They didn't even sign a house purchase contract, so the price of a real estate project in Shanghai was increased? If a home buyer refuses to buy a million-dollar decoration package

“I never thought that the ordinary home buying process would be so difficult!”

Recently, Ms. Wang, a Shanghai citizen, reported through the "People's Voice Express" column of Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News that she encountered a "price increase" routine when buying a new house in Songjiang District. After paying more than 600,000 in subscription fees, the salesperson privately stated that she needed to buy a new house in Songjiang District. Then you have to pay a large amount of money to buy an expensive "decoration package" before you can sign a contract.

How is this going? The reporter went to investigate and find out.

The commercial housing Ms. Wang purchased is located in Beishangwan Community, Lane 338, Huting North Road, Jiuliting Street, Songjiang District, Shanghai. The community was built relatively early, and most of the commercial housing has been delivered for many years. On March 31, 2024, a total of 192 houses at Nos. 273-275 and 289-293 that were still unsold in the community were finally put on sale.

The reporter saw outside the newly sold building that there was a nameplate on the back of the building, mentioning that the building was completed on November 28, 2017, and the construction unit was Shanghai Zongquan Real Estate Co., Ltd. The exterior windows on each floor of the residential building are covered with kraft paper, so the situation inside cannot be seen. The developer’s official public account released a price list for one room per square meter with the official seal of the developer and the Songjiang District Housing Authority on March 23. It is mentioned that the average unit price of these newly launched commercial houses is 54,000 yuan per square meter. The column whether to be decorated is marked as "No, it will be sold as a rough house."

△The commercial housing sold in this round is located in the lower right corner of the community map.

Ms. Wang said that when she originally chose to subscribe to this community, her main consideration was that the delivery time of existing homes was shorter than that of off-plan properties. The location of the community was convenient for herself and her family to commute, and the rough model was just in line with her ideas.

On March 31, Ms. Wang participated in the room selection at the badminton court on the second floor of Fuli Garden Hotel, the room selection location designated by the developer. After successfully selecting a house, they should have signed a deposit contract and a sales contract, but the salesperson asked the buyer to go home and wait for news. At the same time, home buyers learned that although these commercial housing were rough housing when they were registered with the competent authorities, the developers had renovated these houses themselves and completed the renovation more than 2 years ago.

Why don’t you sign the contract on the same day after choosing a house? A person in charge of the developer once responded to the home buyers saying that the number of more than 100 suites was relatively large and there was no time to complete the signing on the same day. He also said that a salesperson would contact the home buyers to complete the signing.

However, multiple audio and video recordings provided to reporters by Ms. Wang showed that someone who claimed to be a "staff member of the Beshang Bay Sales Office" mentioned explicitly or implicitly many times during the communication with the home buyer about the contract, You need to purchase a "decoration package" to successfully purchase a house. On March 26, when Ms. Wang went to apply for funds, the salesperson also invited her to fill out a questionnaire, which mentioned whether she would accept decoration, the price range she would accept, etc.

On March 30, the day before house selection, a staff member of the "Beshang Bay Sales Office" contacted Ms. Wang by phone and asked her if she planned to pay for the decoration. After receiving a negative reply, the staff member said: "If you don't pay the decoration package, we need to deliver the house in 2027. If you pay the decoration package, we will definitely deliver it to you in advance. This company arranges it uniformly."

And the price of decoration packages is not cheap. A decoration and installation project agreement she showed to reporters showed that the decoration cost for a 175-square-meter commercial house in Building 289 was 1.75 million yuan. Even with discounts, the price was still as high as 1.4 million yuan.

Without purchasing the decoration package, the contract cannot be signed smoothly. A home buyer asked the salesperson, "If I don't sign the decoration package, when can I sign the contract?" The salesperson replied: "I don't know, it depends on the company's intention." "If you buy the decoration package, we can sign the contract at any time." In order to make the buyers willing to spend real money, the sales staff also tried their best to persuade the buyers, "Our house has been renovated. It would be a pity if we knock it down."

Homebuyers who were unwilling to buy the "decoration package" reported the developer's delay in signing the contract to the relevant departments through different channels. On April 3, at the Songjiang District Housing Authority, representatives from the developer promised the buyers that the contract would be completed before April 10. But the date has passed in the blink of an eye, and the home buyers still haven’t received the signing notice. On April 11, under the organization of the competent authorities, the home buyers held another meeting with the developer to discuss the matter. The developer promised to sign the contract before April 18, but as of April 18, the home buyers had not received the notice of signing.

On March 30, the developer Shanghai Zongquan Real Estate Co., Ltd. issued a "Stern Statement from Beshang Bay Garden" on its official public account, mentioning that "our company solemnly declares that it has never entrusted any third-party company or individual to take any agency. The company has participated in the sale of the property through sales, distribution, underwriting, etc., and has not authorized any other third-party company or individual to collect fees such as interest deposits, subscription fees, and house purchase fees. "However, the materials shared by Ms. Wang to reporters show that the video of promoting the decoration package. The recording background was the Beshang Bay sales office, and the salesperson who communicated with him about the decoration package was also a staff member at the house selection site on March 31. It was obvious that he was not a so-called "third-party individual". Beshang Bay responded to reporters saying that the statement was in response to the previous unscrupulous intermediary that had obtained illegal fees from it, and had nothing to do with the "decoration package".

Reporters inquired and found that as early as July 2017, the Shanghai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission, the Municipal Price Bureau and other relevant departments jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Sales Supervision of Commercial Housing and its Affiliated Underground Garages and Other Facilities", which clarified that commercial housing and its underground garages, etc. The sales of ancillary facilities are subject to a "one price clear" system, which requires real estate development companies to strictly prohibit illegal charging of any other fees other than the registered price. This of course also includes the "decoration package" beyond the registered price.

On April 19, the reporter contacted and interviewed the Songjiang District Housing Authority and Jiuliting Subdistrict Office. The staff of the District Housing Authority stated that if the company is found to have forced additional price increases and the evidence is conclusive, it will be handled in accordance with the law and regulations. In response to problems such as the long-term contract signing time and the long waiting period for delivery, the staff of the District Housing Authority said that they have made a request to the Beshang Bay developer to re-agree on the delivery date with the home buyers, and agreed to the reasonable requirements for purchasing the house in a rough state. The contract was signed within a time limit. The Jiuliting Subdistrict Office of the local government also requires developers to maintain the spirit of the contract, abide by their commitments to home buyers, and adjust unreasonable time arrangements.

On the same day, the sales person in charge of Beshang Bay Developer admitted that some sales staff did lead to sell decoration packages. For those who insist on purchasing new houses in rough condition, the developer will provide rough commercial houses for sale, and plans to complete the signing process before the end of April. She told reporters that no matter whether buyers choose a fully decorated house or a rough house, there will be no difference in delivery time in the signed contract.

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