3.15 Advice to consumers from a retired real estate consultant

Today is 3.15. As a senior real estate practitioner who has resigned, the real estate consultant will tell you how the developers deceive you when buying a house. Please pay attention when buying a house in the future!

1. If you are buying a house for the first time and know little about the basic knowledge of real estate and related concepts, it is recommended that you find an acquaintance who is engaged in real estate to go look at the house with you.

2. Regarding real estate consultants, you must be aware of one issue. The ultimate goal of every real estate consultant is to let you buy a house in order to get a commission. Real estate consultants will undergo a training period of two to three months before joining the company, covering various real estate situations and answering various customer questions. Therefore, no matter which house you choose, whether it is large or small, facing east or west, the real estate consultant will list a lot of advantages. For example:

Customer: Let me go, the bedroom is only seven square meters, it’s too small.

Real estate consultant: If the house is small, people who know how to maintain health will buy a small bedroom. Therefore, small bedrooms are now popular. They are comfortable to sleep in, and the freed area looks grand in the living room.

3. Regarding price, most real estate quotations have room for discounts. Moreover, from the real estate consultant to the supervisor, sales manager, and sales director, each floor will have certain preferential rights.

4. The psychology of some customers is that there will definitely be more discounts when the event is held. But the truth is not as simple as you think. Just like buying clothes on Taobao during Double Eleven, there are indeed discounts during the event, but you will find that the price is increased and then discounted. Real estate is similar across the country. The general trend must be rising prices, and price reductions will basically never happen. Timely activities should be carried out after the prices have increased, otherwise the owners who have bought a house before will smash the sales office!

5. Don’t blindly believe in the shared area. Most people think that the smaller the public stall area, the better. Some people even think that it is better to have no public stall. This is actually a misunderstanding. The common area includes corridors, stairwells, elevator waiting rooms, elevator shafts, etc. The larger the area, the more complete the supporting facilities. This is why the higher-end communities have larger public areas. Everything without a shared area is impossible and can only be an idealistic fantasy. Of course, on the premise of ensuring daily life, the smaller the stall, the larger the area you will live in. Some properties will under-report the stall area to attract customers. Generally speaking, the current average price of high-rise residential apartments is 20-25, and will not be lower than 20.

6. Never buy a house without property. There are still houses without property, although they are rare. Don’t buy a house without real estate. Even if you think the price is cheap and the quality is decent, in fact it’s hard to tell what the internal quality is like. How can you expect a developer to be powerful if he doesn't even own properties? Once the house is built, the developer withdraws. If something goes wrong with the house in the future, you won’t even have a place to cry.

7. Before buying, be sure to ask about the various charges and charging standards after moving in, such as property fees, heating fees, natural gas, water, electricity, etc. Be sure to ask clearly. And what must be asked is whether the price is the same for each floor. The water fee standards will be different especially for different floors. The main reason is that high floors need to use pumps to pump water up, so the cost of high floors is higher than that of the bottom floors. Don’t underestimate this price difference. The water bill on the highest 30th floor of the building I stayed in was nearly twice as high as that on the first floor. However, almost all customers only found out about this after handing over the house.

8. Someone asked whether developers would really keep good houses and sell the bad floor types first? The answer is yes. And many real estate properties will do this. The bad or average floors will be sold first, and when the sales are almost completed, the good properties will be sold at a higher price, and they will falsely claim that a certain customer returned the property, so as to avoid trouble from previous customers.

9. Houses in better school districts are generally 500-1,000 yuan per square meter higher than their peers. If the sales office tells them that it is a house in a school district, don’t believe it easily, even if they advertise it in regular newspapers and media, you should be wary. First, have them produce government documents. Second, go to the Education Bureau to inquire. Third, go to your school and ask. These three things must be done. Some colleagues in the past had so-called government documents in their hands, but neither the Education Bureau nor the school recognized them.

(The above answer was published on 2017-03-15, please refer to the actual current relevant home purchase policies)

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