Renting through us is six steps: a request in the form, a shortlist, a viewing, the lease before any money, the deposit to the owner, move-in and the registration. From request to keys usually takes two days to a week, less if you are already in the city. Below is what happens at each step, what we need from you, and where you can stop without losing anything.

Step 1. The request

The form on the site, five fields: budget, bedrooms, move-in date, length of stay, contact. The more precise the budget and the date, the faster the shortlist. If you have not chosen an area yet, read the guide to the best areas to live first and put two areas in the request instead of one.

Step 2. The shortlist

Two to four options, each with a price and the date it was checked, the address down to the building, and what the price includes. If the building you want is not in the catalogue, she finds one on request in any complex in the city. That usually takes a day or two.

What we need from you: to say what does not fit and why. The second round is more accurate than the first.

Step 3. The viewing

In person if you are in Da Nang: we agree a time, the agent meets you at the building and shows the apartment, the common areas, the parking and what the window actually shows. What to check and what to ask is in the viewing checklist; how to avoid a scam when renting remotely is in our guide to renting before arrival.

At this step you pay nothing and owe nothing. If it does not fit, back to step 2.

Step 4. The lease

The full lease before any money: address, term, price, deposit and the conditions of its return, what the price includes, the electricity rate, the owner's duty to register you. The owner is named as in their passport. We provide the lease in two languages, English or Russian alongside Vietnamese. What a lease must contain and what to cross out is in our guide to the lease and deposit; how utilities are billed is in the guide to utility bills.

You can sign remotely on a scan; the originals are signed at move-in.

Step 5. Deposit and payment

The deposit is one month's rent, two in the pricier apartments, by transfer to the owner named in the lease with a payment reference, or in cash against a receipt in person. The first month's rent at move-in, once the apartment is inspected and the keys are yours. How the money moves between owner, agent and tenant is in our guide to who pays the agent commission.

Step 6. Move-in and registration

At move-in we walk the apartment with you against the handover report: photos, meter readings, everything broken or scratched goes into the report. That is your deposit at move-out. The owner declares you to the police when you move in: online right away, or on paper within 12 hours. What that registration is and why it matters is in the temporary residence guide.

What to do in the first week after moving in, from a SIM card to a scooter, is in first days in Da Nang.

What we need from you

  • Passport and visa: photos of the pages for the lease and the registration.
  • Budget, move-in date, length of stay and an honest list of requirements.
  • The deposit by the signing date, the first month's rent by move-in.
  • Half an hour for a viewing.

Which documents the owner should show and how we keep your data is on the documents and safety page.

After move-in

We stay in touch for the whole term: a broken air conditioner, a dispute over a bill, renewal, move-out and the return of the deposit. In any dispute the first things anyone opens are the lease and the handover report, which is why both are worth having from the start.