My first trip to Shanghai to see Regalia for the first time was in March 1996. Three representatives of Golden Horse were at the airport to receive me and another buyer. The next day we took a taxi from our hotel to The Regalia. We were however not very impressed by the Shanghai apartment because it was not as grand as the building shown in the brochure. Neither were we happy with the fittings in the Shanghai apartments as there were tiny cracks in the main door, the parquet flooring was poorly polished and the cables of the air-conditioners were glaringly exposed. Further inspection of the building revealed that the common area facilities such as the basement carpark, the covered swimming pool, the karaoke lounge and the gym were still under construction! How could we rent out our units when these facilities were not ready? And the management insisted that we owners had to pay the monthly maintenance fee of RMB610.00 (about S$110) even when these common facilities were not ready!
We had suspected for some time that Golden Horse was in financial trouble soon after the lunar new year party. The banks in China had stopped lending money on easy terms to property developers because they had already built too many condos. With the source of money drying up, these developers with several mega projects half completed could hardly carry on. Unfortunately for the buyers of Regalia, only about three quarters the project had been completed. That was why the developer had to cut costs by reducing the work force and using poor-quality materials! We were really disappointed because we thought we had a good bargain.
You really have to believe the saying: Man proposes, God disposes.
Quietly Golden Horse branch office in Singapore closed down some time in the later part of 1997 or early 1998. Those of us who had paid for our properties with cash demanded that we be given the title deed. We were told that we had to ask the main officce in Shanghai to attend to any of our demands. We were very worried.
Another complaint of ours was that we had already paid the 6% stamp fee to the developer for prosessing the title deed. But when the govt had later reduced it to 3%, the developer took no action to refund us the extra 3% it had received from us. The excuse given was that they were short of monay and would try to refund us later. They were now playing "Taiji", an art of gently parrying with opponents.
Meanwhile I also faced the problem of finding a tenant for my Shanghai apartment. And the sooner I got one the better because, whether my Shanghai apartment was occupied or not, I had to pay the monthly maintenance fee of RMB610 (about 120 Sing dollars).
2013年10月10日星期四
2013年9月26日星期四
New Shanghai Apartment
I heard a rather disturbing story on NPR's Morning Edition while in the shower this morning.Here is an excerpt of the transcript from National Public Radio (note, the radio version can be heard here):
New figures show that property sales in China jumped 75 percent last year as record levels of bank loans boosted purchases. Property prices rose by the fastest pace in 18 months in December, adding to fears of a real estate bubble. China has been trying to rein in speculation.
One of the places with the fastest rise in prices is Shanghai. A new Shanghai apartment now costs 68 percent more than it did a year ago, according to Knight Frank, a commercial and residential property agency.
In many other Chinese cities, prices rose by 40 percent, the agency says. Now, ordinary people fear they are being priced out of the market, while the luxury sector is soaring."Last year, one of my customers arrived in a BMW, lugging two suitcases. Each suitcase contained the equivalent of about $70,000. He said, 'I've brought this money to buy a villa,' " recalls James Zhuo, a property agent for Century 21 who works in Lujiazui, one of Shanghai's most expensive areas.The coal-mine millionaire from the inland province of Shaanxi was the type of customer who was buying in 2009, Zhuo says.68% in one year?! Even (the relatively modest) 40% thoughout the rest of China is insanity. This kind of rapid growth even puts the early 2000's US bubble to shame.This article does a good job in highlighting how Chinese cities are already absorbing a massive amount of people flowing in from the Chinese countryside. That migration will surely raise demand for apartments in Chinese cities. That is an unprecedentedly large amount of people who'll be coming into the Chinese real estate market in the coming decades.While saying that, so much of the growth highlighted in the article appears to be fueled by luxury Shanghai apartments growth. Obviously, rural migrants aren't going to be adding to demand for those kinds of apartments.
