Heya,

So me and a friend will be moving to Shanghai in a month or so. We'll study at Fudan.

We have (after advise from others) decided to rent a serviced apartment from a local estate agent.

We don't know _ANY_ chinese at all.

Is it even doable?
Do we need someone that speaks chinese (where will we get one? :O)
Can you get a the tenancy contract on english?
If not, is it likely that the estate agent will scam me?
Do you think it'll be tough to get ahold of something within walking distance to Fudan (100sqm+, 3bdrm+, no cockroaches, serviced max 5000RMB/month)

Can anyone recommend a local estate agent around Fudan University?

Thanks!

'me and a friend'?... do you mean 'a friend and I'?

midnight wrote:'me and a friend'?... do you mean 'a friend and I'?

Yes. English isn't my native language, sorry.

Midnight - cut the guy a bit of slack. Saying "me and a firend" isn't the worst of mistakes one could make.

5000RMB/month ？ you can not get a serviced an apartment.

But you can use 4500RMB to rent apartment, another 500 RMB for a part time clean lady

lightbulb, try some local real estate agent and i htink 5000rmb is ok if you want to rent some place close to fudan.

right now, many of them will give very best price to foreigners

Thanks for all the answers!

[quote=long518]5000RMB/month ？ you can not get a serviced an apartment.

But you can use 4500RMB to rent apartment, another 500 RMB for a part time clean lady[/quote]

I thought "Serviced apartment" meant that it was furnished? It's quite likely that I've misunderstood it though.

I lurked around and found out that you can hire an english speaking professional (forgot the name) that can look for apartments at the local landlords and help you with tenancy contracts etc, is that correct?

Also, is it usual to rent furnished apartments? Because of our relatively short stay (1 year) we feel it's kind of harsh to rent an empty apartment and then furnish it. TV, beds, sofas, tables etc would rack up the bill a bit (I assume, I don't know how much these things cost in Shanghai). What does the majority of short-term students do?

Lots of questions, sorry

Yes, it is quite common to rent furnished apartments. I am sure you can find an apartment which suits your needs for RMB5000/month, but you might have to search for a while and even try a few different agents.

I'd suggest you sign up for a room at the Fudan dorm for the first month, gives you some time to find an apartment you like.

Another option is to live at a cheap hotel for a week or two, and see what the situation is like. If you don't find an apartment within those weeks you can always temporary go for the dorm.

Please kindly mind not 5000 , but 21666 yuans you should be pay for first time.

It will not be very difficult for you to find one furnished apartment for one year at the budget of 5000RMB per month. Usually in Shanghai the payment is 2 month deposit and two month rental one time. So maybe you need to pay about 20,000RMB for the first time~
In shanghai there are some real estate agencies who can provide english service, they can speak english and offer formal english leasing contract. But I am not quite clear about the situation near Fudan, you can try to contact them.
Good luck
Jessie www.shaces.com

We're landing the 22th of August and the course doesn't start until the 1st of September so we have 8 days to find an apartment. Hopefully that is doable ^^

Unfortunately I don't have a chinese speaking friend as of yet so I'm going to have to solve it myself.

What/who should I turn to to get help with finding an apartment? As I mentioned earlier I think I read something about it, but can't find it and don't remember the exact name of the profession.

Regards

Pm Adrienne on this site....a very knowledgeable agent.

Australian, honest and has been here for many years.

Use the google search on the left of the site...

She may be able to help you

p1atl10, many thanks mate:-)

Firstly lightbulb, there's lots of good advice already but my "two bobs worth" would be as suggested, stay in the uni dorms or a cheap hotel or a backpackers like Captain's Hostel on Fuzhou Rd (great night views of Pudong from their rooftop bar too:-). Wonderful welcome to Shanghai.

I wouldn't suggest using any intermediatary broker as you will have to pay the broker a service fee as well.

The first day here I'd get a SIMM card for my mobile which you can get at any store that sells newspapers or any convenience store. Just pull it out of your mobile and show them. You will need it alot in your first days here for interpreting so may as well get it done asap.

Go to the office of your new employer and ask if there's anyone that can help you with interpreting between yourself and agents. I am sure there would be someone keen to practice their English and help a new soul out. Typically, they would know some agents in the area as am sure you wouldn't be the first in this situation.

Go to the agents with your new colleague and ask them to see anything for around 5,500rmb or 6,000rmb as you can get better quality and most likely a 500rmb to 1,000rmb reduction. Don't worry if they say things like "it's impossible to get this discount", it's just a bluff.

The local agents have properties on their books that they usually haven't seen so to get more details about the interior, ask the agent to call the landlord and check the kind of interior and furnishings. Ask if it has modern renovations and IKEA styled furnishings. This is the best way to vet places and avoid seeing too many places that your grandmother would adore or even worse ones that your dog wouldn't like:-)

It is time consuming but if you just make it your main goal you will find something for sure.

Unfortunately, we don't have low budget on our books but if you PM me we should be able to find some agents to contact.

Good luck with it all!

Adrienne
http://www.shanghaiprops.com