Cai Yingbo
A PROPERTY purchase club was established in Shenzhen yesterday to help expats find suitable accommodation.
The club, the first of its kind in the city, was jointly set up by the Shenzhen Daily, the Web site sznews.com and real-estate agency China United Real Estate Development.
The number of expatriates living and working in Shenzhen has increased markedly in recent years. Statistics released by police show that 17,316 expatriates from 115 countries live permanently in Shenzhen. With the number of expatriates increasing all the time, their demand for housing is also increasing. However, the language barrier is one of the major problems facing expatriates looking for an apartment.
As most real-estate agents in the city do not speak English, quite often expatriates have to seek help from local friends or colleagues when renting or buying a home. (Continued on Page 3)
and there have been cases of expatriates being cheated by crooked agents or landlords.
The Property Purchase Club for Expats, which was initiated by the Shenzhen Daily, will have English hotline numbers on leasing, purchase and sale of apartments, as well as questions about housing rules and laws.
Meanwhile, updated real estate information will be regularly published in the Shenzhen Daily and on sznews.com. China United has also hired 10 English-speaking agents to serve expatriates.
Speaking at the club’s opening ceremony yesterday afternoon, Zhang Jiayong, vice editor-in-chief of the Shenzhen Press Group, said as a platform providing services for expatriates, the club would play a significant role in providing property information.
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The ceremony was also attended by
a number of expatriates and journalists from more than 10 media organizations.
“I’ve been in Shenzhen for two years. I just rented a new apartment but I still can’t persuade myself to own a home because of the lack of housing information in English. I hope the club will help foreigners better understand housing rules and regulations, and facilitate the transaction,” said Canadian Martin Gosselin said at the ceremony.
Gosselin, 34, is not the only expat to have had difficulties in purchasing a home in Shenzhen. An Indian couple who have been living in Shenzhen for more than six years wrote an e-mail to the Shenzhen Daily, saying that as they had little confidence [IN WHAT?], they were still renting a house. However, they hoped to purchase a house in Futian District soon and wanted the club to help them realize their dream.
Information about how to apply for membership will be published soon in the Shenzhen Daily and on www.sznews.com. For more details, please refer to the Shenzhen Daily Web site (www.szdaily.com) and the Shenzhen news portal Web site (www.sznews.com).
China United’s hotline numbers are 8280-0763 and 8280-0967 while readers can also call Shenzhen Daily’s real-estate hotline numbers 8351-9914 and 13802272205.
