I don’t read Chinese well at all and would like to know the following please,
Price per ping for Yonghe (if I was to sell. Have two properties on Minyue Street, Yonghe ). Literally two minutes walk from one another.
How about to rent? How much per ping to rent out the afore mentioned two properties? One is a first floor property (41 ping) and the other a fourth floor (32 ping) with fifth floor (20 ping) added atop the roof.
Due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control I am the owner (wholly) of one of the properties and partial owner of the other. Haven’t been back to Taiwan in such a long time and am completely oblivious as to what constitutes the current going rate for real estate. Don’t want to be ripped off. Fair market value.
Get a professional. We can give you some ballpark figures and advice you if the real estate agencies give you too low a price.
That said, my thoughts on the matter:
Go local agency, avoid English spoken. No big wig with company paying for abode will live in Zhonghe so you do not need to cater that market.
Most importantly, in Taiwan the price is determined by location, not conditions of the abode. See the thread about landlords having no shame.
If your places are close to MRT station, bingo. Otherwise, might take a bit more work.
You need to talk to your neighbors. If you price your place too low, they will be really pissed off. Too high might start a price war and keep your place empty.
Finally, if I were you, I would not sell yet. If the places are old, they might be prime candidates for renovation projects/new developments, meaning you hit jackpot and get two apartments for one, at least. Depends on location but that is why people do not care about empty buildings. They know if they already have a pot of gold…or at least dream about it. If they are not old enough, you may still have the chance to sell at a better rate when the plague is gone. Here the prices have just gone higher and higher.
Yes, ballpark figures are exactly what I’m looking for. Obviously these won’t be definitive numbers but at present I only have 600,000 to 700,000 NT per ping for Yonghe as a point of reference. Don’t know if that’s accurate as of this writing.
So they’re not that close to Dingxi MRT but from what I understand there are free shuttles to and from said stations. Just how much would the value be affected if the MRT isn’t in the immediate vicinity of said properties? It’s also my understanding that one can reach Taipei 101 (for example) from Yonghe without ever setting foot in an MRT.
Speaking of value, I’m looking for ballpark figures a) to sell and b) to rent out. I understand that NT per ping is how these figures are calculated/approximated.
What’s considered “old” in Taiwan? I mean, I’m a 1976 model (lol) and my Mom says that both properties were constructed roughly around the time I was born, or shortly after.
One of the locations, the fourth floor (with fifth floor rooftop add on) is being considered for the very same renovation project/development that you speak of. Apparently a vote was held and a majority in favor of tearing it down and renovating/development was reached. It’s only the ones on the fourth floor that are not in favor of it (seeing as they have similar fifth floor add ons like mine or better).
They’re (the developers) wanting to install elevators, obviously, as part of the project.
If they do redevelop, would it really be “two apartments for one, at least”? What happens to my fifth floor add on? (see below)
(They haven’t proceeded with the project yet because of the ongoing pandemic. Apparently they will ask the fourth floor owners to voice our objections when talks are resumed. No clue when that’d be.)
Was thinking that I should form a coalition with these fourth floor owners to stop the renovating/development. I must admit that some of my resistance to this is sentimental in nature, seeing as my Dad was the one that built the fifth floor add on.
If they do go ahead with the redevelopment, I’m very much concerned I won’t get the same ping (32+20=52 ping). Don’t want a smaller space as a consequence of something I don’t want to happen in the first place.
In case they do go ahead with the project, do I have any legal recourse? With the City and County of Taipei, municipally, etc?
Is it true that in Taiwan common public areas are factored into the ping of a property? It’s my understanding that this is more prevalent in brand spanking new apartments, so in theory with my older properties it should be a case of WYSIWYG, meaning 41 ping is 41 ping, and 32 + 20 = 52 ping is 52 ping wholly unto themselves?
Apparently in Taiwan first floor properties fetch a higher quote than higher floors. That’s quite different from how things are in the States. My Mom says my first floor was constructed by a well known contractor back in the day. The floor’s made of marble etc.
Sorry about this long winded reply. Haven’t been back to Taiwan since 1996. Am a Taiwanese national but was born and raised overseas. Never really lived in Taiwan per se apart from several months in Hsinchu cos of the Gulf War. So I’m very much incognizant about all things pertaining to Taiwan, suffice to say. Very much appreciate your insight.
My first floor property has mopeds parked in front of it, per what I can glean from Google Maps. There are parking stall lines drawn into the very ground.
