How to Rent an Apartment in Beijing, Comprehensive Guide

Posted by Jason Sharp on Apr 24, 2009 in China | View Comments

wudaokou_subway

I’ve lived in 7 different apartments in Beijing. I think I’ve come across almost every possible bad situation that one can come across when trying to rent an apartment here, so I feel the need to help those of you out there who are soon to be renters.

When renting an apartment, the clearer you are with what you want, the easier it will be to find it. Here are some helpful steps to save you time, money, and hassle:

1) Understand the City Layout and Pick a Location:

a) Beijing is broken into rings, or roads that circle Beijing at different distances from the center. Living next to one of these rings means getting to you or going away from you by car will be easier – aka taxi will be cheaper and faster + friends with cars will love you. Live next to a ring. I live just off the 4th ring road, but also there is a freeway that connects directly to the 3rd next to me.

b) Without a car, Beijing is most easily traversed by subway, so you are going to want to live walking distance from a subway stop. Enough said. Don’t buy that “you can take a bus, it’s just 2 stops away” bull. It’s too much of a hassle. If you have a car… ignore this.

c) If you are going to school, pick someplace within 10-15 minute walking distance from both your school AND a subway stop, but always preferably closer to the subway station than school. If you are feeling lazy, you still have to go to class (well, unless of course you get a bike), but you will choose not to go have fun. I made this mistake before and my social life suffered. Don’t become a hermit and put class ahead of your fun.

d) If you are not in school: Unless you are a hermit, anything outside of the 4th ring road you will want to ELIMINATE now. Apartments may be cheaper and larger, but the travel time is going to kill you when you want to do anything, not to mention the taxi costs when you come home past 11 from the few large gathering spots in Beijing. Live within the 4th.

e) Live next to multiple lines: This is your first choice, as you double the places you can go to. “Oh, but I can transfer can’t I?” Yeah sure, add an extra 20-30 minutes to walk between stations and wait for another train. I live in between 3 different subway lines right now, the 10 (which goes from College town in the West all the way to the Central Business District in the East), line 13 (gets me to line 2, or north out to nowhere), and line 5 (takes me to line 1 and shopping districts). Of course, if you are in school this might not be a choice for you. If you can’t live near multiple lines, try to live 1-2 stops from the next line.

f) Live next to food, shopping, and coffee. If you don’t have these near you, then every time you go outside you will have to travel – you might as well live where you go to get your coffee / shopping / food. It’s nice to have friends come to you sometimes and to have shopping conveniently at your doorstep, so make sure there is plenty of this nearby. I don’t drink coffee, but the cafe environment is good for a change from writing in my apartment, and I don’t want to have to go to the subway station or take a taxi every time I want this. I love Chinese food and can eat it every meal everyday, but I have 7-11, pizza, coffee, burgers, Korean food, Japanese food etc all within a 10 minute walk JUST IN CASE (not to mention KTV).

beijing-apartment

2) Pick a Building:

Visit the locations that you picked out in step 1 and take a look at the different buildings in the area. By picking the buildings that you want to live in ahead of time, you save yourself a LOT, I mean a TON of time with agencies trying to pinpoint exactly what you want.

a) Avoid buildings built before 2000, and preferably even 2004. It is not true that apartments are cheaper in the older buildings: all you are getting is a headache from having to deal with bugs, the smell, broken down elevators, and very old furniture. I’ve had to replace and fix all sorts of things in old apartments because the landlord wouldn’t do it, and in other cases just had to live with some things – this won’t happen as often in newer apartments. Did I mention avoiding the bugs and the smell?

b) Check if the elevator runs 24/7 or only until midnight (of course assuming there is an elevator..). Don’t make the mistake of renting an apartment on the 15th floor in a building that has an elevator that only runs until midnight. Good luck walking up the stairs after a night of tequila and dancing.

c) Look for apartment complexes that are well-kept. Some buildings, even new ones, are not kept clean, which is a good signal that the building will have BUGS. I’ve made this mistake twice already in my years in Beijing. This is important! Go into each building and check the stairs for trash buildup and the main elevator area for cleanliness. It’s best if there is a worker stationed at the front. It’s OK if the place isn’t spotlessly clean, but some level of cleanliness will be an indicator of the shape of the rooms, besides, who wants to stand next to trash while waiting for the elevator everyday?

