Anecdotes of Chinese Investors

Might be an interesting thread to share anecdotes that relate to the mindset and goals driving overseas Chinese Investment.

The interesting one today was from a discussion I had with a building designer in Brisbane.

Quite a bit of the small development activity in Brisbane that they are seeing is driven by the quest to build equity/capital to support visa applications, I guess under the "Business and Innovation" category. Not sure myself of course the intricacies of the process/rules/criteria for this. Also from this anecdote, the story that the interior selections had been done to Chinese taste which apparently won't suit the local Brisbane market. Perhaps not an issue if the developed properties are being sold to other Chinese investors.

Please share any stories you've heard or things you've witnessed.

 

I thought the motto of chinese investors at auction is
"if you are competing against someone at bidding, you dont want to lose face, so bid at all costs"

and yes I have heard of a few people pay $50k on top of the $600k price because they knew the other bidder

 

This
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...e/news-story/01a8a0a75533144d123dce7a3210ce8d

Common is Sydney and Mel a few years ago.
As I said in another post, the extent of this is not going to be repeated. Sydney and Mel really won the lottery back then.

 

I've never heard of this attitude being attributed to the chinese before.

 

really? ive heard it a few times over the years...... or ar eyou referring to chinese and not other asians.... I might have done the politically incorrect thing and bunched them together

 

Well I've never heard it attributed to any asian culture, but I don't have as much depth of knowledge on those that aren't chinese admittedly.

Honestly though, it doesn't sound accurate because that idea of "at all costs" pretty much goes against the grain of the financial astuteness that I know is part of chinese/asian culture.

 

I know some very experienced Chinese investors who set their limits and walk away.They walked at $1.8m on one site 8 years ago and bought something else that same day.

You only lose face if you have committed to someone else and fail to deliver.

 

Maybe about a year and half ago we had a letter from a Chinese investor on a property we control.. Everyone in that small street on above 800sqm's would have the same letter..Rang the number,3 people turn up one Lady 2 men and i don't think they come down in the last cyclone..They had a list 7 properties from west end too waterfront 1000sqm's Balmoral for buy now future development 28 day cash settlement wiwo..
I never sold them anything,but i was with them when they bid on a riverfront 1000sqm's block that was on their list ,that block did sell above 3mill they went too 2.7 mill and just walked away..

 

Im surprised to hear no mention yet of evidenced Chinese superstition-based behaviours playing out in our local markets. Some examples to get you thinking...

• Whole apartment buildings built without a 4th / 14th / 40th etc. Floor numbers
• A new 6-story building near to me in the Ashfield, Sydney area (Chinese-favoured suburb) that, upon nearing completion, had sales flyers produced for floors #1, #2, #3, #5, #6 (Penthouses) ONLY in Chinese language, and then had a SEPARATE flyer produced ONLY in English for ONLY the 4th floor apartments... basically flog the unlucky apartments to westerner, and all others to Chinese
• Houses getting reno'd prior to sale that add a wall in an entrance hallway to block the view directly out the end of that same hallway to the backyard (Chinese superstition - or 'stupid'-stition as I believe it to be... believe that if the back door can be seen from the front door then the luck will 'run straight out the house'). I actually observed a couple of listings that had been renovated to fix this feng shui/superstition issue with an internal wall addition! Both listings were for properties in Chinese-favoured areas
• Marketing of sales prices with many 8-s in them (one memorable listing in Guildford was a house for $688,888)
• The rise of the Chinese phone-to-Mainland bidder/buyer buying on behalf of a Chinese national at auctions

 

Melb, Ringwood, Croydon been a hot spot with Chinese buyers, buying development sites to land Bank this is what re agents have advised.

 

That could be considered two-tiered marketing and is an illegal practice (happened alot pre-internet days where locals paid a lower price and holidaymakers or interstate buyers).

They should be reported to the OFT.

 

Bright Victoria Point Pad Near Etihad Stadium! - one bedder in Docklands, asking $358,888

 

I am a multi-millionaire/billionaire in China, I want to invest in overseas property, my communist government has just shut the gates on money going out (particularly in real estate and development projects).

I have two options:

1. Surrender the deposit I put on the OTP apartment or the development site and cut my losses

2. Buy a business such as a restaurant with an asset attached to it (such as the bricks and mortar) for a hugely inflated price so my government will let me get my cash out, run it to the ground, and sell it for half of the value I bought it for. Make a massive loss but hey at least I got my money out.

Oh wait...I just read in the newpaper that the Australian property boom is over now...maybe I won't do option 2.

Having said that, grouping "chinese investors" into one group is generalising. I personally know chinese people who have a few mil looking like they live like Floyd Mayweather, I also personally know someone worth a Bil and you would never pick it, one of the most humble guys I know. Some are smart, some have no idea, I'm sure the guy is a Billionaire for a good reason.