My Landlord.

[imron]

My landlord is old-school Beijing. Nice thick accent, friendly sort of chap, and to top it all off, he's a taxi-driver too - you don't get much more Beijing than he is. He's also the kind of person that thinks that asking for a receipt (or really just any sort of note) after paying rent is the equivalent of saying you don't trust him. So I never ask for receipts, because well, he's always seemed a trustworthy sort of guy (old-school Beijing and all). For similar reasons I don't really have a contract for the place I'm staying at. Sure, there's a copy of some contract that he has somewhere, and that has my name written on it (scribbled under the name of someone else who was presumably a tenant before me), but I think he just needed that to make sure I could get registered with the PSB (I certainly don't have my own copy). I don't think he considers the details of it to be so important, especially as we've verbally agreed on the important bits anyway. Registering at the local police was no problem as he's been renting the apartment out for years I guess, and he pays the appropriate taxes and whatnot.

He's also good about getting things fixed when they break and so I've never really had a problem with him, or a need to brandish a contract to get things done. He never comes by unless I need something fixed, or unless the rent is due, and even then, he'll always call to make sure I'm home first. When I once accidentally forgot to pay my Internet bill (I was back visiting Australia), he was happy enough to pay it for me when the phone company called him to see if the service should be switched off, and then just let me repay him when my next rent was due a couple of months later.

So anyway, it's getting towards rent payment time, and late yesterday afternoon I get a call from him asking when it would be convenient for me to pay the next 3 months of rent (I said today). My "contract" as such, lasts until the end of August (just after the Olympics) and so this is the last 3 months before the contract is up. Despite trusting him to a reasonable degree, I've always been a bit wary about what's going to happen around this time, especially after hearing stories from other people of horrible rent increases and the like. I mean if he really wanted to, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to have me kicked out before the Olympics so he could make a quick buck (the apartment is in a great location, a few minutes walk from the subway, and just around the corner from the worker's stadium), and after all, I don't really have contract, nor any proof that I've been paying rent here for almost the last year.

Anyway, back to the phone call. After sorting out a suitable pickup time, he then asked if I was planning to stay on after the year was up, and also mentioned that he'd probably have to increase the rent. I was out at the time, and so said we could discuss the details when he came to pick up the rent.

My rent is currently RMB 2,500 a month. Based on official inflation figures (~10%), the minimum I was expecting he might want to increase it to was maybe RMB 2,750, but based on what's been happening to other people, 3,000 probably wouldn't have seemed unlikely. I was also uncertain if perhaps he'd try to pull some Olympic rubbish and get me to pay increased rent for August or something. I mean like I said, I trust him, but the Olympics has been making people crazy, so you never know what to expect, plus he could always make things difficult for me if I didn't agree.

So he comes round today, and I go downstairs to meet him (no elevators in my apartment block, so he usually prefers for me to come down, rather than him come up). We exchange pleasantries, and I pay the rent (with no unpleasant Olympic surprises! ) and then he asks if I plan to stay on, and I said I was thinking I probably would, but it would depend on the circumstances. He then says that if so, he was thinking about increasing the monthly rent --- by the staggering sum of 100 RMB a month! Haha, I could hardly believe it. The best part was, he then said that if that was really too much and my financial circumstances didn't allow it, then I could just continue paying RMB 2,500 anyway.

So, just thought I'd let you all know that not all landlords in Beijing are evil! There are still some good ones around and I'm thinking that come September, I'll probably start paying the extra 100 a month, just because it's worth it to have such a great landlord.

What can I say.....

Best. Landlord. Ever.

[Senzhi]

He's probably writing on some 'real' Chinese forum:

"Imron. Best. Tenant. Ever."

[gougou]

for imron's landlord.

Our landlord raised our rent by 300 kuai (to 4300 per month), which I was very happy with as well. He's from Zhejiang though, and not a taxi driver but a factory owner. Also, he never comes round - he hasn't even seen the flat yet, he bought it looking at pictures.

Ever since prolonging the contract, we don't have written proof of our living here anymore either, but since the property management is handing out blank forms proving domicile in our compound (anybody need one? ), registration has never been a problem.

