wiley Posted December 12, 2005 at 10:38 AM Report Share Posted December 12, 2005 at 10:38 AM Has anyone had experience purchasing a second-hand apartment in Beijing? I currently live in a "minzhai" style residential neighborhood (as opposed to a nicer, "gongyu" style high-rise apartment building). I would love to purchase a place in the "minzhai" neighborhood because of its excellent location and relatively inexpensive price per square meter. In addition to the enjoyable prospect of living in my own place and being able to rent it out for extra income if I ever wanted to vacate it, I also think that there is a high-probability that the entire neighborhood will be razed and made into high-rise apartments in the near to mid-term future. It is my understanding that in cases such as these, the owners of apartments in the razed neighborhoods are given apartments in the new complex as well as a nominal cash subsidy for inconvenience or something like that. Unfortunately, my understanding is that foreigners are only permitted to buy "gongyu" style apartments, not "minzhai" style apartments. If the foreigner is married to a Chinese national then it is permissible, but otherwise its essentially a non-starter. Can anyone think of a safe way a foreigner could acquire such a property in Beijing? I can only think of the following banfa, but I'm not sure how any of it would work. 1.) Find a Chinese person that you really trust, and get them to do it for you with your money. (I would never ever ever ever ever do this.) 2.) Start a corporation in China (would this be called a real estate holdings corporation? I'm a total waihang here.) Have the corporation purchase and hold the properties for you. 3.) Wait for the laws to change. Is there anything in WTO about the housing market opening further that we can be looking forward to? Hoping to hear from foreigners who have purchased real estate in China, particularly anyone who has purchased a second-hand property. Any stories about foreigners purchasing housing would be very very welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liande Posted December 12, 2005 at 02:57 PM Report Share Posted December 12, 2005 at 02:57 PM I am not familiar with the Beijing situation as to which legal background minzhai has. But essentially it is like that: In China you divide between "allocated land" or "granted land". Allocated land has been given to someone for a rather low price to be used for a predefined purpose. If there is housing on this land, it may only be used for a certain housing purpose, ie house a certain company's employees etc. As such it is not tradable unless it fulfills its purpose while being sold.. but that's rare. Contracts about this land would be invalid if they do not comply with the purpose defined. I suspect Minzhai is this kind. Granted land, as opposed, is sold by the government acccording to market price. It is a tradable commodity and can thus be sold, resold and inherited. For housing purposes its term usually is 70 years. Therefore, if you want to buy an appartment you have to clarify whether it is on granted or allocated land. If the appartment is on allocated land, you are not legally able to buy it. Neither would be a Chinese citizen. On any account, buying land that is on a plot that will be requsitioned soon, is not advisable, as it is not certain that you will be compensated with an appartment in this area or an equivalent value.. There used to be a difference between "wai xiao" (appartments for sale to foreigners) und "nei xiao" (only for chinese) but as far as I know there is no such thing any more. Certainly not in Shanghai. The trickiest part about buying a second hand appartment is that there is no pre-registration with the authorities while the property title is transferred. Any chinese lawyer will help you with this. It needs a strong deterrent to avoid the apartment being sold for a second time while you are waiting for the title. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted December 13, 2005 at 10:43 AM Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 at 10:43 AM I think these days the only 'neixiao' buildings in Beijing are 经济式用房. Technically this means that only Beijing permanent residents can purchase them. I sort of remember meeting a French guy who bought a 'minzhai' style home (by which I mean a low-rise building from the 70s or 80s, not a 四合院), and that was at least 2 years ago, as far as I know that's perfectly legal. The real hassle is to make sure that you're buying it from the actual owner, that the whole area is not going to be demolished a week later etc. IIRC there's a new tax on second-hand transactions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakkaboy Posted December 14, 2005 at 01:07 PM Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 at 01:07 PM Is there a good guidebook to buying property in China? As far as I know, the properties bought are permanently owned, but the land beneath them goes back to the government in 70 years, so in 70 years there is a small fee to pay to roll over the lease of the land. But the house on top of the land is owned by you. Right? This is a murky area! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted December 14, 2005 at 01:54 PM Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 at 01:54 PM If you have a look here, there's a Beijing Homebuyer's Guide, which will obviously be specific to Beijing but is still likely to be very useful wherever you are buying property (except perhaps San Francisco, Antarctica, and other largely non-Chinese places). However, the site doesn't tell you where you can buy it, and I've never seen it on sale. I'll fire off an email . . . Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakkaboy Posted December 15, 2005 at 01:09 PM Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 at 01:09 PM Roddy, I think books like that would sell like hot cakes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted December 16, 2005 at 04:52 AM Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 at 04:52 AM Got this back The Homebuyer's Guide is available through that's Beijing. PLace your order with Zoe Wang (zoewang@thatsbj.com , 6554 5631). Not sure what payment methods they have - let us know if anyone gets in touch. Roddy, I think books like that would sell like hot cakes... I doubt it to be honest - how many foreigners buy property in Beijing? Even if you add in all of China, it's still not that many copies a year. Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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