I am not sure if this has been covered, couldn't find anything on search so here goes:

in my understanding th following applies:

hard title is issued nationally through a fairly new titles office, they have only titled a small amount of land- it is Torrens Title and secure.

soft title is issued by the sangkat and is insecure, it is the most common form of title.

barang can own apartments 100% outright above the ground floor.

barang cannot own land or real property outright except for this.

however, there are legal devices around this:

you may issue a mortgage to a Khmer with the funds going to cover the purchase- then lease from the owner for 99 years.

The mortgage should wildly exceed the estimated lifetime value of the property, thus giving you the right to hold the title until the lease expires or the mortgage is discharged (never). this is the cheap option and could possibly cost less than $2.5k

or, you can have a Khmer company with stooge nominees that fulfill the 51% requirement, who grant you power of attorney in matters regarding the company. this company structure is expensive to provision, and the reporting requirements are onerous.

the third way is to found an ngo. they can own land outright. if you take this route prepare to become a social outcast among expats.
Sciarroni Associates kindly answered my questions regarding real estate free of charge, and with a clear rate card of the various solutions.
http://www.sa-asia.com/home/

they are expensive and bomb proof. the principal was i believe an advisor to the PM for some years.

or, you can just put it in your gf's name

Sciarroni and Assoc. are an excellent firm. I have used them before and would highly reccomend them. They are not cheap but very effective.

picooie

Here is an up-to-date, informative and accurate report on What you need to know about buying property in Cambodia...

http://elevatedrealtyco.com/move-to-cam ... -cambodia/

Thanks for that I am interested in buying at some point.

picooie wrote: ↑Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:21 am Sciarroni and Assoc. are an excellent firm. I have used them before and would highly reccomend them. They are not cheap but very effective.

picooie

Ya, absolutely right they're not cheap but more effective.

PSD-Kiwi wrote: ↑Sat Sep 27, 2014 4:08 pm Here is an up-to-date, informative and accurate report on What you need to know about buying property in Cambodia...

http://elevatedrealtyco.com/move-to-cam ... -cambodia/

Good info

I'm not keen on the company structure unless the property is valuable enough to justify the rigmarole and costs of setting up a company just for that purpose.
In a legal dispute, I would worry about the court ruling the company structure invalid due to dummy shareholders making up the 51% khmer component....

Buying it in a khmers name where you fully intend to leave it to them anyway is an easy solution, eg buy in Khmer wifes name.

The 50 year lease option seems the only fully legal solution to control the property in your own name, ie no dummy shareholders required.
"In addition, a ‘block sale notice’ can be registered with the Land Office, instructing the office not to sell the property without the lessee’s permission"

Don't forget that you're subject to a 4% tax on the transaction if it's a hard title.