False Advertising Rampant... Residents Must Exercise Extra Caution
Seoul Gangdong-gu (District Mayor Lee Su-hee) recently urged residents to be especially cautious, stating that "planned real estate speculators are active throughout the district," amid the government's recent atmosphere of lifting Greenbelt restrictions to supply new housing sites.
Lee Dong-min, head of the Gangdong-gu Real Estate Information Division, said, "As Greenbelt forest land share trading is flourishing mainly in Hanam and Gangdong recently, it is necessary to carefully suspect whether companies guaranteeing excessive profits or making false or exaggerated advertisements are planned real estate speculators, and to exercise meticulous caution to prevent damage."
Planned real estate speculation refers to the practice of purchasing undevelopable forest land or other land, then recruiting buyers through internet blogs, cafes, or multi-level marketing methods, and selling the land divided into shares to dozens or hundreds of people.
There are various tactics. Since subdivision of housing sites is prohibited, land is divided into shares and sold, or sold via multi-level marketing through phone, internet, and acquaintances (family, friends, etc.). Funds are raised by paying only deposits without securing land ownership, then selling through pre-sale. Land purchased without development activities or permits is immediately sold (share trading). It also features inducing small investments of 10 million to 50 million KRW targeting ordinary citizens.
In particular, many cases involve selling forest land that is practically undevelopable, such as natural green areas, development-restricted zones, conservation mountain areas, public-use mountain land, and Biotope Grade 1 forest land, requiring residents to exercise special caution.
Furthermore, to prevent planned real estate fraud, it is important to check whether low-value land is being traded as shared ownership, whether the land is difficult to develop, and above all, to carefully inspect the site in person.
The Gangdong-gu Greenbelt area was designated as a land transaction permit zone on the 13th of last month, so anyone wishing to trade land (over 100㎡) within the Greenbelt must obtain permission from the district office mayor.
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