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a new house with a transaction price of 2 million yuan was packaged as 2.36 million yuan in the contract, so that a loan of 2 million yuan was obtained from the bank. the extra 360,000 yuan became the down payment of the buyer.

this is a "high appraisal, high loan" zero down payment housing plan recently offered by a real estate salesperson to wang yi (pseudonym), a home buyer in south china. according to the description of the above salesperson, this method of buying a house with a high contract price and a disguised zero down payment is used by many customers and is a "tricky way" for customers with urgent needs to buy a house quickly.

the reporter of china business news found that recently, this model of buying houses with "zero down payment" through "high appraisal and high loan" has begun to make a comeback in many cities across the country. compared with the past, the current zero down payment operation is mostly led by developers, and the method is more covert and more powerful. some real estate sales said that not only can the real estate they are working on achieve zero down payment, but the extra funds "taken out" can even be used to pay the monthly installments for 1 to 2 years.

will homebuyers take risks in this seemingly "profitable" operation? what are the hidden dangers? first financial news reporters found that, firstly, homebuyers get more loans, will bear more loan interest, and increase the monthly payment burden. in addition, obtaining a higher loan amount through a "yin-yang contract" may be suspected of loan fraud and pose legal risks. since the "zero down payment" operation process is hidden and lacks written evidence, it is difficult for homebuyers to protect their rights once disputes arise during the process.

“the dangerous game of "zero down payment" is getting more serious

the reporter of china business news learned from several senior real estate practitioners that using "high appraisal and high loan" to buy a house with "zero down payment" is not new and was popular many years ago. however, since then, due to the small price difference between the registered price and the market price, or even "inverted", there is insufficient room to raise the appraisal price, so it has been discontinued for a while and only exists in the second-hand housing market with greater operational flexibility.

in 2023, as the market prices of many real estate projects fell, the use of high appraisal and high loan "zero down payment" to buy houses in the primary housing market began to reappear. recently, with the decline in housing prices, zero down payment has spread to many regions, and the operation has become more covert.

first of all, the path for developers to provide zero down payment for home purchases is more covert. only when home buyers are short of down payment funds and have a high degree of intention will sales recommend zero down payment operations as one of the means to "force" customers to stay.

when the reporter consulted as a home buyer, a real estate salesperson in south china told the reporter that the real estate project can currently use some means to achieve zero down payment, but it requires special application, and the preferential activity will be closed at the end of this month, so it is recommended to buy as soon as possible. in addition, several real estate salespeople said that their real estate projects have "zero down payment" operations, but they need to make special applications based on actual conditions.

at present, some real estate projects are operating "zero down payment" in a more low-key manner. several real estate sales told reporters that before paying the down payment, customers are required to provide multiple bank accounts of relatives and friends. the developer transfers the funds into multiple accounts and then "launders" them before transferring them to the customer's account to pay the down payment.

it is worth noting that recently, in some areas with heavy sales pressure, the zero down payment strategy has been strengthened and has become the standard for most real estate projects. a ming (pseudonym), a real estate agent in huizhou, guangdong, told reporters that most real estate projects in his city can currently achieve "zero down payment", but the operational details of different real estate projects are different, and the initial payment amount is different, but "can be negotiated with the developer."

according to the reporter, some real estate projects not only offer down payment, but also one year's monthly payment. according to a ming, a project in huiyang district, huizhou city, not only offers down payment, but also monthly payment. "the developer will pay the first year's monthly payment funds to the buyers in batches, and accordingly, the overall contract amount will be increased." a ming introduced.

in response to this statement, the reporter verified it with the on-site sales of the property. the salesperson said that there is indeed a sales strategy of "zero down payment + free monthly payment". take the purchase of a 92-square-meter property as an example. the registered price is 1.53 million yuan, and the actual discounted price is 1.36 million yuan. if you want to make a zero down payment, you need to make a contract based on the registered price of 1.53 million yuan, and the down payment is 210,000 yuan. the developer will deposit 204,000 yuan into the buyer's account in advance, and the buyer actually only needs to pay about 8,300 yuan for the down payment. the monthly payment is 4,900 yuan, and special applications can refund one year's monthly payment, totaling 58,800 yuan.