3) Make a Checklist of Requirements for the Apartment

Obviously you need to know how many bedrooms you want and how many square meters (1 sq foot = .0929 sq meters), but other than that here are some things to add to your list.

a) Mention the buildings that you picked out from step 2. This is going to save you a lot of time. If you don’t live in Beijing and couldn’t visit the locations first, then just list out “building built after 2000, preferably after 2004, 24/7 elevator, well-kept”

b) CLEAN. Agents know which apartments have been well-kept and which ones haven’t. Hopefully by picking out the right buildings you should be avoiding most dirty apartments, but if you don’t stress this, you will still be taken to some garbage dumps-turned-apartments. Sometimes there are clean rooms in the buildings that you didn’t check, so it’s good to put this on your list and mention it multiple times to the agent. Seriously, clean means something different in first world and third world countries, so stress it (unless you like dirty apartments of course).  Go as far as to describe what clean means to you – “No bugs, no smell, white walls.” 没有虫子，无臭味儿，白墙 (mei2you3 chong2zi, wu2 chou4 wei4er, bai2qiang2).

c) Do you want wooden floorboards or tile? To me this is a no-brainer – floorboards look and feel 10x better than the ugly looking tile that many architects in China love to use. Sometimes tile looks nice I guess, but sometimes it’s just a disaster; my last apartment had this really ugly dirty red tile (it’s a long story about how I ended up there).

d) Size of Living Room: Chinese tend to spend most of their time in their bedrooms, so many apartments are built with very small living rooms and larger bedrooms. Westerners are more used to larger living rooms and smaller bedrooms. Determine what you would be more comfortable with. I always prefer a larger living room, so I make sure to stress this to the agent. If you don’t mind and are living alone, some apartments don’t have a living room but are still very nice. I don’t like this, but it is an option.

e) Windows: Don’t let them take you to a dungeon, and if they do remember to have this on your check list – if you’re looking for apartments at night you may not notice; ask for apartments that have larger/ more windows and you’ll save money on electricity and will probably wake up in a better mood ever day. I’m writing this from my bedroom, which has a 1.8m x 2.2m window (about half of the wall) facing south – I don’t turn the lights on until late afternoon.

f) An air conditioner in every room, including the living room: Beijing gets as hot as hell during the summer. Just make sure you don’t get screwed over.

g) Water heater quality: Oh boy. I made this mistake with the apartment I’m renting right now. Hot water only lasts for 4 minutes, so now I’m left in a disadvantaged position to bargain with the landlord on getting a replacement (or fixing it). This might not matter to you much, but it’s something to take into consideration.

  h) Furniture: You CAN find apartments that are nicely furnished for cheap, so don’t settle – this is a place that you’ll be everyday. Any little annoyance gets multiplied by X hours a day and Y days that you are renting for. Furniture for me is a make-or-break requirement.
i) Does the furniture look like it came from the WWII period?
ii) Do the colors make you want to puke? (Dirty red tile with WWII-style brown furniture and green cabinets?)
iii) Is the furniture soft?
iv) Is the bed soft?
v) Is the wardrobe large enough?
vi) Is there anything missing: Sofa, TV, Computer desk, Chair, Wardrobe, Bed (or 2), Mattress (or 2), Fridge, Washer, Clothes Line for hanging washed clothing, mirror + rack for toiletries in the bathroom.

I) Internet + Cable TV: Make sure these are either set up, or that they can be easily set up without you having to pay set-up fees.

my-apartment1

4) Go to see the Agencies:

If you read Chinese and have a lot of extra time on your hands, you can try to find apartments that are not rented through agencies. I tried and failed – everyone I called turned out to be an agent. Agents have gotten smarter and pretend to be the landlord online, then when you call them they surprise you with “I’m an agent!”

a) Don’t go to just one agency, but go to all of them in the area. All of the agencies have the same list of apartments, but what’s important is that when you are dealing with different agents you will be told different things. One Agent might quote 3000 for an apartment, while the next agent quotes 2800. Some agents are more resourceful, understanding, generally nicer than others. I personally have had best luck with 链家 (lian4jia1), and worst luck with 我爱我家 (wo3ai4wo3jia1 – I love my home)

b) Call and tell them your requirements up front. Make sure that they write it all down, and emphasize that you won’t see apartments that don’t match your checklist. If you don’t do this, you are guaranteed to be taken to apartments that don’t match your needs. Agencies have this trick of taking you to 2 apartments that you won’t like and then finally taking you to one that is close to what you want to make it seem better. Don’t put up with this.

