So, we've been house hunting in Phu My Hung for about two weeks now (arrived on 14 August), we've seen about 20 apartments and made an offer on two. Both times, we've gotten to contract/deposit only to be told that the apartment is no longer available. Either the owner has decided to move in themselves or they've sold it *this morning* without telling the broker. The brokers themselves have been no help. We've worked with three and they appear to be quite racist (we're an inter-racial Australian couple, one of us is ethnic Chinese) and seem to be more hung up where we are from than the fact that we have names or housing preferences.
I don't think we're being unreasonable. We're in the market for a 3br apartment in a complex with a pool and 24 hour security in Phu My Hung with a budget in the range of USD $12-14 hundred pm. We're in our late 20's have no children or pets and we're prepared to sign a 12 month lease.
Having done the housing market in London, San Francisco, Canberra and Sydney (most often at the height of the housing crisis!), we're familiar with the usual kinds of house hunting drama. We've been to open houses where there have been 40 - 50 people with rental applications, credit checks and deposits ready to go and we've come out on top.
I am blowing my own horn here when I say that landlords tend to like us. We have impeccable rental references, but it is our first time in Asia. So, having been here for two weeks we've heard that this kind of behavior is typical of Vietnamese landlords. The heat here is unbearable, neither of us has the time to go traipsing around the city to look at properties that aren't for rent. Does anybody have any tips for weeding out these time wasters? How can you tell if a listing is legit?