To me, any investment or commodity or anything that grows 68% or 40% (or even an amount significantly less than these numbers) is shaky. It screams ponzi scheme or some other kind of predatory sucker operation.And usually, those kinds of schemes end up doing something like this:
The above photo is of a collapsed apartment building under construction in Shanghai this past summer.I really want China to avoid anything remotely close to what is going on in the US. Sure, Chinese people alive today have seen things much, much worse than anything going on in America right now. But things here in the US are bad. While things are going well for Qian and me on a personal level, the US as a whole is very sick. I hope China can learn from our mistakes.
New figures show that property sales in China jumped 75 percent last year as record levels of bank loans boosted purchases. Property prices rose by the fastest pace in 18 months in December, adding to fears of a real estate bubble. China has been trying to rein in speculation.
One of the places with the fastest rise in prices is Shanghai. A new Shanghai apartment now costs 68 percent more than it did a year ago, according to Knight Frank, a commercial and residential property agency.
In many other Chinese cities, prices rose by 40 percent, the agency says. Now, ordinary people fear they are being priced out of the market, while the luxury sector is soaring."Last year, one of my customers arrived in a BMW, lugging two suitcases. Each suitcase contained the equivalent of about $70,000. He said, 'I've brought this money to buy a villa,' " recalls James Zhuo, a property agent for Century 21 who works in Lujiazui, one of Shanghai's most expensive areas.The coal-mine millionaire from the inland province of Shaanxi was the type of customer who was buying in 2009, Zhuo says.68% in one year?! Even (the relatively modest) 40% thoughout the rest of China is insanity. This kind of rapid growth even puts the early 2000's US bubble to shame.This article does a good job in highlighting how Chinese cities are already absorbing a massive amount of people flowing in from the Chinese countryside. That migration will surely raise demand for apartments in Chinese cities. That is an unprecedentedly large amount of people who'll be coming into the Chinese real estate market in the coming decades.While saying that, so much of the growth highlighted in the article appears to be fueled by luxury Shanghai apartments growth. Obviously, rural migrants aren't going to be adding to demand for those kinds of apartments.
To me, any investment or commodity or anything that grows 68% or 40% (or even an amount significantly less than these numbers) is shaky. It screams ponzi scheme or some other kind of predatory sucker operation.And usually, those kinds of schemes end up doing something like this:
The above photo is of a collapsed apartment building under construction in Shanghai this past summer.I really want China to avoid anything remotely close to what is going on in the US. Sure, Chinese people alive today have seen things much, much worse than anything going on in America right now. But things here in the US are bad. While things are going well for Qian and me on a personal level, the US as a whole is very sick. I hope China can learn from our mistakes.
2013年9月25日星期三
Talk about Shanghai apartments
I bought a two-bedroom Shanghai apartment in Lujiazui, the trade and financial district in Pudong.
The RegaliaI bought it in 1994. I was one of those naive Singaporeans who thought money could be made in China's red-hot property market. We were wrong....so very wrong! Many of us ended up without even seeing a brick on the Shanghai apartment site, and worse ... losing every dollar that was invested! I was one of the luckier ones who finally managed to sell off my apartment after about 12 years and get back the capital. But if I included the costs of spending months fighting for the title deed and the return of stamp fee the developer had overcharged us (about Sing $10,000), and the many problems with the developer, the management office, rental agents and tenants, then my little venture into China property market was a big mistake.
When Deng Xiaoping was in charge, China opened its door wider and welcomed foreign investments. And building luxury condos and commercial buildings and selling them to foreigners was one sure way of attracting foreign funds into China. So property developers in China and Hong Kong joined forces and easily acquired lands in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to build condos and commercial Shanghai apartments for foreign investors. Most of these property developers from Hong Kong and China had very ambitious plans, so ambitious that they threw all cautions aside. Many did not deal only with one or two projects at one time. Without much control by the govt on land acquisition and bank loan approvals, they just went ahead with several building projects all at one go. Reason? If they could make tons of money by borrowing money easily from the banks and if there were a lot of ready buyers, especially from wealthy overseas Chinese, why not?
