Okay....I hope she speaks english...I might stop by there tomorrow morning. Thank you

Blueice...what agency is she with?

Mutigers77, Be prepared to pay up to one years rent, a deposit often a months rent, the agents fee usually a months rent. You can sometimes negotiate a lower rent if you pay for one year. Get a contract that favors you. Landlords have been known to decide to sell the unit shortly after you move in. The standard penality is 10% of the rent. You should have someone on your side with you who speaks Chinese. The poor quality agents will often show you places that do not meet your needs to make a quick sale. Quick cash for them is the only goal. They will sacriface profit for fast cash. The nice local agents will help you do all you need. Sometimes a few extra RMB to them helps. If you are planing to have business in your new place some buildings allow this some do not. Some require you ask the neighbors permission.

i forgot the name, but it's not one of the big brand ones.

oh, it might be this: 锦蓝房产

We got our place from: 荣城房产
They have offices all over town (green and yellow/orange sign)
But what AlexKMG said: get a Chinrse friend to come with you. Plus the things he said about payment are right.

4 bedroom furnished apartments may be a little hard yes for most parts of town. We have a 3 bedroom furnished apartment in Southern Kunming. Actually finding 3-5 bedroom apartments in the 1600-2400 yuan price-range in our area isn't that hard (furnished or unfurnished :)

The green and yellow/orange place that Silvio refers to is the Xinya Dichan Real Estate company. As he mentions, they are all over the place in Kunming.

@ silvio: what part of south? will be looking soon too and want to stay within 2nd ring, but rather like some areas south-southwest. was looking around ankang lu/xiyuan/xichang/ 1st ring/etc. something midrange (3-5 bedroom apartments in the 1600-2400 yuan price-range) in a chinese hood so i can find local markets/shops/restaurants as opposed to carrefour and shouting-retailstore areas.

@jojio:
We live in Guandu district (near the old town). It's a completely renovated area called "New Asia Athletics Park". It's a bit like the Beverly Hills of KM now but without the crazy prices. But they have also houses for sale for 35 million :)
We specifically chose to avoid living within the 2nd ring as you spend a fortune on parking - if you can find a spot that is. Driving there takes ages (from Green Lake to the 2nd ring can take 1 hour or more by car during rush-hour).
Benefit is that food is cheaper here in the south and we have various supermarkets, farmers markets and really good value restaurants.
Good luck on your search!

Making tenants move out before their lease expires is one of the most common scams here in Yunnan. Especially for foreigners who always do some repairs in the house before moving in.

Here are some preventative measures I have learned over the years as this has happened to me 3 times in the past 10 years.

1 - Tell the landllord to give you a bankbook for the elect, water and gas so you don't have to worry about going to each office to pay the bill every 2 months. This will ensure you are not stuck with any old bills from previous tenants. I was once told I had to pay the 600 RMB water bill before we moved in. Haha.

2 - Since you must give a copy of your passport then you should be able to get a copy of their ID card. Also, get a copy of their Redbook - Fang Chan Zheng - 房产证. Make sure the ID card matches the name on the redbook. Many relatives do this for the owner. You want the person who has ultimate responsibility not some relative who is acting as an agent.

3 - Finally, ask the real estate agent to write in an additional clause that states if you are asked to move out before the lease expires, the lanlord must pay restitution in the amount of the fee payed to the real estate agent as well as any repairs - so keep all your receipts. You can not receive restitution for labor - only parts.

If the landlord is not willing to do any of the above 3 items then I will not sign a lease with them.

Make sure you ask for these 3 items after you have looked and bargained and wasted their time. Then they will be more willing to do this, especially the real estate agent who wasted their time. They can have a lot of influence over the landlord since these 3 things are NOT unreasonable.

Good point Hugo. It happens to us once. Our lease still had a month left and the owner made some excuse that he had to move back in because he broke up with his wife and needed the place to live in. Too many shady landlords. Just too many. But it's not only in renting business.