Li Meng has been a little busy recently，I didn’t even give myself a holiday during the National Day，Often work late。She is the salesperson of Longfor Group Guanyu’s first long-term rental apartment store in Beijing，This apartment is currently being rented out。Li Meng in her twenties，Lively and beautiful，But because I majored in industrial and civil construction，Before working in the engineering department of Beijing Longhu，She doesn’t like doing engineering very much，I have been considering the transformation issue for a long time。Now，The opportunity has come，Li Meng wearing a black hoodie，With the same young tenant，Wandering around the colorful public areas，Opening the new housing door，Go to the rooftop garden and overlook the city of Beijing，She finally found a job she likes。

In real estate company，There are many people like Li Meng，For example Wang Xilong，He is from a marketing background，Previously worked in the small apartment research department of Pomegranate Group，Now is the CEO of Panda Apartment, the group’s incubation project。And push them towards a new career direction，It is a stock that comes from nothing、Market trends from small to large。From early 2015，Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued a document，We must speed up the cultivation and development of the housing rental market，At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China，It is clear in General Secretary Xi Jinping’s “Report”，Accelerate the establishment of a housing system that promotes both renting and purchasing。Long-term rental apartments as a new business format，It can be said that we have ushered in a historic opportunity，This opportunity not only creates a large number of new jobs for individuals，Also provides developers with the direction of transformation。

In the last three years，Including Vanke、Longhu、Ocean、Real estate companies including Xuhui，Successively laid out the long-term rental apartment market。But it is different from the traditional real estate development industry，In this emerging market，They encountered many players，Including traditional intermediaries represented by Lianjia，Entrepreneurial enterprises driven by capital、Hotel Management Company，Recently, “national teams” are entering the stadium one after another from various places。

The command gun has been fired，Can developers beat the competition？

188bet app download

Liu Jia, CEO of Rubik’s Cube Apartment, receives two or three headhunting calls a day，Ask her if she wants to go to other long-term 188bet sports betting app download rental apartment projects，The top position is reserved for her，Of course she laughed it off。But she is in a state where the industry is extremely hungry for talents，Seeing the rapid expansion of the market。When reporters describe long-term rental apartments as blue ocean，Liu Jia disagreed: “It’s no longer a blue ocean，Many competitors。”But she feels there is still a lot of market space。

This is a very imaginative market。In cities with large net population inflow，More and more people will choose to rent。These cities，House prices are already very high，It is difficult for households without housing to afford it；Many cities have also introduced strict purchase restriction policies，More immigrants are excluded from the trading market。Also，With the post-90s generation、Post-00s have entered society one after another，The consumption outlook of these young people is very different from that of their predecessors，Between the poor house slave and the generous tenant，They usually choose the latter。

According to the estimate of Zuo Hui, Chairman of Lianjia，The rental scale of the national leasing market this year is about 1 trillion yuan，In ten years this number will be 3 trillion。and，Based on the experience of mature foreign markets，Institutions play an important role。For example, the housing stock held or managed by institutions in the United States accounts for 30% of the entire rental market.4%，Japanese institutions have a market share of 83%，And Liu Jia told reporters，In China，Brand operators only account for 2% of the listings。This means，In ten years, the market occupied by brand operators is likely to exceed one trillion yuan。

Magic Cube Apartment was founded in 2009，is the first company to discover the rental market，has now become the leader in centralized long-term rental apartment brands。2011，This market is beginning to attract attention，YOU+ International Youth Apartment was established in this year，Same year，Lianjia also launched its own apartment business "Ziru"，Mainly distributed；Later, similar brands sprung up like mushrooms after a rain，For example, Youkeyijia、New style apartments, etc.，Traditional hotels have also launched their own long-term rental apartments，Including Home Inn’s Comma Apartment、Huazhu’s Chengjia Apartment, etc.。Of course，Since Vanke entered this market three years ago，The developer team is getting bigger and bigger。

