Real Estate Agencies Malpractice in China
In the past decades, Chinese growth has
been for a large part sustained by the real estate sector, the general mood for
real estate agents has been frenzy, and this is reflected in commercial
behaviour. Regulations do exist, but they are less developed than in western
developed countries and few of the rules are actually implemented.
Fake classifieds
If you are looking for an apartment to
rent, the major issue you'll face is the fake classifieds. Many agencies try to
hook customers with attractive ads, precise description of apartments that will
appeal to you, be aware that many of these ads do not correspond to anything.
The apartment in the classified will already be rented when you call the agent,
and then you will be drawn into the agency network, trying to make you rent any
other apartment they actually have in their portofolio. In Europe and USA, it
is strictly forbidden to put real estate classifieds on a website when the
property is already rented (and it is all the more prohibited to advert
apartments that do nor exist...), in China nothing is properly checked. So be
cautious about the classifieds and websites.
Wrong landords
Another problem can be the sub-rental of
apartments without the landlord knowing it. In this eventuality, some people
try to make money while scamming the actual landlord. There is as well cases
about wrong landlords identities caused by the current limitations of
ownership. The Chinese authorities try to limit the number of apartment per
landlord in order to calm down the speculation and try to avoid a property
bubble in China. The consequence is that many apartments are registered under a
fake name. Stange occurrences can happen, apartments registerd under the name
of the driver, the maid, or even dead people. For the tenant, there are risks,
the most basic one is difficulties of registration with the authorities when
you cannot contact the real landord.
Fees issues
There can be translation issues in the
contracts, especially if you are a foreigner. Things can be omitted in the
english version, for example anything relative to heating and air conditionning
fees. Things can be told orally but the opposite is written in the contract.
The most usual problem is agents that will tell you that heating fees are
comprised with the rent when actually you'll have t pay for it separately. Be
careful. A way to avoid this type of issues might be to have an agent
specialized in expatriate rentals that will give you specific advice about
these questions.
Agents that take commission from both the landlord and the tenant
Agents try to maximise their commission, by
all means, and this can include taking commissions from both the tenant and the
landlord. This is nor stricly forbidden but can have consequences regarding the
apartments you will be shown : do not expect some agents to show you the
apartments that correspond most to what you are looking for but the apartments
for which their commsission is the highest. One way to limit this issue is to
insist in visitinbg many apartments.
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