lyubov Fortunova
Investment strategist and founder of Fortunova Capital Group. I have lived on Phuket for more than five years and run every deal myself: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and hold the process together until the keys are handed over. Lawyers, visa and tax specialists come from my own circle.
“I count net, not dreams”
Send me the contract and I will read the assignment clause and tell you on what terms you could actually exit
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