"HangzhouWhere can I buy it for 2 million?" It seems like asking the board, but in fact, the first step should not be to open the real estate list. Answer three questions first: Is 2 million yuan the upper limit of the house price, the entire budget including taxes and occupancy fees, or is it just a down payment of 2 million yuan? Where do you go to work every day? How many separate rooms will your home need in the next five years? With these three answers, the final listing could be completely different. The truly effective method of screening houses is to eliminate unsuitable houses first, and then go to the site to compare the remaining three to five houses.
1. First translate “2 million yuan” into an executable price limit
Scenario A: 2 million yuan includes house payment, taxes and delivery expenses
Under the current policy, the preferential deed tax rate is 1% for a family's only home or second home with a building area of 140 sq m or less. In addition, there are special property maintenance funds, real estate registration fees, as well as possible property fees, furniture, appliances and moving expenses.
A safe initial screening method is to first set aside a buffer of 30,000 to 50,000 yuan for transaction and delivery from 2 million yuan, and then place the upper limit of the total price of the property at around 1.95 million to 1.97 million yuan. This range is not a policy standard, it is just a method to prevent household budgets from "the house payment is exactly 2 million yuan, but there is no cash when the house is delivered." After obtaining the official maintenance funds, property fees and delivery list of the project, replace them with accurate figures.
If decoration and parking space are also included in the 2 million yuan, the upper limit of house payment will continue to be lowered.
Situation B: Have 2 million yuan in cash and prepare to take out a loan to buy a house
Hangzhou The minimum down payment ratio for commercial personal housing loans is currently uniformly 15%, but banks can increase the actual down payment ratio or adjust the loan limit based on the borrower's income, credit report, liabilities and housing situation.
At this time, you should calculate the monthly payment first, rather than enlarging the total price first. You can set yourself two lines:
- Comfortable monthly payment line: Even if one person’s income is interrupted for 6 months, the monthly payment and basic living expenses can be covered;
- Absolute monthly payment line: The upper limit that cannot be exceeded even after childcare, support, rental transition, decoration and vehicle expenses are added.
The bank saying "can borrow" does not mean that a family is "suitable for a loan". There are many houses you can buy with a down payment of 2 million yuan, but the house you can actually hold for a long time depends on the monthly payment.
Scenario C: Plan to use provident fund or combination loan
Starting from April 1, 2026, the maximum amount of Hangzhou housing provident fund loans will be increased to 1.8 million yuan, and the loan limit for individual employees shall not exceed 900,000 yuan. The maximum limit is not the actual limit for each family; first check the individual loan limit through the Hangzhou provident fund channel, and then confirm the connection with the combination loan with the commercial bank.
The provident fund account balance may also be used to pay the deed tax, but it will not bring the deed tax to zero, nor can it replace all the funds that must be in place when signing the contract.
2. To screen houses for 2 million yuan, the second condition is not the sector, but the commuting destination.
The same apartment has completely different values for people working in the north of the city and for people working in Binjiang. When screening houses, don’t just write “subway” or “how many kilometers from the city center”, but write a complete weekday route:
Doorstep - connection - subway or expressway - get off - company
It is recommended that candidate projects be arranged for actual testing twice during the morning peak and once during the evening peak on working days, and record:
- Total door-to-door time, not driving minutes on the map;
- walking and waiting times;
- Whether transfer is required;
- Is there still a feasible route on a rainy day or after working overtime?
- Parking charges, tolls and congestion fluctuate while driving.
If the line is still under construction, the current screening should be calculated based on existing bus and road conditions; future lines will only be added points and cannot be regarded as commuting tools that can be used today.
3. First determine "accommodation", and then pursue "the number of rooms seems to be large"
One or two people living in
The focus is usually not on buying a three-bedroom apartment, but on the size of the bedrooms, storage, lighting, commuting, and whether it is easy to rent or resell in the future. For small apartments, special attention should be paid to the kitchen operation surface, the location of the refrigerator, laundry and drying, and home storage, so as to avoid creating a sense of spaciousness in the model room by shrinking the furniture.
family of three
Plan sleeping, studying, and storage scenarios for at least the next five years into the floor plan. Whether the children's room can accommodate a standard bed and desk, whether the bathroom conflicts with morning rush hours, and whether the passage after the dining table is unfolded is more important than the name of the apartment type "Kuanjing Three-Bedroom".
Multi-generational living or home improvements
Priority should be given to whether the bedrooms do not interfere with each other, whether there are two bathrooms, the night route from the elderly room to the bathroom, and whether the kitchen and public space can support multiple people using it at the same time. The low total price is not cheap if it comes with long-term functional conflicts.
4. Compare new houses and second-hand houses using the same table
Don’t assume that new homes are necessarily better, or that second-hand homes are necessarily cheaper. Put the two types of properties into the same table:
| Dimensions | Key Checks for New Homes | Key points to check for second-hand houses |
|---|---|---|
| total cost | Total contract price, deed tax, maintenance funds, delivery expenses | Transaction price, taxes, agency fees, renovation costs |
| Check-in time | Project progress, delivery date, liability for breach of contract | Time to vacate, household registration transfer, lease status |
| House status | Delivery standards, measured area, public areas | Leakage, lighting, noise, equipment aging |
| commuting | Current routes and routes under construction are calculated separately. | On-site actual measurement of existing traffic |
| Community | Planning and Contractual Commitments | Property and neighborhood status after occupancy |
For families with tight budgets, facts that can be verified now are often worth more than the imagination that may be realized in a few years.
5. When you go to the sales office for the first time, just ask these eight things
- Whether the building where this apartment is located has obtained a pre-sale permit;
- One room per room in the current period, one price and available status;
- What other items must be paid in addition to the total contract price;
- Down payment nodes and what to do if the loan is not approved;
- Delivery dates, delivery standards and overdue responsibilities;
- Disclosure of adverse factors, including noise, equipment rooms, garbage rooms and roads;
- How to settle the difference in actual measured area;
- Property service contract, charging standards and nature of parking space rights.
By writing commuting, apartment type, total cost and delivery schedule into the same table, the final items left will be closer to the real needs of the family.
7. Put Cheuk Nang Riverside into the budget sheet
If your commuting and family life mainly occur in the north of Hangzhou, the north of Gongshu or the LinpingChongxian area, you can put Chongxian into the field comparison scope. The public plan for the first phase of the Hangzhou Metro Line 15 project is to set up the Chongxian station, and the official website of the project also displays relevant location information.
The official website of Cheuk Nang Riverside shows four types of apartments: 65 sq m, 67 sq m, 88 sq m and 138 sq m. Based only on space requirements, the viewing sequence can be arranged as follows:
- One or two people first compare 65 sq m and 67 sq m, focusing on the actual storage and circulation lines;
- For a family of three, first check whether 88 sq m can be used as a bedroom, study and bathroom;
- For multi-generational or improved homes, look at the 138m2 property and focus on checking the privacy of the bedroom and the value of the dual bathrooms.
After selecting the area, consult the project for the current price of the target house, and then put it into the total cost table above to determine whether the down payment, monthly payment and household reserve fund match.
You can check firstCheuk Nang RiversideOfficial website floor plan, and then put the area of interest into the budget sheet.