(sales agency promotional copy)

pattern revealed

a reporter from the first financial daily found that the zero down payment strategy launched by developers has multiple operating modes.

the most common model is to conduct "high appraisal and high loan" through "yin-yang contracts", that is, to raise the contract price, lend more funds, and use the extra funds to pay the down payment. most of the above-mentioned real estate projects adopt this model. "in fact, this kind of 'zero down payment' is just to put the down payment into the loan contract, not a real reduction or exemption." wang yi told reporters.

amin introduced a more detailed operation process to the reporter. taking a real estate project in huizhou as an example, he used 765,000 yuan to purchase his first property. when performing the "zero down payment" operation, he had to first bring his personal bank card to the sales office and sign a "drawer agreement" with the developer, stipulating that the developer's advance payment must be returned when the buyer returns. after that, the developer deposited the down payment of 135,000 yuan into the buyer's card to pay the down payment. next, the two parties signed a purchase contract for the purchase price of 900,000 yuan, and applied for a loan from the bank. the buyer subsequently repaid the loan normally to the bank, but borne the increased interest costs.

a person from a state-owned bank in south china told the reporter that the bank has a strict internal review process, but such operations are relatively hidden, and coupled with the large fluctuations in housing prices, it is difficult to identify them only from the submitted loan application materials. generally speaking, new real estate projects will have fixed cooperative relationships with multiple banks, and it is possible that the two parties have reached a tacit understanding in advance.

in addition to using "high appraisal and high loan" to reduce the down payment in disguise, the reporter of first financial daily noticed in the interview that there are two types of zero down payment models that are relatively hidden, but most of them are suitable for low-priced properties. one type is that the developer directly gives the down payment, which is a disguised price reduction promotion. according to amin, some local governments have stipulated the price reduction range. in order to reduce prices in disguise to attract buyers, developers will choose to directly give the down payment. the second type is that the developer itself or in cooperation with financial institutions will launch down payment extensions and installments to achieve "zero down payment" within a certain period of time. an intermediary salesperson of a real estate project in dongguan city told reporters that the real estate project has cooperated with financial institutions and can provide a one-year interest-free loan for the down payment. the specific loan amount needs to be evaluated on site, and there is a certain possibility of achieving "zero down payment".

a real estate client researcher in south china told reporters that zero down payment is popular in many regions of china, mainly because developers are under great pressure to sell. from his region, recent price cuts and projects with zero or low down payment can generally maintain hot sales for a long time. compared with direct and large price cuts, the zero down payment strategy has more flexibility. developers can launch "zero down payment" in the sprint performance stage and "retract" the discount when the market picks up. if the "zero down payment" is adopted by raising the contract price, the impact on the developer's profits will not be significant.

"this may be one of the few effective strategies for developers at present." he further explained that many of the properties sold in the market recently were acquired at high prices and do not support overall price cuts. they can only "make a temple in a snail shell" and make a fuss about the down payment in order to attract more customer groups.

multiple risks

behind the dangerous game of buying a house with "zero down payment", is the operation legal? what risks do developers, buyers, banks and other entities bear?

for homebuyers, this seemingly profitable transaction hides many hidden risks. recently, zhengzhou, nanning and other cities have begun to warn about the risks of zero down payment. the reporter also roughly sorted out the three hidden risks of buying a house with zero down payment.

the first hidden danger is that most "zero down payment" operations do not really waive the down payment, but rather replace the down payment funds with loans in disguise, increasing the monthly payment burden of home buyers. some home buyers may also need to bear the hidden costs of high contract prices and advance payments by developers.

