Step-by-step guide to buy real property in Vietnam

Nhung Kieu08/06/2022

Real property in Vietnam represents a very promising investment for many foreign individuals or companies. On the other hand, many expats are in love with this beautiful Southeast Asia country and want to buy a house in Vietnam for long term living. Whichever the case may be, in this article Alpha Housing will guide you through the process of purchasing a real estate in Vietnam.

Where should you invest in real estate in Vietnam?        

When choosing the area in which your future property will reside, the first thing that you should take into account is “What should the house be used for?”.

Purchasing real property in Vietnam for vacation

If you’re buying real estate in Vietnam so that you and your family can enjoy holidays together, you might like the beachside houses in Nha Trang, Quang Ninh or Da Nang. These are the most famous coastal cities in Vietnam with exciting tourist attractions.

Buying real estate to make a profit

As the need for housing is constantly increasing in Vietnam, you can earn a fortune by leasing houses or reselling them for a higher price. If you want to earn profit this way, it’s advisable that you do some research on the real estate in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City – the two most major cities of Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City is among the cities with most impressive growth in Asia. Here, the real estate rates are also about 25% cheaper compared to prices in Macau, Hong Kong, Shanghai or Singapore. Moreover, the lease revenues in HCM City are also escalating more quickly than other Southeast Asia countries.

Being the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi is also the center of attention to local and foreign investors. More and more people are flocking to Hanoi to get a job, which leads to high housing demand that sometimes exceeds the supply.

Investing in real estate in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City will help you gain high profit

Buying house for work purposes

Many foreign citizens come to Vietnam for work purposes. Buying a house will give them more privacy and is also more economical than renting one in the long term. If you want to purchase a real estate to live in, you might want to consider choosing the properties that locate near your workplace for convenience

Evaluate the eligibility of the real property in Vietnam

If you’re buying a property in any commercial housing project, make sure that you’ve thoroughly checked the reputation of the project and the developer. Don’t forget to find out if the project allows foreign ownership of property.

Project developers must fulfill some basic requirements before offering houses to buyers, including land use right documents, construction permit, acceptance certificate regarding the completion of the aparment’s foundation…

Prepare the needed documents

Vietnamese law stipulates that a foreigner citizen who wants to buy a house in Vietnam needs to prepare the following documents:

  • Marriage registration
  • Household registration, Passport and Identity card of the wife
  • Passport legalized consular of the husband in Vietnam
  • Entry visa in Vietnam remains in effect
  • Visa exemption certificate

Prepare the needed documents to purchase a house in Vietnam

Choose a payment method to buy real property in Vietnam

There are several payment options that you can consider when purchasing houses in Vietnam:

  • Pay for the house using cash assets
  • Buying real estate with housing mortgage loans
  • Some project investors or house sellers also accept payment by installments
  • Open your own bank account in any local bank in Vietnam, such as Vietcombank, BIDV, Vietinbank… Then transfer money in Vietnamese Dong to the real estate seller’s bank account
  • Find the international banks that allow you to transfer money directly to Vietnamese bank accounts. The 4 major international banks in Vietnam include CitiBank, Standard Chartered, Shinhan Bank and HSBC

Notes:

  • Any cash values exceeding $5.000 that come or leave Vietnam need to be verified
  • US Dollar is not valid to be used in transactions, only Vietnamese Dong is accepted

Find a property lawyer in Vietnam

Hiring an experienced lawyer in the field will do you a big favor in carrying out complicated legal procedures or significant transactions.

A property lawyer can also tell you if he/she finds anything suspicious about the seller of the house. In fact, the risk of real estate scams are pretty high in Vietnam. Especially if you’re purchasing properties from individual sellers instead of project developers.

If you want more thorough help then we recommend finding a specialized real estate agency in the area where your house will reside.

Make a booking and pay the installments according to schedule

Once you’ve figured out which house you will buy, now it’s time to make a booking for that property. The deposit commonly ranges between $ 2100 to $4500 (equivalent to 50 million to 100 million VND). This functions as a reservation fee until the property is officially opened for sale and it’s refundable at any given moment.