Buying your first home

[GuernseyMatt]

Hello,

I am curious to find out more about the Chinese system of house/apartment purchase.

Do people in China prefer to rent or purchase property, and if purchasing, what are the legal requirements?

Kind regards

Matt.

[Jizzosh]

Does anyone have any more information on this? I'm curious as an American living in China.

[mlomker]

Does anyone have any more information on this? I'm curious as an American living in China.

I can understand the interest--outside of the largest cities the condos are very reasonably priced. In Beijing the prices are similar to here in the Midwest of the USA, which makes it completely unaffordable for me.

What I've discovered in my research is that everything is sold like a condo in China since you never own the land--you get a 70 yr lease of the land instead. If you buy 2nd hand then it's important to know when that lease started. The government doesn't allow foreigners to buy just any property--it has to be up to a certain quality standard before it can be sold. I've heard horror stories about people buying condos prior to their construction and then the building was never completed. China also exercises its eminent domain on property liberally--if they decide to pave over your apartment to make a road then you're just out of luck.

You might want to jump in on this thread. They mention a new book but I couldn't find anything about it online from here.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=27&tid=34642404

I'd assume that the best way to get good information would be to contact a real estate agent that works with the expat community. They might not be selling affordable property but you they'd have the information that you're looking for.