As an emerging Southeast Asian market, Cambodia — with its demographic dividend, high GDP growth, abundant natural resources and low barrier to entry — has long drawn the attention of professional investors. For ordinary investors, though, the reality of Cambodia’s property and rental market is still relatively unfamiliar. Zagdim invited investor and property owner Chara Hung to talk about why she chose Cambodia in the first place, what becoming an owner there actually involved, her own experience collecting rent, and what to watch for when judging a Cambodian property investment — opening up the “mystery” of investing in Cambodia.
Guest: Owner and professional property investor
Chara Hung — columnist, “Investing in Cambodia”
About the guest: Ms. Chara’s day job is helping clients invest in industrial and commercial units in Tuen Mun, and she also holds property investments in Hong Kong. Two years before this interview, she started looking overseas for places worth investing in, and that is how she found Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she now owns two units that she rents out.
More recently, as more Hong Kong buyers who invested in Cambodian property have begun preparing to collect their units, first-time owners unfamiliar with how things work in Cambodia may not know what pitfalls to watch for during handover.
What Was Your First Impression of Cambodia?
Before I had really looked into it, Cambodia felt to me like a backwater. Then, two years before this interview, I visited on a trip and found it was completely different from what I expected — it felt more like Thailand, with people speaking a national language and English on arrival.
What Was Your First Impression on the Ground?
I found it very comfortable. The shopping malls, for example, are excellent — somewhere like Aeon Mall. This footage is roughly from around midday, and it felt as comfortable as somewhere like Harbour City in Hong Kong. A meal at an ordinary restaurant costs around US$4; at a rooftop bar, a drink is about US$8–10. They use US dollars, though the local currency is also used alongside it.
Property in Hong Kong was already very expensive two years before this interview. I didn’t have that much capital on hand — at most, enough for a car park space. So I wanted to spread my capital across different markets, and I began paying attention to different countries.
What Was the Buying Process Actually Like?
The first step was viewing units, and I liked the second project I saw. It was a Singaporean-developed project, and it was essentially a completed, ready unit by the time I bought it. I looked at other projects afterwards but still came back to buy this one, because the design felt similar to a Hong Kong style. I signed in March, and by April I had already collected the unit.
What Was the Cambodian Buying Process Like?
The first requirement was simply a passport, which serves as identification for a foreign buyer. There was also a fingerprint and a signature involved. The contract is in English — in fact, most of these developers’ contracts are basically bilingual, in English or Chinese. My contract was in three languages, including Khmer, though the baseline is always at least English.
The deposit was US$2,000–3,000, and then I paid 30% as a down payment from Hong Kong. That whole process took around two to three weeks. Handover took about a week after that, when the balance was due — because this was a completed, ready unit, the balance had to be paid at that point. The sale contract was couriered to Hong Kong.
Was the Whole Process Done From Hong Kong?
The deposit can be paid either in Cambodia or in Hong Kong — you sign a provisional sale and purchase agreement, and once all the paperwork is ready, a formal contract follows. If done from Hong Kong, a copy of the provisional agreement is sent over for signature, and once the formal contract is ready it incorporates a copy of your passport that you had already provided, and the whole set is sent to Hong Kong. When formally signing, there is a video call, where any part of the contract you don’t understand is explained to you.
Is the Contract Explained by a Lawyer?
Generally it’s handled by staff, not necessarily a lawyer; if a lawyer is needed, the developer also has one available to help. So the contracts are generally handled by the developer’s own lawyer. At signing, you don’t necessarily meet a lawyer in person.
After Signing, in Hong Kong We’d Receive a Deed. What Happens in Cambodia?
In Cambodia, you receive what’s called a Hard Title, similar to a deed. You don’t receive it at handover, because the relevant government department still has to process it. Mine was an original document, around five pages, a bit like a map, showing the developer and the permanent ownership of the unit. Only a permanent-ownership title comes with a Hard Title; a non-permanent title does not.
There is also a card, and you need to pay tax at set times — it’s very cheap, so little that I’m not even sure how it can be that little.
Rental Income Is What Hong Kong Buyers Care About Most — What Is the Situation With Your Unit?
My unit was in a two-year rental-return scheme, meaning the unit is leased back to the developer, and the developer handles renting it out. When I bought it, it came with a complete furniture package, so tenants could move in directly.
After the two years, at the end of April 2021, I got the unit back. The management office staff proactively messaged me on WeChat, offering to help find a tenant. By around May, they had a prospective tenant, whom I screened, and I turned down the first one. About two weeks later, there was a Chinese couple looking to rent. Because my unit is near a factory area, tenants are generally factory managers who want to live nearby and also want to be close to an international school.
So You Started in April and Had a Tenant by May?
That’s right. I… (please watch the full interview for more).
Collecting the Unit: A Follow-Up Experience
In a follow-up interview, Chara Hung also shared her experience going through handover and inspection on a later Cambodian project, noting that Hong Kong owners preparing to collect a Cambodian unit for the first time may not be familiar with local practice and may not know where the pitfalls lie during handover and inspection.
Have a question about this guide? Leave a comment below, or ask Zagdim directly.
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