Mini apartments 'make a fortune' thanks to easy rental

In contrast to the sluggish real estate market, mini apartments for rent are still having good transactions.

Ms. Tran Thi Hanh, an office worker who is renting 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 did not have enough amenities and was inconvenient because they had to share a bathroom. After starting to work and earning an income, they decided to move to rent a mini apartment.

“ We rent a mini apartment for 4.5 million VND/month, which is both clean and secure. This apartment has an area of 26 square meters, located on the 3rd floor. The landlord also installed an elevator for everyone to move around, the house has full amenities such as air conditioning, tables and chairs, kitchen shelves and electric stove, mattresses, wardrobes... We just need to move in, no need to buy much, ” said Ms. Hanh, adding that since moving in, she has not found anything to complain about. The entrance uses a fingerprint lock, cameras are installed in the basement for parking and in the hallway area of each floor.

Mini apartments are attracting tenants. (Illustration photo).

Mr. Tran Van Hai - a real estate broker in Hanoi - said that the number of transactions for buying and selling mini apartments is still regular and stable. At this time, investors are very fond of buying real estate to meet real estate needs, so mini apartments for rent have good liquidity.

“ Three weeks ago, I contacted the owner to take photos and get information. I posted it on forums and in less than a week, the mini apartment building had a buyer. Most mini apartments priced at 6-7 billion VND are only traded within 1 month, or at the latest 2 months, there will be a buyer ,” Mr. Hai shared.

According to Mr. Hai, this type of accommodation has recently become quite popular because the demand for rental housing from students and new workers has changed. They no longer like to stay in old dormitories but prefer rooms with an area of 25 - 40 m2, fully furnished. Especially for students from the provinces, their parents want to find spacious rental rooms for their children.

Normally, each mini apartment room is fully furnished by the owner such as air conditioner, water heater, bed, wardrobe, stove... The average rental price is 4 - 7 million VND/month, not including service fees, electricity, water... On average, each mini apartment building has about 10 - 25 rooms, fully equipped with elevators. Many homeowners design the top floor for their family to live in, separate from the rental apartments.

“ Compared to the beginning of 2022, the selling price of houses built as mini apartments for rent has cooled down, but not significantly. With a financial range of 6 - 12 billion VND, investors can buy a house built for rent with full furniture. For example, a mini apartment for rent in the center of Cau Giay, with an area of nearly 90 m2/floor, 4 floors, is offered for sale at 11 billion VND. Or a mini apartment in Thanh Xuan with a steady passive income of 50 million VND/month is being offered for sale at a price of more than 9 billion VND ,” Mr. Hai added.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Thanh - an investor in Hoang Mai district, Hanoi - shared that if in the past people finished building mini apartments and only looked for ways to sell them, now many investors complete apartments with basic furniture to both sell and rent.

In 2017, Mr. Thanh bought a 250 m2 plot of land in Tam Trinh Street (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) for 6 billion VND. He built 6 floors, each floor has 5 apartments of about 40 m2. The first floor is a shared parking area, so this mini apartment building has a total of 25 apartments. The cost of construction and interior finishing for the apartments is about 6 billion VND. Each apartment is rented by Mr. Thanh for 4 million VND/month.

“ I have 100 million VND to spend each month. While real estate prices are high, I am selling these 25 mini apartments for 1.2 billion VND each. If there are buyers, I will close the sale, otherwise I will just rent them out, ” Mr. Thanh shared.

According to this investor, mini apartments for rent are popular for two reasons. First, this is real estate attached to land, the price increases steadily, suitable for investment and accumulation. Second, mini apartments create steady liquidity from cash flow - a big advantage of this type. With mini apartment buildings in the central area, the room occupancy rate is very high. Many investors with idle money like to buy a few apartments to rent as a source of reserve for old age.

According to real estate experts, the trend of building and renting mini apartments for living will increasingly develop in Hanoi and will also be a bargain for individual investors in the next few years. This product meets the affordability of the majority of people who need to rent. In terms of location, this type of apartment is more developed in suburban areas because there is still land for investment and construction.

However, many experts also warn that mini apartments all own the land for construction. Buyers can be recognized by the State for ownership of each apartment in the house, but to be granted a red book and to separate the red book, mini apartments must ensure strict legal regulations. This is the weakness that makes it difficult for the mini apartment market to develop sustainably. Investors need to be sober before deciding to invest money.

Experts also believe that renting a mini apartment is more profitable than buying. If you really want to buy, you need to carefully research information about the project, the investor, the legality, etc. instead of just trusting the advertisements.

Ngoc Vy

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