c) Make sure to tell them to find more than one apartment at a time to show you – don’t get trapped running across town just to see one apartment.

d) Keep in mind that landlords usually have to work, so they won’t be around until after 5pm. Schedule meetings with all agencies in one go starting from 5 all the way to 8 or 9pm. If you schedule ahead of time they will be able to get the landlords to stay later.

e) You don’t need to worry about agencies ripping you off too much on price – they won’t tell you that a 2000 RMB apartment goes for 3000, they’ll say 2400 or so. Most agents are pretty honest and it comes down to convincing the landlord to lower prices, not the agent.

f) Ask to meet the landlord. 我爱我家 (wo3ai4wo3jia1) is pretty bad with this. It gets really ugly if you don’t have any connection with the landlord at all, as agencies do a really poor job of offering service after the purchase. If something breaks, you need to register with the police, or have some emergency the landlord is the person you need and agencies are known to get in the way and avoid helping you.

5) Renting: Price and Bargaining

1) Don’t take the price first quoted to you – always bargain for something 100 – 400 RMB cheaper. Even if the landlord won’t accept anything lower, this at least gives you stronger bargaining power for other things, although in most cases you will be able to get a cheaper price. In my current apartment I wasn’t able to bargain any lower than the current price, but because I was strong in my conviction that I wasn’t getting a deal, the landlord budged on other things

Step by step:

i) “What’s the cheapest price you can give me”
ii) “What? That’s it? Can’t you go lower?”
iii) “That’s too high. What about (Insert something 100-400 RMB lower than what they just said)?”
iv) Go to step 2 (Yes, don’t accept any price yet)

2) Get more or better furniture: This is the most common place for landlords to give ground, so push hard here. You can often get them to buy you a new couch, a new TV, or even a new bed and mattress. Previously I have gotten a brand new HUGE computer desk, new chairs, a new sofa, a new bed, and most recently new air conditioners and a newly remodeled kitchen.

Step by step:

i) “The (couch, bed, blah) is really old, there’s no way I can use it. Can you replace this?”
ii) “There’s no (insert furniture) here, I’m going to need one”
iii) “These lights are really old, can you replace them with new ones”

3) Make an on the spot offer at a lower price than they said, while also throwing in the furniture they promised they could provide. Say that you will take the apartment and will pay the deposit right now if he takes the price. The landlord will be very tempted to rent it right away in fear of missing a month’s rent period looking for a renter. Make sure to constantly wear a look of worry and dissatisfaction on your face. Once you have found your ideal apartment, this is a good way to get a slightly cheaper price.

4) You can get the rent cheaper if you sign a year long contract, and even cheaper if you pay for a year up front.

5) AVOID any contract that requires 2 months deposit. This is a scam to steal your money. As many people end up leaving before their contracted time is up, the agency can legally keep your money. Also when you decide to move, they can rack up costs such as “cleaning” or “maintenance” and take away a chunk of your deposit. Keep your risk to a minimum and go for the standard 1 month deposit pay 3 months rent at a time.

6) For apartments over 3000 RMB, the agency fee is usually paid by the landlord. This is actually a really stupid policy when you do the math. Say you are renting an apartment for 2800 RMB + agency fee. First break the agency fee into 12 months gives us 233 per month. So you are really paying 3033 RMB for the 2800 RMB apartment, but only 3000 RMB for the other one. Rent only below 2700 or above 3000 to avoid being an idiot and giving away free money.

Other Notes:

1) Foreigners must register with the police when they move and must bring along tax receipts from rent. Landlords throughout Beijing seem to have unanimously agreed that foreigners will pay this tax. Convince your landlord to say you are a friend, as friends don’t pay rent and thus there is nothing to be taxed, so you get to save 5% on your rent. If you can’t, then have the agency write up a dummy contract that sets the rent price much lower than what you are actually paying in order to avoid some tax.

