When most people hoping to buy or sell second-hand houses are
worrying about fraud committed by property agents seeking high
commissions, people in Nanjing are finding a safe and cheap
alternative.
The 600-square-meter exchange space, which opened in Jiangsu
Province's capital city on Tuesday, is the first housing market
where people buy and sell second-hand houses without dealing with
property agents.
"We make sure that the housing information published in our
exchange market is 100 percent true," said Fan Yijun, manager of
the exchange market. "The only fee that they need to pay for the
services provided by the market is 800 yuan (US$100)."
That is much less than the 1.4 percent commission charged by
property agencies in Nanjing.
The market, located in Zhongyangmen, the northern part of the
city, opens 60 service windows for clients to help them with five
key services the check of property rights, guidance in signing
contracts, property right certificate transactions, mortgage and
loan requests and property management transfers.
The market, under the direct leadership of the Nanjing municipal
government, uses professionals to guard against "problems with
housing information." Such problems often deal with houses closed
down by juridical decree, houses without the clearance of mortgages
or houses on the waiting list to be demolished by the
government.
The market's first day saw five transactions and more than 600
home owners expressed interest in using the market to sell their
properties.
The purpose of providing this new service for the second-hand
market is to avoid property agent malpractice, Fan told China
Daily.
It is common for some property agents, especially in small
agencies, to overcharge commission, offer false housing information
and overcharge buyers while pocketing the difference, Fan said.
It causes more and more people to avoid hiring property agents
when they want to trade on a house, but on the other side of the
coin, some people would feel unsafe to trade on a house
directly.
"It's the right time for the birth of this new type of
transaction," Fan said.
After both sides agree to the negotiated prices, they can choose
to trust the market to complete procedures such as applying for
loans and mortgages from banks and transferring the property
rights, which costs 800 yuan, or they can handle it themselves.
Meanwhile, the market has integrated nearly all of the necessary
resources. It has two service counters from banks to deal with the
mortgage and loan, two guarantors who offer credit reports to
banks, two legal firms and two notaries public.
"Unlike property agents, we don't need to step out of this
exchange market and can finish the whole transaction within it,"
Fang said.
Though Fan told China Daily that this new exchange market
will stand for a long time in Nanjing and will become popular among
people, some property analysts do not believe this new model will
shock the foundation of the existing property agencies.
"Most of the large property agencies leave no room for their
employees to adopt malpractice," said Zhang Tao, a senior analyst
with Shanghai Centaline Property Agency Ltd.
(China Daily June 23, 2006)