House ownership - requirements for an expat to buy a house?

There is no rule.

If you are a foreign spouse married to a Vietnamese, then you are:
1. Entitled to apply (obtaining not easy  ) for a PRC (Permanent Residence Card) and
2. Entitled to apply (Obtaining easy) for a VEC (Visa Exemption Certificate) which you can get it a maximum of 5 years but should extend each 3 months!

I don't know any other benefits conferred by law!

If you drop your email.
I will send you exactly what your looking for:
Ownership of property of foreigner in VN law

If you know some 'secret law', then you should post here 

Tommy Don Nguyen wrote:

If you drop your email.
I will send you exactly what your looking for:
Ownership of property of foreigner in VN law

Buying a house in VietNam is filled with traps for the unknowledgeable.

Foreigners can buy condominiums with minimal hassle.

Anything else requires a VN spouse - the key thing to understand is the USER CERTIFICATE which is equivalent to a perpetual lease except for Foreigners.

You need a lawyer, to start with and check their work carefully! There is a longer post on this about a year ago.

it's easy to buy a house in VN. Just want to know your condition. If you want to know more about buying property in Hanoi Vietnam, please contact me. My skype ad: vutrungkien1992.

I don't trust anyone who says that it is easy to buy a house in Vietnam. It's not even easy for Vietnamese.

It's up to you and your experience! Nowaday, customers pay for their apartment and the real esate agent do the rest without extra fee. For foreigner, if you suit all conditions mentioned in Law, it's easy for you to have an apartment in VN.

Yes, that is true, but an apartment is not a house.

Everything is the same if you buy an apartment and house of a new project. Buying house of Vietnamese owner is more difficult. However, you can still do that if you know what to do and know people can help you with the whole process.

kienbeta wrote:

... the real esate (sic) agent do the rest without extra fee.

Few people do anything for free - you collect commission - which the purchaser pays for.

For foreigner, if you suit all conditions mentioned in Law ...

What a puerile statement. There are many requirements Foreigners have to meet. FIRST, find a lawyer you can trust (and NOT one recommended by a salesman) - then you have protection from people like KIEN BETA.

kienbeta wrote:

Everything is the same if you buy an apartment and house of a new project. Buying house of Vietnamese owner is more difficult. However, you can still do that if you know what to do and know people can help you with the whole process.

Em oi!
You should read the 'Housing Law'  and 'Land Law' clearly when you free :-)

you have no idea who I am or what I am looking for, so you should not think that way!. Not all agents or brokers are the same as what it is in your head!

kienbeta wrote:

you have no idea who I am or what I am looking for, so you should not think that way!. Not all agents or brokers are the same as what it is in your head!

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.


.

kienbeta wrote:

you have no idea who I am or what I am looking for, so you should not think that way!. Not all agents or brokers are the same as what it is in your head!

:-) Em oi!
I may like your arrogance if you are a judge or lawyer.
But I don't care agent like you!
Better you should hide and  stop  confusing expats :-)

@kienbeta

You are a real estate agent and you are touting for business on this forum.

yes, you should be married and your wife can own the house.

VungTauDon wrote:

yes, you should be married and your wife can own the house.

Experience is the best teacher :-)
@ Takayama Jin
If you don't know about housing law then  pls don't post misleading information!

VungTauDon wrote:

yes, you should be married and your wife can own the house.

No, wife 'owns' the User Certificate and it contains a clause that says it cannot be used for any purpose without spouse' permission in writing. Then the spouse (Foreign husband) registers his name as OWNER on real property (buildings). This gives far better protection.

DanFromSF wrote:

kienbeta wrote:

you have no idea who I am or what I am looking for, so you should not think that way!. Not all agents or brokers are the same as what it is in your head!

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.


.

He could be a Goose..  ... 

Come to think of it, I can't recall hearing a goose quack. I'll have to find a goose and find out.
I'll put that on my "to do " list today.

Birds chirp and tweet,   ducks quack , mmmmm , I'll  google it.

Getting back on topic.....

The "Crazy Test" in Vietnam..  I keep getting told that prior to Marrying someone here / or buying a house ,  you have to pass the.  " Are you Crazy" Test..