Singapore in the 90s was doing very well economically and its citizens were eager to invest their money in properties; but as the costs of buying properties in Singapore escalated, they looked for properties elsewhere, such as Malaysia, Australia and China. Of course, the property developers overseas could somehow smell our Singaporean money. So they came to exhibit their "wares". On weekends you could see many of them displaying their project plans and distributing glossy brochures in exhibition halls and 5-star hotels. And Singaporeans, flushed with money, came in droves to see the exhibitions. They were impressed by the project plans and the building models on display. Moreover, compared with the houses in Singapore, they were so very cheap, cheap, cheap! Of course, "kiasu" Singaporeans were afraid to lose out to others; so they came in large numbers and queued up to buy.
2013年9月5日星期四
Shanghai apartments for renting: Modern Shanghai apartment made charming
Shanghai apartments for renting: Modern Shanghai apartment made charming: HAVING lived in an old, renovated apartment on Tai’an Road for more than five years, BJ Macatulad and Jeremy Young decided to move into a mo...
Modern Shanghai apartment made charming
HAVING lived in an old, renovated apartment on Tai’an Road for more than five years, BJ Macatulad and Jeremy Young decided to move into a modern apartment in 2011 to begin a new phase of life in Shanghai.
“We love the character of these old buildings but they are just like vintage cars — gorgeous to look at, but they often break down and do not provide modern, practical conveniences,” Macatulad said.
After several years of putting up with freezing winters, bursting pipes, weak water pressure ... the couple finally decided it was time to move on. “We traded the vintage car for a reliable (albeit plain) new compact car, so to speak.”
However, the couple was reluctant to give up the charms of an older apartment, so they really wanted a new place that still had some personality. “Most of the apartments in the new high-rises are really stiflingly bland with few interesting elements, and I think I could not have stayed in those places very long,” Macatulad said. “What attracted me to this apartment in Central Residence, apart from the fact it was just renovated and in excellent condition, is the balcony’s charming views over the trees of the former French concession area, and beyond it, the iconic buildings of Xujiahui.”
The greenery reminds Macatulad, who is from the Philippines, of their old place with its wide windows shaded by plane trees. Her husband, Young, from New Zealand, also likes that there is an extra half-room enclosed by floor-to-ceiling glass doors, which serves as his private office.
The apartment was in great condition so no structural changes were needed. Since they've amassed a lot of furniture over the years, they needed for the space to be totally unfurnished so that they could put their own stamp on it. The couple did spend a lot of effort in decorating so it would still feel warm and evoke some of the charm of their prior homes in older Shanghai apartments.
As always, they like to mix styles, periods and influences. They have modern pieces alongside antiques, Asian-influenced accents alongside Western-style furniture, sleek surfaces with some natural textures and materials mixed in.
“As for the overall feel, we were going for something relaxed and unfussy, but still refined — a place where we could have grown-up dinner parties but where everyone felt comfortable putting their feet up on the furniture,” Macatulad said. “I really think everyday decor needs to be livable and comfortable first and foremost. I could never have a ‘show house’ where people felt uncomfortable touching anything!”
“We love the character of these old buildings but they are just like vintage cars — gorgeous to look at, but they often break down and do not provide modern, practical conveniences,” Macatulad said.
After several years of putting up with freezing winters, bursting pipes, weak water pressure ... the couple finally decided it was time to move on. “We traded the vintage car for a reliable (albeit plain) new compact car, so to speak.”
However, the couple was reluctant to give up the charms of an older apartment, so they really wanted a new place that still had some personality. “Most of the apartments in the new high-rises are really stiflingly bland with few interesting elements, and I think I could not have stayed in those places very long,” Macatulad said. “What attracted me to this apartment in Central Residence, apart from the fact it was just renovated and in excellent condition, is the balcony’s charming views over the trees of the former French concession area, and beyond it, the iconic buildings of Xujiahui.”
