Category: Money & Finance

Property valuation in Vietnam: A Guide for Foreign Buyers

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This article is a part of the Real Estate 101 series by Homebase, a leading PropTech company that provides a more flexible alternative to mortgages for foreigners in Vietnam, and is co-created with their team.

In recent years, the Vietnamese real estate market has grown rapidly and attracted foreign investment. Transactions are in the millions of dollars per unit, making Vietnam an appealing place to live and invest.

As a potential property buyer, it’s important that you can recognize a good deal when you see one. An important question to ask, though: What are the most useful property valuation methods in the market?

As you browse property listings, you’ll encounter many shapes and sizes with potentially varied prices. By using the methods we recommend in this article, you can better estimate the value of these assets and have a higher chance for a good deal.

Today, we review what real estate evaluation is and explain seven core methods when evaluating properties.

What is real estate valuation?

In short, real estate valuation is the gathering, analysis, and assessment of information and data to evaluate the worth of real estate. Continue reading Property valuation in Vietnam: A Guide for Foreign Buyers

How to Get a Property Loan in Vietnam: Foreign Buyer’s Guide

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Do you plan to buy property in Vietnam?
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Vietnam’s property market is hot and massive infrastructural projects are planned in places like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The new metro lines and other investments help to drive up the property prices, rental yields can range up to double digits.

Investors sometimes ask me whether it’s possible to receive local financing to buy property in Vietnam.

I decided to do more research and write this article, where I explain how to finance your property in Vietnam as a foreigner.

In short, it’s difficult to own property in Vietnam and impossible to own land without Vietnamese citizenship.

But here’s the good news: Even when foreign ownership is not favored, you can still get property financing through several emerging real estate companies that offer a better alternative.

There are several alternatives to home financing in Southeast Asia that provide a different route to loans and financing at the moment. Perhaps the market leader is Homebase, a leading Southeast Asia Proptech company that offers services in Vietnam. Continue reading How to Get a Property Loan in Vietnam: Foreign Buyer’s Guide

Top 8 Furniture Stores in Bangkok: An Overview

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Do you plan to buy property in Thailand?
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Bangkok is the most-visited city in the world and many foreigners live here temporarily or permanently. Property investors also see the need to purchase furniture for their units, no matter if they rent out or live in them.

In this article, we list some of the most popular furniture brands in Bangkok, explaining their history, products, and locations. Let’s start with one of the largest ones.

1. IKEA

IKEA needs no lengthy introduction as most people have visited any of its outlets globally. The concept is the same as elsewhere with the same assortment and inexpensive food and Swedish food products available. Continue reading Top 8 Furniture Stores in Bangkok: An Overview

Top 8 Furniture Stores in Hanoi: An Overview

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Do you plan to buy property in Vietnam?
Click here to get in touch with an experienced agent

Finding furniture stores that suit foreigners’ tastes is not an easy task for real estate buyers in Hanoi.

While Vietnam is a large producer of wooden products and furniture, the Vietnamese have traditionally gone to individual furniture stores, markets, or turned to local brands.

With that said, there are a handful of international stores available in Hanoi, and that primarily comes from Denmark.

It’s not strange, as increasingly more locals and foreigners look for products with a modern touch and simplistic style.

In this article, we list the top furniture stores in Hanoi, explaining their history, what products they offer, and their addresses.

1. BoConcept

BoConcept is a premium Danish furniture company that offers modern and unique products with a Scandinavian design. Continue reading Top 8 Furniture Stores in Hanoi: An Overview

How to Buy Industrial Real Estate in Vietnam: Foreign Investor’s Guide

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Vietnam captures many headlines as it’s becoming increasingly popular for foreign manufacturing companies. However, A prevailing issue is that many foreigners are unaware of ownership regulations and the industrial property market in general.

Due to the limited information available, there’s a general lack of knowledge that is much required before a market entry. In this article, I explain how you can invest in industrial real estate and warehouses in Vietnam.

Topics covered:

  • Can foreigners buy industrial real estate in Vietnam?
  • Vietnam’s Industrial Property Market
  • Vietnam Free Trade Agreements
  • Industrial Clusters in Vietnam
  • How can I find industrial buildings for sale?
  • Taxes

Can foreigners buy industrial real estate in Vietnam?

Vietnam has strict property ownership regulations compared to neighboring countries like Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Continue reading How to Buy Industrial Real Estate in Vietnam: Foreign Investor’s Guide

Investing in Malaysia REITs: The Ultimate Guide

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Malaysia has one of the most developed REIT markets in Asia where most are centered around Kuala Lumpur.

At the moment, there are 18 REITs listed on the stock exchange in Malaysia that have attracted many local and foreign investors in the past years.

