Can anyone give any good advice before signing a preliminary contract for renting a commercial office space in Hong Kong?
Am new to all this and am afraid we're being taken advantage of in terms and agreements because we're new to this and setting up a small business.
How much information should be on the preliminary agreement for example?
We've been given a preliminary agreement by our agent but there doesn't seem to be enough information on there.
There is no mention about who pays Govt rent and rates or management fees for example (which the landlord has verbally agreed to pay)
Landlord is asking for 3 months deposit with 1 month's rent in advance which seems a lot to us.
Landlord is willing to give 3 weeks rental free as we will have a lot of renovations to do.
Landlord will not do any renovations
Landlord requests at least 18 months fixed rental period but we only want 12 months in case the business doesn't work out as well as hoped.
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What are normal practices in Hong Kong?
Any advice on this would be appreciated.
Thanks