Budget about 12% of annual rent for the operating stack: management at 4% of annual rent, and letting plus vacancy around 8% amortized. Building charges and repairs sit on top; entry costs are one-off and listed below.
Most cost guides for Hanoi stop at the purchase price and the headline yield. The money that actually decides your net return moves through two clocks: costs you pay once at entry, and costs that tick every year. They deserve separate tables.
You pay these once, at entry
These are paid once, mostly around handover, and they are knowable in advance:
| Line | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Furnishing, one-bedroom | $4,000 | fixed-price package: specified, sourced, installed |
| Furnishing, two-bedroom | $5,000 | same |
| Furnishing, three-bedroom | $6,000 | same |
| Building maintenance fund | 2% of apartment value excl. VAT | Article 152, Law on Housing 27/2023 — paid at handover of a new build |
| Registration fee | 0.5% of value | Decree 10/2022/ND-CP, at certificate issuance |
| Notary fee | statutory scale, roughly VND 3 million on a VND 5 billion unit | Circular 257/2016/TT-BTC |
Furnishing is the line buyers most often misfile as optional. A bare handover unit does not let to expat tenants, so the package belongs in the entry cost of a letting business, not in a someday-maybe column. What each package contains is on the interior furnishing page, and the full closing-cost arithmetic for a purchase, including whether VAT is already inside your quoted price, is in the Hong Kong buyer’s guide.
What every year costs, in percent of rent
Priced on our published fees and stated assumptions, on a two-year tenancy:
| Line | Effect on annual rent |
|---|---|
| Gross rent | 100% |
| Management, 4% of annual rent | −4% |
| Tenant sourcing, one month’s rent, payable only when a tenant signs | −4.2% per year amortized |
| One vacant month between tenancies, every two years | −4.2% per year |
| Left before building charges, repairs and tax | ≈ 88% |
In dollars, on a $1,000-a-month two-bedroom — the middle of the $700–1,300 that two-bedroom units in the five western-corridor buildings we manage ask as of July 2026, listed building by building on our portfolio pages: annual rent $12,000, management $480, sourcing and vacancy about $500 each per year amortized. Roughly $1,500 a year to the operating stack, and the tenancy length assumption moves this number more than any fee does. A tenant who stays four years instead of two hands you back around 4 percentage points of annual rent.
The first year does not look like the steady state, and mixing the two is how budgets go wrong. Same $1,000-a-month two-bedroom, taken from handover:
| Year one | Steady state, per year | |
|---|---|---|
| Furnishing | $5,000 once | — |
| Tenant sourcing | $1,000 when the first tenant signs | ≈ $500 amortized |
| Management | $480 | $480 |
| Vacancy allowance | inside the first let | ≈ $500 |
Year one is front-loaded by design: the furnishing and the first sourcing fee buy the asset’s earning condition. Judging the investment on year-one cash alone makes every apartment look bad; judging it without year one makes every projection look better than your bank account will.
The lines only your building can price
Two annual lines carry no universal number, and a guide that quotes one anyway is guessing:
- Building service charge. Every tower sets its own rate per square meter, and what it buys (security, cleaning, the pool, the gym) differs building by building. Ask the building office for the current schedule before you model, and treat a building that cannot answer as information in itself.
- Repairs and replacement. An air conditioner serviced on schedule is a cost; one run for two years without service is a bigger cost later. We pass repair invoices through at cost, add no percentage on top, and act above or below the approval threshold you set — so this line is controllable, but it is never zero.
The line nobody lists: the currency you count in
Rent collects in Vietnamese dong. Your accounting lives in Hong Kong dollars, Singapore dollars or won. Every conversion in this article uses early-2026 rates, and the honest statement is that the rate will move — in both directions — across a multi-year hold. Model the stack in VND first, convert once at the end, and treat the conversion as an estimate with a date on it, the way our building pages date their asking rents.
Tax: for most owners, zero
Under Law 149/2025/QH15 and Law 109/2025/QH15, rental revenue up to VND 500 million a year — roughly USD 1,600 a month at early-2026 exchange rates — carries no tax. The $1,000-a-month example above collects about VND 312 million a year and owes nothing. Above the line, personal income tax runs at 5% on the excess only.
The mechanics, the two effective dates and the outdated 10% rule that forums still repeat are in the rental income tax guide.
One question that reveals the fee model
Ask any manager: is the fee on annual rent, or on rent collected? Ours is 4% of annual rent. The distinction sounds like accounting trivia and is not — the two models pay the manager to optimize for different things, and you want to know which behavior you are buying before you sign. The full pricing table, including what is not charged, is on the pricing page.
Where the money actually leaks
Across more than 360 apartments in 13 Hanoi buildings, the pattern is consistent: the expensive lines are rarely the fees. They are the vacant months nobody shortened, the tenant churn nobody screened against, and the condition problems nobody saw until move-out. One vacant month plus a re-letting fee costs roughly 17% of a year’s rent — more than four years of the management fee — which is why the cheap-looking decision at the top of this stack is rarely the cheapest one at the bottom.
Run your own numbers against the full yield arithmetic in the Hanoi ROI guide, and confirm the tax position for your case with a licensed Vietnamese tax advisor.
Common questions
What percentage of rent goes to costs each year?
About 12% to the operating stack on a two-year tenancy: 4% of annual rent for management, and roughly 8% amortized for tenant sourcing and one vacant month between tenancies. Building service charges and repairs sit on top and vary by building.
Do I pay Vietnamese tax on the rent?
Not below VND 500 million a year, roughly USD 1,600 a month at early-2026 exchange rates, under Law 149/2025/QH15 and Law 109/2025/QH15. Above that line, personal income tax runs at 5% on the excess only.
What does it cost to furnish before the first tenant?
Fixed-price packages: $4,000 for a one-bedroom, $5,000 for two, $6,000 for three — specified, sourced and installed. A bare handover unit does not let to expat tenants, so this is part of the entry cost, not an upgrade.
Is the management fee charged on rent collected or on annual rent?
Ours is 4% of annual rent. Ask any manager this exact question before signing, because the two models pay the manager to optimize for different things.
