Renting in China
 

I plan to spend about 3 months in China (Shanghai mostly). I read in travel guides that you need permits and such to BUY homes in China, but I am assuming there is nothing needed to RENT places in China?

Would a valid/current Visa be enough for most landlords to rent a place to a foreinger, or is this even needed?

ShanghaiExpat.com is a better place to ask that question. Click on Relocation and Moving. I'd suggest asking your question and also for suggestions in hot to locate a rental property.

EnjoyClassifieds.com, for example, usually has rentals posted. There's no MLS in China so different agents will have different lists of available rentals. They're usually paid one month's rent by the seller, but I don't know how it would work for a short term rental.


Here are a few interesting threads about registration with the police. If you're in a hotel then the hotel does it for you, but in a rental you usually have to do it yourself. Our real estate agent handled ours.
http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/index.p...ic&t=66640
http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/index.p...ic&t=67274

Also try www.vrbo.com and follow the links to China and then the city you are interested in. This site has some nice rentals by owners.

A few tips

-shanghaiexpat is a great place to start your search

-It is fairly common for foreigners to not register on short stays when they are not connected with a china-registered business where the management has to be registered. Also, I don't think it is legally possible to rent a place with a tourist visa. Note that I am not advising you not to register with the local police, as that would be illegal and you could put yourself at risk - this is just to give you some perspective.
- if you register, the landlord will be forced to pay additional taxes on the property, thus limiting the potential places available to you, or significantly raising your rent
-you literally have 24 hours to register with the police in Shanghai. The police understand the overly stringent nature of this law, but still could fine you if you are over this time (even though they rarely do in a place like Shanghai).
-There are really two economies of rentals in China. The local rate and the rate that multinational companies pay to house their expats (which can be more than $10,000 US dollars a month). You'll probably want to aim for somewhere in between. Decent furnished places in modern, well-located complexes are available for RMB5000 and up. You'll pay more as a foreigner, but don't be led to believe that you have to pay $X000 monthly for a place.

Good luck and enjoy!

Go to www.sublet.com. They have apartment rentals for Shanghai.