Is this true... If it is , wouldn't that be a warning to anyone taking the plunge into anything here that has hooks attached.   That's why I rent... "Why buy a cow when milks so cheap" .

There is supposed to be a mental assessment done as part of the medical exam. Most doctors who speak english will just jokingly ask "are you crazy?"

The Vietnamese Law states that NO FOREIGNER is allowed to buy property in Vietnam!
The land belongs to the government.
You may be able to buy a condo because the land is not yours; you are buying the apartment, not the land!
Only Vietnamese citizens can buy property in Vietnam.
If you marry a Vietnamese girl, she can buy a house but it's under her name only.

zabrinale wrote:

The Vietnamese Law states that NO FOREIGNER is allowed to buy property in Vietnam!
The land belongs to the government.
You may be able to buy a condo because the land is not yours; you are buying the apartment, not the land!
Only Vietnamese citizens can buy property in Vietnam.
If you marry a Vietnamese girl, she can buy a house but it's under her name only.

Even though your statement is wrong you can't be blamed for making it. A few lower grade government people in VN land management still believe it. Things have changed quite a bit since 2009. Is it easy to make it happen? No. Does it cost a few bucks? Yes. Is it extremely time consuming? Yes. My wife is not a citizen, nor am I but she is of VN descent and she has had a 5 year exemption certificate as I do for years. That was one of the key points in getting the 50 year lease for the land and the house certificate. Yes it can happen.

Dear all,

I'm a lawyer. My English is not well so that I won't say too much.

There are the provisions from Law:

Base on:

1. RESOLUTION ON PILOT PERMISSION FOR FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS TO PURCHASE AND OWN RESIDENTIAL HOUSES IN VIETNAM (No. 19/2008/QH12 date June 3, 2008)

2. DECREE GUIDING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY'S RESOLUTION NO. 19/ 2008/QH12 OF JUNE 3, 2008, ON PILOT PERMISSION FOR FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS TO PURCHASE AND OWN HOUSES IN VIETNAM (No. 51/2009/ND-CP date June 3, 2009)

QUOTE:

Article 2.- Entities allowed to purchase and own residential houses in Vietnam

The following foreign organizations and individuals are allowed to purchase and own residential houses in Vietnam:

1. Foreign individuals who make direct investment in Vietnam under ;he investment law or are hired to work as managers by enterprises operating in Vietnam under the enterprises law, including domestic enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises:

2. Foreign individuals who have made contributions to Vietnam and are conferred orders or medals by the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: foreign individuals who have made special contributions to Vietnam as decided by the Prime Minister:

3. Foreign individuals who are working in socio-economic domains and posses: university or higher degrees, and specialists in field; which Vietnam has demand for:

4. Foreign individuals who marry Vietnamese citizens;

5. Foreign-invested enterprises which are operating in Vietnam under the investment law but not engaged in real estate business, and wish to purchase residential houses for their employees.

Article 3.- Conditions which must be satisfied by foreign organizations and individuals to purchase and own residential houses in Vietnam

1. Foreign individuals defined in Clauses 1,2, 3 and 4. Article 2 of this Resolution must be residing in Vietnam, permitted by competent state agencies to reside in Vietnam for at least one year, and ineligible for diplomatic or consular privileges and immunities under Vietnamese law.

2. Foreign-invested enterprises specified in Clause 5, Article 2 of this Resolution must possess investment certificates or written certifications of investment activities as appropriate to investment forms specified by the investment lav. (below collectively referred to as investment certificates) granted by a competent Vietnamese state agency.

Article 4.- Duration of owning residential houses by foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam

1. Foreign individuals defined in Clauses 1,2, 3 and 4. Article 2 of this Resolution may own residential houses for maximum 50 years from the date of grant of residential house ownership certificates. This duration is stated in residential house ownership certificates.

Within twelve months after the expiration of the duration of owning residential houses in

Vietnam, entities denned in this Clause shall sell or donate these houses

2. Foreign-invested enterprises specified in Clause 5. Article 2 of this Resolution may own residential houses for a duration stated in investment certificates granted to them, including also extended duration. Such a duration is counted from the date an enterprise is granted a residential house ownership certificate and is stated in such certificate.

