House hunting in Saigon - DRAMA!

Last activity 21 May 2021 by goodolboy

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gaT2HeyTNew member25 August 2014 05:24:58

So, we've been house hunting in Phu My Hung for about two weeks now (arrived on 14 August), we've seen about 20 apartments and made an offer on two. Both times, we've gotten to contract/deposit only to be told that the apartment is no longer available. Either the owner has decided to move in themselves or they've sold it *this morning* without telling the broker. The brokers themselves have been no help. We've worked with three and they appear to be quite racist (we're an inter-racial Australian couple, one of us is ethnic Chinese) and seem to be more hung up where we are from than the fact that we have names or housing preferences.

I don't think we're being unreasonable. We're in the market for a 3br apartment in a complex with a pool and 24 hour security in Phu My Hung with a budget in the range of USD $12-14 hundred pm. We're in our late 20's have no children or pets and we're prepared to sign a 12 month lease.

Having done the housing market in London, San Francisco, Canberra and Sydney (most often at the height of the housing crisis!), we're familiar with the usual kinds of house hunting drama. We've been to open houses where there have been 40 - 50 people with rental applications, credit checks and deposits ready to go and we've come out on top.

I am blowing my own horn here when I say that landlords tend to like us. We have impeccable rental references, but it is our first time in Asia. So, having been here for two weeks we've heard that this kind of behavior is typical of Vietnamese landlords. The heat here is unbearable, neither of us has the time to go traipsing around the city to look at properties that aren't for rent. Does anybody have any tips for weeding out these time wasters? How can you tell if a listing is legit?

JaitchGuest25 August 2014 17:04:43

214245

Phu My Hung with a budget in the range of USD $12-14 hundred pm

I am looking at an empty three-bedroom in a building opposite mine where the rent in USD$700 per month, utilities, parking, swimming pool extra. Gymnasium free. It has a very 'Western' kitchen, and en suite bathrooms in two of the three bedrooms. Fully furnished with flat-screen TV in master bedroom and lounge along with a BlueRay player in the lounge.

You also have to pay two months rent as security deposit.

I'm working at this time, I will send you a PM with my rental agents contact info when I get off shift. Prepaying 6 months rent often will get you a million knocked off each months rental.

Only pay buy depositing money in to the Landlords bank account. No cash deals - hard to prove payment in case of dispute.

NoviamipropertyMember21 May 2021 03:13:13

I'm a home owner myself in Vietnam and I can assure you, this is not typical behaviours of landlord in this country. It's NOT common for a landlord to put their property on the market and suddenly turning potential tenants away like that, unless:
1. Tenants have questionable background
2. Tenants demand too low rent with no 2-month security deposit
3. Landlord and tenants can't reach an agreement on any terms and conditions mentioned in the contract.
4. This is the most common reason, at least in my experience of renting out our properties in Vietnam: ROGUE AGENTS - greedy sales agents who demand ridiculous agent fee and unreasonable conditions to be added in the contract that would potentially put the landlords at great disadvantages or cause them future loss and damage.

So my advice for you is always try to find and deal with landlords directly. There is a misconception among tenants that agents are mere landlords' proxies or something similar. They ARE NOT. They help landlords find potential tenants and we have to pay them a fee equal to at least 1-month rent - but some get greedy and demand much much more when they bring potential tenants to us, that's why deals fall out.

CiambellaViP21 May 2021 07:53:33

3482

Noviamiproperty wrote:
So my advice for you is always try to find and deal with landlords directly.

You reply to a 7-year old post, and the last time the OP visited the forum was 6 years ago. This whole thread has been inactive since Aug, 2014. By this time, no doubt he has found a place to live, or he's back to his home country and has no more need to read expat.com.

If you wish to pass along advices to newcomers, you're very welcome to start a new topic, which will certainly receive more attention from readers.

goodolboyViP21 May 2021 08:26:38

2325

Ciambella wrote:
Noviamiproperty wrote:
So my advice for you is always try to find and deal with landlords directly.

You reply to a 7-year old post, and the last time the OP visited the forum was 6 years ago. This whole thread has been inactive since Aug, 2014. By this time, no doubt he has found a place to live, or he's back to his home country and has no more need to read expat.com.

If you wish to pass along advices to newcomers, you're very welcome to start a new topic, which will certainly receive more attention from readers.

oooooooops, been there done that

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