Before you flyAgency fees and deposit terms
Agency fees and deposit terms
The cash pit in week one is not the rent itself. It is the stack on signing day. Put the numbers in the contract, not in WeChat.
- 01
How many months’ deposit, how many months’ rent up front, and from which date does the first period run?
- 02
Who pays the agency fee, how much, and whose name is on the fapiao?
- 03
Deposit return: deductions, how many days, RMB or the original path.
- 04
Can rent, agency fee and management fee be invoiced separately for the housing allowance?
- 05
Furniture-rental deposits are a separate receipt. Do not mix them with the lease deposit.
- 06
We are not a party to the lease and we do not hold rent or deposit. You pay the counterparty on the contract.
Housing Residential long lets often run one or two months’ deposit and three months’ rent. Serviced apartments often bill monthly. Short stays should not copy the long-let stack.
Before you fly
- Choosing an area by commute and schoolShanghai is not chosen by district. A family is locked by the school bus first, then the office door, then the airport, then the spouse’s daily life.
- What ¥12,000, ¥20,000 and ¥35,000 rent¥12,000, ¥20,000 and ¥35,000 are conversation bands for an HR housing allowance. They are not a promise of what is listed this week.
- How to read an English listingEnglish listing boards are an index, not a verification. Freshness is often a paid refresh. Photographs are often not taken by the agency that posted them.
- The cost slots, not a price tableHeadquarters approves a housing allowance. The family spends housing plus school plus insurance plus an ayi plus utilities plus food. Talking only about “what ¥20,000 rents” misses the bill that breaks a villa household.
- The housing brief to settle before viewingsA shortlist only works after the employer and assignee agree on the campus, door-to-door commute, lease party, reimbursement, accommodation registration, furnishing, signing-day cash and who may approve a trade-off.
Each guide gives the official process with source links and effective dates, plus the pitfalls we have recorded from real cases. Anything requiring a licence is referred to registered providers only.
Live near what you love.
Tell us the school, the dates, and the corridor you are looking at.