Shanghai’s talent apartments have lower rental prices compared to traditional rental housing. Recently, the phenomenon of some real estate agents “flipping” talent apartments has been exposed, with signs of this practice spreading. After being “flipped,” young people are forced to pay extra fees in order to rent a talent apartment.
Some real estate agents take advantage of the “information gap” among young people coming to Shanghai, turning the talent apartments into their own listings on major rental platforms.
According to a report by Shangguan News on June 17th, at the beginning of June, Xiao Tang, who was about to graduate from a university in Shanghai, needed to quickly find a place to live after leaving campus. Considering an internship in Pudong New Area, she wanted to rent a place nearby and started searching for listings on the rental platform “Anjuke”.
After browsing, Xiao Tang chose a rental unit priced at 1800 yuan per month, located at “3398 Sanlu Road”, described as a well-renovated “ordinary residential” unit listed by a real estate agency named “Yongjiang Real Estate”.
Through the platform, Xiao Tang quickly added a realtor named Xiao’s WeChat. On June 8th, Xiao arranged for Xiao Tang to visit the property at 3398 Sanlu Road. According to Xiao Tang, it was a science and technology innovation park with a talent apartment called “Magic Apartment” in Pudong New Area, the apartment Xiao showed her was located inside the complex.
After a tour, Xiao Tang quickly took a liking to a 25-square-meter “Loft” apartment on the 3rd floor, which was offered by the realtor at a monthly rent of 2680 yuan.
“If you are satisfied, you should make a decision quickly, or it might be gone soon.” “We have a partnership with the apartment. Our clients can enjoy a promotion where 1000 yuan can be deducted from a 3000 yuan rent.”… Under Xiao’s persuasion, Xiao Tang immediately transferred 1000 yuan as a deposit to Xiao’s personal account, securing the apartment she liked, with plans to sign the agreement officially in a couple of days.
However, Xiao Tang began to feel something was amiss and returned to the “Magic Apartment” alone on June 9th. It was then she learned from the concierge downstairs that the apartment management had not received her deposit and had not reserved any unit for her.
The concierge advised Xiao Tang that she could directly contact the apartment management to rent a unit, without the need for a realtor, as the prices would be the same. “You can’t trust real estate agents. For example, promotional activities are uniform, available to anyone.”
Feeling deceived, Xiao Tang confronted Xiao and requested a refund of the deposit, but Xiao refused, citing that the deposit was non-refundable and it was the realtor’s commission. According to Xiao, in order for Xiao Tang to get her deposit back, she must rent the apartment through the realtor, but she would have to pay 50% of the monthly rent, which is 1340 yuan, as the commission; otherwise, she would lose her deposit.
On June 12th, Shangguan News reporters contacted the realtor Xiao to arrange to view rental properties. The experience was similar to Xiao Tang’s.
Upon entering the apartment, Xiao skillfully obtained an access card to activate the elevator at the front desk. Xiao was also proficient in inputting codes to unlock password-protected doors…
The realtors profiting from flipping talent apartments, do the apartment management know about this practice? Do they have any form of cooperation?
After viewing the property, Xiao stood in front of the talent apartment, preventing Shangguan News reporters from contacting the management independently…
Not only “Yongjiang Real Estate” but also other agencies are actively involved in showing and charging commissions at the “Magic Apartment”. Searching for listings at the address “3398 Sanlu Road” on the platform yielded a total of 37 properties. Upon checking, a total of 12 agencies were found to have listed properties at this address.
The operators of the “Magic Apartment,” in response to inquiries from mainland media, denied having any cooperation with any real estate agencies, stating that they had only commissioned two distribution companies to help promote and rent out the apartment units.
Reportedly, after talent apartment units are “layered and subcontracted,” each rented unit earns a commission for the distribution company from the apartment manager. The real estate agents, on the other hand, try to profit from tenants, ultimately leading to lower vacancy rates for the apartment management, allowing real estate agents to freely operate inside the complex.