An ad for an apartment building under construction in Tan Phu district says: “Modern design, fully equipped with amenities, next to administrative center” but it turns out to be in a thickly-populated residential area with few facilities.
The developer claims the street in front will be widened before the apartments are completed and handed over to the buyers but the road project has so far remained on paper.
Another downtown apartment block is besieged by other high-rises and has mediocre interiors but is yet advertised as “high-grade” and attracts massive interest.
Despite not having a parking area, it fetches US$1,200-1,500 per sq.m and later $2,200.
Other apartments cost a mere VND6 million per sq.m ($375) but are still labeled “high-grade”.
“Five star”, “international standard”, and “intelligent apartments” are all part of the property lingo now but there are no benchmarks yet in Vietnam and, of course, no criteria for “intelligent”.
This confuses customers, complain builders selling genuinely high-quality apartments.
Some have recently asked the Ministry of Construction and the Association of Real Estate to standardize apartments and clearly spell out criteria for apartment buildings.
However, Nguyen Manh Ha, head of the ministry’s housing management, said it was difficult to issue such standards and advised customers to take precautions before buying a house.
Criteria defined
Property analyst Nguyen Ngoc Duong said to qualify as a high-grade building it must cost at least $350 to build one square meter besides having swimming pools, parks, garages, supermarkets, and other facilities.
Nguyen Van Duc, vice director of Dat Lanh Real Estate Company, said other details like the quality of tiles, wood-paneled floors, kitchens, and furniture too counted.
“The word ‘high-grade’ is being abused… Many think a high price means high class,” he added.
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