2) Consider apartments that are NOT furnished. I am renting a non-furnished apartment. The furnished equivalent goes for 700 RMB more per month. After purchasing furniture myself (thus I own it and I picked out what I like), and dividing the price by 13 months (12 months + 1 month agency fee), I end up saving 300 RMB / month on rent in addition to whatever money I can get for my used furniture when I move out and sell it.

Sign the Contract

Missing anything? Share your tips!

If I’m missing anything feel free to leave a comment. Share your tips with the rest of us and make renting an apartment that much easier.

Alec

Thanks! This is really useful. I’m going to forward it to my class as we’re all going to China in the summer for our year abroad. =)
Alec

Thanks! This is really useful. I’m going to forward it to my class as we’re all going to China in the summer for our year abroad. =)
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

I’m glad it’s helpful! I was saving this for a long time, but the site that was supposed to publish it never did. I’ve been away in Korea so I haven’t been updating here either. I’m back!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask or email me – I’d be glad to help. I know a lot about studying abroad here. I have actually been considering starting up my own study abroad company, but instead I may just make a resource website.

Have you already picked a study abroad program to go with?
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

I’m glad it’s helpful! I was saving this for a long time, but the site that was supposed to publish it never did. I’ve been away in Korea so I haven’t been updating here either. I’m back!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask or email me – I’d be glad to help. I know a lot about studying abroad here. I have actually been considering starting up my own study abroad company, but instead I may just make a resource website.

Have you already picked a study abroad program to go with?
Jesse

Any chance of NOT paying 3 months at a time and just paying 1 month in advance??
Jesse

Any chance of NOT paying 3 months at a time and just paying 1 month in advance??
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

Very little I’m afraid. What you can do instead is try to find an apartment that has already been rented by someone else (preferably a foreigner, as you won’t have the experience to deal with Chinese / won’t notice if they are trying to cheat you) and just rent out one of the rooms. That way you will have more room to negotiate. Still, 3 months at a time is the standard, I’ve never found anything less.
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

Very little I’m afraid. What you can do instead is try to find an apartment that has already been rented by someone else (preferably a foreigner, as you won’t have the experience to deal with Chinese / won’t notice if they are trying to cheat you) and just rent out one of the rooms. That way you will have more room to negotiate. Still, 3 months at a time is the standard, I’ve never found anything less.
http://beyondbounds.org/2009/04/how-to-rent-an-apartment-in-beijing-comprehensive-guide/ Adrian

I’ve recently accepted a job offer in Beijing and am looking around websites on tips of renting an apartment. I must say that this is probably the best site I’ve come across so far, and I’ve visited a dozen or so other sites so far.

I do have a question though. You had suggested signing a year-long contract or paying a year’s rent up front to save money. Wouldn’t that encourage the landlord to not service the apartment should anything break down during that period, since he would’ve gotten a year’s worth of rent money?
http://beyondbounds.org/2009/04/how-to-rent-an-apartment-in-beijing-comprehensive-guide/ Adrian

I’ve recently accepted a job offer in Beijing and am looking around websites on tips of renting an apartment. I must say that this is probably the best site I’ve come across so far, and I’ve visited a dozen or so other sites so far.

I do have a question though. You had suggested signing a year-long contract or paying a year’s rent up front to save money. Wouldn’t that encourage the landlord to not service the apartment should anything break down during that period, since he would’ve gotten a year’s worth of rent money?
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

@Adrian,

Service from landlords in China is really hit or miss. If you’re really afraid of this (which is smart), then just pay 3-6 months and also make sure that every little problem is fixed before you pay anything.

If you’re renting an apartment for over 4k (RMB) / month, you probably have nothing to worry about from a landlord. Meet the landlord before, and if you get any feeling that he/she might be shady, don’t take the place. One way to tell is if they are very reluctant to fix any problems that you have with the apartment.
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

@Adrian,

Service from landlords in China is really hit or miss. If you’re really afraid of this (which is smart), then just pay 3-6 months and also make sure that every little problem is fixed before you pay anything.

