The Do’s and Don’ts of Renting in Saigon

When renting a house or an apartment laws and expectations vary greatly between countries and, often enough, between cities. Knowing your rights and what to expect can keep you from embarrassment or regret. Nobody wants to sign a one-year lease and find out a month later that they’ve settled for less than they should. That’s why we’re going to cover some basics of the hunt that you’ll need to make your new home in Saigon a happy one from day one.



The Agent

While internet searches will seemingly yield many options, the rental sites are rather poor at updating their listings with new places and removing the ones that are sold. To illustrate my point, this is a listing for where I live now:

http://vnrental.com/apartment/district-5/very-nice-apartment-for-rent-in-dist--5--phuc-thinh-building/385_en-US.aspx

You’ll need to contact an agent, or better yet contact several. Make sure you tell them what you’re looking for, where you want to live and how much you can pay. There are two types of agents: The one that tries to get concessions from you and the one that tries and gets concessions from the landlord. The latter is ideal but the former is more likely. The agent’s commission is equal to one month’s rent (which comes from the landlord), so if you want to pay less you are also asking the agent to make less. If you don’t mind a bit of underhandedness you can always offer the agent a financial incentive to put your interests first. Fifty dollars off the rent for you, fifty dollars to the agent, no difference to him, big difference to you.

The Apartment

So your agent takes you to see several places, most of which are going to be miserable, and you finally find a place that you like. HOLD IT, don’t sign that lease yet. Take a close look around, because you’re going to be stuck with this place for at least the next year. One common mistake made by newcomers is that they believe renting in Saigon is a take-it-or-leave-it affair, but that’s not the case. If you want something added or removed from the place don’t be afraid to ask. If it’s something big, like an extra air conditioner, they might just ask for more money. Some things that I have asked for and gotten from the landlord: a DVD player, an extra wardrobe, a fan and the removal of an extra bed. Other places that I’ve looked at the landlords had agreed to buying new furniture, TV and installing a glass screen for the shower in an otherwise wet bathroom. So when you are looking at that next apartment or house ask yourself, “What would make this place PEFECT?” and then negotiate with the landlord.

The Lease

Generally you’ll be signing a lease for one year and paying a two-month deposit. This is standard, although you may be able to negotiate a shorter commitment if the market is bad. Most features of the lease are fixed and non-negotiable except, of course, the rent. You will have noticed on your hunt that most houses and apartments have their rent listed in US Dollars. If you’re earning a salary in Dong, like myself, then you may want to get the lease converted into Dong as well. Why? Most landlords will want you to pay the black market rate every month and not the bank rate that you are probably making. Suddenly that $600 place you wanted has turned into a $625 place. With the rising inflation rate (10.5% in 2010) your rent is only going to get worse. However, if you set your lease to VND then your rent will actually be less at the end of the contract than it was at the beginning (N.B. the official exchange rate is expected to go up sometime after Tet). Often times the agent will let you know ahead of time if the price can be brought down, but if they don’t mention it then you should. Have you been saving your money? If so then you may try to tempt the landlord with an offer of paying the entire year at once if they lower the rent. They may just be tempted by that lump sum while in the big picture you will be the winner.

The Lessee

That’s you. While it’s important to be assertive you also have to come off as friendly and likable. The landlord is going to ask themselves whether or not they want to deal with you for a year. Be firm but friendly, you want the next year to be a positive relationship as well. Neither of you should have regrets.

Ultimately, there will be chumps out there who will take whatever is offered without negotiations. The more people like that the landlords deal with, the less likely they’ll be to make compromises when a confident tenant comes along. When you educate newcomers to the city, you are doing yourself a favour as well. An informed populace is a happy one.