With China's rapid development of economy, there is an increasing number of foreigners come to Beijing to work and live. All of them need to find new houses there. If you are looking for a house in Beijing, the following five aspects you need to know in Beijing.
1. Location
As a foreigner in Beijing, it is better for you to live in the east or north east part of Beijing as the most of embassies and foreign communities are located there. Apart from this, you must take traffic and transport into the consideration, since the road conditions and public transportation in Beijing is totally different with the western countries. If you choose to live outside of the Beijing inner suburbs, you'd better have a car which will help you more in the downtown. If you have children, it is better for you to live further outside, as most of the international schools are there, and you can find a proper international school easily.
2. Agreement and Lease Term
After finding the house, the next is signing the agreement. The Tenancy Agreement should be bi-lingual, two original agreements are signed by the landlord and tenant. Usually villas or apartments are not rented for short term. It usually requires at least a one year term, two years lease are more common for villa and apartment. This is often the case for places rented by individual property owners, since each time they change a tenant they have to repaint the property, check all electrical appliances and may have to provide new furniture according to the new tenant’s requests. While short term lease are possible in some of the city's serviced apartment and business centers.
3. Rental and Deposit
Usually the rental includes management fee and club fee (if there is one). The tenants pay the utilities and telephone expenses themselves. When you rent a property in Beijing, you should be prepared for a typical deposit equaling to 2 months'rent with each month's rent paid in advance. So at the start of the lease, you should be prepared to pay at least three months'rent. If your company can arrange the USD payment from overseas directly to the owner's bank account, especially to those owner from HK, Singapore & Taiwan, then you can get discounts, because the owner can get the rent straightly.
4. Furniture
In Beijing, most apartments or houses are leased with fully furniture and electrical appliances, cable-TV and computer lines. If you prefer to bring your own furniture, most owners will cooperate and remove the existing furniture. But it doesn't mean you can get a better deal from the owner, since they may have to find a storage place for furniture. If the property is brand new where no furniture has yet been purchased by the owner, you will get a discount from the asking rent. Furniture will usually include sofa, chairs, coffee tables, end tables, lamps, television and stand, dining table and beds dressers, night stands, refrigerators, washer/dryers (usually stacks units) and air-conditioners.
5. Broadband ADSL
Subscriptions are available through CNC in many of the city's residential and commercial areas. There is a set-up time. Connections speeds reach 512Kbps but vary depending on the quality of lines and distance from the nearest ADSL hub. A net work interface card is required. Note that the “A” in ADSL stands for asymmetric so upload speeds are slower than download speeds. With ADSL is widely available, few are using costlier and slower ISDN.
There is no cost for looking at properties through real estate agents in Beijing. Agents are paid by the owner, not by the tenants. Choose an agency with a long history of proven record of accomplishment, a good reputation and experience and that the company and its agents are licensed by the government. (The government only recently started requiring all real estate companies to obtain a license in order to do business).