Cheap, buy apartment 1 billion dong
Settling down is a legitimate need of every citizen. Especially in big cities, this need becomes more and more luxurious because housing prices are constantly being pushed up.
A recent report by the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) shows that in the third quarter of 2023, the average apartment price in Hanoi is currently at VND53 million/m2, up 2% quarter-on-quarter. Thus, for a common apartment of about 70m2 for a family of 4, the house price will be from VND3.7 billion. This is a very high cost compared to the general level.
Although housing prices are increasing, owning a house is still the dream of every family. In the past, mini apartments were always hot. Even without a red book, mini apartments were always sought after because of their low price, from only 550 million VND to less than 1 billion VND. However, after the mini apartment fire tragedy in Thanh Xuan, this segment was completely "frozen".
She was as happy as if she had found gold when she found an apartment for only 1.2 billion VND, but just a short time after transferring the ownership, Ms. Lien was devastated because the repair and interior costs were higher than the house price. Illustrative photo
Ms. Bach Lien, a freelancer, had planned to buy a mini apartment but had to “turn around” after the terrible fire. She came up with an option that she thought was a little more expensive but much better. That was to buy an old apartment in Linh Dam.
“Previously, my family budgeted 800 million VND to buy a mini apartment. However, this plan failed, so we tried to borrow money to buy an old apartment in Linh Dam,” Ms. Lien shared.
According to Ms. Lien, the old apartment that her family just transferred is 70 square meters wide and costs only 1.2 billion VND. Although she had to borrow money, she is quite satisfied with her choice. Although the price is one and a half times higher, the usable area is also more spacious and comfortable. And most importantly, this apartment has full legal documents, a wide entrance, and is suitable for fire prevention and fighting.
According to the family's initial calculations, she only needs to spend about 100 million VND for repairs and 50 million VND to buy cheap furniture. Regarding furniture, Ms. Lien revealed that she has "hunted" for several stores that specialize in selling very cheap items, only about 1.5 million VND for a sofa set, 2 to 3 million VND for a bed, etc.
Thus, with a total cost of less than 1.4 billion VND, her family of four can fulfill their dream of settling down.
Silver face for repair
However, before they could celebrate buying a cheap apartment, Ms. Lien and her family were devastated because the apartment was too old and needed to be repaired in every way.
“When we bought the house, looking at the old apartment, my husband and I thought that we only needed a little painting and whitewashing to be able to use the house. In fact, that was not the case. When I invited the workers - who were family members - to come, we were shocked because the repair costs were sky-high,” Ms. Lien lamented.
Ms. Lien shared that in order to use the apartment, she had to scrape off the lime mortar, waterproof, prevent leaks, break this place, repair that place. Initially, the cost was calculated to be 200 million VND, but after several surveys, the cost increased to 500 million VND.
“500 million VND is just the minimum cost. That does not include the time my husband or I have to temporarily take off work to manage the construction team. The worker estimated that it would take 2 months to complete the construction. That is also the time when one member of my family has to stay at home,” Ms. Lien confided.
After completion, her family still has to buy furniture. Therefore, if she is generous, Ms. Lien believes that she will have to spend an additional 1 billion VND for her family to be able to move in.
Therefore, Ms. Lien is “stuck” with her “miscalculation”: “I really did not realize that even though I spent a lot of money on renovations, there is still an undeniable fact that the apartment was built in an old apartment building. The overall old apartment quality is difficult to be good. But if I resell, I will lose the cost of paperwork.”
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