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Finding a hidden property in Shanghai - Is it really THAT surprising?
Jan. 5, 2009 - Today, one of Macquarie Bank’s real estate arms announced that it’s lowering the price on an apartment building that it has been trying to sell for over six months. The price drop is reportedly around 25%.http://uk.reuters.com/article/privateEquityFinancialServicesAndRealEstate/idUKHKG34377620090105
If this property has underperformed, I’m not surprised. Its website (www.cityapartments.com.cn) says a lot. The complex’s name is City Apartments. When searching “city apartments Shanghai” on Google, the official website isn’t even in the first two pages of search returns. (There are references to the complex in listings on some real estate websites within the first two pages though.) This is problem number 1: horrible (non-existent) search engine optimization. The lack of SEO is particularly acute given that from a SEO perspective, the URL and complex name are pretty good.
English is the default language on the site, which means that there’s a heavy focus (if not outright emphasis on expats). However, the English text is obviously written by a non-native English speaker. The overly flowery marketing language (e.g.,“…a world of sumptuous luxury…”) indicates a direct translation from Chinese, rather than any real effort to write copy for the expat market.
Finally, the look and feel of the website is completely amateurish. One couldn’t be blamed for assuming the management company would be the same way (I have no idea – I’ve never been there. Actually, that’s a testament to how poorly they’ve marketed it. For 20 months, I lived literally 250 meters from the building; yet, never knew of its existence!)
It’s a shame to see a building such as this one underperform. As one of the relatively few non-strata title apartment buildings in Shanghai, it had a huge marketing advantage – particularly for the expat market. I can’t overstate the importance of that advantage.
If the property was underperforming (which is my inference based on the steep price reduction), I really have to wonder why Macquarie didn’t spend a few thousand USD (AT MOST!) to create a respectable, indexable site.
Chinese Pirates
October 23, 2008 – We’re importing some expensive construction materials. The shipper’s forwarder doesn’t seem to have much familiarity with exporting to China. In China, you must be a licensed trading company in order to import or export commercial items. The shipper’s Shanghai side agent is not a trading company, nor does it regularly work with any. The Shanghai side agent had assumed that we’re a trading company (which we’re certainly not). Thus, when we found out that the agent is not a trading company, we realized there was a problem.
Unfortunately (but typically), the agent (or a couple of its employees) is using this as an opportunity to try to squeeze money from us. They found a trading company, but (surprise surprise) the quotation for the duties and the import services isn’t broken out. And it’s very high.
I’m 85% certain that the agent found a friendly trading company, and the two are colluding to overcharge us for the services. This is pretty much standard operating procedure here: They see we have a shipment on the water and they go for our throats.
An Incompetent Lawyer Strikes Again
October 20, 2008 – Having practiced law here, I know firsthand how many incompetent attorneys are here in China. Sure, there are some great ones. But you frequently come across those who seem to have no legal reasoning skills.
I was helping a friend do a contract for his construction project. He and the contractor had negotiated it for a while, and were about to sign it. The contractor decided at the last minute to give it to an attorney friend. That was basically the end of the deal.
The quasi-attorney told the contractor “If you sign this contract, you’re dead fish.” He continued with his wisdom “It’s full of obligations on your end, but none on the customer’s end.” Yeah, except paying. My friend asked what obligations were objectionable, and which ones should he have. Not surprisingly, the attorney couldn’t answer these questions. The contractor then insisted on using the “standard” government-provided form, which doesn’t work for my friend. So the contractor walked.
A Labor Of Love
October 15, 2008 – We wanted to hire four graduate students for a two-day project. Someone knew a professor at the university, so we asked her to approach students. I imagine this entails sending a couple of emails.We told the professor we would pay the students RMB 200 (US $30) per day. She found the four students. However, when we met with them today, they told us they were only getting RMB 100 (US $15) per day. The teacher was pocketing the other 50%.
Oblivious or Perceptive?
October 12, 2008 – I’ve been speaking with some of my Chinese friends about the economy. They’re all high income, well-educated 30-somethings. I specifically ask them whether they notice any signs of slowing in Shanghai. Of course, everybody has read about factory closings. But many of them feel optimistic that the slowdown won’t hurt them too much. That cheered me a bit, until I remembered one thing. None of them has ever seen an economic downturn in their lives.More Articles...
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