Upon the expiration of licensed investment durations or in case of dissolution or bankruptcy of enterprises specified in this Clause, their residential houses shall be handled in accordance with the laws on investment and business bankruptcy and other provisions of Vietnamese law.

Article 5.- Rights of residential house owners being foreign organizations and individuals

Foreign organizations and individuals owning residential houses in Vietnam have the following rights:

1. At a time, a foreign individual defined in Clause 1,2,3 or 4. Article 2 of this Resolution may own only one apartment in a commercial housing development project. In case he/she is donated or inherits another residential house, he/she can only choose to own that apartment while enjoying the value of the donated or inherited residential house:

2. A foreign-invested enterprise specified in Clause 5. Article 2 of this Resolution may own one or several apartments in a commercial housing development project for its employees. In case it is donated or inherits other residential houses, it can only choose to own those apartments while enjoying the value of the donated or inherited residential houses:

3. To sell or donate residential houses under their ownership twelve months after they are granted residential house ownership certificates.

Individuals who own residential houses but can no longer reside in Vietnam may sell or donate their residential houses ahead of the time limit specified in this Clause:

4. To bequeath their residential houses under the Vietnamese law on inheritance. Heirs who are ineligible to own residential houses in Vietnam may enjoy the value of the inherited residential houses;

5. To mortgage their residential houses at credit institutions licensed to operate in Vietnam:

6. To authorize other persons to manage residential houses under their lawful ownership;

7. To request competent state agencies to grant, renew or re-grant residential house ownership certificates, or certify changes occurring after residential house ownership certificates are granted under this Resolution and the housing law;

8. To maintain and renovate residential houses, and use spaces of residential houses in line with construction and architecture planning and in accordance with Vietnamese law;

9. To receive damages for coerced dismantlement or ground clearance under Vietnamese law;

10. To lodge complaints and denunciations about acts of violating this Resolution and the housing law.

Article 6.- Obligations of residential house owners being foreign organizations and individuals

Foreign organizations and individuals owning residential houses in Vietnam have the following obligations:

1. To use residential houses only for the residential purpose, not to use residential houses for lease, as working offices or for other purposes:

2. To purchase, sell, donate, inherit or mortgage residential houses or authorize other persons to manage residential houses in strict accordance with this Resolution and the housing law.

3. To fully comply with the prescribed order and procedures for applying for the grant, renewal or re-grant of residential house ownership certificates or certification or changes occurring after residential house ownership certificates are granted under this Resolution and the housing law:

4. To manage, use. maintain, renovate or dismantle residential houses under Vietnamese law without harming or damaging the state and public interests and lawful interests of other persons:

5. To pay taxes and fees under Vietnamese law when purchasing, buying, donating, mortgaging or inheriting residential houses, applying for the grant, renewal or re-grant of residential house ownership certificates, or certification of changes occurring after residential house ownership certificates are granted:

6. To abide by competent Vietnamese state agencies* decisions on handling of violations, settlement of disputes, complaints or denunciations about residential houses; on ground clearance, com-pensation. supports, resettlement or dismantlement of residential houses; or on requisition, compulsory purchase or pre-emption of residential houses:

7. To perform other obligations specified by Vietnamese law.

Great! I am glad for you!
As for me & my sister; we are Vietnamese but not Vietnamese citizens; we have been having a hard time since 1992 trying to buy houses in South as well as North Vietnam. And to this day we still cannot buy unless we become Vietnamese citizens.
But in your situation, i notice that you mentioned that your land is leased for 50 years; you only own the house. After 50 years, you'll  lose your house. If youre thinking of giving the property to your children later, you cant. That's the problem with this arrangement.

zabrinale wrote:

Great! I am glad for you!
As for me & my sister; we are Vietnamese but not Vietnamese citizens; we have been having a hard time since 1992 trying to buy houses in South as well as North Vietnam. And to this day we still cannot buy unless we become Vietnamese citizens.
But in your situation, i notice that you mentioned that your land is leased for 50 years; you only own the house. After 50 years, you'll  lose your house. If youre thinking of giving the property to your children later, you cant. That's the problem with this arrangement.

