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I am wondering if Tom/Elliot could allow users to review properties they have seen and agents they have dealt with. Quite a few people I work for have gone to advertised (on Newhanoian) places and all of the sudden the prices change etc etc.
realestae (add tags) Why? Details of tags
answered about 3 months ago by arctictis
Hmm, ok idea in theory but I can't see it working. Agencies can already be reviewed here if they're entered as a business, but properties - if you go see one and it's good you'll take it and that's that right? - No need for a review here. Whereas if your experience is a bad one then you come here to vent, it's just going to pile up a whole lot of tirades from frustrated renters.
answered about 3 months ago by grubby
We've thought about this quite a bit, believe me. The original plan was to have a database of properties and allow the tenants to review them as they left. This depends on the pool of rental houses being mostly entered on TNH, which is not the case. If we only allowed registered realtors to post on TNH, that could provide some accountability, but it would also exclude the very people we would like to have posting here: landlords and tenants. It's a feedback loop that's hard to close, given the ephemeral nature of houses for rent. If anyone has any more suggestions, though I'd like to hear them; currently we've kind of washed our hands of the housing section. I think it's still useful to some people, but I'm aware that it's also home to some very misleading advertising.
answered about 3 months ago by Stosskraft
I have had the same problem as Steve. One of the guys advertising cheap airline tickets was a bit of a scam artist. I think the idea of the housing and advertising should be for the new Hanoian community, not just free advertising for people trying to lock into the "rich expat" community. The housing and classified are a very valuable source on this site and I just bought a motorbike that was advertised on here, and I am really glad to have these sections available. Maybe we could limit the number of posts people can make in a certain time in the housing section, to avoid one or two non-regular posters just blanketing the whole section with their adverts?
answered about 3 months ago by virezo
I don't think it will work, Stosskraft. First, if I have some friends want to sell things here and they're not good at English. We'll have a lot of "falling-star" users if I have to create an user account for each. I don't think expatriates have a huge amount of goods to put advertisements here. As I've seen on this site, it's half by Vietnamese. Then, if Tom limits the time an account can post, we'll probably miss many good purchases. Moreover, the guy sold you air tickets can create a new account then he can cheat other people. If we do like ebay.com in the housing section, I think Tom needs to find a way to make sure that all the stars a shop/landlord have are genuine. I agree that the section now is not as useful as it can be. However, due to the amount of landlords and tenants using the site at this time leaving it for the community is still acceptable.
answered about 3 months ago by Atomic
Read between the lines - there's a golden opportunity here if someone has the experience, patience and perseverance.
answered about 3 months ago by alpha
Unfortunately, housing in Hanoi can be a very,very unsavory business. Real estate agents aren't exactly the most trusted and admired lot in many a society, but the current tendencies in Hanoi do seem to a magnification of many of the negative things I've seen elsewhere. Personally, I've never lived in a place in Asia or elsewhere where it was such a consistent headache. Taming this situation isn't easy no matter how you approach it. Doing so within the framework of what we generally do on this site in the manner we do it is an additional challenge. Listing and reviewing actual properties is confronted with plenty of challenges, and it's not even clear that such a system would be all that effective. It's predicated on all the properties being accurately entered and all subsequent listings (even if the landlord knows they've been panned on here) being made in a way where they can reliably be checked. There will be all sorts of subterfuge when it comes to bypassing this system. The individual managing a given property is frequently not the actual owner of the property, and this person may change. Since it is their treatment of the tenant that is essential here, the system would have to take into account those changes. Those changes would often be cosmetically made in the case of bad press on here. Landlords would also want to have the right to respond, if not actually review their tenants as well. Individual renters would have to then be listed (by proper name) and we can all imagine where that would end up. These are only a few of many more issues that would arise. In the end, I think the best, most practical solution is going to be to encourage people to list and review the agents they pursue housing through. One thing I always recommend doing when I'm talking to new arrivals who are looking for housing is to take a camera with you, and before anything really gets going, ask the agent if you can take his/her photo. Let them know from the start that there will be accountability for what transpires. If you found them through a listing on this site, then they know how widely viewed such a review (with attached image) may eventually be. When it comes to landlords, any respectable agent will act as a buffer between tenant and landlord. When trouble arises between you and the landlord, contact the agent. If they ignore the issue, then they deserve taking some of the heat for the situation. Mention the property specifically in the review. If there is a pattern of cooperation between a given agent and a less than scrupulous landlord, it will become apparent. Those agents that deserve a loyal clientèle will want no part in dealings with such landlords. Of course, I guess there's also nothing stopping people from entering an individual listing poster to the site as the "agent" that they got a house through, even if they are not in the real estate game full time. As always, we'd love to hear more from all of you about what might work for you here.