I’m quite sensitive to noise and would not want these mopeds making a racket right outside my place. I see that other people have built garages into their first floor properties, meaning that no mopeds are allowed to be parked in front of said garage. Can I go to the City and request that I be permitted to build a garage so that these mopeds won’t be parked outside my place?
Also, the neighbor right above me 's aircon seems to drip water onto my first floor roof, making my roof a bit rusty . Is there anything I can do to ensure that this doesn’t happen? I see that some of my neighbors have raised their first floor roofs quite a lot, meaning that they dwarf mine. I would like to raise mine too, build with more durable material etc, but don’t know if it’s permitted or would conflict with any city ordinances etc. I mean, it would almost hit the aircons of those on the second floor, if raised.
First, you gotta find out how much your property is worth in taxes, I mean, as per government registry. Usually, it is a lot lower than market.
Closer to MRT, higher the value.
I really do not understand the comment about Taipei 101. MRT in Taiwan is clean and convenient and safe. Public transportation is nothing like abroad. Sure you could walk to Taipei 101…in about an hour. Better use Ubike.
For total destruction and rebuilding factors are considered such as age and value and location and desirability by developers plus the most important: that all the buildings owners agree. 76 is not that old compared to others and if you say they are planning to invest in an elevator -there is a government scheme with a couple million grant for that- it tells me two things: forget about them rebuilding and second, your neighbors are well organized and do not want to leave their homes but increase comfort and value.
Let me explain: if they agree, that is actually a very good thing. Try hiking up to a forth floor when you’re 80 years old.
If they do want to sell the whole block, tear it apart and build a modern building, you must be here to agree, as they need 80 or 90% tenants agreement. That is when you get a new apartment plus other goodies. The space and goodies is negotiable. And negotiations take a long time. You can hold out but why and for how long? No, it is not like the US and I cannot tell you how long will it give you. But smaller it ain’t, at least from what I’ve seen.
Not only common areas are factored. There is also "ground"factor, which is higher for first floor properties. Marble floors not that much. Ground factor is important say, for rebuilding the whole building -defines how much of the pie you get- and also in case there is a quake and it falls down, insurance, government compensation and all that jazz.
That is why your fifth floor addition is iffy. It’s legality has to be checked upon and normally it is not factored in sales. That was supposed to be a common area, in most cases. The “owners” are making profit out of rent now, so they probably want higher compensation.
Oh and first floor properties also can get higher prices because they can and are usually used for businesses.
You won’t necessarily get ping for ping on a new development. Newer developments are subject to new building codes, so you give up some for common space. It’s complicated though, some much older places are incentivised by the government to be knocked down, in these cases you may get more ping. So it depends on how high your developer is allowed to build, and how good a deal they are offering up, among other things.
@Icon Thank you so much. You seem to be the authority on all things to do with real estate in Taiwan on these boards. Glad to have your counsel.
So if the government registry tells me the properties are worth such and such, what do you they actually sell for? The registry price or the market value?
Apropos the Taipei 101 comment, from what I can gather from Google Maps, one can easily ride to Taipei 101 on the bus in half an hour without having to use the MRT.
(I see what you mean. You’re talking bout the MRT adding value, gotcha.) But the MRT shouldn’t be the end all be all where value’s concerned, seeing as one can easily reach Taipei 101 (as an example) aboard the city bus.
Need to ask my Mom if my fifth floor was built pre 1995. From what I understand there’s a dedicated access to it that my Dad built (that only we can use. Meaning common rooftop but our access to it is reserved for personal use).
Oh and did you take a gander at my parking query re my first floor? I don’t want mopeds parked outside it so if I was to ask the City to have them stop doing so would they agree to my request? Would I have to build a garage to let people know first floor usage is dedicated for personal use? I really don’t know how things work in Taiwan.
I’m sure I’ll think of more questions to ask. In the meantime Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing everybody an abundance of good health and holiday cheer.
@Icon@bdog@afterspivak If I could direct everyone’s attention back to this query, what would those figures be? Dunno how to go bout obtaining those figures. Thank you much. Yonghe area, New Taipei City. The most recent prices per ping.
go on 591.com.tw, it’s the biggest real estate board in TW.
then look for properties in yonghe (google translate, one of the options is search by map), you will have an estimated ask price. Assume that the estimated bid price will be a little lower.
this should be good enough for back of the envelope calculation.
scooter parking : I dont really think there is much you can do, there will always be scooters parked at the street level.
The listings in this search that you did do not seem to be the same neighborhood as your 2 places. These are more central in Yonghe than your neighborhood.
