Buying property in Cambodia can seem a bit bewildering initially, especially if you are a first-time buyer, but rest assured you have landed on the right page. Here we will give you a brief guide to the process behind purchasing property in Cambodia.
Different Land Titles
The first thing to know is that there are different types of title in Cambodia – hard, soft and strata. We describe the difference between these forms of title on other pages. You can also purchase leasehold title in property, generally up to 50 years with a further 50 years optional add-on. Hard Title must be registered with the Ministry of Land Management whereas Soft Title is registered at the local Sangkat level.
Selecting Your Property
Before that naturally you have to choose your property. This can be a villa or house, a shopfront property, land, commercial, or property in a borey or gated community. We strongly recommend the latter in terms of value for money, investment opportunity and simplicity.
When purchasing a property in a new borey, such as at Borey Williams, all you have to do is walk around the site, choose your home and then sign the contract. Alternatively you can purchase a house from plan. This allows you both to choose the lot of land you desire, and also to customize the design of your dream home, and purchase any upgrades you may wish. We have packages for this.
To purchase the property you need to sign the Sales Purchase Agreement (SPA) and then transfer the money to us.
Financing Your Property Purchase in Cambodia
Of course cash purchases are the easiest, but we don’t all have this type of money available. One option is a staggered payment where you make an initial 30% down payment on your property, followed by further payments up to completion of the property.
Alternatively, you can seek a housing loan from a reputable bank in Cambodia, making an initial down payment of 15 to 30%, financing the rest of your payment by the loan. You can also stagger your property purchase over a number of years, but naturally such a payment plan will incur interest charges. Read our article about Choosing a Housing Loan in Cambodia for more information.
Buying Property in Cambodia: Sending Money from Overseas
You do not have to raise finance for your property purchase within Cambodia. If overseas, simply send a bank wire to the reputable developer’s corporate company accounts. You will need to send your bank scans of the SPA contracts and other supporting documents they require.
How Long Does It Take?
The process can take anything from a few weeks to several years depending upon whether you are purchasing a ready built vacant property, or choosing one from plan. The good news is that if you choose the latter you may find the value of your property has risen by typically 15 to 20% by the time you move in to your dream property.