What cannot be ignored is capital，They stand behind startups，is the person who provided the ammunition。For example, Rubik’s Cube Apartment shortly after its establishment，Received Series A financing from Warburg Pincus and Detong Capital，Since then, Warburg Pincus has followed up every round of investment in Rubik’s Cube Apartments，As of last year’s Series C financing，The company’s valuation has reached $1 billion。Also，Lei Jun invested 100 million yuan in YOU+ apartment，Jingwei and others invested US$20 million in Ukoyijia，Saif invested in Xinpai Apartment 1.600 million yuan，Mogu Rental, a SaaS management system for the industry，Also received tens of millions of dollars of investment from IDG and Ping An。

Money has a sense of smell，It is aimed at the value-added space。With the investment boom one after another，Many markets are expanding rapidly，Rapid saturation，Even quickly disproven；Look at the present，It’s hard to find another emerging market，It can be the same as a long-term rental apartment，Just enough and necessary，The market capacity is large enough。

In terms of the current market structure，It’s far from the time when you need to spend money to grab territory，But unfortunately，Leasing an apartment for a long time is not very profitable at the moment。Jin Yu, Assistant General Manager of Beijing Vanke Boyu, told reporters directly，This is a low-profit industry，The profit margin is only single digits or even a loss。Jinyu mainly refers to centralized long-term rental apartments，Now except Lianjia，Developer、Hotel management companies and most startups，All concentrated in this field。Its pattern is simple，By upgrading the property，Earn rent difference。Because each company is still far from reaching the scale to have the right to speak，So the upstream rent pricing power is generally in the hands of the landlord，This leads to the landlord making a lot of money，Operators make small money、Not even making money。

Of course，The information from Liu Jia is，The profit margin before interest and tax of a single store of Rubik's Cube Apartment is 25%~35%，The final net profit margin is also more than ten percentage points。But because the company has been in a period of rapid expansion，Requires continuous investment，This results in the company not yet achieving profitability。

Zuo Hui said: "It must be at least one hundred thousand units，We can talk about benefits later。”The person in charge of Longfor Crown Apartment also told reporters，Disregard profit first，The first goal is to build 50,000 units。

Ecological integration and overtaking on corners

October 11，Xinpai Apartment’s REITs plan was approved by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange。This is China’s first equity apartment REITs，Only Lianjia and MoFang Apartment have issued ABS products before，i.e. securitization of future leases。But in terms of the entire market，Long-term rental apartments are often separated from management rights and property rights，There are not many types and sizes of leverage that can be used。This is very different from the development industry model，Real estate development has high leverage、High Return、Short cycle attribute，The opposite is true for long-term rental apartments。

Then，Why are there a large number of developers entering the field of long-term rental apartments？Vanke is the first real estate company to explore this business，Started three years ago，As of the end of September this year，Vanke Boyu products have covered 25 first- and second-tier cities across the country，Acquisition of more than 8 houses in total.40,000 rooms，More than 30,000 units opened。Jin Yu told reporters，Development of long-term rental apartments，Closely related to the background of Vanke’s transformation。Exactly three years ago，Vanke decides to transform into an “urban supporting service provider”，Except 188bet app traditional development business，The company is also exploring various industries related to urban life，such as education、Elderly Care、Business、Travel, etc.。Of course, this also includes long-term rental apartments，This business is classified as Vanke’s innovative business。“We hope to achieve ecological integration and complementarity。"Jin Yu said。

Public area of ​​Vanke Boyu Jinsong Store。Picture source: Photo provided by the interviewee

Currently，The annual transaction volume of first-hand housing is approximately 10 trillion，The industry recognizes that the entire scale will last for several years，It will then decrease。So，Every developer is considering transformation。Large real estate companies that choose long-term rental apartments，Not just Vanke。Longfor even regards it as one of the company’s four main channels。This is the first year for Longfor to promote its long-term rental apartment strategy，But only in Shanghai，20 items acquired，9 stores will open in October alone。As of the end of this year，This company will open more than 1 rooms.50,000 rooms。In an interview with Longfor Crown Apartment，The information obtained by the reporter is，Same as Vanke，They also saw the business integration capabilities of long-term rental apartments，For example, Beijing Jiuxianqiao Crown Apartment，Integrated with co-working office。A source from Guanyu told reporters，There will be businesses underneath this building in the future，The entire project will become a central point，Small-scale projects surrounding radiation。Longfor gave this integrated business a name “CityHub”，It means de-islanding urban apartments，Of course it can also be understood as，Let Longfor’s various businesses be organically linked together。