The greenery reminds Macatulad, who is from the Philippines, of their old place with its wide windows shaded by plane trees. Her husband, Young, from New Zealand, also likes that there is an extra half-room enclosed by floor-to-ceiling glass doors, which serves as his private office.
The apartment was in great condition so no structural changes were needed. Since they've amassed a lot of furniture over the years, they needed for the space to be totally unfurnished so that they could put their own stamp on it. The couple did spend a lot of effort in decorating so it would still feel warm and evoke some of the charm of their prior homes in older Shanghai apartments.
As always, they like to mix styles, periods and influences. They have modern pieces alongside antiques, Asian-influenced accents alongside Western-style furniture, sleek surfaces with some natural textures and materials mixed in.
“As for the overall feel, we were going for something relaxed and unfussy, but still refined — a place where we could have grown-up dinner parties but where everyone felt comfortable putting their feet up on the furniture,” Macatulad said. “I really think everyday decor needs to be livable and comfortable first and foremost. I could never have a ‘show house’ where people felt uncomfortable touching anything!”
2013年8月23日星期五
How to rent Shanghai villas
A high quality villa for rent in Shanghai can be typically second home for the well-heeled expat executives in Shanghai and other exotic China’s places. Each quality Shanghai villa for rent is often with a full staff, sparkling fountains, well manicured lawns, private swimming pools, tennis courts and everything you can imagine. If you are looking to rent a villa in Shanghai, then you obviously are pretty well-heeled yourselves. First, I would like to caution you against renting directly from Shanghai villa owners. The reason is that Shanghai villa owners are also really well heeled and do not really have the time or energy to deal with you. They delegate it to a real estate agent.
Almost every Shanghai villa owner wants his or her place to be maintained immaculately for the few weeks in the year that he or she will spend there. Shanghai villa owner wants all the trappings including a full-time cook, maid service, gardener, etc. Renting the villa when she is not there is a way to pay for all of this. Most high end Shanghai villas will have this available and we suggest that you insist on it. After all, you do not want to be cooking on your villa vacation, do you? Transportation is another area that you can insist that you be picked up at the airport and driven to the Shanghai villa. And the real estate agency in Shanghai can provide you with airport pick up service. You should not bother about renting a car and getting lost in a strange area. Most of these luxury Shanghai villas have the assigned real estate agent to pick you up and drop you off. After all,Hongqiao Golf, when you are paying in this price range, you might as well live it up like a queen.
Getting a good price is an art while renting a Shanghai villa. We often find that folks will try to bargain a $50K/month Shanghai villa down to $30K/month or even less. Typically, this is just not going to happen because the Shanghai villa owner does not really need the cash and does not want to rent his or her Shanghai villa to someone who cannot afford close to the asking price. Instead, try to get other amenities that you will be paying for bundled into the price. Renting a Shanghai villa gives you the luxury and the privacy to enjoy a truly quality vacation. Work with high quality professional real estate agency to enjoy the rent Shanghai villa of your dreams.
Almost every Shanghai villa owner wants his or her place to be maintained immaculately for the few weeks in the year that he or she will spend there. Shanghai villa owner wants all the trappings including a full-time cook, maid service, gardener, etc. Renting the villa when she is not there is a way to pay for all of this. Most high end Shanghai villas will have this available and we suggest that you insist on it. After all, you do not want to be cooking on your villa vacation, do you? Transportation is another area that you can insist that you be picked up at the airport and driven to the Shanghai villa. And the real estate agency in Shanghai can provide you with airport pick up service. You should not bother about renting a car and getting lost in a strange area. Most of these luxury Shanghai villas have the assigned real estate agent to pick you up and drop you off. After all,Hongqiao Golf, when you are paying in this price range, you might as well live it up like a queen.
