OVERVIEW HOUSING MARKET

The choice of available properties for rent is enormous. In Shanghai one can find apartments in new or old compounds (most of them in high-rise buildings), in Chinese or Western-orientated compounds and in low-rise buildings such as old houses or lane houses - all in every possible district. The situation of houses and villas is similar. Therefore the price range varies from cheap to very expensive. 

Factors for the prices are mainly the location (e.g., former French Concession is very popular for Expats which is the reason why the rental prices are a lot higher there than in other districts), the type of property (see above: what kind of compound or house) and the condition of the property, especially the year of construction. Another factor for different prices is the interior decoration with all its furniture. In most of the cases the apartments and houses are fully furnished. The decoration varies from Chinese-, European-, Western-, IKEA-, simple, classic to a combination of modern and classic-style.

At the end it is in the eye of the beholder whether the landlord did a good job on decorating or not.

Many things are negotiable with the landlord (e.g., if you would like to get a different TV or sofa) but don’t expect the landlord to completely redecorate his property. Once again it is a matter of the price. For example: A landlord won’t offer a 10000,- RMB Plasma TV if the rent is 4000,- RMB/month. So don’t anticipate any wonders. However, the situation changes with properties at a monthly rent of 10000,-  RMB/month or higher. In those cases the room for negotiation is unlimited.

Usually, a standard contract is signed for one year. Shorter contracts are possible but the room to negotiate any changes or a lower rental price is limited to none.

In Shanghai it is common to pay the landlord a deposit of at least one month rent, in most cases a two month rent deposit is due while the payment of the rent is in most of the cases monthly or 2-monthly, sometimes even quarterly to be paid.

Moreover, the prices are made by the landlords and not by us. You can check for yourself the housing market prices on the web or the advertisement section of local newspapers. In contrast to some other agencies, who list their prices in US Dollars, we show you the actual asking price of the property in the local currency RMB. We simply provide you with the service to help you find the right property (see: OUR SERVICE).

The pictures on our webpage are put in three categories. First, the pictures tagged “were made by ourselves” are 100% real and show the actual apartment/house. Second, the pictures tagged “were offered by the landlord” showing the actual apartment/house are real, nevertheless relying on the honesty of the landlord. Third, the pictures tagged “are similar to the actual apartment/house” don’t show the actual apartment. While we use pictures from other apartments in the same compound or from houses in the same area, their function is to give you an example of the property. In those cases the apartment or house has just gotten available and it is not in our database yet nor did the landlord offer or allow us to take any pictures. The reasons for that are various, some obvious but you might be surprised what hidden gem you might find. It is like betting on a wild horse.

Almost all of the landlords won't agree to sign a contract 2 months in advance if their property is currently empty because they would lose money. For that reason we recommend to start your search for your perfect property about 3-4 weeks ahead of your planned move in date. In most cases 2 weeks before are more than enough.

At last we would like to inform you that the housing market due to the rapid movement of this city is at a quick pace and many properties come and go at a high speed. We update our listings daily and we take our pride in an honest work but in the case of an already rented apartment we can provide you with other maybe even better options through different databases and cooperation with other agencies.