In contrast to the sluggish real estate market, the rental market for mini-apartments is still experiencing good sales.
Ms. Tran Thi Hanh, an office worker who rents a mini-apartment in My Dinh (Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi ), said that when she was a student, she and a friend shared a 15m² room near the school for 2.5 million VND/month. The old room lacked amenities and was inconvenient because they had to share a bathroom. After starting work and earning an income, they decided to move to a mini-apartment.
“ We added the rent for a mini-apartment at 4.5 million VND/month, which is both clean and secure. This apartment has an area of 26m², located on the 3rd floor. The landlord also installed an elevator for everyone's convenience, and the apartment has all the amenities such as air conditioning, tables and chairs, kitchen shelves and an electric stove, bed and mattress, wardrobe... We just moved in, no need to buy much, ” Ms. Hanh said, adding that since moving in, she has had nothing to complain about. The entrance uses a fingerprint lock, and cameras are installed in the basement parking area and in the hallway on each floor.
Mini-apartment units are attracting many tenants. (Illustrative image).
According to Mr. Tran Van Hai, a real estate broker in Hanoi, the volume of transactions for buying and selling mini-apartments remains steady and stable. Currently, investors are very keen to buy properties that meet their actual living needs, so mini-apartments for rent have good liquidity.
“ Three weeks ago, I contacted the homeowner to take photos and gather information. I posted it on forums less than a week ago, and the mini-apartment building already had a buyer. Most mini-apartments in the 6-7 billion VND price range are sold within a month, or at most two months ,” Mr. Hai shared.
According to Mr. Hai, this type of accommodation has recently become quite popular because the housing needs of students and young professionals have changed. They no longer prefer staying in old rows of rented rooms but instead favor rooms with an area of 25-40 square meters and full amenities. In particular, for students from other provinces, their parents want to find spacious and comfortable rooms for them to rent.
Typically, each mini-apartment unit is fully furnished by the owner with amenities such as air conditioning, water heater, bed, wardrobe, and cooking facilities. The average rental price is 4-7 million VND per month, excluding service fees, electricity, and water. Each mini-apartment building usually has 10-25 units and is equipped with an elevator. Many owners design the top floor as their own living space, separate from the rental units.
“ Compared to the beginning of 2022, the selling prices of houses built as mini-apartment buildings for rent have cooled down, but not significantly. With a budget of 6-12 billion VND, investors can still buy a fully furnished house built for rent. For example, a mini-apartment building for rent in the center of Cau Giay, with an area of nearly 90 m2/floor, 4 floors, is being offered for sale at 11 billion VND. Or a mini-apartment building in Thanh Xuan that generates a steady passive income of 50 million VND/month is being offered for sale at over 9 billion VND ,” Mr. Hai added.
Mr. Nguyen Tan Thanh, an investor in Hoang Mai district, Hanoi, shared that while in the past, developers only focused on selling mini-apartment buildings after construction, now many developers complete the apartments with basic interior furnishings to both sell and rent out.
In 2017, Mr. Thanh purchased a 250 m2 plot of land on Tam Trinh Street (Hoang Mai District, Hanoi) for 6 billion VND. He built a 6-story building, with 5 apartments of approximately 40 m2 each on each floor. The first floor is a shared parking area, so this mini-apartment building has a total of 25 apartments. The construction and interior finishing costs for the apartments amounted to approximately 6 billion VND. Mr. Thanh rents each apartment for 4 million VND per month.
“ On average, I have 100 million VND to spend each month. While real estate prices are high, I'm selling these 25 mini-apartments for 1.2 billion VND each. If there's a buyer, I'll close the deal; otherwise, I'll just rent them out ,” Thanh shared.
According to this investor, mini-apartments for rent are popular for two reasons. Firstly, they are land-attached properties with sustainable price appreciation, making them suitable for asset accumulation. Secondly, mini-apartments generate steady cash flow – a major advantage of this type of property. Mini-apartment buildings in central areas have very high occupancy rates. Many investors with spare cash prefer to buy a few units to rent out as a retirement fund.
According to real estate experts, the trend of building and renting out mini-apartments for residential purposes will increasingly develop in Hanoi and will also be a lucrative opportunity for individual investors in the coming years. This product meets the affordability needs of the vast majority of people who need to rent a place to live. In terms of location, this type of housing is more developed in suburban areas due to the availability of land for investment and construction.
However, many experts also warn that mini-apartment buildings share the same land on which they are built. While buyers may be granted state ownership of individual units within the building, obtaining and subdividing land titles requires the mini-apartment building to comply with strict legal regulations. This is a weakness that hinders the sustainable development of the mini-apartment market. Investors need to be cautious before deciding to invest heavily.
Experts also suggest that renting a mini-apartment is more advantageous than buying one. If customers genuinely intend to buy, they should thoroughly research information about the building, the developer, and its legal status, instead of simply trusting advertisements.
Ngoc Vy
Source
Comment (0)