What to look for when buying a house in Taiwan?

[smirnoff]

I've been looking at a few places in my area and one place caught my eye. It's a new development in Aspire Park, Longtan and from the outside it looks great. The price is right, love the surroundings (big lawns, fitness centre, tea plantations, etc.) and it's the perfect place for my dogs. I did however notice that the walls on the upper floors look "wet" - the plaster looks like it's making "bubbles" and I'm thinking there might be a serious damp issue. When I asked the agent, she said they are aware of it and the walls will be fixed. There are about 20 houses in the development and quite a few of them are occupied, so those people either didn't notice it, got it fixed or don't care. I have heard that it is a very humid area and that most houses in the north of Taiwan have some issues with that. Looking for advice from the old hands on the board Buying a house is a huge step and I don't want to kick myself two years from now when the walls are caving in!

[Mick]

Theres a lot of different types, buying before the construction has began, finished but not lived in, second hand, auction house, flats in communities and houses and so on.

From what it sounds like yours is a house, built but never lived in before. I'll base my remarks on that basis.

It can be considered a wise investment to use a company like SGS , they will look over the entire property, electrical, plumbing and what is a point of particular concern to you waterproofing. You're concerns on the waterproofing are well founded, the last thing you want to do is decorate the property and then during a typhoon have it all ruined due to leakage.

If it is a "bare" property, you should remember or make allowance for significant expense in decorating and equipping it with air conditioning, especially on a house which has many floors.

Read the contract carefully, if its not in there and you just hear it from a sales person, it doesn't mean a thing, dont sign off on the contract until you are satisfied. Check to see how much you will pay for monthly charges for the community if it is one, and if there are public facilities any rights which you may "assume" make sure are detailed in black and white in your contract.

Negotiate for a good price, allow for up to 20% off the initial quoted price to be the acceptable range, at least 10% in any case. Look around other properties in the area to get a feel and use that as reference and during negotiations of price.

You will be expected to have at least 15~20% of the property price in cash. With the decoration costs, solicitor costs, tax ect, make sure you are well covered before you start the process.

Other than that, now is not a bad time at all to be buying in my opinion. Good luck and don't rush things.

[smirnoff]

Thanks for the reply Mick.

From what it sounds like yours is a house, built but never lived in before. I'll base my remarks on that basis.

Yes, it's brand new - It's about a year old.

It can be considered a wise investment to use a company like SGS , they will look over the entire property, electrical, plumbing and what is a point of particular concern to you waterproofing.

I'll give them a call and hear what they say. I assume it will cost a few dollars, so I'll get a quote from them first. One of my co-worker's dad is a builder and he offered to come and have a look.

Negotiate for a good price, allow for up to 20% off the initial quoted price to be the acceptable range, at least 10% in any case. Look around other properties in the area to get a feel and use that as reference and during negotiations of price.

The asking price was 7 million. Got it down to 6.5, but told the agent I'm not happy with the walls and it's making me very unsure about the place. She called me yesterday, saying the company will have a look at the walls and that she'll take 6.1. Not sure what to make of it.

Had a chat with a friend who told me that in very humid places, there's always issues with dampness. Could also be that the walls were painted before the concrete was dry.

I'm in no rush although I think it's the right time to buy. I think it's a great area, but will go back and ask some more questions.

[Incubus]

If the complex already has residents in it, I'd ring their doorbell and ask them what they think about the place. You might hear a different story than the one the agent has been telling you. Also, I'd avoid buying a place that faces north in northern Taiwan, as the northern facade of a building gets pounded by the wind and the rain all winter long.

[smirnoff]

There are quite a people living there and the guy across from the house I want to buy, has built the most amazing green house on his roof. He seems to be doing major decorations on the inside too. I'll go and ask him!

The house faces south-east if I'm not mistaken. The back balconies face north-west.

[TainanCowboy]

Smirnoff - (great SN btw)

I'd be looking very hard at this based on what you've discovered so far. You've already got the price down a million NT$ just by asking q's. Further investigation is warranted, IMO. And don;t overlook the electrical and plumbing side of things. Which I'm sure you will examine closely also.

Taiwan builders are famous (notorious) for using sand that has a high salt content. Salt dissolves in water, thus becoming very porous. Leaking walls, poor paint adhesion and "blisters" on walls due to this is very very common here.

I'd check other homes built by your builder at the same time in your development if possible. Chances are they are experiencing the same problems. See what they have done about it.
Also, the use of outsiders should help you in your decisions.

Good Luck!

[Incubus]

While the jury is still out on this, I would go up to the rooftop and check if the building has any cellular phone base stations at the top. You wouldn't want to live under those base stations and discover a tumor growing in your body after a few years, so better safe than sorry. I read that some cell phone operators hide the base stations behind billboards or fake air conditioning casings, so look carefully when you investigate.

