Rental nightmares in Vietnam

I have personally been very lucky to have great landlords all throughout my time in Vietnam. I am also much easier going than most and it takes a lot to piss me off. If you are going to live in Vietnam you just have to accept the late night karaoke, construction and bugs and such.

That being said my only real bad experience here in Vietnam was when my wife and I was apartment hunting and one of the "agents" asked my wife to meet somewhere and then go see the apartment. We didnt think much of it because the lady said it was an apartment in a small alley and hard to find. Then she said to bring the deposit in cash which seemed odd but still not enough of a red flag yet. The agent said she would pick my wife up on her bike but my wife responded that we could just follow her on our bike since she was bringing her husband. The "agent" immediately got angry and yelling that she cant bring me. This was just a really weird reaction and how can I agree to an apartment I have never seen. When my wife said I need to be there to agree to the apartment some man in the background we had no idea was there just started yelling more and cursing us out basically saying F your husband and F you for wasting my time and I curse your family etc... This was such an odd and sketchy reaction we really didn't know how to react so just hung up. We realized that this wasn't about an apartment but most likely it was a way for thieves to lure my wife in and steal the cash (most likely). The account they used was closed and/or they blocked us. Moral of the story, always be careful.

@Cheryl

I agree with you. From my experience living in district 2 and east side of Ho Chi Minh city is new places that you need to be. I have lived in near center and Binh Thanh district for a long times could be over 15 years. Basically if you want new apartment you should looking East side ho chi minh city. The building mostly under 10 years age, lest worries for mis leading and wasting time.

@Cheryl

Oh by the way you should look for serviced apartment if you don't want some crazy Karaoke. Also District 2 is not Thao Dien only. We have at least 7 areas with disticguise vibe and living style. Please you can chose more. You should looking for Binh Trung Ward in district 2 if you want what I have show you

@truongtanthanhforwork460

So as to not confuse new expats/tourists/travellers in Vietnam, best not to use the title of "district". There are no longer any official districts in Vietnam.

The area formerly known as District 2 in HCMC is now part of Thu Duc City.  Thu Duc City was inaugurated in late 2020 by amalgamating District 2, District 9, and the former Thu Duc District.

@Cheryl

Hi Cheryl, 3 big issues for me, fish eye lenses, the law re foreigners living here and ongoing commissions su- agents try to grab.

@Aidan in HCMC

THank you i'm new here on this forum