There are a number of things one should think twice about before buying in Vietnam:
• Nobody is allowed to own land. Land is theoritically owned by The People, in other words by the communist party. These officials have absolute say in the way land is disposed of. This opens up endless opportunities for corruption.
• Foreigners have to be residents in order to buy the houses that sit on the land. Land is leased for a maximum of 50 years (there are local and foreign REA’s that market longer or renewable leases but I’m not sure how they can work). So if you “buy” an apartment that was built 20 years ago, only 30 years remain.
• Despite the 50 year limit, it has been reported that some province governors have granted 99 year lease to some Chinese companies to cut trees in the North. As I said, nothing that money can't buy.
• If your occupation title is not renewed for any reason you have to sell or gift the house.
• 3 months after you're no longer a resident, the government can move in and cancel your occupation title. People who can’t sell in time have to gift it to somebody local, whoever this somebody may be.
• Most properties in Vietnam are paid in gold, I mean pure physical gold. You have to make sure that when gold changes hand you have something to hang to. Recently it was reported the government is going to ban the sale/purchase of gold. More gold under the table I say.
• To avoid difficulties some people set up a JV with a local – just another source of headache and disappointment. And the local wants gold.
• Foreign companies sometimes buy houses for their employees. But I don’t know of any foreigners who have bought under their own names. Surely they must exist though.
• Final word of caution: a lot of these “new developments” are built on land that has been confiscated by the government (land taken from farmers and city dwellers is a huge political problem right now) where party officials have come in and skimmed it off in shady intra-party deals. Title can be questionable to say the least.