Question and Answer Page
Question:
How long does a standard rental contract run?
Answer:
The usual rental contracts are signed for one year.
However there are also many people that sign for half a year.
You will usually find it harder to negotiate for additional furniture or on price if you sign a shorter contract.
If you reall love the place you found you can sign for longer than 1 year we suggest that you don’t do it though maybe you can get a better price on the second term.
Question:
What happens when i breach the contract?
Answer:
In case of breaching the contract you will loose the deposit.
You get back the amount of rent you already paid though.
Question:
What’s the standard payment form and how much is the usual deposit?
Answer:
In shanghai you usually pay every three months, in some cases the landlord is willing to accept slower payms in exchange for one month more deposit.
Standard deposit is one month.
Question:
Will the appartement be cleaned before i move in?
Answer:
Yes, all places advertised with us will be cleaned to your wishes.
Questions:
How much is the utility cost per month?
Answer:
This is a really tough question,
We get it a lot, so i try my best to answer it. It really depends on how much your using.
Electricity averages between a 100 and 400 rmb,
Gas and water should together be around 100.
Proper adsl with 2mb is 150 per month.
The phone bill can range from anywhere of the minimum of 25rmb and 500.
You can hire an Ayi (housekeeper) for 10rmb an hour.
Question:
What can i ask for in a new appartement?
Answer:
Assuming you will stay for at least a year the landlord can add a microwave, DVD Player or wireless for smaller Appartements.
In the bigger flats from rent 8000 Rmb and above the table for negotiations are limitless, from changing sofa’s, putting in double glass windows, adding an extra fridge and an oven to even an extra flatscreen TV from Pioneer in the high-end skyscraper appartements we’ve done it all for our customers.
Question:
What about the internet?
Answer:
Internet can be installed within 2 days from the China Telecom, ADSL prices range between 130 and 150 for a decent connection.
The Superfast one is 230 per month.
However having a fixed Lan Line in every room is a problem as China Telecom sees one Room as one user.
This means having an extra connection in your room will double your monthly costs.
In these cases we usually helped getting you Wireless it’s just as fast in a decent connection.
Sure the transfer rate between computers is slower (100mb for Lan) and 54Mb for most wireless boxes, however since the connection is only 2 Mb it really doesn’t matter.
You’ll have the same connection speed as long as it’s not between 3 meter thick walls.
Question:
How long before planning to move should I look for an Apartment?
Answer:
From experience 2 weeks before moving, 1 week is ok, with us even 2 days.
“A Place in Shanghai” is fast and you’ll be able to see flats you like 3 hours after calling.
3 weeks is a maximum for most places, the landlords usually aren’t letting it being reserved for longer than that.
And usually the places are gone after 3-6 weeks.
Though we had some lucky tenants that got their dreamplace reserved for 1 Month.
In any case, know that you can mail us any time from 1 Month to 1 Year before You are planning to move.
Tell us what You are looking for and when You want to move.
Shplace is going to have it ready for you by the time you come to shanghai.