[itakitez]

having just bought a mountain property I would also tag on a few other things

1. actually living in it -
i. do you need a car and if so, budget that in,
ii. do you have a garage included, it normally only adds 500,000 to the price, but more for your convenience (we dont have one and I really miss the "storage room") (renting one for us costs the same 1500 a month as if this was included in the mortgage (20*12*1500)

ii. if there's onstreet parking, did they leave enough space between houses for this? (in mine they didnt so when someone needs to turn into a garage the person opposite has to move their car


2. renovation costs
they really arent cheap - much better to buy something that ou think has 90-110% of what you need and remove what you dont want -

i. those greenhouses are expensive I looked into them and they are 500 per "chi" (30x30 cm square) from BnQ, ie, 8 ping costs about 50,000NT to cover

ii. how big are the rooms? are they flexible? What can you persieve needing them for?

iii. is there any built in storage? In humid environments you dont really want wardrobes against walls since the humidity condenses between the two - on that note, cheap wood "rots" very quickly and your new ikea bed will have white mold all over it, you need the real good quality stuff, preferably not pine and definitely not MDF/Laminates (water creeps between laminates and glue separates)

iv how well is the space designed? In ours we have about 8 ping of wasted space due to poor interior architecture

v. A/C - to deck our house out (60ping) we estimated over 200,000 NT

3. Watch out for

i. bathrooms, run the taps and pray water (or use a bucket on the floor) - where is the drain? in the wrong corner normally

ii. "sea-sand" - another guy mentioned this, its famous and there is a test for this untreated ocean sand has too much chlorine that reacts with the steel in the reinforced concrete and it rains cement after a few year (but I have been assured this practice ended 15years ago)

iii. building inspector can do the rest

4. VALUE

"a house is worth what someone will pay" - check out if it was built on a previous gravesite, murders in area or the like, these SLASH house prices quicker than freddy cruger, also since its so new, the first year is over so the building company no longer guarantees the work - ie, if the community area falls down its your problem, this reduces proies by about 10%

Be very careful with the villas, they are ALWAYS way over priced, my house originally sold for 10million and I paid about 33% of that 8 years later... thats some major negative equity on your books

We love our house still and are dead happy with it, but we paid 40,000 a ping, own the land and have expansion space, but leaving the city is a bit of a pain, some nights I just wanna meet up with mates for beers and stay until 2am, but thats not so practical

good luck with it, but like others have said, dont rush! houses should bottom out in oct/nov and mountain houses should be last to pick up anyway

[Rotalsnart]

We love our house still and are dead happy with it, but we paid 40,000 a ping, own the land and have expansion space, but leaving the city is a bit of a pain, some nights I just wanna meet up with mates for beers and stay until 2am, but thats not so practical

good luck with it, but like others have said, dont rush! houses should bottom out in oct/nov and mountain houses should be last to pick up anyway

Itakitez,

A lot of good advice in your e-mail. But your 40,000 a ping caught my eye -- is that for floor space? Seems way too cheap. What area is your place in? (Couldn't possibly be anywhere in greater Taipei at that price, or am I missing something here?)

[smirnoff]

Thank you for all the info and advice guys! I'm going back this weekend with my clipboard and check list

The house is 78 ping (the house - 55 ping) and at 6 million, I think it's a good buy. Some of the other places I've looked at in the same area go for 16 - 20 million! Of course they are much bigger and "grand".

do you need a car and if so, budget that in

Yes, I do need transportation from the complex, but only to the bus stop which is 5 minutes away.

do you have a garage included, it normally only adds 500,000 to the price, but more for your convenience (we dont have one and I really miss the "storage room") (renting one for us costs the same 1500 a month as if this was included in the mortgage (20*12*1500)

Yes, it has a single garage as well as a space in front of the house.

renovation costs they really arent cheap - much better to buy something that ou think has 90-110% of what you need and remove what you dont want

The house is about a year old, never been lived. I like the design and lay out of the house and the only thing I want to change is the garden. Not my style and I need to make it a space that my dogs will enjoy too.

how big are the rooms? are they flexible? What can you persieve needing them for?

They are a good size for my needs. No kids, so all the space will be mine! Kitchen, dining room, living room and a guest bathroom on the ground floor. Master bedroom, with huge walk-in closet, on the 1st floor. There's also a second bedroom. Both rooms have a small balcony. 2 rooms on the 2nd floor, both with balconies, as well as a big open area for what I think will be great for entertainment. I'll use one of the rooms as a study, another as a laundry room and maybe a 3rd one as a library/reading room (always wanted that )

is there any built in storage? In humid environments you dont really want wardrobes against walls since the humidity condenses between the two - on that note, cheap wood "rots" very quickly and your new ikea bed will have white mold all over it, you need the real good quality stuff, preferably not pine and definitely not MDF/Laminates (water creeps between laminates and glue separates)

No, there's no built in anything - guess that's where B&Q and IKEA make their money. I'm thinking of taking it one room at a time. I'm very concerned about the humidity and leaky walls, so that's why I'm checking that out very carefully.

A/C - to deck our house out (60ping) we estimated over 200,000 NT

Yeah, I counted about 8 spaces they've made for that! Not a huge fan of air conditioners, so just one in the bedroom and maybe another in 2 of the other rooms that will be used a lot.

bathrooms, run the taps and pray water (or use a bucket on the floor) - where is the drain? in the wrong corner normally

Will check it out. All the bathrooms have a tub & shower.

building inspector can do the rest

I'm taking Mick's advice and will get a pro to come and look at it before I make a final decision. Also have a great friend whose father is a builder and he'll have a look too.

a house is worth what someone will pay" - check out if it was built on a previous gravesite, murders in area or the like, these SLASH house prices quicker than freddy cruger, also since its so new, the first year is over so the building company no longer guarantees the work - ie, if the community area falls down its your problem, this reduces proies by about 10%

It's located in a really nice area - out of the city, but still close enough. The recreational facilities belong to Acer, but you are allowed to use it and the parks are public, so many people bring their kids and dogs to play over weekends. I do think I'll be able to sell it, but in Taiwan it's always a gamble.

Be very careful with the villas, they are ALWAYS way over priced, my house originally sold for 10million and I paid about 33% of that 8 years later... thats some major negative equity on your books

I also think this villa is over priced, but so are most of the places I've looked at.