Buy and Sell General Procedure

• An agent comprehends the buyer's requirements in detail in purchasing a property.
• The agent searchs for the properties according to the requirements and introduces them to the buyer
• The agent makes the appointment with buyer to inspect the properties .
• The buyer confirms the interests in a specific property
• The agent negotiates with the landlord according to the customer’s interests so as to reach the agreement
• The customer agrees in purchasing the property, signs the Customer Confirmation Agreement with the agent, and makes the appointment with the seller to sign a temporary purchasing agreement.
• The three parties sign the tripartite agreement. The buyer pays the purchasing deposit,(10% of total price)which should be kept by the agent as part of the purchasing payment, and given to the seller by the agent after the property transfered.
• Upon signing the agreement, the agent informs the seller and the buyer about the necessary documents for completing the transaction (see the procedure section for details)
• The agent informs the seller and the buyer to go to the bank that issues the loan or the property exchange department to process the property ownership transfer.

To buy a property in China, a citizen from other country needs to have a notarized Chinese name. It takes 1 week to get it done in Beijing in person with the passport. The purchasing taxes include 3% stamp tax and 2% maintenance fund for first-hand properties, and 1.5% contract tax and 0.1% stamp tax for second-hand properties.

For purchasing property with cash, the deposit is usually about 10% of the total value. You can send USD to a personal account in China from oversea for getting fund to China. For sending USD to overseas through Bank of China, the costs are as follows:  

• 1% processing fee, lowest RMB150, highest RMB260
• RMB150 telegraph fee
• Difference between the USD Buying and Selling Rates times Total Value

If you send less than USD5000 per day to overseas, you should just provide passport. If you send more than USD5000 per day, you need to provide tax payment receipt or salary income verification in China.

For overseas investors who want to rent their properties to tenants, it is practical to open a bank account in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for receiving rental.

Procedure for purchasing properties with loans:

• The agent accompanies the buyer and the seller to go to the loaning bank to apply for the mortgage loan for purchasing the second hand properties, and to fill up and sign the application forms, guarantee documents and the authorization letters, etc.
• The bank will issue the Guarantee Letter of Individual Mortgage Loan for Second Hand Properties. The letter shows the value and the period of the loan. The buyer deposits the down payment for buying the property in the bank.
• The agent makes arrangement for the buyer and the seller to go to the Realty Transaction Department together to process the property ownership transfer. The buyer and the seller fill out the Property Purchasing Registration Form, and the Property Selling Registration Form respectively, and file the Property Ownership Certificate and the copies of the other documents. The Realty Transaction Department will issue the Realty Transferring Date Notice. The transferring date varies depending on the different realty transaction departments.

• The agent accompanies the buyer and the seller to go to the realty transaction department on the date shown on the Notice of the Realty Transferring Date. The seller pays the stamp tax. The buyer pays the contract tax and the stamp tax, and gives the tax paying receipts to the agent.
• The agent gives the buyer’s tax paying receipts to the bank. Within 3 days thereafter, the agent takes the buyer and the seller to the bank to transfer the loan and the buyer’s down payment to the seller’s account.

• On the same day after the payment transfer, the agent should go with the buyer and the seller to the property management to complete the account transfer for the property management, heating, water, electricity and gas fees, etc.
• The buyer and the seller sign the Property Handing Over Notice. The seller gives the property key to the buyer.

Procedure for purchasing properties with cash:

1  The agent makes arrangement for the buyer and the seller to go to the Realty Transaction Department to conduct the property ownership transfer. The buyer and the seller need to fill out the Property Purchasing Registration Form, and the Property Selling Registration Form respectively, and file the Property Ownership Certificate and the copies of the other documents. The Realty Transaction Department issues the Realty Transferring Date Notice. The transferring date varies depending on the different realty transaction departments.

2   The agent accompanies the buyer and the seller to go to the realty transaction department according to the date on the Realty Transferring Date Notice. The buyer gives the purchasing payment excluding the down payment to the seller.The seller pays the stamp tax. The buyer needs to pay the contract tax and the stamp tax.

3  On the same day of the payment transfer, the agent goes with the buyer and the seller to the property management department of the sold property to complete the account transfer for the property management, heating, water, electricity and gas fees, etc.

4   The buyer and the seller sign the property handing-over document. The seller gives the key of the property to the buyer.

The documents required for property transaction

The buyer purchases the property with loan:

A. Documents required for the buyer:

• ID cards of the buyer and his/her spouse  
• Family hukou book
• Marriage certificate
• Stamped income statement from the buyer’s working organization
• An officially stamped copy of the business license of the working organization
• For the people who do not have the Beijing Permanent Residence Status, they need to provide the Temporary Residence Certificate or the foreign passport. 

 B. Documents required for the seller :   

•  ID cards of the seller and his/her spouse
• Family hukou book
• Marriage certificate
• Property Ownership Certificate  
• Land Using Certificate  
• For the people who do not have the Beijing Permanent Residence Status, they need to provide the Temporary Residence Certificate or the foreign passport.

The buyer purchases the property with cash:

A. Documents required for the buyer:

·        ID cards of the buyer

·        Family hukou book

·        For the people who do not have the Beijing Permanent Residence Status, they need to provide the Temporary Residence Certificate or the foreign passport.

B. Documents required for the seller:

·        ID cards of the property owner

·        Family hukou book

·        Property Ownership Certificate

·        Land Using Certificate

·        For the people who do not have the Beijing Permanent Residence Status, they need to provide the Temporary Residence Certificate or the foreign passport.