The rental market that was "rectified" by the Spring Festival: after 00, the rent was withdrawn and the price was bargained, and the landlord returned again and again
The "Housing World" column aims to take the story of buying a house as the main line, and through the personal experience of the buyer, it describes the mental journey of the buyer to buy a house and the life changes and psychological changes before and after buying a house, so as to reflect the life of the current society.
As the Spring Festival approached, the landlords couldn't laugh.
Recently, "rent diving in first-tier cities" has become a hot topic. According to statistics, by the end of 2023, the rent index of the four first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen has all declined, with declines of 5.7%, 6.1%, 4.8%, and 5.2%, respectively.
Many tenants in first-tier cities have seized the trend of rent price reduction and quit the rent before the Spring Festival holiday to get their deposit back. I hope that the rent will be reduced again after the holiday, and at the same time, the rent will be reduced for one month.
Because most tenants have grasped the psychology of the current landlord - the rent has generally fallen, and many landlords are still paying the mortgage, if they do not reduce the rent, they are likely to face the embarrassment of long-term vacancy and a significant reduction in rental income.
This issue of Microstory tells the story of some young people who saw an opportunity in this wave of rent reductions:
Some of them took the initiative to negotiate with the landlord in an attempt to lower the rent;
Some directly rolled up the bunk and went home for the New Year, hoping to rush another wave of price reduction dividends after the year;
There are also people who completely escape from the first-tier cities with high rents and live a life of "facing the sea and blooming in spring" in the second-tier cities.
Here are the real stories about them:
Text | Chu Qiao
Edit | Excellence
The most "aggrieved" landlords in history
In Jiang Chen's opinion, he may be the most "aggrieved" one among the landlords.
At the beginning of 2017, after just a few years of work, with the help of her family, she "spent" more than 2 million yuan and purchased a small apartment located on Chaoyang North Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
is less than thirty years old, has a car and a house in Beijing, and Jiang Chen has become the envy of many "North Drifters" of the same age.
However, not long after getting the keys to the new home, the purchase restriction policy for commercial and residential projects in Beijing was introduced, and the commercial and residential apartments, including Jiang Chen's community, changed from coveted sweethearts to hot potatoes overnight. Housing prices have also fallen all the way, and even halved, and now even if it drops to more than one million, no one is willing to take over.
Figure | Exterior view of the community where Jiang Chen's apartment is located
At first, Jiang Chen had no intention of renting out the house, after all, it was her only real estate in Beijing, and she had always lived by herself. It wasn't until last year, when the company moved and the commute was too long, that she decided to rent out her nest.
Just after the Spring Festival in 2023, Jiang Chen confidently listed the apartment on the rental market. According to the usual rules, the demand for renting during this time is hot, and you can also rent at a good price.
Jiang Chen's apartment faces south, covers an area of about 50 square meters, and is exquisitely decorated. She set a psychological price of 4,500 yuan/month. Before 2023, with the situation of her house, this price is very competitive.
However, unexpectedly, the house was hung out for more than a month, and few people asked.
In desperation, she had to lower the price again and again, and finally entrusted it to the real estate agent at a unit price of 4,100 yuan/month, agreeing to pay the rent quarterly and giving her a one-month vacancy period.
Figure | Exterior view of the community where Jiang Chen's apartment is located
In the first quarter, the intermediary made the payment on time. But in the second quarter, the agent suddenly asked for a lower rent or would no longer pay for the property.
Although Jiang Chen has a one-year lease contract in her hand, she can't do anything in the face of the "second landlord's" backsliding. Jiang Chen understood that in the market environment at that time, if there was a stalemate, her house might be vacant for a long time, and she might not receive a penny.
Faced with the real estate agent who was working step by step, Jiang Chen chose to compromise and was forced to reduce the monthly rent by another 150 yuan to keep the rental agreement.
While Jiang Chen was aggrieved, Liu Gang, who was in the housing rental business, also felt helpless.
Liu Gang is an experienced real estate agent who has been in the industry for five or six years. His store was no more than 500 meters away from Jiang Chen's apartment. According to him, there are more than 2,000 houses in the community, of which more than 600 are vacant.