If you’re renting an apartment for over 4k (RMB) / month, you probably have nothing to worry about from a landlord. Meet the landlord before, and if you get any feeling that he/she might be shady, don’t take the place. One way to tell is if they are very reluctant to fix any problems that you have with the apartment.
Oscar

very good presentation! you can even help Chinese rent apartments.
Oscar

very good presentation! you can even help Chinese rent apartments.
Mei

Hi, thanks for the great tips, I’ve been using woaiwojia, didn’t know we could go to other agencies. I want to rent for 8 months and they said I should still sign a 1 year contract, and that I should be able to get my money back, is this true you think? Or would I have further responsibility to find tenants?
Mei

Hi, thanks for the great tips, I’ve been using woaiwojia, didn’t know we could go to other agencies. I want to rent for 8 months and they said I should still sign a 1 year contract, and that I should be able to get my money back, is this true you think? Or would I have further responsibility to find tenants?
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

Mei,

You never know with that. Normally you can get your money back, but it’s not guaranteed. They could keep your deposit money. Try to get them to let you sign an 8 month contract. 8 months really isn’t bad for them. Don’t let them weasel you. If they keep saying no, have them call the landlord and talk to him about it. Let me know how it goes.
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

Mei,

You never know with that. Normally you can get your money back, but it’s not guaranteed. They could keep your deposit money. Try to get them to let you sign an 8 month contract. 8 months really isn’t bad for them. Don’t let them weasel you. If they keep saying no, have them call the landlord and talk to him about it. Let me know how it goes.
http://www.sarmatron.com Nick

Well Hi There!

It’s certainly a good feeling to see active people with hands on a good thing. I do agree with all the things you’ve said, but then I have smtg to add.

One good thing is to remember to check and negotiate the running fees eg. gas, electricity, water, heating. These are not included into the management fee, and can cause surprices. One should also ask to see the meter before renting, ’cause the electricity meter is often behind closed box in newer apartments.

Another thing is to check whether the wet premises are properly protected with silicon or equivalent. I came accross to a case where a short rented apartment had moisture damages way before renting it and the blame with costs was tried to put upon the rentee. Basically the evolving legislation and vast interpretion within gives these sharks new food to feast for.

I was also pretty stunned for it’s not that long time ago blueish green mold was considered a wall ornament. Things change, good for that. Jason, keep up good work!
http://www.sarmatron.com Nick

Well Hi There!

It’s certainly a good feeling to see active people with hands on a good thing. I do agree with all the things you’ve said, but then I have smtg to add.

One good thing is to remember to check and negotiate the running fees eg. gas, electricity, water, heating. These are not included into the management fee, and can cause surprices. One should also ask to see the meter before renting, ’cause the electricity meter is often behind closed box in newer apartments.

Another thing is to check whether the wet premises are properly protected with silicon or equivalent. I came accross to a case where a short rented apartment had moisture damages way before renting it and the blame with costs was tried to put upon the rentee. Basically the evolving legislation and vast interpretion within gives these sharks new food to feast for.

I was also pretty stunned for it’s not that long time ago blueish green mold was considered a wall ornament. Things change, good for that. Jason, keep up good work!
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

Hey Nick

Thanks for the suggestions, I definitely didn’t think of that, as it’s never happened to me before. I have seen the bluish green mold before, but I had a maid clean it up before I moved in – I hope everyone makes sure that their apartments are clean and tidy before moving in.
http://beyondbounds.org Jason Sharp

Hey Nick

Thanks for the suggestions, I definitely didn’t think of that, as it’s never happened to me before. I have seen the bluish green mold before, but I had a maid clean it up before I moved in – I hope everyone makes sure that their apartments are clean and tidy before moving in.
Dennis

u need to delete these spam comments, kinda taxing, excellent blog tho!
Dennis

u need to delete these spam comments, kinda taxing, excellent blog tho!
Monette

Hi Jason!
I was wondering, for studying abroad in China, would you advise living in the dorms or renting an apartment? I was looking online and it seems like you can get a pretty decent, remodeled apartment for a pretty good price… not too expensive. Also, when u studied abroad did you study at BNU or PKU? I heard PKU has some really nice dorms, but they may be harder to get into because its pretty competitive.
Monette

Hi Jason!
I was wondering, for studying abroad in China, would you advise living in the dorms or renting an apartment? I was looking online and it seems like you can get a pretty decent, remodeled apartment for a pretty good price… not too expensive. Also, when u studied abroad did you study at BNU or PKU? I heard PKU has some really nice dorms, but they may be harder to get into because its pretty competitive.
Detyy

>>> The landlord will be very tempted to rent it right away
>>> in fear of missing a month’s rent period looking for a renter.