The red line and pin are where Minyue St in Yonghe runs. There is a Minyue in Zhonghe near the Costco, which I originally thought was your area. When you enter 民樂街 in Google Maps, it labels the street Minle St in English, but all of its adjoining lanes refer to it as Mingyue.
I circled the closest MRT stations in Yellow. The 2 circle line stations are south of your neighborhood, and you can see the Dingxi MRT Station to the north - Yongan Market MRT is on the other side of 823 Memorial Park off-map to the west (when was #4 Park renamed?!)
This is not my neck of the woods – I’m much more familiar with the area closer to the Zhonghe Mingyue on the other side of Yonghe from here. It seems to off-the-beaten-track, although should be a good commute for office workers who ride motorcycles to Xinyi area via the Fuhe Bridge or maybe students on motorcycles to the NTU area just over Yongfu Bridge and Fuhe Bridge. But I expect it to be enough out-of-the way that such commuters would expect attractive rents for the area.
The Google Street view shows mostly 4 to 5 story walk-ups dominating the landscape, with the occasional odd new (i.e., less than 15 yo) 12-to-20 storey residence. I do not expect a lot of action happening here for the next 10 to 20 years because of the more rapid development occurring elsewhere in New Taipei City with the new MRT lines: Zhonghe, Nangang, Linkou
I wonder if there is easy access to the riverside park area next door. I biked along there last month, and I do not recall that part of the river to be particularly developed - unlike across the river in Gongguan. Other than this, there may not be much else to draw people to this area. Again, this isn’t an area I know well, so I could be dead-wrong, plus there might well be things that will draw visitors and residents to go there. From Google Maps there appear to be a couple elementary and secondary public schools and the district sports center seems to be a 5 or 10 minute walk away. Maybe there are movie theaters in the vicinity (I recall there was a second-run cineplex near between the Fuhe and Yongfu bridges). My overall impression, however, is that the neighborhood’s main draw is its proximity to the Fuhe bridge, where there is a ramp that allows you to jump on to the bridge just ahead of the main drag onto the bridge. And it seems easy to get to 823 Memorial Park (aka #4 Park) where there are a few places to eat around it and along Yonghe Road.
Something else that may affect your long-term view of that area: Climate Change(?)
If you buy into the thinking that Taipei City will flood in the next 5 to 10 years because of climate change, I would think your Mingyue neighborhood would be at risk given its proximity to the river, despite the very high levee walls nearby. The tool linked to on the following article suggests it will NOT be that bad, fortunately - but you may want to look into this theory if you are planning to live on the first floor someday
This is the area around Mingyue Road in Yonghe (Minle St on this map because it’s using Google Maps). The 7 apartments on Mingyue Road proper and Land 57 Mingyue Road in this snap shot:
There is, I ride a Youbike there once or twice a week or so. I think that is probably the best selling point. Proximity to the riverside park, and depending on location, proximity to the Yellow Line station. Apart from that I guess this should be among the cheaper areas in Yonghe, which in general has high prices. Being 40+ years old the house’s condition is a big factor. Very likely that there are issues with leaking water (all old houses have that, even newer ones). It’s not on a busy street, so first floor is not going to be good for business. No elevator is a drawback too. No schools nearby another one. If you hope for a developer coming in to tear the house down and build something new, that’s usually quite difficult. Current tenants will most likely object, especially the older ones, and to make it worthwhile for the developer, most likely several houses have to be torn down in one go.
Good luck with that, especially in an old neighborhood like that. Parking space, even for scooters, is at a premium, especially in a crowded district like Yonghe. Of course, if there is a door or a garage, writing a sign that says, “please don’t park here,” should do the trick, but I guess people would ignore it, if there is no one using that door for a while.
Hey thank you @Celeborn for your very detailed and informative breakdown/analysis. Most enlightening.
So both properties are on Lane 31 on 民樂街, close to the Atomic Energy Council building, meaning that, while they’re not centrally located, they’re a hop, skip and jump from Fuhe Bridge. That’s gotta count for something.
(My folks did initially purchase the properties with the mindset that they should be in a relatively tranquil neighborhood, away from the hubbub of the more commercial areas).
I think there’s another MRT station, Yongan Market? That seems a tad closer by foot than Dingxi.
So they are indeed both four story walk-ups. Even if they won’t necessarily fetch a premium vis a vis sale price and rental price, their relative sizes (41.9 ping for the first floor, and 32.9 + 20 for the fourth and fifth floor add on should render reasonably attractive offerings. Both the fourth and fifth floors (each) have private dedicated entrances and stairs built by my pops. More “comfortable” than you would typically find in such dwellings.)