[Luobot]

not all landlords in Beijing are evil!

He sounds very Chinese, in the best sense of the word. The type where the relationship is worth a thousand times more than a piece of paper. You should definitely stay there for as long as you're in Beijing.

[roddy]

Nice one. Reminds me of landlords I used to have - very old school Beijing, didn't see them very often but when they did I'd always get subjected to lessons on how to speak like a Beijinger. And when anything broke there would be a lot of relatives to come round and fix it. All at once.

In the two Beijing flats where I stayed on past the original lease I didn't bother with extensions in either case. Worked out fine, in one case I left with a month's notice, in the other I got a month's notice of the apartment being sold.

[cdn_in_bj]

I'm glad you shared your good experience, Imron. On many of the expat forums we only tend to hear about people's bad experiences.

I've had positive experiences with my two previous landlords here as well. Although both of mine were younger and also first-time landlords, so they were very cautious and did everything "by the book" (ie- proper contract and receipts). I wasn't as satisfied with the first apartment as it was very sparsely furnished (though it was brand new), but I can't really blame the landlords for that as I knew what I was getting before I signed on and I did get a cheaper rent because of it.

In both cases, I had to move out earlier than I had originally planned - the first due to sale of the apartment, and the other due to family circumstances requiring my landlord to move back in. In the first case, the landlords gave me 1 month's notice and paid me the early termination penalty as stipulated by our contract. In the second case, I got early notice but as my contract was expiring at that time (I had signed a shorter contract as I didn't think I'd be staying for a full year) I did not get any extra money. So in both cases a bit frustrating, as well as a pain having to move (I have a lot of stuff!). But this is one of the risks of renting, and I can think of far worse things to have to go through.

[Yang Rui]

I would like to add to the positivity (is that a real word or was it invented by the Spice Girls?) on this thread. My last landlord in China was an absolute gentleman. Also, he was from Fujian, a province whose people do not enjoy the best reputation in China or anywhere else. I've found that landlords in most places are generally not that nice - they often want to make a quick buck with as little investment as possible - but in China all my landlords have been reasonable people. I think it helps to go with someone who only has one or two properties rather than a huge real estate empire.

[Jamoldo]

I have to say, my landlord when I was in Beijing was pretty awesome too. Sometimes he'd stay for like 2-3 hours though, which could be a bit tough. But he was an enthusiastic guy who was more than happy to speak with us, and even gave us some cooking tips (which we sadly never tried).

My roommates might be leaving post Olympics, so if anyone is interested in a place near BNU, let me know and I'l see what I can do. It's about 800 sqft, 2 bedrooms (one of the guys is my original roommate, the other is a friend who moved in after I left) furnished, high floor (not a bad city view), painted and everything. Markets, restaurants all nearby. Not close to a subway station though, that's like a 10 mins bike ride.

[Lu]

Can I join in? (Or did I already praise my landlord elsewhere...)

My landlord back home was the kind of guy with an empire of houses, who was only interested in getting rent from us. No relationship, no fixing things, nothing. A real jerk, basically.

My landlord here in Taipei is a great guy, extremely reasonable. I do have a contract, and he signs for every month I pay rent, and he doesn't mind that at all. When I first moved in, he gave me a Chinese contract to sign, but as reading that would have taken days and I wanted to move in soon I asked if he would agree on the contract that the housing agency had given me, that was Chinese and English. That was absolutely fine.

The room was furnished, but didn't have a book chest, so I asked if I could have one. Sure, he said. I thought he'd buy me one somewhere, but a few days later I came home and he was in the hallway building me one.

My lease is ending these days, and generally leases are signed per year. But I didn't know whether I wanted to stay another year, and asked if I could extend per month. That wasn't too good for him, because if I moved out he could go and find a student to rent the place for the new academic year. And so in the end we agreed I could stay for the summer, but then I would have to either extend for a year or move out.

And so on. Really, really good landlord. I think he only has this one house (with a lot of rooms in it), and that it is his first try at the landlording business. The place was brand-new when I moved in, and somehow I have the feeling that he built the whole thing by himself, or at least came over every day to oversee the building.