taking the above-mentioned property of 765,000 yuan as an example, assuming that the equal principal and interest method is used for a 30-year loan and the mortgage interest rate is 3.05%, the reporter roughly calculated that without using zero down payment, the monthly payment is 2,757 yuan. after using zero down payment, the monthly payment is 3,245 yuan, and 5,856 yuan more is paid in a year. if early repayment is not considered, an additional 175,680 yuan will be paid in 30 years. if the monthly payment increases too much and exceeds the buyer's ability to bear, once the loan is terminated, the bank may reclaim the property.

the zhengzhou housing security bureau also pointed out in a recent risk warning that "0 down payment" not only cannot fundamentally solve the problem of short-term capital shortage of home buyers, but usually requires the resort to illegal behaviors such as signing secret contracts and high appraisal of house prices to achieve it, thereby increasing the home buyers' loan interest and monthly mortgage repayment burden.

during the interview, the reporter also learned that some "zero down payment" operations have hidden costs. a real estate agent told the reporter that the actual total house price did not decrease when using high-rated and high-loan "zero down payment". however, due to the higher contract amount, more deed tax needs to be paid. at the same time, some developers may also charge a handling fee during the advance payment process, which is mostly between 0.3% and 0.5% of the house price.

the second hidden danger is that many links of "zero down payment" home purchase are operated behind closed doors, and buyers can easily suffer losses and find it difficult to protect their rights.

the above risk warning also points out that some illegal operations involved in "0 down payment" cannot be clearly stipulated in the online contract, and will not be protected by law. once the real estate developer fails to fulfill its promise and the bank cannot complete the loan approval procedures, it will cause economic losses to the homebuyer, and it will be difficult for the homebuyer to pursue legal responsibility and claim compensation.

during the interview, the reporter found that buyers of several real estate projects reported that there are hidden dangers in "zero down payment" purchases. one buyer said that after the developer promised to buy a house with zero down payment, he paid a subscription fee of 10,000 yuan. however, during the purchase process, the developer said that his bank statements were not enough and "he had to spend money to get a bank statement." he asked for a refund of the 10,000 yuan subscription fee but failed.

there are also homebuyers who said that the property salesperson promised that they could buy a house with "zero down payment" and urged them to sign and seal the contract without explaining the contents of the contract after paying a deposit of 60,000 yuan. without knowing it, he signed a loan agreement and borrowed money from the developer in installments to pay the down payment. such cases are not uncommon.

the third hidden danger is that the "zero down payment" loan operation is suspected of loan fraud, and home buyers may have to bear legal responsibility, and there are many subsequent hidden dangers.

"from the perspective of commercial housing sales, some methods of zero down payment or low down payment are illegal." wang yuchen, director of beijing jinsu law firm, told the first financial reporter that as early as 2017, the ministry of housing and urban-rural development, the people's bank of china, and the china banking regulatory commission jointly deployed to standardize housing purchase financing and strengthen anti-money laundering work, and clearly stipulated that real estate developers and real estate agencies are strictly prohibited from providing housing purchase down payment financing in violation of regulations, and internet financial institutions and microfinance companies are strictly prohibited from providing "down payment loans" and other housing purchase financing products or services in violation of regulations.

from the perspective of bank loans, if there is really zero down payment, it means that the home buyer does not meet the bank's loan and lending conditions, and there is an act of defrauding the bank loan.

for developers, although they are "operators", they are not completely risk-free. zero down payment is not necessarily a good strategy for rapid destocking. some developers who launched down payment installments early have tasted the "bad consequences". in an interview, an insider of a real estate project in south china told reporters that the project will start to launch down payment installments in 2022. homebuyers only need to pay 0.5% down payment (deposit) to "get on board", and the remaining down payment can be deferred for one year. however, when it came to the official online signing stage in 2023, due to the decline in housing prices in the plot, the decline exceeded the deposit paid, and some homebuyers chose to give up the deposit. the developer had to launch another 400 yuan/square meter customer retention discount.