Could you please elaborate a little more on this ? Have you experienced this that often ? What kind of land lords ?. Thanks in advance

I am asking this because:

1) This is exactly the opposite of my experience. I’ve been living in Beijing for 18 months and speak fluent chinese. Have seen dozens of appartments and interacted with landlords and agencies.

In my experience, no matter how “the foreigner tax factor” is plays a huge role here.
It is extremely difficult to make a house owner or real estate agent convinced, that you are not gonna pay more than an ordinary chinese person.

So although I would agree with you with this “landlord fear of missing a month’s rent” if you were a chinese person, I dont see it working if you’re a foreigner. Unless you’re already beeing quoted the “normal” price right from the begining. Which I strongly doubt.

In my experience, your “threats” of not signing wont’ do much. For a lower price, in 80 per cent of the times there were already other chinese customers willing to rent. And they are on the top of the list.

2) This also seems to be in contradiction with the specific “weird” economics of the real estate market in china.

- there’s no property tax in china
- the cost of having something empty not rented is zero (you can see
- the cost of doing
- people (the priviledged minority)who own houses and has them on the market for renting are not desperate for money; a huge lot of them owns a second and a third one
- they got them for cheap (gov official, family conection, etc)

- these peope
http://beyondbounds.org/ Jason Sharp

Hey Detyy!

First I’ll address your second question, then get to the more difficult question.

I’m sure you’re aware of opportunity costs, which means that the cost of having something empty and not rented is actually the cost of the rent. If you aren’t renting, you’re losing out on the opportunity for money. Chinese people, and most landlords I would guess, are very keen to squeeze as much money out of their property as they can, so one month really hurts.

No matter what the rules are (unless for some reason vacant apartments are more profitable than rented ones), everyone wants to rent their apartments out ASAP.

As for your first question, you make a very good point about the renting market in Beijing right now – it’s a little crazy. There are so many agencies right now and Beijing is becoming more and more crowded (with prices going up with no ceiling in sight), that one apartment often has 3-4 people looking to rent at the same time.

However, I just rented my current apartment 6 months ago, and I got a price 300 RMB cheaper than the asking price, PLUS convinced the landlady to allow me to pay only 1 month up front, then pay 1 month deposit and 2 months rent at a time. There was 1 couple in the apartment when I arrive, and 3 more that came 20 minutes later. Unfortunately for them, I took only 10 minutes to bargain the price, pay the deposit up front (I bring cash with me when I apartment hunt), AND sign the contract.

1) Being a foreigner can be an advantage. In a landlord’s eyes, foreigners are clean and responsible. Make sure to mention that you are a very clean and quiet person that always pays on time – this will give you room to maneuver. However, if the apartment isn’t very clean, this probably won’t work. In that case, you need to push hard, or move on.

2) Make small talk. Make friends with them. Ask them where they’re from, what they do, and compliment them. When you seem friendly, they will be caught off guard when you put on your bargaining face. It’s amazing to go from “A yi, you are really pretty. Your so young for a landlady” to “Honestly, it’s a little too expensive, I can only pay (Rent – 300, or whatever u are willing to pay). I can sign and pay the deposit right now if you give me this price.”

3) There’s no way that you’re paying a foreigner tax if there are that many people looking at the apartment AND you’ve pushed your agent hard to cut the price down. Your agent wants you to rent, even at a lower price, as it means money in their pocket. Always make sure to say that it’s too expensive, and that you will only consider XX price.

4) The agent is on your side. Once the landlord has set a price with you and the agent, always ask to speak to the agent outside alone and ask them to help you bargain a lower price. Set a goal, and work toward it together with the agent. In all of my experiences, the agent has been a key play-maker in making the deal.

5) Bring cash and make your decision quickly. If other people haven’t shown up yet, or are still discussing amongst themselves, your decision will make them nervous and put them on the spot. Most people won’t be able to make this decision, but you need to be able to (especially if you want a good price + nice apartment).

6) Bring a Chinese friend (maybe you already do?). 2 against 1 is always easier (3 counting your agent), and it helps to have someone that knows how to hit the sweet spots when arguing/talking in Chinese. Just make sure the price you’re bargaining for makes sense.

