Just landed in Shanghai yesterday and need to find an apartment asap and have absolutely no idea what I am doing or where are the best places to live in!

My husbands work is on Yishan Road in the Xuhui District. We would like to be within walking distance to there i.e 30/40mins or so.

We have been in contact with an agent who is going to show us a couple of apartments in the Oriental Manhattan and Xujiahui Fountain Garden Apartments near Metro City tomorrow.

Our wants are:
Furnished Apartment with all the mod cons
Swimming pool/gym facilities
Nice area with a park
Close to a metro
Near restaurants

We are a married couple (30) with no kids, I am a lady of leisure and are here for a good time. We want to have access to the expat luxuries but also experience real china. i.e fruit and vege markets, Chinese restaurants, markets.

Are we looking in the right areas?

What foreigner rip offs should we be aware of when looking for the apartment.

We are dealing with Oliver from Shplace.com has anyone had any dealings with him?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated/needed.
Thanks

what is your budget?????????????
waliking distance?????????????? 30/40mns walk it is not really walking distance but i could walk that much myself

give a little more information so people can help u better

I would suggest that you go to a local real estate agent on Yishan Road and tell them to show you around. Usually they don't speak any english in these agencies, but if you walk in they will call someone who can help with translation. It takes a while to find a good apartment, but you will probably find one soon.

Hi there-

I live at Oriental Manhattan and really like it. It has everything that you mention you want. I also have great neighbors and have made lots of expat and local friends here. We have been in the compound for 3+ years and I'm really going to miss it when we move soon.

By the way, I know of two nice apartments that are available at the end of the month at Oriental Manhattan. Both on high floors with great views, though both are 3 bedrooms so maybe it's big for you...just a thought You can skip the agent and work directly with the landlord to save some cash. Drop me a PM if you are interested.

Hello, I've sent you a PM. We have a brand new unit (2 bed/2 bath) that may be of interest to you. We're not agents.

I’m also looking for new apartment and really liked Zhongshan Park area. Location is not actually in Xuhui district, but only two stops North from Yishan Road metro station. It’s convenient if you are frequently taking metro, because three metro lines are crossing in Zhongshan Park. There is also big department store (including Carrefour, gym, movie theater) just next to metro station and park.

Haven’t got much time to go through apartments yet, but it seems they have several good compounds in the area. At least you should check out the area.

Good luck!

I also live in Oriental Manhatten and like it a lot. It is very convenient to shopping and the Metro line 1 is a five minute walk. Yishan Road is the next street over. The compound is large and they have a Clark Hatch gym facility on site. I live in the newest building, number 7 and have done so for one year. Furniture and decoration is usually it or miss with any apartment you find, sometimes I question what the landlord was thinking when they did the shopping. My apartment is furnished very nicely, but I have seen a few with Hello Kitty sofas and just rediculous furniture. I have 168 sq. meters and it is just me. It is obviously bigger than I need, but I like my space and I enjoy being able to have friends and family visiting from abroad, stay with me. I am also 32 and will be living here for a few more years. PM me if you decide to come this way, I am always interested in meeting new people here. I know one other couple here, but there are many.

Good Luck,
Jason

Some landlords with apartments for lease at Oriental Manhattan woud put their apartments on the books of local agents. When dealing with the local agents, you will need a chinese friend/staff to go with you as few speak English and you don't want to just limit to yourself to one local agent who speaks English.

As mentioned above, there is a problem with untasteful decor and furnsihsings in Shanghai so ask the agent to call the landlord while you are there to find out what kind of style and furnishings the apartment has. Tell them that you realise they are all busy and you don't want to trouble the agent and landlord if it's not suitable. Your friend will get an idea by the conversation between thae agent and landlord on whether it suits your taste or not. You can also start haggling about price to test the mood of the landlord and see how flexible he is. It will save you time visiting too many gawdy places. Also, whatever they offer always say it's too expensive but you will see it anyway (if it suits your requirements).

When you visit the apartment you can use a bit of a "poker face" and show little interest so that the agent/landlord is unaware of your true feelings about the place. It helps if you express little interest in it rather than say "it's just the one you want" as you can loose some bargaining chips. In China "everything is negotiable" and different from the West where rentals are somewhat fixed.

Depending on your budget/agent/landlord you can get clubhouse cards and utilities included in the rental price. Also, landlords are sometimes OK about changing the furniture, light fittings and curtains if need be.

Make sure you get your agent to submit an offer letter detailing the rental you wish to offer and all your terms and conditions. We have some advice on leasing on our site which will give you guidelines on what to include in your offer and contract. (Way too much info to post here)

I'd also suggest that you follow up with the other posters above who/have know of some places.

Adrienne
http://www.shanghaiprops.com

Welcome! Which country are you from?
I am also 30 with no kids and my husband also works on Yishan Road
However he doesn't work in the Xuhui end, but the Western end.

30-40mins is definitely not walking distance , esp. in this heat! After 10mins I am already dead.. but maybe that's just me.

I had a look at Oriental Manhattan too and it has everything you would need and there are lots of expats living there. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it just seemed too huge, there was way too many buildings in that complex for me.

I don't know the name, but there's a compound near the corner of Nandan Road and Wanping Lu that is smaller and less expensive. The buildings are only 7-8 stories high, there is a dry cleaner, small store, car wash. an outdoor pool, though I don't think there's a health club. I haven't been there in over a year, but there was an increasing number of foreigners moving in.

It maybe Xu Jia Hui Hua Yuen or Tian Ji Hua Yuen, not quite sure. I believe that apartments go for around 6,000rmb there.

Adrienne
http://www.shanghaiprops.com