Recently I had a client asked me about the possibility for foreigners to buy apartments in Hangzhou. He said he and his family have lived in Hangzhou for almost 10 years, during these years, they moved 4 times for different reasons, and the rent has always increased. Also, he said for the amount of money he has paid for rent, it is close to 1/3 of the cost of a decent apartment, buying seems a much better deal than renting.
Can foreigners buy properties in Hangzhou? Well, before I answer this question, I would like to give you a general idea about the properties here.
The properties for sale can be divided into two big catalogs: New ones and second-hand ones.
New properties are the brand new ones you can buy from the developers who build the compounds. Second-hand apartments are the ones you buy from private owners.
The properties can also be divided into two kinds: 住宅 (zhu zhai) and 公寓( gong yu). Zhu zhai are the properties with residential purposes only, Gong yu are the properties with both residential and commercial purposes, which means if you buy a gong yu , you can use it as an apartment to live or you can set up an office there, you can even register a company with the address.
Ok, let’s go back to our topic. Can foreigners buy properties in Hangzhou? The answer is a big YES ! and a little no. Foreigners can buy properties in Hangzhou, but not any property, and it’s under conditions.
If you are a foreigner and you plan to buy property in Hangzhou. First of all, ask yourself if you own any property in China. The precondition above all the other conditions is that foreigners are only allowed to own one property in China, so if you already have a property in China, then sorry, you can’t buy another one. Besides that, you need to have a stable job and the Resident Permit in Hangzhou. If you are all qualified, and good, you can move to step two.
Step two ------ you need to go to Homeland Security Bureau to get a letter of approval of buying property in Hangzhou. This may sound difficult, but actually, it’s a simple process.
Step three ------ pick the property that you are allowed to buy. If you want to buy a brand new property in a brand new compound from the developer, then this new compound needs to have a license for selling to foreigners, otherwise, you can not buy from them. But for second-hand properties, no license is needed, you can go ahead to choose the ideal property for you. You can even get a loan from the bank, many foreign banks provide house loans to foreigners. The down payment is 30% -60% depending on the properties and banks.
Sounds pretty easy, right? Now comes the tricky part--------- you need to have a Chinese name and make sure you can write this Chinese name in Characters because all the contracts, agreements, and documents will need to be signed under your Chinese name. You will need to write it over a hundred times.