Converted living space

Hi all,

I saw this article last year about people living in converted factory spaces

http://blogs.wsj.com/hong-kong/2011/05/31/lofts-living-large-and-illegaly/

And I've been thinking seriously about buying a place end of the year. Granted the commerial space is ill-legal to live in but it is a nice alternative to the cramped HK style dormitory apratments.


Anyone here got experience on this matter?

If you got any thoughs or opinions to share, please do.

thanks

It is illegal.

So where people do it, then tend to live quietly.

I recently spent a day looking at spaces like this in the south end of the city:


- prices spiked from around 3k to 5k psf after the govt place various taxes on residential spaces - so not as a great a deal as I was expecting


- some of these buildings still have active businesses in them so best avoided (unless you want to listen to hammering printing presses on the weekend)


- the biggest downside for me was that unless you want to share a public washroom you need to buy a large unit (I think 3000sf or more)


- not sure what the situation on financing is


- I saw one building near Horizon Plaza in which most of the units were obviously residential... so it would seem the gov't loosely enforcing zoning - also the agent indicated 'there are ways' to ensure you don't get evicted...


- I decided not to move forward mainly because the prices had bumped up considerably + I was looking for something with more 'character' - most of the properties being used for residences are relatively new and modern... I was after one of the older style godowns... most of those seemed to still have some factories active... too noisy...


- note south side is not your only option - there are many in kowloon and chai wan...


Here's a guy who specializes in warehouse spaces only Nelson Leung - nelson@splprop.com 93772613.

Take a look at Tai Kok Tsui.


And if you like, I can have a coffee with you in the area, since I live there