Hi everyone,

My wife would like to lease retail space in Chiang Mai early next year when we come over to live. Ideally we are after something in the 40 - 60 SqM range, a good size frontage, toilet would be good, in an area with a reasonable to high traffic, does'nt have to be stictly in A Muang, but in a good location. We are interested in a 3 to 5 year lease, prefering 3 years.

I would like to hear from someone with experience in retail leasing and get some idea of the terms in which leases are written, also methods or websites for sourcing a good shop. Rental rates etc.

No we are not opening a cafe. Thanks.

Is it a Mask shop?

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Is it a Mask shop?

.

no.

What I have heard and understand is that many of the merchants own their own shops -- it is like buying a condo in a building. Others lease their shops from either private property owners or large shopping complexes where they have management offices that handle leasing opportunities. It would probably be best for you to look around at different areas of the city after you arrive and you can then determine which area your product or service would be best suited. Some of the larger real estate agents like Chiang Mai Properties, for instance,may then be able to show you availability of commercial units.

My (newbie) understanding is...

Lease term is normally 3 years with potentially unlimited extensions of 3 years each - a lease for longer than 3 years requires the landlord to fill out some forms and pay some taxes.

The landlord normally expects a deposit equal to 3 month's rent and 1 month's rent paid upfront. It may be possible to negotiate a 1 month rent free period for decorating the shop.

There is a property tax of 12.5% rent which is sometimes paid by the landlord and sometimes by the tenant (so make sure you discuss who will pay this before agreeing to the rental rate).

Rental rates vary widely depending on location but are generally very low so worth stretching your budget to have somewhere with a toilet.

Please tell us what business you are planning. My guess is a 7/11...

Nah, 7-11 would be too much work, I don't want to be directly involved with anything, It is purely my wifes baby, I would love to tell you what she wants but what my wife wants to do is something unique to Thailand and Chiang Mai and easily replicated to I would like to see my wife have the head start. So to speak.

^^ A lease longer than 3 years, means the landlord will have to sign your name on the tittledeed for it to be valid/legal. That is why most leases here are 3 years. The terms you will get is very much depend on how good a landlord, you will be able to find.

We rent two shops in Hua Hin on the same street with different landlords. One we had for about 10 years and never had more than 5-10% rentincrease every three years (and we started with a low rent) On this shop we pay the yearly tax, which actually is the landlords private tax, but because we have a very good deal with her, we just pay it, no questions asked. The other shop we had to pay keymoney (1.3M) and despite that the monthly rent is higher than the first shop. And I already know, that when we are going to renegotiate after 3 years, if we want to keep the rentalcontract, we will have to pay keymoney again. If not the "for rent" sign will go up again. Most Thai landlords don't mind if they have to wait 5-6 months for a new tenant, because the interesting part for them is the keymoney=straight in the pocket. And sooner or later another miafarang will show up with her new darling and pay!!

I don't know if CM is as "hot" as HUa Hin, but around here it is almost impossible to find anything without paying keymoney.

I agree with the poster above, spend plenty of time to find the right location and check with the shopowners around there if there is/coming up anything for rent in the neighbourhood. A lot of footwork, but IMO better than using an agent, which might see you end up in Hang Dong.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the info guys,

Nah, 7-11 would be too much work, I don't want to be directly involved with anything, It is purely my wifes baby, I would love to tell you what she wants but what my wife wants to do is something unique to Thailand and Chiang Mai and easily replicated to I would like to see my wife have the head start. So to speak.

... is it a Woolworths?

no