Getting a good price is an art while renting a Shanghai villa. We often find that folks will try to bargain a $50K/month Shanghai villa down to $30K/month or even less. Typically, this is just not going to happen because the Shanghai villa owner does not really need the cash and does not want to rent his or her Shanghai villa to someone who cannot afford close to the asking price. Instead, try to get other amenities that you will be paying for bundled into the price. Renting a Shanghai villa gives you the luxury and the privacy to enjoy a truly quality vacation. Work with high quality professional real estate agency to enjoy the rent Shanghai villa of your dreams.
2013年8月15日星期四
The introduction about Xintiandi
Xintiandi is an affluent car-free shopping, eating and entertainment district of Shanghai, China. It is composed of an area of reconstituted traditional shikumen ("stone gate") houses on narrow alleys, some adjoining houses which now serve as book stores, cafes and restaurants, and shopping malls. Most of the cafes and restaurants feature both indoor and outdoor seating. Xintiandi has an active nightlife on weekdays as well as weekends, though romantic settings are more common than loud music and dance places. It is considered one of the first lifestyle centers in China.
Xintiandi is the location of the site of the first congress of the Communist Party of China, now preserved at the Museum of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Also nearby is the site of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea when Korea was a Japanese colony.
The area was developed by Shui On Land during the re-development of the surrounding area. Some houses in Xintiandi were then limited (and not renovated, unlike the Chinese government and the real estate agency official version), in order to implant an art gallery, cafes, and restaurants. Many tour groups both domestic and from abroad also visit Xintiandi as one of the main attractions in Shanghai.
The Xintiandi redevelopment was designed by Benjamin T. Wood and Nikken Sekkei International. The urban renewal is considered one of the first examples of the placemaking approach in China.)
This construction displaced 3,500 Shanghainese families.
The neighborhood is divided into two parts – South Block and the North Block with Xingye Rd serving as the division line. Fewer original shikumen were preserved in the South block, and many modern glass façade building dominate the cityscape here. The North Block boasts with more authentic architecture preserved, and one can wonder leisurely through the narrow shikumen alleys and enjoy the atmosphere of the small plazas with open terrace cafes.
Xintiandi is great to saunter through on a sunny day, many parts of it are reserved for pedestrians only – a rare luxury in hectic Shanghai. Many Shanghai residents would agree, however, that after the renovation the area became too commercialized and lost the true feeling of what it initially meant to be – a residential area and home for many Shanghainese families. Therefore, come here to admire the old architecture style and gawk at the showcases of the high end boutiques; but don’t expect to find authentic old Shanghai in Xintiandi, in a sense the area is an expensive stylized showcase itself.
Xintiandi is the location of the site of the first congress of the Communist Party of China, now preserved at the Museum of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Also nearby is the site of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea when Korea was a Japanese colony.
The area was developed by Shui On Land during the re-development of the surrounding area. Some houses in Xintiandi were then limited (and not renovated, unlike the Chinese government and the real estate agency official version), in order to implant an art gallery, cafes, and restaurants. Many tour groups both domestic and from abroad also visit Xintiandi as one of the main attractions in Shanghai.
The Xintiandi redevelopment was designed by Benjamin T. Wood and Nikken Sekkei International. The urban renewal is considered one of the first examples of the placemaking approach in China.)
This construction displaced 3,500 Shanghainese families.
The neighborhood is divided into two parts – South Block and the North Block with Xingye Rd serving as the division line. Fewer original shikumen were preserved in the South block, and many modern glass façade building dominate the cityscape here. The North Block boasts with more authentic architecture preserved, and one can wonder leisurely through the narrow shikumen alleys and enjoy the atmosphere of the small plazas with open terrace cafes.
Xintiandi is great to saunter through on a sunny day, many parts of it are reserved for pedestrians only – a rare luxury in hectic Shanghai. Many Shanghai residents would agree, however, that after the renovation the area became too commercialized and lost the true feeling of what it initially meant to be – a residential area and home for many Shanghainese families. Therefore, come here to admire the old architecture style and gawk at the showcases of the high end boutiques; but don’t expect to find authentic old Shanghai in Xintiandi, in a sense the area is an expensive stylized showcase itself.
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