7) Give up. I often end up looking at anywhere between 5-10 apartments before I settle on one that I make an offer with. If there are 3 other Chinese people there that are willing to pay a higher price than I’m willing to pay AND are ready to sign a contract on the spot, I just move on.

I hope this helps! It definitely is frustrating to look for apartments in Beijing, especially since it’s crowded and ultra-competitive. Be careful trying to rent in areas populated mostly with foreigners (Wudaokou – Huaqing Jiayuan), as the prices are super inflated, and the landlords KNOW there will be another foreigner that will take the price. I would never even step into a negotiation with one of those apartments – you’re not going to win.

I’m not quite sure what you mean by what kind of landlords – I’ve found that all landlords work the same: They want more money, and they want it now.
http://beyondbounds.org/ Jason Sharp

Man, I responded to this using my dashboard a long time ago.. not I realize that it didn’t work!

Live off campus! On campus dorms are the same price or more expensive than off campus apartments, and they are smaller and offer less freedom. You don’t want to spend most of your time at school, do you?

I studied at BNU AND PKU, and for both I lived off campus. I liked BNU better – everyone at PKU speaks English (requirement to get into the school), and the students were less outgoing (in general, although not everyone is like that). Hopefully you’re not actually planning on relying too much on class, so it doesn’t matter what the programs are like. Just make friends!

The biggest difference though is that PKU is in an area that’s more fun (College town). Fun is important. BNU is not actually that far away though, but it’s up to you. If you’re disciplined and can split your time between the foreigner scene and Chinese scene on your own (in spite the daily calls to go out / do whatever), then I’d go to PKU.

If you actually care about class, I’d go to BNU. They’re Chinese classes were way better.
Anna

This is music to my ears. This is really a great post! Thanks for sharing. A blog really owes its success to its loyal readers and faithful followers.

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Serviced Offices Mayfair
wen

Hi Jason, thanks for the info. How much is the agency fee in Beijing? In Shanghai in 2009 it was 30% of the monthly rent. Is it the same for Beijing?
http://beyondbounds.org/ Jason Sharp

Beijing is 1 full month! However, if you rent an apartment that costs over 3000 RMB, the landlord has to pay for the agency fee. Agents in Beijing are crazy.

Shanghai seems like heaven, ha!
http://beyondbounds.org/ Jason Sharp

Haha, thanks. Not sure if this is a spam post or not due to your link. Careful with that in the future – just link your website with your name.
mpe

Hey Jason! Thanks for many of your great tips! Regarding the agent’s fee, you say that if the apartment is over 3K, you don’t have to pay it. Is it just regarding an apartment as a whole or also renting one single bedroom? E.g. if I wanna rent just a bedroom and I will be paying 3000+ RMB/month, can I also tell them that there should be no agency fee? Thanks!
http://beyondbounds.org/ Jason Sharp

I really hope that you aren’t renting a single bedroom for over 3k, unless
it’s in one of the top communities in Beijing (including an oven among other
things in the furnishings!) Anything over 3k should not include an agency
fee. I’ve never looked for a single bedroom through an agent – I’ve always
used community classifieds. Try http://www.thebeijinger.com and
http://www.weliveinbeijing.com . Then there’s also cityweekend and timeout
Beijing. You MUST tell them NO agency fee. Don’t budge on this. They
always try to say “oh some places require the renter to pay the agency fee”
blah blah blah. It’s not true. Don’t do it.

Good luck
Nancy

Hey Jason,It is an interesting article. Are you still looking for a good apartment in Beijing? I am looking for a good tenant to rent my brand new apartment. It is 3 bedrooms+dining room+livingRoom. It is in Central area,Next to east 2nd ring road,close to CBD and Chang’an Street. Good location and quiet,good for family living.The apartment comes with full set brand new electronic appliances as well including 46” SONY LCD. I can speak English and Chinese,easy to communicate. If there is anyone interested in it,feel free to contact me at ninacy@hotmail.com. Thanks. Just want to find a good tenant to take good care of my apartment.The rental is 12000RMB/month. Cheers,Nancy
http://www.mactonweb.com web design bangalore

great post this is really useful tips and information site
Angelika Penida

Useful tips. thanks for sharing this information. More post related to this would be very much appreciated.
Mel28

Now every agency requires 1 month service fee, even rent is over 3000 yuan per month!

How to Rent an Apartment in Beijing, Comprehensive Guide

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