Figure | The interior corridor of the apartment, a bit like a hotel
"This is truly unprecedented. In the past, a south-facing single room, priced at 4,500 yuan a month, could be rented out quickly. Now, even if the price is reduced by a few hundred yuan, it is difficult to attract tenants. Other facing houses are even worse, some 50 square meters of north-facing single rooms, the price is 3,67, and they still can't be rented. ”
Liu Gang said that in the industry, this large-scale vacancy situation is called "fire", which means that the property that cannot be rented out is like "burning money":
"In previous years, small apartments were very popular in the rental market because of their high cost performance. However, in recent years, policy adjustments, housing prices have fallen, and those small apartments that cannot be sold have gradually flowed into the rental market, and the stock has been increasing, resulting in a continuous decline in rents. ”
Jiang Chen's apartment is located in the Changying business district east of the CBD, close to Caofang Station of Metro Line 6, and a ten-minute walk to Changying Tianjie. It is difficult to rent an apartment in a good location, and it is even more difficult to rent an apartment in a remote location.
Figure | Nearby Changying Tianjie business district
In the vicinity of Shunyi Airport, Ms. Fang has a commercial and residential apartment of about 50 square meters. Recently, it became clear to her that the small apartment in the undominant location has begun to be disliked by tenants.
A few years ago, when Ms. Fang first rented out the house, the monthly rent was 4,200 yuan. However, over time, the rent has also declined year by year and has now dropped to $3,700 per month.
Even so, the real estate agent also asked Ms. Fang to give Ms. Fang an additional rent-free period of about half a month on the basis of the original vacant time.
"For our landlords, the small apartment is a bit cramped to live in, and with the current property market price, it is a loss to sell it. Therefore, renting is a relatively economical way. But now, rents have also dropped. Ms. Fang sighed.
Not only to deal with the changes in the property market, but also to play with real estate agents and tenants, it seems that the current landlord is not easy to be.
The era of "charter wife" seems to be really gone.
The post-00s "rectified" the rental market
While landlords are worried about the decline in rents, a group of young people who have "rectified" their careers are also quietly changing the traditional rental ecology.
On Xiaohongshu, notes on how to find a cost-effective property and how to negotiate a rent reduction with a landlord have been popular among many young people.
A note of "a very perverted, but you can rent a favorite house" has more than 5,000 likes, more than 5,000 favorites, and hundreds of comments.
These notes not only provide detailed tips for renting, but also illustrate young people's attitudes towards the rental market: they are no longer satisfied with passive acceptance, but take the initiative to maximize their rights.
Figure | Notes on Xiaohongshu for bargaining with the landlord
"My dad also did 'North Drifting' when he was young, and I heard him say that he was bullied by the landlord when renting a house, such as a sudden increase in rent, not repairing things that are broken, and withholding deposits from time to time. Their generation seems to be relatively honest, and they don't dare to resist when they encounter black-hearted landlords. I won't, and if I encounter someone looking for trouble, I will definitely find a way to deal with them. Xiao Pan, who just graduated from college, said.
Xiao Pan came to Beijing from Hebei at the end of November 2023. Because he didn't want to be "cut leeks" by an intermediary, he set his sights on the electric pole on the side of the road, and finally rented a south-facing second bedroom in the three bedrooms at a price of 2,100 yuan/month.
Talking about the process of bargaining, Xiao Pan said: "The original asking price was 2,300, and I had to bet one and pay three. But at my insistence, the landlord agreed to lower the price and was able to pay one for one. There were few people renting a house a year ago, and now the market is not good, if he doesn't rent it to me at a lower price, the house will be empty, and it is he who loses. Renting a house is a transaction in itself, and there is no shame in bargaining for the sake of value for money. ”
In the traditional rental market, tenants are more likely to passively accept the terms offered by landlords, but now, the contract between young people and homeowners seems to be more balanced and healthy, and the balance is tilting.
Now, Xiao Pan has settled down in Beijing. For him, the small bedroom with the bay window was not only a safe place to live, but also the starting point for a fresh start in the big city.
