Continuing from my previous post about searching for a commercial unit and arranging for a viewing. You may want to ask the agent or landlord the following questions when you head down to see the unit.
1. Are utility bills included in the pricing? Some of the prices listed does not include utility fee, so it is important to ask. Usually, they will have a separate meter for each of the room unit and at the end of the month, just need to pay for what you use. Consider this, if you are away for most of the time and you may hardly use the unit, the electric bill should not be too expensive. If not, just look for one that include the utility bills inside the pricing.
2. Are there any other monthly costs involved? Good to check. Some of these units include internet and WiFi or even a refrigerator but they usually won’t add that inside price. However, it will be good to find out.
3. Is the price negotiable? If you are like me and don’t like to haggle over the price. I will try not to ask this question, but if you just want to try your luck, can go ahead, and ask for a price you are more comfortable with. Most of the time, the listed price is just a guide, it may end up slightly lowered than expected.
4. Is GST included? Depends if the landlord company is a GST registered company or not. Some of the landlords do not collect GST and the price as listed is as it is. If not, you will need to add a 7%.
5. Any agent fee involved? Usually for tenant, we do not bore the agent cost. It is the landlord who will pay the agent instead. But better to find out also.
6. What is the minimum lease period? The lease term is minimally 2 years, I will usually ask if after 2 years, can the unit still be renewed? However, this is quite hard to say…
7. Is the access 24/7? Usually, if you take up the room unit, you will be given card or pin access to the main door to allow you 24/7 accessibility.
8. What are other things included in the unit? For commercial unit, they can either be fully fitted, partially fitted or bare. That is why it is important to view the unit physically. Most of the time, the flooring should be carpeted and for furniture, it really depends. Some of the landlords wanted to rent out the unit to those office workers who just need a small mobile office, hence they will have some office tables and chairs inside each of these room units. However, for CDs like us, we do not really need those. You can tell the landlord or agent if furniture is needed.
9. Can you use the unit for light storage and business? Some commercial units are more suited for office work only and the landlord may not like to have their room units becoming a warehouse, but this is quite unusual. Normally, it is allowed, but good to ask.
10. Can you add additional locks or fittings inside the room? You may like to have additional locks to prevent unauthorized access, so it will be good to ask if you can add a digital lock or do simple fitting in the room. Good to trash out all these queries before committing to the rental.
11. Do you need a business entity for the rental? Usually, for commercial unit, unlike the Work+Store concept, the landlord and agent will prefer to rent to a business entity instead of individual. But this should not be a big problem. I will share how I did my application and share the cost also.
If you are comfortable with the unit and pricing, they will need a 2-months security deposit (which will be returned to you after the end of the lease term, and you wanted to move out) and you need to give your particulars to the agent who will prepare the Tenancy Agreement. At this time, you should have your business entity ready. Even if it is not done up yet, as long as you have given the deposit, you have already reserved that unit technically.
Now, I will share how to apply for a business entity.
1. Go to Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)
2. Go to e-services and click “Login to Bizfile”
3. You will end up in a new page. Under the “For Business” tab, go to “Start a new Business” option and under there, you will see “Business (Sole proprietor / Partnership)". You will see a “Register Now” option. Click on that.
4. It will prompt you to log in, just log in using “For Individual Users” where you need your Singpass to log in.
5. For a start, you need the apply for a new business name, so you got to think of what do you want to name your company. For the “Application for a New Business Name”, you will need to pay $15.00 and the name will be reserved for 120 days. This process should be quite fast unless your business name has some implications. If not, you should get the approval almost instantaneously.
6. After the approval of the New Business Name application, you need to apply for “Application to Register Person(s) and Business Name". For this part, it will cost you around $100 to $160 and this should last you for 3 years. For business renewal, I believe it should be around $30 per year. More details can be found here.
7. After the previous step is done, you will need to wait for around 1 week or so for the approval. Once the approval is done, you will get a UEN (standard identification number of an entity).
Once all these are done, congratulation, you are now a business entity owner. You will need to pass that information to the agent who will do the paperwork for you. The agent will input these details into the Tenancy Agreement whereby stating that you are renting the commercial unit under your business entity. Even though it seems like a tedious and complicated process, it is quite simple actually.
Anyway, some may question, what is the draw of going through all these processes to get a business entity, just to rent a commercial unit? One thing is, the pricing of the floor space. Some of the floor space are going for $3.00 per square feet (as shown in the picture), some included the utility fees inside the rental cost. I am getting close to $3.50 to less than $4.00 per square feet for a floor space bigger than my previous unit. For the same price I was paying, I am getting a much bigger floor size. On top of that, I get full privacy and my own room where I can use the electricity without going through the trouble of needing an extension cord from the corridor…

Some may ask, what is the downside of commercial unit? Well, the two months deposit can be quite a hefty amount and the monthly rent is not a typical $100 to $200 per month. But like I mentioned, if you are sharing the unit, the cost will work out to be roughly the same. Another possible downside is, after the lease period, what is next? Will the landlord raise the price? Can you renew the lease? There are uncertainties regarding these questions. Other than that, I cannot think of any, maybe some other CDs can share their views on this.
Can’t believe I wrote so much for this post but I try to be as detailed as possible to help other CrossDressers who are still contemplating between getting a storage space or a commercial unit. Hope that these 2 most recent posts can help you to analyse better. Happy Storage Space Hunting!!! Cheers.