Investment property in Wuhan, Hubei, China

[yemmie]

Hey Guys,

 

I have been missing in action for long time. I am resurfacing now to ask a question. My stepson is currently living and working in China for a business private equity firm. It performs mergers and acquisitions. He is always on the look-out for good investment opportunities. Lately, he has come to believe that now is a really good time to invest in residential rental property in Wuhan, China. The idea is to put down a reasonable down payment for the home, and then rent it out for a while to pay down the mortgage. I am on the fence about this for a few reasons: 1. I want to feel reasonable confidence that I will make on the investment. 2. I want to be sure of the ownership. I have heard and read that getting clear title on property can be a really tricky business, especially for a westerner.

 

I have not actually looked at any properties. This idea is truly in its infancy. I know that some of you have invested in Chinese properties in the past, so I am interested in benefitting from your experience. Thanks, Yemmie

[amberjack1234]

Hi Jimmy good to hear from you after so long. Sorry that I cannot add anything to your question though. Some body will though.

[Randy W]

Hey, guy! Welcome back!

 

As they say, location is everything. Along with timing, and transportation access. Avoid the ghost towns, and buy low and sell high.

 

Timing can make you an instant millionaire (as long as you sell before the crash) - Dinner for 15,000

 

Jiaying expects her building, VERY near the city center, to easily sell (rent, that is) out once we put it on the market next year - Jiaying's New Project - LAND Ownership in China

 

Check the transportation in the area you are considering. Bus service isn't really very good - we can drive places in 10 minutes that might take an hour by bus. Having to wait 30 mins. for a bus to arrive doesn't cut it. Cars may have problems with parking. The subway is great, though. Taxi service can be bad to areas where they don't find many customers.

 

Unscrupulous developers have many opportunities to take advantage of you. It's possible to sell a home twice. So be careful. We were given the keys, and allowed to move in, but it was a year and a half later before they had to recalculate the actual (adjusted for actual measurements and "public" areas) price and deliver the title.

 

This links to an interesting article to read. Even though Wuhan is no "ghost town", a lot of what it says still applies. Chinese "ghost town" analysis

 

Here in Yulin, we have several developments on the east side of town which are still "ghost" towns, including one where the developer skipped town (AND the country) when he had trouble getting additional loan money

 

 

Jiaying says that the builder of this complex decided that this would be the optimal point at which to skip town - AND out of the country! After he had collected money from a few pre-sales, and couldn't get loans to continue the work. There are other sites where a build demolished existing structures, only to find out that they couldn't get loans for the new construction.