Your first 90 days in real estate in Thailand

The first three months decide whether you stay in this job. Newcomers rarely fail for lack of talent. More often they wait for leads, skip the routine, or, for foreigners, drift into work their permit does not cover. Here is a simple plan, with one track for Thai agents and one for foreigners in legal roles.

Days 1 to 30: set up and learn

Everyone:

1. Learn the agency’s process. Its commission agreement, its client identification steps, its anti-money laundering procedure and who signs off on each file (lessons 3 and 4).
2. Learn one patch. Walk it. Visit every listing your agency has there. Note transport, schools, hospitals, beaches and new projects.
3. Learn the numbers. The 2% transfer fee, 3.3% SBT or 0.5% stamp duty, the 49% quota, the FET threshold of USD 50,000 and the 30-year lease. Clients test you on these first (lesson 6).

If you are Thai: set up your portal accounts with the agency, and consider joining TREBA, or REBA-ES in Pattaya (lesson 3).

If you are a foreigner: do not start before your Non-B visa and work permit are in place, and read your permit’s job description. It must match your daily work (Thaiger, May 2026). Agree in writing with your manager which tasks are yours and which belong to Thai colleagues: listings, viewings and negotiation are on the reserved list (Acclime).

Days 31 to 60: find people

Owners are the business for Thai agents. A listing brings buyers to you. Spend at least half your prospecting time on owners.

Leto, an agency, lists where Thai agents find clients in 2026:

• Referrals and repeat buyers. The cheapest leads you will ever get.
• Portals: FazWaz, DDproperty, Thailand-Property and Hipflat. Watch new private listings in your patch and call owners who sell alone.
• Paid social ads and a personal brand on YouTube or Telegram.
• Inspection tours for overseas investors, notably Russian buyers.
• Language communities and chat groups.
• Developers, who pay agents direct commissions on new launches.

Know the buyers. In 2025 the top foreign buyers by units were from China, Myanmar and Russia (Khaosod English). In the first half of 2026, Russian purchases focused on Phuket and Chonburi, Chinese on Bangkok and Chonburi, Myanmar on Bangkok (The Nation). In Pattaya, Myanmar families relocating for schools and healthcare are the main new demand (Pattaya Mail, February 2026).

For foreigners in a legal role, your part of the pipeline is upstream: campaigns abroad, content in your language, investor webinars, partnerships with overseas firms. When a lead is ready to view or negotiate, hand it to a Thai colleague.

Days 61 to 90: convert

• Qualify every buyer. Budget, cash or mortgage, timeline, nationality, freehold or lease, home or investment. The answers decide the quota check, the FET and the costs.
• Tell foreign buyers about the FET on day one. Money must come from abroad, in foreign currency, before the transfer (Storm Real Estate Phuket).
• Check the quota before you promise a freehold unit.
• Follow up within 24 hours after each viewing.
• Prepare the source-of-funds file early. Purchases above 2 million baht face extra checks in the crackdown launched on 19 October 2026 (Thai Examiner).
• Aim for your first transfer at the Department of Lands, not just viewings.

Know the pace

Leto says only about 30% of new agents reach two or more deals a month. Foreign condo transfers fell 8.8% in units in the first half of 2026 (The Nation). Set a modest first-year target, keep savings for a slow start if you are on commission, and count your activity, not only your deals.

A daily routine

Time	Task
9:00 to 11:00	Prospecting: owner calls, portal checks, network messages
11:00 to 13:00	Viewings and valuations (Thai agents) or campaign work (foreign staff)
14:00 to 15:00	Follow-ups and CRM updates
15:00 to 18:00	Viewings, content, market study
End of day	Plan tomorrow, log three wins and one lesson

Adapt the hours to your agency and to your buyers’ time zones, but keep the prospecting block fixed. It is the first thing to disappear on a busy day, and the reason your pipeline dries up a month later.

Your tools

• A CRM with every contact, viewing and follow-up date.
• Accounts on the portals your agency uses.
• A phone with good photo and video quality, and the messaging apps your buyers use.
• Templates: the commission agreement, a client identification form, a buyer qualification sheet and a cost estimate with transfer fee, SBT or stamp duty.
• A source list: REIC data through the press, Krungsri Research and the Department of Lands for your market updates.

Five mistakes to avoid

1. A foreigner showing units or negotiating, even once. It is reserved work, with fines, deportation and entry bans at stake (lesson 2).
2. Promising a 99-year lease or a 75% quota. Neither became law (Bektu, June 2026).
3. Selling 30+30+30 as guaranteed. Courts generally enforce only the first registered 30 years.
4. Forgetting the FET. A foreign buyer whose money arrives in baht or from inside Thailand may not be able to register a freehold unit.
5. Suggesting a nominee. In late 2026, that is the fastest way to put a client’s purchase under investigation.

Keep your energy up

Rejection is part of every day. Review your numbers every Friday, keep learning the rules, and build relationships with developers, lawyers and banks.

Find openings on CloserPass jobs and compare employers on agencies. Practise with mindset, sales and client training.

Rules change, so check the official source before you act. This lesson is general information.