Post-retirement plans

The downtown/suburban divide isn't just one-way traffic, according to Hou Liping, who has worked as a real estate agent in Chaoyang for nine years. Many retirees are looking to purchase large apartments in the suburbs, using the money they made from selling their downtown homes.

The average price of residential properties in six downtown districts, including Chaoyang and Dongcheng, is almost double that in 10 suburban districts, meaning a 108-sq-m apartment in the suburbs costs the same as a 60-square-meter downtown apartment, Hou said.

Li Fangjun, retired from the Hongxing Brewery in Chaoyang two years ago. He has moved to the suburb of Pinggu, where he paid 1.4 million yuan for a 100-sq-m apartment. The sum accounted for 60 percent of the 2.3 million yuan he gained from selling his 65-sq-m downtown apartment, and the remaining 900,000 yuan has been deposited at banks as savings for emergencies, he said.

"People have different demands in each phase of life. Now, I don't have to worry about the traffic because I don't have to go to work," he said.

Wang and Zhang both echoed Li's sentiments. They said their new apartments, boasting easy access to transportation services and good schools, are perfect for their lives right now.

"I follow the market trends and make full use of any favorable policies made by the central government, to make changes for a better life," Wang said.

Contact the writer at huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn

Arduous endeavor and anxious times

For Wang Liping, a 35-year-old pharmaceutical saleswoman, changing apartments was a long, arduous struggle.

In August, Wang started looking for a new apartment in an area with good schools with the aim of providing her 7-year-old son with a decent education. However, the process was stressful and time-consuming.

First, she put her property online and waited to be contacted by potential buyers. In the meantime, she set a minimum price for her apartment and reduced her budget for the new one as much as possible.

Beijing is the only city in China to levy a 20-percent tax on the margin between the original and current values of properties, the only exceptions being people who have lived in the only property listed under their name for at least five years. Although the tax is imposed on the seller, in reality it is almost entirely shouldered by the buyer.

Wang said it took her "a long time to find apartments with a lower tax".

One cold December day, Wang visited several apartments that met her requirement of at least one south-facing bedroom that would admit generous amounts of sunlight.

"There were no perfect apartments, but it took three months for me to learn that," she said. Eventually, she sold her old apartment and signed a deal to buy another the foll-owing week, having noticed that prices for apartments of the same size had risen by 100,000 yuan ($15,000) in just two months.

Under the current rules, Wang had to make an appointment with the bank to pay off her existing mortgage. However, because she didn't have enough money to buy her new property straightaway, she had to wait for the down payment from the buyer, which took at least a month.

"It would have been risky if the buyer had been unable to transfer the money punctually. That would have caused a default and threatened my chances of obtaining another mortgage," Wang said. "With that in mind, I called the buyer every week to confirm that the money would arrive on time."

Fortunately for Wang, the money was delivered on schedule, and she proceeded as planned. Next month, she will receive the property certificate for her new apartment.