Villa
Like all other metropolitan cities, properties available in Ho Chi Minh include townhouses, semi-detached houses and fully detached houses which are often generally referred to as “Villas”. Villas often come with their own yard, parking space and sometimes with own private swimming pool.
Ho Chi Minh counts with a wide range of villa compounds, mainly in suburban districts such as Thu Duc & District 7.
Serviced Apartment
Serviced apartments are generally managed by the developer itself or an asset management company, providing a higher standard of service and usually priced much higher but with many items already included in the rental price. The facilities and services provided are similar to hotels which can usually be flexible in leasing terms, provide bedding, kitchenware, hotline call service, etc. Many service apartments are wholly owned by the developer and have a 24 hr onsite service and reception area. Serviced apartments owned by asset management companies are usually not wholly owned by the developer and therefore don’t include the same comprehensive services.
Apartment
Apartments which are owned by individuals may not have all the services and amenities of the company managed service apartments, but the rental price is typically significantly lower and the decoration may vary from property to property. Nowadays many asset management companies rent apartments that are uniquely designed and maintained by their team, so the repair service will be available 24/7.
Some popular residential apartments amongs expats include: Masteri Thao Dien, Masteri An Phu, Feliz en Vista, Diamond Island, Gateway Thao Dien, Vista Verde, and most recently the likes of Empire City & Metropole.
Lane House
All across the city, you will be able to find plenty of “old” lane houses on the road. Most of these properties have been renovated and have charming characteristics and fantastic qualities. These older properties obviously have much older infrastructural capabilities than some newer units, including older water drainage systems and electrical wiring that can be problematic. That being said though, these older properties are highly sought out by expats and the majority of them have been renovated to a very high standard.
Ownership of Properties
All properties available for rent to expats in Ho Chi Minh are owned either by individual landlords or developers. It is common that the price for an identical unit in the same compound may vary quite a lot as landlords may use a completely different grade of materials and furnishings. Properties owned by individual landlords generally tend to cost approximately 5-20% less than those owned by developers. One reason for this may be that the decoration and furniture in the property owned by the individual landlord is often now as high quality as those purchased by a good developer. This is not always the case, but it is very common. Properties which developers have invested in will be designed and decorated by professionals. Another reason is that individual landlords usually provide fewer services to the residents as compared to developers who have a whole team providing 24 hour service.