In this article, we review how you can invest in Malaysian REITs and why this type of asset has become increasingly popular. This is not only the case in Malaysia but in Thailand, Australia, and Vietnam.

Topics covered in this article:

  • Can foreigners buy REITs in Malaysia?
  • The Process to Buy REITs in Malaysia
  • What are the benefits of buying REITs in Malaysia?
  • List of REITs in Malaysia

Can foreigners buy REITs in Malaysia?

Foreigners have no particular restrictions on buying REITs or other securities in Malaysia. Continue reading Investing in Malaysia REITs: The Ultimate Guide

Investing in Japan REITs: The Ultimate Guide

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Japan introduced its REIT market in 2001 which is now the second-biggest in the world, worth around USD 120 billion.

In 2019, Japan’s REIT market reached a 12-year high but was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) REIT Index saw a decline of almost 50% as investors pulled out.

With that said, many trusts have performed well in the past years and until the beginning of 2020. As the Japan REIT market has gained increasingly more interest in previous years, I decided to write this article.

Topics covered:

  • Can foreigners buy REITs in Japan?
  • How can I invest in REITs in Japan?
  • Trading Japanese REITs Through an International Broker
  • What are the benefits of buying Japan REITs?
  • List of REITs in Japan

Can foreigners buy REITs in Japan?

Foreigners have no particular issues to invest in REITs or stocks and participate in the Japanese stock market. Continue reading Investing in Japan REITs: The Ultimate Guide

Investing in Thailand REITs: A Complete Guide

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Thailand has a comparatively developed REIT market and introduced its first REIT in 2014. Here, you’ll not only find REITs that solely invest in domestic real estate but also REITs with properties overseas.

If you invested in property in Thailand or other Southeast Asian countries, you’re probably aware of the obstacles that foreigners come across.

Not only are there restrictions to foreign ownership, but sometimes to the value of the unit, your residential status, and the list goes on.

Even if it’s fairly straight-forward to buy condominiums and you can get hold of freehold property in Thailand, you should not overlook the benefits of investing in REITs.

Topics covered in this article:

  • Can foreigners buy REITs in Thailand?
  • How can I start buying REIT units in Thailand?
  • Requirements to set up and run a REIT
  • What are the benefits of buying REITs in Thailand?
  • List of REITs in Thailand

Can foreigners buy REITs in Thailand?

Investing in REITs in Thailand is similar to other Asian countries, like Vietnam. The first thing you need is a brokerage account and it’s preferable to work with a local broker. Continue reading Investing in Thailand REITs: A Complete Guide

Investing in Australia REITs: A Complete Guide

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Australia has one of the most transparent, developed, and refined REITs markets in the world. With its first REIT introduced in 1971, it was only behind the US, Taiwan ROC, and New Zealand to introduce REITs.

Nowadays, around two-thirds of all institutional-grade properties are publicly offered on the stock exchange and securitized, the highest rate in the world.

Some of the REITs are known for performing significantly well and a few years back investors could enjoy increases of 10% annually.

Even if A-REITs are frequently mentioned in the media and can be lucrative investments, there’s limited information online on how you can start investing in the trusts as a foreigner.

Topics covered in this article:

  • Can foreigners buy REITs in Australia?
  • Foreign Institutional Investments in REITs
  • How can I invest in REITs in Australia?
  • What are the benefits of buying Australian REITs?
  • List of Australian REITs

Can foreigners buy REITs in Australia?

Publicly traded A-REITs are often listed on major stock exchanges and can be bought with the help of brokers. It’s as simple as that. Continue reading Investing in Australia REITs: A Complete Guide

Investing in Vietnam REITs: A Complete Guide

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Do you plan to buy property in Vietnam?
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Even if Vietnam has emerged as one of the most interesting countries for real estate investments, the buying process can be tedious and complex.

In 2019, projects were put on hold for almost a year and foreigners decided to pull out, being refunded their deposits.

Also, did you know for example that foreigners sometimes pay higher prices than locals, due to the quota of 30% imposed on foreign ownership?

Naturally, if you pay a higher price than a local, you’ll generally suffer from a lower yield and capital gain. That’s simple logic. Fortunately, there’s another way of investing in Vietnam’s real estate market, namely through so-called Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

In this article, we review the REITs available in Vietnam, and if there are any foreign REITs with Vietnam real estate under their portfolio.

Topics covered in this article:

  • Can foreigners buy REITs in Vietnam?
  • How can I invest in REITs in Vietnam?
  • What is REIF?
  • What are the benefits of buying REITs in Vietnam?
  • REITs Available in Vietnam
  • Are there any foreign REITs that own Vietnam real estate?

Continue reading Investing in Vietnam REITs: A Complete Guide