@Tip Mallick
You're very welcome and you're correct but have to be careful when talking about "these countries".
For example, I bought multiple properties in Mexico over the years. They all were pre-construction and I wouldn't have it any other way. This is why:
1. Pre-construction are the best deals in that you can buy much cheaper if you buy early enough, which gives you a much higher ROI and give you equity from the get-go. Unlike in Thailand, you get capital gains in Mexico and they can be substantial and quick, depending on the market, specific development, market conditions, ...
2. Pre-construction has been a cornerstone of Mexico's construction industry and economy for decades. It's well organized, tried and tested. American, Canadians and other investors have invested billions of dollars that way for decades and it's only be accelerating over recent years.
3. There's no discrimination against foreign investors in Mexico's law or otherwise. There were fears when the leftist just retired president AMLO came to power a few years back that foreign investors would get hurt but he turned out to be very friendly to us and made Mexico's economy its best ever and one of the best in the world. By the way, the US dollar has crushed most other currencies but it's been itself crushed by the Mexican peso.
4. It's very easy to book a quick flight to Mexico at the taxpayer's expense and go and check on what's going on the ground. Oh and poor you, you might feel compelled to show up at the beach club and have a tequila or two ;).
Also, I understand you're a fellow Canadian. I'm not suggesting that that's what you're doing but I think that us and Americans should be careful not to be condescending about "these" countries, whether we talk about Thailand, Mexico or any other country. Did you see the report on CBC news yesterday about the thousands of empty condos in Canadian cities that were just built and find neither buyers nor renters? What an unmitigated disaster.
Finally, to be fair to Thailand, that construction license situation could happen anywhere and of course it's sad for the buyers/investors involved but I suspect they didn't do proper diligence, in which case they likely have themselves to blame too.
Indeed, the problem is that many people are too lazy too cheap and/or don't have the right knowledge or understanding to do proper due diligence. When people here send me private messages or ask me on a call, one of the many things I'd tell them if they want to buy pre-construction is to check the developer's construction license and that it complies with the zoning rules (and I'll tell them if I know what those are).
You woudn't believe the amount of people that are ready to put a sizeable amount of cash on the table but won't spend the little extras needed to make sure they don't lose it.