The public kitchen of Longfor Crown Apartment Zhoupu Xiao Shanghai Branch。Picture source: Photo provided by the interviewee

During a recent meeting，The reporter randomly interviewed some small and medium-sized developers，Most of them are not interested in long-term rental apartments，Think that only big developers can afford such long-term projects，Small developers still prefer quick turnaround projects。But as a medium-sized real estate company，Pomegranate Group thinks instead，This is an opportunity to overtake in a corner。According to Wang Xilong’s introduction，The golden point of this opportunity still lies in the land。

February 2015，The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress promulgated the "About authorizing the State Council to establish pilot projects in 33 pilot counties (cities) including Daxing District in Beijing、District) Administrative Region Decision on Temporarily Adjusting and Implementing Relevant Legal Provisions (Draft)》，Stipulated in the draft，It is planned to allow rural collective commercial construction land in 33 pilot counties to enter the market，All regions can try different land entry policies，Proven effective，will be adopted in future official documents，The pilot period is about 2 years。Pomegranate Group thinks，The opportunity has come。Land prices have soared in recent years，The opportunities for 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino companies to obtain land through the open market have become smaller and smaller。Rural collective commercial construction land enters the market，Means possible low price、Acquire large-scale land resources，Wang Xilong calls it the last historic opportunity facing real estate developers。Pomegranate Group formed a small apartment research department，Just to study how to operate this kind of land，After all, a house built cannot be sold。

January 2016，Pomegranate Group obtained Daxing’s first rural collective commercial construction land sold in the form of auction，This project will be built into a large-scale long-term rental apartment project for young people，A single project has more than 4,000 rooms。“We still have many similar sites on hand，Being two is the boss of long-term rental apartments in the northern region，If you finish all the lands on your hand，We are the boss in the country。"Wang Xilong said。

Of course，Wang Xilong also knows，The prerequisite for Panda Apartment to become the boss，The holdings of other companies must remain static，Of course this is impossible。According to reporter’s understanding，A long-term rental apartment brand with many developers background，All eyes are focused on rural collective commercial construction land。Developers’ pursuit of land is never-ending，Even if the rights of this kind of land are being confirmed、Loans, etc.，There are still some obstacles。But everyone is thinking about it，Get the land first，Since it is the general trend，There will always be a way in the future。

Food Festival at Panda Apartment. Image source: Photo provided by interviewee

actually，There is another reason why developers build long-term rental apartments—it is a last resort。As the central government increasingly emphasizes both renting and purchasing，Including cities such as Shanghai，Adjustments to the land supply policy have been made，Require developers to acquire residential land，A considerable proportion of self-sustaining land。What does the developer do in self-owned housing？Most likely it will be a long-term rental apartment。

Long-term rental apartments are divided into asset-light models and asset-heavy models，Most companies adopt an asset-light model，Renovate the building to earn the rent difference；But as developers enter the market，There are more and more long-term rental apartments with heavy asset model，Including the use of rural collective construction land、Proportioned self-sustaining land, etc.，The profit models of these projects are self-contained，Operators generally pay more attention to the income from land value increase。

Funding VS Operation

Not long ago，An interesting thing happened。In the classroom of this year’s E-House Wharton China Real Estate Practical Training Project，Said Zhu Jinglei, partner of The Paper Capital，The main opportunities in the long-term rental apartment market are reserved for developers，Because developers have strong ability to obtain resources，The audience he faced was hundreds of real estate industry executives，Most of them come from development companies，And many have already been involved in the field of long-term rental apartments。But the next person in class is Zuo Hui，He thinks the long-term rental apartment 188bet app download market is too complicated，Requires strong operational capabilities and IT construction capabilities，Developers may not necessarily do a good job。