50 years or so from now my wife and I will both be over 110 years old, our Daughter (who lives in the States) will be over 80 years old and has no interest of moving over here to live anyway. I'm not really concerned about it. We'll just enjoy the peaceful living in our own home with no friggin relatives try to freeload off us. 4 story's 4700 sq meters all to ourselves.

zabrinale wrote:

But in your situation, i notice that you mentioned that your land is leased for 50 years; you only own the house. After 50 years, you'll  lose your house. If youre thinking of giving the property to your children later, you cant. That's the problem with this arrangement.

I think you are wrong. The house is still yours so whoever owns the land certificate at that time has to negotiate with you to take over the house (by buying from you). The most likely scenario is that the government will extend the lease, since no one will be interested to lease the land.

This is a major weakness in the land law since a buyer has to negotiate separately both with the local government (for the land certificate) AND the house owner. Ask any major condo developers and they will tell you it is a major headache.
The developers have to negotiate with each of the owners. Some refuse to sell asking for huge amount, thus delaying huge condo projects.

Anatta where the heck you been? Still in Europe?

Budman
Glad to see you again. Still enjoy the safe cocoon of Europe, far removed from the hustle and bustle of Vietnam.
Not having time to visit the forum, so only drop by from time to time.

Too bad, I'll be 100 years old 50 years from now, otherwise, I would be interested in taking over your home when your lease expires  .

Re: house ownership

Anatta you know as well as I do that that lease law currently on the books is going to change. Anyway 50 years from now who cares...... When we built this place back in 2003/04 we paid around 140,000USD for everything. when my wife purchased the land back in 1993 it was a whopping 1500USD. When the taxman did the survey to issue us the certificates they rated the house at little more than 1.7milUSD. Not a bad investment in my opinion.

Budman
Congratulation with being ahead of the market. Buying land in 1993 would get you a very good deal indeed.

Yep, the gov has talked about changing the land law for quite some time now. I think I have written about it in earlier threads. The thing is there is too much vested interests. Having worked in this sector in Vietnam, I see that it is the main source of wealth to the gov officials so it is not easy to change. Well, we'll see.

As a foreigner, to buy property, these are some conditions:
1. You have enough... money :-)
2. You can buy Apartment only, not land or house.
3. Get married with a Vietnamese, not sign under her/his name only. Both of you can sign a Leasehold Agreement in 50 years (Freehold for local). Leasehold means you own your property, you have your right/duty with that apartment as a local under Vietnamese's law (ussually a local Investor won't do this part. They will advise you to sign it under a local's name. So you should better buy from an International Investor, or Vietnam-international union company)
4. You have a company and invest directly to Vietnam as in the law. Then you can buy apartments and use it for your company's member to live in that apartment, not to sublease.
5. Special condition with Vietnamese Goverment
But there are still some different way on the Real Estate market at the moment:
- You can sign a Lease Argreement in 50 Years with the Investor when that project is still under contruction, and you can pay in couple installments, phase to phase. So, when the project has completed and hand over, as a local, they will proceed to apply to get the pink book (ownership), but you can't, just living like that. it's still your apartment. Oneday, if you want to resell it, doesn't matter your client is a foreigner or a Vietnamese, you would go to the Investor's company to terminate your Lease Agreement, then the new buyer will sign a new Contract with the Investor directly (Sales contract for Vietnamese/Lease Agreement for a foreigner).
- What if the Investor... disappear or terminate their company already? ok, I will ask God and comeback later :-(. So, very careful to choose a good project with reasonable price and famous investor.
- What if you want to rent out your apartment? Great idea! under the law, you cannot sub-lease it. But you still can rent out if your tenant doesn't ask for the red invoice (Legally, you can't apply to the Tax Department to get the PIT and the Tax Code. But... there still someway to do it. God blesses Vietnam!
- Please noted that 50 years lease since the day the Investor got the licence to build up that building from government, not 50 years since the day you sign the Lease contract!
- Before the deadline of that 50th year, you can sell it, release it, terminate it, give it to any body you want to. After 50 years, If that buidling will be destroyed to build up a new one, the local people will has the priority to get a new unit in the new building, with a special price, sometime they will pay an extra fee to buy a new unit if they want to, or get an amount of money from the Investor and gone. I'm not really sure about the foreigner's landlords.
- Or you can pray that our law will change and will extend for the 100 years/1000years leasehold for foreigner who buy apartment in Vietnam.
Have a nice day!

