Basements provide you with excellent additional storage space, another place for children to play, or even a good location for your home gym. However, basements may create a lot of problems if they have not been properly built. Water leakage problems, and mold growth especially during the humid summer season may plague certain properties. It is often wise to ask the landlord to provide a dehumidifier.

When choosing properties with a basement it is worthy to consider those properties that have a good track record already with their previous tenants. If you insist on an unproven site, you should at minimum carefully inspect the property after a heavy rainfall for any signs of trouble if possible and also any signs of past leakage.

Make sure all curtains in the bedrooms are fitted with black-out curtains to ensure that your rooms are completely dark in order to have a sound sleep.

In China people believe that a firm mattress is good for the health of the back. Please ensure that your property consultant is made aware of the type of mattress you and your family will be comfortable to sleep on and negotiate for a comfortable mattress for your family. Also you may like to inspect the item personally before it is ordered; as the term “soft” is relative and mattress comfort is quite based on personal choice.

Very few Chinese people use dishwashers at home or leave any space in the kitchen for installing one. This may be due to the popularity of using a housekeeper to wash the dishes as the cost of a nanny in China is quite low. Some landlords may have installed UV sterilizers or the likes in the kitchen which look very similar to dishwashers. Do not be fooled by this. If you really need a dishwasher, please ensure that the item you are looking at is the real deal.

If you would like to choose an apartment that is close to a main road or public area, make sure the windows facing the road are installed with double-glazed protection to reduce the noise entering your home.

Tap water in China is undrinkable because it is not well filtered, sterilized, or purified and may carry hazardous contaminants like sediments, rusts, bacteria, virus, chlorines, or other heavy metals.

Indeed, in most places in China, although the tap water looks clear, it is not safe for drinking unless it has been boiled. For drinking, you can easily buy cheap and safe bottled mineral water in convenient stores everywhere. You will find many popular brands such as Nongfu Spring, Nestle, Evian, C’estbon, Kulun Mountains and Wahaha. You can also use the boiler to boil the tap water, and then wait for it to cool down to be drinkable. It is therefore suggested that when choosing your property, especially in the villa compounds, that you ask for a water filtration system. For the installed filtration systems, it would also be good to know when they were installed and if they have been maintained as filters could also harbour harmful bacteria if not properly maintained.

The main broadband operator in China is China Telecom who is a state-owned company. Normally the network speed in Shanghai can reach to 200 Mbps with the upload speed around 512 kb/s and download speed around 200 kb/s via cable. If you are using WIFI, the maximum speed is 50 Mbps.

If you can't browse some foreign websites or the download speed is too slow, here might be some main reasons:
1) The network or the website server itself, it is far away and other users have taken the cyber source at home at the same time, etc., the normal maximum speed to a foreign website is 2 Mbps;
2) Due to the controlling policy in China, Chinese government blocks quite a lot of foreign websites. If you want to browse such websites or having video conferences, normally you will need to install VPN or look for support from third-party network agents;
3) Another reason is your company VPN. If you are using a company laptop, all of your network requests are sent to your company firewall before going to the website. You can get your company IT support to know how to accelerate it.
Additionally most homes will only be provided with one internet access point in one room. The WIFI signal is unstable and hard to cross the cement walls or furniture. So, if you need more access points you may either use a wireless router or you will need new wiring.

Areas where there are a lot of humidity, or water in the air, are areas where mold likes to flourish. In Shanghai, the weather is very humid. During the raining season, it is especially common to see mold start to grow on walls, benches and other surfaces because of the wet air. In fact, when the humidity in the air is naturally high, mold growth in your home can be a recurring problem as it digests materials in the home.

It can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, and heating and air conditioning systems. It contributes to poor indoor air quality, and negatively impacts health. Therefore, mold growth should be avoided.

Improving ventilation can reduce indoor humidity levels and reduce the possibility of condensation, preventing the growth of mold. Also, controlling moisture is the key to preventing mold growth. It is recommended to keep humidity between 33% and 55% all day long. Dehumidifiers can also reduce household humidity and the potential for moisture build-up, as well as air conditioners and exhaust fans. Moreover, you should prevent water-damage.

The key is to treat a mold problem immediately, before the infestation becomes worse or causes permanent damage.

1) Brand new buildings
Since every individual landlord in the building will have their own schedule to decorate their property, you may be constantly subjected to hammer drills and renovation noises which are definitely annoying.

2) Properties with large open empty lots nearby
No one can say for sure what will happen in those lots but most likely it is new construction. Think huge hammer drills now, lots of dust in the air, and big noisy diesel engines running, definitely the nightmares are made of.

3) Properties facing the main road
Since most windows in China are not very efficient at blocking out the noise, try to avoid properties that are facing the main road.

Some landlords may use low quality paint or glue to decorate their properties, and many expats do not realize this until they move in and start to feel uncomfortable. So if you choose a newly decorated property, check with your consultant to see what brand of paint the landlord used to decorate this property or you may wish for an environmental assessment if you have young kids or feel very concerned on this issue.