Nowadays, the vacancy rate of real estate in China has remained high, with the vacancy rate of first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen reaching 20-25%, while the vacancy rate of second- and third-tier cities reaching 25%-30%. As a result, many people have raised the question of why there are so many houses that are vacant, neither rented nor sold, and isn't this a waste of social resources?
So, why would someone prefer a vacant house rather than rent it out, is it stupid or smart? For this, we think there are five main reasons:
First, the rent is far less than the cost
Nowadays, although many people have several houses in their hands, these houses are either rough houses or old houses that have been renovated for more than ten years. It's impossible to rent out a house like this. At the very least, the house should be lightly renovated and equipped with some furniture and appliances so that it can be rented out.
In this way, the landlord will have to invest tens of thousands of dollars. Many landlords feel that the rental income is not enough to cover the cost of decoration and furnishing furniture and appliances, and it is better to keep it empty, so as to save more money.
Second, there is a fear that the house will be destroyed
The quality of today's tenants is uneven, and some landlords are reluctant to rent out their houses, mainly because they are worried that tenants will destroy their houses. For example, some tenants have pets, and pets often scratch and break the sofa or furniture provided by the landlord. In addition, some landlords reported that they had only rented out the house for about 2 years, and their floors had been warped, and they had to spend money to lay them again. My uncle had an old house with two bedrooms and one living room in Meilong, Shanghai, and when the lease expired, the tenant took a lot of his things. Since then, he has been reluctant to rent out his house.
Third, there is a fear that the tenant will get into trouble
The reason why some landlords are reluctant to rent out the house is mainly because they are afraid that the tenant has done illegal and criminal things in the rental house, and the landlord himself will be implicated. A few years ago, a landlord once told me that he rented out a 126-square-meter house in his name and got a good rental return.
However, the tenant started the business of the chess and card room in the landlord's house, not only disturbing the people, but also doing some illegal things such as gambling. In the end, the landlord said that he would rather leave the house vacant than rent it out.
Fourth, the preservation of the value of the property
There are some landlords who have already renovated their houses well, and they want to wait for the price to rise sharply before they sell. If the landlord rents out the house and the tenant lives in it, it will always affect the original decoration of the house, and it will be difficult for the landlord to sell the house at a good price. So, like this, the landlord just wants to leave the house empty and sell it for a good price in the future, and he doesn't care how much rent he can get each month.
Fifth, there are other considerations
Some landlords want to buy a house mainly for living, not for speculation. There is also a reason why they want to leave the house vacant for a long time. Some landlords used to work here, so they bought a house here, and then the place of work changed to another area, so the house here can only be temporarily vacant. There are also some landlords, because they are worried that housing prices will continue to rise in the future, so they buy houses for their minor children early. In view of the young age of the children, the house can only be left vacant for future use.
Now there is a strange phenomenon in society, that is, many landlords would rather have an empty house than rent it. The main reasons are summarized in the above 5 reasons. In fact, leaving the house empty is also a waste of social resources. Therefore, in this case, there will be a situation where although there is a surplus of houses, but the price of housing is still high. Therefore, it is still recommended that the state levy a property tax on houses with more than two homes, so that the landlord can be forced to dispose of the excess houses, so that the vacant houses can be better used.