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saigonhome01 wrote:

As a foreigner, to buy property, these are some conditions:

Have a nice day!

Ignore this post (above) as it is so full or errors and incorrect information.

1. Find a property;
2. Get a lawyer who YOU trust.

My wife and I have four pieces of property at this time and have previously bought and sold several others (renovation and resell) and NOT ONE TRANSACTION was the same as another as local provincial rules apply.

It's a bloody mess.

Hang on to your hard earned money.

remb2030 wrote:

It's a bloody mess.

Hang on to your hard earned money.

It may be a mess, but I am sure that Jaitch wouldn't have done it a few times (and currently own 4 properties) if it were financially not worthwhile.  My wife and I have also bought a couple properties and are negotiating on another at the moment.  It is complicated, no deal is the same as another, but the numbers stack up ok as long as you know exactly what you are doing (and allowed to do!).

richiv wrote:

It may be a mess, but I am sure that Jaitch wouldn't have done it a few times (and currently own 4 properties) if it were financially not worthwhile.  My wife and I have also bought a couple properties and are negotiating on another at the moment.  It is complicated, no deal is the same as another, but the numbers stack up ok as long as you know exactly what you are doing (and allowed to do!).

My wife is VNese - and her's is the name on the User Certificates. I only own the real property (buildings). The User Certificates also have a clause included that say the land cannot be sold, pledged or otherwise transacted without my written signature witnessed by a specific lawyer.

The general rule is non-citizens, single or married to a non-citizen, are limited to condominiums/multiple family developments legally linked together. That is to say no houses.

At this time the property market is all over the place - generally it could stated buying a property is likely a long-term loosing proposition. Definitely a game of chance.

The best way is to buy bare land (as in getting a User Certificate) and either act as your own construction supervisor (which requires knowledge and experience) or find a contractor who is trustworthy.

Property construction here is very variable; it's no good hiring an architect and assuming everything is OK. There's a condo in Quan 7, called V-Star, where a friend lives which appears to be of reasonable state and location.

This V-Star has street flooding of around 20-30 centimetres every leap tide. There aren't any sewers in the area - they use septic tanks and honey wagons - not cheap.

Even though a Foreign investor built the place, using his own architect, they forgot a small detail. NO GARBAGE CHUTES!

Firstly, the land in HCM is sinking which, naturally, means the flood levels are rising.

How about the cleared lands in Quan 2. You don't need anything than your eyes to see what will happen. The new roads are built at a height that water is not expected to reach in 100-200 years.

Unfortunately, the former swamps through which these roads go are about 2-3 metres BELOW the road levels. In fact they are at the level of the SaiGon River. And the swamp land was filled in with sand (think of the story of the Three Piggies).

But suckers will surely buy the cute little boxes that are to be built and as sure as the next leap tide the land will flood.

VNese plumbing standards, along with wiring standards are garbage. No clean-outs in a house - which requires someone to dig a hole in concrete and the pipe, to clear it. Most homes have a 4 inch down pipe - the standard in North America is 7 inches!

Wiring is plain terrible, often overloaded and few outlets with even fewer fuses.

Thermal insulation is unheard of, which increases the use of air-con and generates large electricity bills.

I built (acted as contractor) on my two hotels and now, after several years of operation, I have a good handle on costs. My costs run about 53% LESS than similarly sized properties in the area.

THIS is why you should be careful when buying a pre-built property. Or not buying at all. We didn't buy for flipping, we built as a source of cash flow.

P.S. My office, house and one hotel are in Buon Ma Thuot - about 4,500 feet above sea level - which offers flood protection.