[gougou]

Reading this thread, a newcomer might mistakenly believe that life in China is easy. Does anybody have any stories to the opposite to share?

[roddy]

Meh, lets keep it positive.

[cdn_in_bj]

I think it helps to go with someone who only has one or two properties rather than a huge real estate empire.

I tend to agree that there is more "risk" in dealing with speculators who own several properties, especially in high-end complexes in areas targeting foreigners. While it is true that you will find bad landlords no matter where you are, tenants here tend to be at a disadvantage when it comes to disputes. Also, some of the housing agencies here are pretty bad so the blame can't be put on the landlord in all cases.

I suspect that many "lao bai xing" landlord happen to have a second property that they aren't living in, and just want to rent it out as a way to cover their mortage and maintenance costs and aren't looking to "squeeze" as much out of their tenants as the property value appreciation will (or already has) dwarf the relatively low rental income. I would place both of my previous landlords into this category.

[self-taught-mba]

Wow! Need a roommate?

Finally, got one good landlord too.

[wushijiao]

Actually, just to add to imron's comments, I had at least four landlords in Shanghai that were, overall, pretty good. On the other hand, my wife and I specifically tried to pick out landlords that seemed honest, as the contract issues are really a hassle.

[gougou]

Ok, I'd like to pick this thread up again and nominate my landlord as the best landlord ever. The entire family, actually. I mostly deal with the mother, but the father also has been very nice the few times he came round. Only their little girl, four years or so, wouldn't call me 叔叔, so she'll probably grow up to be one of those landlords from hell...

Anyway, this was the only place I looked at last time I was flat-hunting. I liked it at first sight and the landlord seemed pretty decent too. She wanted me to rent for one year, but agreed to half a year. I then did what in every expat booklet you can find under 'C' for 'Classical-rookie-mistake-to-avoid' and signed the contract before the stuff I had asked for (a new mattress and a desk) had arrived. It did arrive within a few days though, together with a heating lamp for the bath because my landlady was afraid I'd be cold after showering (that was in October last year). She also got the guys to install the heaters to come over, and took me to 联通 to sign up for broadband.

When we prolonged the contract, she signed a contract because she insisted that I needed some security. When I took that to the agent who had introduced us half a year ago to get a new receipt (as said agent promised before), I was surprised to find that the agent no longer existed. I called the mobile number I still had and learned that the boss was working at another agency now, where she could get me a new receipt. After a few phone calls, however, it turned out that that would cost me another month's rent in agent fees. When I told my landlord, she asked me what kind of 发票 I needed (to reclaim rent from my company), and procured it from a friend of a friend of a friend within days, with no extra costs for me.

But all this is nothing! Today I called them because my fridge was broken. They came over with two (supposedly related) workmen that looked at the fridge and decided they needed to take it away for about a week. My landlady told me (several times, to be sure) that she would call me sometime next week when they would bring it back, and left. An hour later, I got a phone call saying that they just bought a new fridge and would bring it over right away. Their reasoning? It's warm outside and they didn't want me to be without cold beer for a week...

Best. Landlord. Ever.

[anonymoose]

I've got a pretty good landlord at present also.

If I need anything, he'll get it for me, no quibbling.

Also, lately he's been collecting the rent about 2 months late (not that it makes any difference to me).

Unfortunately I'll be moving to a different part of Shanghai soon. I wish I could take the apartment and landlord with me.

By the way, this just goes to show that whilst most people mention their landlord because they want to voice a complaint, giving the impression that all landlords are evil, in actuality many people have very reasonable and honest landlords.

[Mouseneb]

My last landlord was decent, too. I'd heard lots of horror stories and was pretty much bracing myself not to get my deposit back upon completion of our contract, and when our landlord came over the day we were moving out and complained about the doggy smell in the spare bedroom (where our two dogs had been staying) I thought for sure this was a ploy not to give the deposit back at all. But then he handed it over, no fuss! In full. Found him through a guanxi link with a former student, I think that's really the way to go if you've got it. The relationship is key.