moving to shanghai at end of april. i'm chinese, but having been away for 8 years, i found it a little overwhelming to make sense of all the information on apartment renting out there. i talked to a couple of agencies specializing in serving expats, they things they showed me are all shockingly expensive. i'm wondering if that is the market now, or i can find better deals somewhere else. what i'm looking for is a 2 bedroom apt, 70 to 100 square meters, preferrably a gym and swimming pool on site, not far from huang pu, a safe neighborhood a must, is it reasonable to find a such a place in a 5000 to 6000 RMB range? and, what is the best way to go about looking for an apartment? recommendations on agencies? Thanks a lot!!!

Talk to Adrienne, who often posts on this site. She seems to have a good handle on a full range of housing issues and offers realistic info and leads based on your situation, rather than forcing everyone to the most pricey places. And she's a nice lady so if indeed you are in need of a place, she may be a good choice as an agent.

Speaking Chinese can lower your price significantly both in the negotiations and in your options. In many of the areas where the "expat" apartments are, there are also more local apartments with the only difference being that there are not English speaking staff available.

We had very good luck by starting with the internet and then having a friend check the places out for us. If you can't arrange for someone to do that, you might plan to check into a hotel for the first week and plan to do your looking then.

My experience has been that agencies are not as interested in working with expats who do not have a big budget.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Have been doing prelim. house search myself. We plan to rent 2 bedroom house, approx 120m2 with less than 6000rmb. This seems fully possible based on our search. Also swimming pools are quite common.

Negotiations will be done by my wife, as she is local resident. Price tag for me would be something else.

if your research is based on the online info, you have to doubt about it. With my experience, the other party (always housing agent) would tell you the unit has been taken and they could help you with your house hunting, end up you receive a lot of calls during day time.

not sure where is huang pu district, but i am staying in a decent apartment in hongkou (zha pei) district (3 to 4km from people square) with monthly rental 4500 include gym, laundry shop, barber shop, mahjong room in the compound (require membership).

yinlin, how big is your apartment?

whether your budgets is ok depends on the location,renovation....
some times agent can save lots of time and find a good place for you.
if you can trust me,please send more details about the apartment you want to my
e-mail:lailidong1985@163.com.if i don't find such apt for you ,I won't bother your life.
sincerely:max:)