Interstitial land in Hanoi: Easy to buy, hard to sell

On real estate trading sites, interspersed land is advertised by many brokers for sale at prices of only a few hundred million VND for 30 - 40 square meters.

Taste the bitter fruit of interleaved land

A 32 m2 plot of land on Vinh Hung Street (Hoang Mai District, Hanoi ) is being sold for 450 million VND, equivalent to about 14 million VND/m2.

The land plot is introduced facing West, square, solid land, surrounded by red book land that has been built on, full legal papers, annual land tax receipts, notarized sale and purchase at a law office.

Or another plot of land on Linh Nam Street (Hoang Mai District, Hanoi), the owner is in need of money to rotate capital, so he is selling a plot of land with an area of 37m2, located in a subdivision area, with completed infrastructure, red books on all sides, stable construction, near Vinh Hung primary and secondary schools for 25 million VND/m2, only 1/3 of the land price here.

Many interspersed plots of land are offered for sale at cheap prices, but it is very difficult to get red books. (Photo: Ngoc Vy).

With quite cheap prices, not only people who want to buy to live but also many investors also come to buy these plots of land.

Mr. Tran Trung Kien and his wife (Van Giang district, Hung Yen ) said that their income is only about 20 million VND/month, so they don't even dare to dream of having a house in Hanoi.

Two years ago, following the advice of friends, the couple borrowed more than 700 million from relatives to buy a small 35m2 plot of land in Dinh Cong area (Hoang Mai, Hanoi). According to Mr. Kien, this is a plot of land located in an alley and does not have a red book.

At the time of buying the land, although we knew the transaction was just a handwritten document, according to the broker, after about a year they would take care of the paperwork and procedures to convert this land into residential land, then we could feel secure to build a house.

However, 2 years have passed, and Mr. Kien and his wife still have not been able to get a red book for the land worth more than 700 million VND.

" Many times I took a risk, bought materials and hired workers to build a level 4 house to live in temporarily. However, as soon as I brought the materials there, the local authorities blew the whistle because this land was not allowed to be built on ," Mr. Kien shared.

Contacting the land seller and broker, they said they only support the procedures, but now the land conversion is tightened so it is very difficult to get the red book. Kien and his wife have to continue renting a house to live in, while the debt is still a lot, not much has been paid.

“ My wife and I now have a very difficult life with an income of 20 million VND/month, because the monthly rent, electricity and water costs 6-7 million VND, the tuition for 2 children and living expenses, we have to save a few million VND a month. Therefore, it took my wife and I 2 years to save up to pay off the debt of more than 50 million VND. We cannot build a house, the debt is piling up, my wife and I have a headache, ” Mr. Kien sadly shared.

Due to debt pressure, Mr. Kien and his wife had to ask a broker to resell the land, but for more than half a year now they still have not found a buyer.

“ The land is beautiful, but because there are no papers, only handwritten sales contracts, many people do not dare to buy it. Some people accept handwritten contracts, but when they know that the land cannot be used to build a house, they also refuse. Now I have land, but I cannot live on it, nor can I sell it, ” Mr. Kien said with a frown.

Many interspersed plots of land are offered for sale at quite cheap prices. (Screenshot).

Buying interspersed land is like a game of "red and black"

Like Mr. Kien, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam ( Nam Dinh ) also bought a 102 m2 piece of land in Long Bien 5 years ago for only 10 million VND/m2.

During the purchase, he also asked carefully and examined the area, thinking that the project was near his land, when implemented that land would increase in value. But unexpectedly, Mr. Nam was left empty-handed because the land he bought was part of the local road planning.

“ For the past few years, the more than 1 billion VND I spent to buy this land has been frozen, unable to be traded because all customers know that this land is part of the road construction plan. Although it is currently only a suspended plan, buyers are still very cautious. I thought I would make a big profit from my investment, but now I am stuck ,” Nam shared.

In fact, valid documents in land transactions are mixed, including only handwritten sales documents between the owner (sent to the broker) and the customer. At the same time, it is accompanied by a book of agricultural land tax payment.

To increase the product's persuasiveness, the intermediary asserted that he had "relationships" with local authorities, so he was not worried about being granted a pink book for the land mixed with agriculture. However, in reality, the conversion was very difficult and the fees were also very high.

Mr. Phan Anh Duy (a customer who bought interstitial land in Hanoi) said that the conversion process was more difficult than he thought. When changing the land use purpose, he had to pay very high taxes and fees because the Land Law stipulates that land users must pay land use fees equal to the difference between the land use fees of the land type after changing the land use purpose and the land use fees of the land type before changing the land use purpose.

In addition, there are many other unnamed costs that arise. When pushing the goods to the market, the amount of money he earns is insignificant, not even equal to the land and conversion fees he spent. Meanwhile, with the same capital, if invested in another segment, he thinks he can earn higher profits.

According to Mr. Giang Anh Tuan, Director of Tuan Anh Real Estate, the interstitial land plots without red books are offered at very reasonable prices. However, when deciding to spend money to buy interstitial land, it is necessary to determine that it is a "red and black" game. The winning and losing rate for this interstitial land gamble is 50/50, because when there is no red book in hand, there is no guarantee.

Granting red books for these interspersed plots of land is not simple. These interspersed plots of land often only have temporary land allocation papers, making it very difficult to carry out purchase and sale transactions. These papers are often photocopied and have been passed through many hands.

" Therefore, it is easy for buyers to buy but extremely difficult to sell and it is also difficult to build a house, " Mr. Tuan shared.

Interstitial land is garden land, agricultural land located in urban residential areas, or surplus land after planning that has not been recognized as residential land (residential land). Normally, these types of land do not have land use right certificates, but are only transferred through handwritten documents. Also because of the unclear land use rights, the price of these types of land is often half, even 1/3 cheaper than land with full documents in the same area.

Ngoc Vy

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