Man in China sells 40th floor apartment at a loss after waiting 20 mins for lift on most days

A man in China, who lived on the 40th floor of a highly sought-after property in Hangzhou, sold his apartment after reportedly waiting 20 minutes for the lift almost on a daily basis.

Sin Chew Daily reported that the man, Ma, sold the apartment at a loss due to concerns about his quality of life.

Ma moved into the apartment in 2023, mnewstv.com reported, adding that he was greatly bothered by the 20-minute waiting time almost every day, as well as the indoor noise at night.

Lottery

This comes after Ma managed to get an apartment in this property, which saw tens of thousands of people vying for it through a lottery system, New Tang Dynasty Television reported.

His family was very excited and felt lucky that he got the apartment.

As such, they did not understand when Ma proposed selling the house as they felt it was a waste to sell the unit that they had fortuitously acquired through the lottery system.

In addition, they were reportedly unable to purchase another apartment at a good price.

However, Ma was still determined and sold it.

"I don't want to keep wasting my time, and I won't blindly chase after popular properties in the future," he said, adding that "a house is for living in, and being happy living there is more important than anything else".

Waiting time

Following this, local reporters who visited the property found that at 6pm, the entire process from waiting to arriving at the 40th floor took no more than two minutes as there was no one else waiting for the lift, according to i.ifeng.com.

The descent was also reportedly effortless and took around one minute.

In addition, mirrormedia.mg reported that several residents whom reporters spoke to had varied experiences in terms of waiting time.

One resident living close to the 20th floor said "the elevator wait is only longer during the peak hours of 7am to 8am".

"Usually, it only takes one or two minutes, with about three or four stops in between," the resident said, adding that waiting "more than 20 minutes is a bit exaggerated".

The resident added that it's possible that when one is anxious while waiting for the elevator in the morning, "the time feels like it's passing very slowly".

Another resident living around the 30th floor has waited for six to 10 minutes at a time, but has never waited for a second elevator to arrive.

"Overall, I don't find waiting for the elevator bothersome, and it's quite comfortable living here," the resident added.

Top photos via Google Maps, Canva