Since there is a conflict of opinions，This means developers are in the long-term rental apartment market，There are not only long boards but also short boards。The probability that they will outperform their competitors is neither 100%，Not zero either。

“Developers are too rich”，In Wang Xilong’s view，Financial strength is an advantage that is difficult for practitioners from other backgrounds to compare with。Only for asset-light long-term 188bet sports betting app download rental apartment projects，Since upstream and downstream rents can be hedged on a rolling basis，The initial cost is mainly the decoration cost，According to single room 4.Peer standard of 50,000 yuan，An apartment of 200 units，Investment amount is close to 10 million yuan。"Total sales of one project is 8 billion，The marketing expenses alone are several hundred million，Higher than the financing amount of many projects，Can invest in dozens of projects。"Wang Xilong said。Also，Due to the large scale of the development enterprise，Long-term cooperation with financing institutions，Very low-cost funding is usually available，For example Longhu，The annualized interest rate of its borrowing costs in 2016 was no more than 4.92%，This is a level that is difficult for ordinary enterprises to achieve。

Although Longfor has given Guanyu a sufficient budget，The relevant person in charge of Danguan Apartment told reporters，The core competitiveness they focus on is the ability to leverage urban resources。Guanyu Apartment currently operates in 16 cities，They are all cities where Longfor has set up city companies in advance。Due to development business，City company’s relationship with local government、Market and policy, etc.，Already have in-depth understanding and contact。Only then will you know where to choose the site，Only then will you know where to choose the site，How to choose a building，And how to price，Who to hire。

In fact, after Vanke and Longfor entered the long-term rental apartment industry，Liu Jia has also been quietly observing this group，But she feels that professional operating companies like Rubik’s Cube，Also has its own advantages，For example, understand your customers better，Better at business。The degree of refined management of Rubik's Cube Apartment can start from the pricing of rooms to implement one price per room。Based on the orientation of each room、Floor、Area、House type，Even the interior decoration，Set different prices in different seasons and time periods。In terms of cost control，Like a light in a room、Floor tiles、Furniture、Cost must be considered when selecting materials and supply chain，This also includes considering the long-term maintenance and service life of the furniture。

Because of long-term centralized procurement，Developers also have unique cost advantages。Because of long-term centralized procurement，Developers and supply chain companies have formed a solid cooperative relationship，Usually get particularly low discounts。“It is difficult for laymen to understand how low the low prices in this 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino market are。"Wang Xilong thinks，Startup companies lack imagination in their bargaining power over developers。But Jin Yu told reporters，Even if the developer has a potential cost advantage，But it never performed well，The decoration cost of a single room is basically the same as that of the industry。This is due to the developer’s habit of investing heavily。One door costs 2,700 yuan，Sino-Ocean House is a recognized high-quality project，There is money behind this。“I went to see it，One door costs 2,700 yuan，The usual standard in our industry is about 800 yuan。"An industry insider told reporters。

In a low-profit industry，If the cost increases a little, you may lose money，Refined management must also penetrate into every corner of operations，Interesting thing，All developers interviewed by the reporter，Everyone thinks they can do a good job，Can make money by being a landlord；But entrepreneurial enterprises，No one is optimistic about the developer’s operational capabilities。

"Maybe they think the developers are just cheating。But the developer is actually serious，Or maybe someone who played tickets before，Seriously now。"Finish this sentence，It’s getting late，Wang Xilong picked up the remote control and turned on the lights in the room。He said，The cost of laying out a dual-control wire is 800 yuan，But it only costs 60 yuan to install a remote control。“Who says we won’t save money？”

*本文来Source: WeChat public account "China Entrepreneur Magazine”(ID:icon-com-cn), Author: Wang Fangjie Wang Bo, original labelTitle: "The era of shared housing in "Ode to Joy" in the eyes of developers 》.