When Xiao Pan settled in Beijing, Xiao Chen, who came to Beijing a few years before him, was packing his luggage and preparing to return to his hometown.
A month ago, Xiao Chen just lost his job, and the house expired in early January. Xiao Chen also thought about changing the rent before the New Year, but thinking that the house was empty when he went home for the New Year, and it was not cost-effective to pay the rent, he decided to go back to his hometown first and then look for a house after the New Year.
"Now the rent has dropped quite sharply, and the year before is not a good time to find a job, rather than spending in Beijing, it is better to go home early for the New Year, maybe there will be another wave of drops after the year." Xiao Chen said.
There are many young people like Xiao Chen who quit the rent early and went home for the New Year.
The drop in rents is a big blow to many landlords who rely on rent to make ends meet and repay their loans. At the same time, the pattern of the rental market is also changing due to the influx of rental housing. However, this is good news for younger tenants.
Lower rents mean it's easier for them to find affordable properties, reduce rental costs, and better plan their lives and careers.
In addition, as the market changes, some landlords may be willing to make certain compromises in terms of rent and lease terms, which also creates favorable conditions for equal communication and negotiation between young people and landlords.
It doesn't matter whose house you have, but how you live at a good price is the most important
Like Xiao Chen, there is also CIFI who has returned to his hometown.
However, Xiao Chen planned to return to Beijing after the year, but CIFI said goodbye to Beijing completely.
During the time of renting an apartment in Beijing, CIFI felt like a migratory bird, forced by the pressure of rent, flying from the East Fifth Ring Road to the West Fifth Ring Road, always looking for a place to live outside the Fifth Ring Road.
He lived in the city for three or four years, but he always kept a distance from the legendary prosperity.
CIFI, which has a monthly salary of more than 10,000 yuan, is also a leader among its peers, but in the face of high rents, it always feels stretched. When it came time to pay the rent at the end of the quarter, he would feel a pain in his flesh, and the pressure of surviving in the big city had completely insulated him from comfort.
With the support of his parents, CIFI left Beijing and returned to Qingdao, where he soon found a good job.
Figure | Qingdao photographed by CIFI
He rented a two-bedroom apartment of more than 80 square meters near the company at a monthly rent of less than 2,000 yuan, although the house is not close to the sea, but only a few subway stops, you can blow the sea breeze, and it can be regarded as the freedom to see the sea.
"Renting is not just about choosing a place to live, it's also about choosing a lifestyle that belongs to you, and I don't want to waste my youth in a small rental house in a big city. CIFI said.
Compared with the post-70s and post-80s, the post-90s and post-00s are more concerned about the comfort and happiness of living. Back then, the idea of the post-70s and post-80s generations wanting to stay in Beijing and take root even if they lived in a dark basement was rare among young people today.
According to a media survey, when asked what are the factors that affect happiness, young people answered high rents.
In the bustling city of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, high rents are the shackles that this generation of young people most want to remove. They would rather spend a lot of money in a nightclub and pay for a meal or a glass of wine than give their hard-earned money to their landlord.
Poetry and distance, rather than what is in front of them, is how they live their lives differently from those of the previous generation.
It is precisely for this reason that many young people choose to flee Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and run to the arms of second-tier cities. On the surface, this is a geographical migration, but in reality it is a change in lifestyle and living concepts.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2023, the net population outflow of the four first-tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be 136,000, 342,000, 89,000 and 111,000, respectively.
Among them, a considerable number of them are young people in their twenties and thirties.
But this does not mean that young people tend to "lie flat". In fact, while pursuing a quality life, they also have the dream of "making a fortune".
Xiaozhen, who quit the lease early and returned to his hometown for the New Year, did not simply eat, drink and have fun, but made money on the spot, and went to the market with his cousin to set up a stall to sell New Year's goods.
"I hope that rents will come down even lower after the year, but who knows? Instead of waiting for the unknown cheap, it is better to make money steadily. Xiao Chen said.
(At the request of the interviewee, the names of the people in the article have been changed)