Le Minh Quoc, a real estate broker in Hoang Mai district (Hanoi), expressed his frustration as he recounted his story of leading many customers to view and purchase a house in an alley on Minh Khai Street (Hai Ba Trung district) only to be unexpectedly deceived by the homeowner who decided not to sell.
According to Quoc, at the beginning of February, the homeowner asked his office to list a 55m2, 5-story house for sale at a price of 8.5 billion VND.
“Considering the prime location, auspicious Feng Shui, and reasonable price, I recommended it to several clients who were looking for a place to live,” said Quoc.
Within a month, out of more than a dozen potential buyers who came to visit, a couple from Nam Dinh agreed to purchase the house for their son studying in Hanoi for 8.2 billion VND. This was the highest offer among all the customers and close to the asking price set by the homeowner. The buyers agreed to pay a deposit of 500 million VND and complete the full payment and paperwork within 20 days.
However, just as the deal was nearing completion, the homeowner suddenly announced that they would not accept the deposit because they wanted to “wait for the real estate prices to further increase.”
“The homeowner stated that to sell the house immediately, the price had to be 9.2 billion VND, which was 1 billion VND higher than the original asking price. Not only were the buyers shocked by the new price, but even real estate agents like us also felt aggrieved,” Quoc explained.
“It seems that due to the large number of visitors and a quick decision, the homeowner had second thoughts. They also noticed the positive signs in the market and wanted to raise the price. The homeowner’s unexpected change of heart forced me to apologize to the customers repeatedly, and I even faced suspicion and blame from both the buyers and the homeowner,” Quoc continued.
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A similar situation occurred to Nguyen Thanh Huy from Ha Nam. Starting from the beginning of March 2022, a homeowner asked Huy’s agency to sell a plot of land measuring 108m2 near Viet Duc 2 Hospital (Phu Ly City).
“The land faces south, has a beautiful frontage of 8 meters, and the desired price was 25 million VND per square meter. However, even after more than 2 years of advertising and promotion on social media platforms, we didn’t receive any inquiries,” Huy said.
In early 2024, as the land market showed positive signs, several potential buyers expressed interest. Huy contacted the landowner multiple times and agreed to a selling price of 22 million VND per square meter.
“After the buyer agreed to the price and the deal was sealed, my agency proactively arranged a 7-seater car to pick up the buyers from Phu Ly to meet the landowner in Hanoi to complete the transaction and pay the deposit. However, when the parties met, the landowner suddenly demanded an additional 3 million VND per square meter. It was a waste of time, as I had to spend half a day with the clients, only to be deceived. I even had to pay nearly a million VND for the transportation expenses,” Huy recalled.
Tran Thanh Hai, another broker from Thanh Tri (Hanoi), shared a similar story. He said that cases where the homeowner changed their mind and withdrew the property from the market were not uncommon recently, especially since the beginning of February when the real estate market started to heat up and bank interest rates dropped significantly, leading many investors to turn to real estate.
Hai himself had experienced such a situation. At the end of December 2023, his agency received information that a customer urgently needed to sell a townhouse, with a market price at the time of around 15 billion VND. However, due to the homeowner’s need for liquidity, they wanted to sell at a loss for only 12 billion VND.
“Although the price of 12 billion VND was not easy to find a buyer willing to purchase, it was still sellable. After showing the property to several potential buyers and agreeing on a price, at the stage of payment and completing the paperwork, the homeowner suddenly declared that they would not sell. They said they had managed to secure some money to repay their debt and wanted to wait for the market to become more active before selling. All the effort I put into bringing the buyers was in vain,” said Hai disappointedly.
According to experts, the real estate market is showing positive signs, and the price cuts are no longer as significant. Therefore, the phenomenon of homeowners changing their minds and waiting for prices to rise is not rare at this time.
Real estate market gets active again, many brokers are disappointed. (Illustrative image)
“When the market shows signs of recovery, investors listen and try to sell at close to market prices, avoiding deep losses. As a result, many homeowners are no longer selling at their initial price and are waiting for better offers or they no longer sell because they already have the cash flow,” explained Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association.
According to lawyer Nguyen Doan Hong, Director of the Da Nang International Law Company, this is a common situation in real estate transactions.
Legally, there is no solution to handle this situation because there is no formal documentation or commitment in the transaction. If the parties have already received money and signed a deposit contract, administrative sanctions can be applied, and the broker can claim a commission according to the agreement. However, if the parties only communicate verbally, there are no legal consequences.
“A piece of land can be entrusted to various brokers and real estate agencies. Therefore, before engaging in the transaction, the agencies or brokers should sign an exclusive sales agreement with a certain price range and a specific duration. With a contract in place, even if the homeowner changes their mind, there is enough basis to file a lawsuit,” advised lawyer Hong.
