• Standard Lease Term

  1. 2 – 3 years of Initial Term, a few landlords may accept 1 year term.
  2. Terms of 2 + 2, 3 + 2, 2 + 2 +2 or 3 + 3 are usually accepted subject to rent increment of 5% to 10% from the second term onward. It can either be fixed rent for the 2nd or 3rd term or rent increment applied yearly from the 3rd or 4th year onwards.
  3. The rent for the initial 2 – 3 year period is usually fixed.

• Security Deposit

  1. 3 months rent is the norm, certain owners accept 2 months while a few demand for more than 3 months.

• Payment of rent

  1. Monthly, Bi-Monthly or Quarterly in advance.

• Management fee

  1. Paid by the tenant.

• Handover Conditions

  1. Mostly bare shell, with or without central air-conditioning or suspended-ceiling. Usually, office buildings provide central A/C & Ceiling and retail/F&B space in shopping malls provide A/C while high street shops, F&B sites come without A/C system.

• Agency Fee

  1. Biz R Estate Leasing
     1. Almost always paid by Owners (usually 1 month of rent), Tenants almost always needn't pay.

Here, we are only describing the Expat Housing Market in Shanghai which starts from about RMB 8000/mth to above RMB100,000/mth rental-wise.

• Standard Lease Term

  1. 1 year ; 2 years lease term is usually accepted with welcome ; Below 1 year is occasionally accepted.
  2. For short term lease, there are serviced apartments & long stay hotel large rooms/suites, the reasonable rent difference should be between 20 to 30% above regular fully furnished apartments of comparable "star rating".

• Security Deposit

  1. Usually 2 months rent.

• Payment of rent

  1. Monthly in advance. Some Bi-Monthly or Quarterly in advance which happen more often in the below 10,000 RMB sector.

• Rent includes

  In the above 10000 Yuan per month market, the rent almost always includes:
  1. Management fee,
  2. Health Club membership if there is an in-house health club. Where in-house health club is unavailable, Tenants can rent a lower-rent unit and have an outside health club membership fee bundled into the tenancy.
  3. Satellite TV – installation and use fee.
  4. Installation of ADSL while Tenants pay use fee. The use fee could also be bundled into the tenancy.
  5. Official Rent Receipt - also known as Rent Fapiao which carries a sales tax that is commonly paid by the Owners.

• Notes on Satellite TV

  Authorized Sat-TV (for international channels) are available in Hotels, most Serviced Apartments and some residential compounds here. The Sat-TV provided in most other properties are from the "grey" market. Expat Tenants are suggested to exercise senses of humor when it breaks down more often than usual; and the after-sale service is amateurish at best compare to most Tenants' home markets. There is no indirect way to express it - these Sat-TV are actually illegal.

• Conditions of hand-over

  1. New Apartments and Houses – mostly fully furnished and include all standard electrical appliances.
  2. Old houses – mostly unfurnished but include all standard appliances.
  3. What consists of Standard Electrical Appliances?
     1. TVs for Living Room and MBR for 3-bedroom apartments, one of which should be flat screen. And 1 TV for 2 b/r or below.
     2. Frdige
     3. Washer/dryer
     4. Microwave oven
     5. Telephone set
  4. How about ovens and the dish washers?
     1. As these 2 items are almost always built-in, so the unit either has it or hasn't.
        Notes to Owners: Ovens are quite popular, we suggest you to install it when you can.
  5. What other non-standard appliances are also provided?
     1. DVD
     2. Mini-theater sound system
     3. Vacuum cleaner, iron and board

• Agency Fee

  1. Residential Expat Leasing
  1. Always paid by Owners (usually 1 month of rent), Tenants always needn't pay.