Guides / Finding

What Is the Full Path From a Brief to a Signed Factory Lease?

October 27, 2026

Finding a factory for rent in Vietnam takes nine steps: write a brief with numbers, see where units are, screen them on paper, visit a short list, compare them on one scorecard, check the papers, agree a letter of intent, negotiate the lease and document the handover. For a ready-built unit in the south, plan on about one to two months from brief to signed lease. This guide is the map. Each step links to a longer guide on the same topic.

The nine steps at a glance

Step	What you do	Typical time	Longer guide
1	Write the brief	2 to 5 days	Requirements template
2	Map where units are listed	1 to 2 days	Reading listings
3	Screen on paper and by video	1 to 2 weeks	Remote search
4	Visit a short list	2 to 3 days	Visit trip plan
5	Compare on one scorecard	2 to 4 days	Scorecard
6	Check the papers	1 to 2 weeks	Landlord due diligence
7	Sign a letter of intent	3 to 7 days	LOI guide
8	Negotiate and sign the lease	3 to 6 weeks	Lease clauses
9	Take the keys and record the condition	1 day	Handover report

Steps overlap. You can check papers on your top two units while the visit trip is still being booked. The sections below explain each step and the choices you face.

Step 1: Write the brief

Every later step depends on this one. A brief with numbers lets a developer, an owner or a broker say “no” to a unit without calling you. A brief with adjectives gets you every unit in the region.

The lines that decide the search are:

• production floor area, as a range
• clear height under the lowest beam
• floor load in tons per m²
• power in kVA
• overhead crane, if any
• loading docks and container access
• headcount at start and at full ramp
• areas you accept and areas you do not
• date for keys and date for production
• lease term, and whether you want a break option

Mark each line as must-have or nice-to-have. Be strict: a must-have is something that stops production if it is missing. If you are unsure about size, read what size factory you need before you send the brief. If you do not know a number, write your own estimate and label it as an estimate.

Step 2: Know where units are listed

The market is split across several channels. None of them covers everything.

Channel	What you get	What it leaves out
Park developers	Standard ready-built units, standard contracts, park rules	Units owned by others, flexible terms, off-market units
Private owners and former tenants	More room on price and terms	Often thin papers, which need more checking
Brokers	Matching, site checks, introductions	Ask who pays and who they represent
Property portals and social groups	A wide view of asking prices	Stale posts, duplicates, reused photos, missing specs
Park management boards	Rules, allowed industries, park status	They do not market specific units, see the management board guide

You do not need all five. Most tenants combine two or three. A common pattern is to ask two or three developers directly, read portals to learn price levels and use a broker to reach private owners. The guide to reading factory listings explains what each claim in an advertisement means. If the listing is in Vietnamese, the glossary of listing terms helps.

Going direct to developers

Developers can send you an availability list, a unit specification and a standard contract in a few days. They only show units in their own parks. See how to contact an industrial park developer for what to ask and what they usually do not show.

Units that are not advertised

Some units never reach a portal: a tenant is leaving, an owner prefers to rent through contacts or a building is not yet finished. These can match well, but they need extra checks on who has the right to lease. Read about off-market factories.

Search terms that still work

Provinces merged on 1 July 2025. The Binh Duong area and Ba Ria-Vung Tau are now part of Ho Chi Minh City, Long An is part of Tay Ninh and Binh Phuoc is part of Dong Nai. People still search with the old names, and many listings use them. Read old names as area names, and check the official address in the lease. Our guide to the province merger and factory addresses shows how to read an older listing.

Step 3: Screen on paper and by video

Do not visit every unit. Cut the long list to a short one using documents, photos and a live video call.

Paper screening removes most units. Ask each owner for:

• the exact address and the name of the park
• the production area, clear height, floor load and transformer size
• fire prevention approval status for the intended use
• the land use rights and building papers
• the asking rent, the management fee and the VAT basis
• the earliest handover date

A unit that cannot answer these in writing should move down the list. Then ask for a live video walk. You can check height, floor condition, roof, transformer and the truck route from the gate. A video cannot check papers or smell, and it cannot tell you how the park feels at 5 pm. See searching from abroad with video tours for a script.

At this stage, also watch for warning signs: prices far below the area, a seller who will not give an address, a request for a deposit before a visit. The guide to factory rental scams explains how to check an owner.

Step 4: Visit a short list

Three to five units is a good size for one trip. More than that and the details blur. Group the units by area so that you drive less, and plan for traffic. A two to three day trip can cover most of the south if you cluster the visits. Our site visit trip plan gives a routing and a day schedule.

Bring the person who will run the plant, not only the person who signs the lease. A maintenance or engineering lead sees things a manager misses. Use the same list of checks on every unit. The ready-built factory checklist has twelve checks that you can print. The list of 25 questions for a landlord covers the questions for the meeting.

Step 5: Compare on one scorecard

After a trip, memory favours the last unit you saw and the one with the friendliest owner. A scorecard fixes that. Score every unit on the same lines: fit to the process, power, papers, location, cost and risk. Give a heavier weight to the must-have lines, and drop any unit that fails one.

Compare costs on a common basis. Rent per m² is not enough. Add the management fee, the expected utilities, the one-off fit-out and the deposit. The rent cost guide shows the parts, and the scorecard guide gives a matrix you can copy. Typical ranges seen on public listings for ready-built units inside southern industrial parks are about US$4 to US$7 per m² per month. Use that only to spot units that are far outside the range.

Step 6: Check the papers

This is the step that most often changes the result. A unit that scores well on site can fail on paper. Ask the owner for, and have an adviser read:

1. Land use rights. Who holds them and how long they last inside the park.
2. Building papers. Construction permit and completion records that match the building.
3. Fire safety. Fire prevention approval and acceptance for the use you plan.
4. Authority to lease. The owner or an authorised signer, and consent from the head landlord if the unit is subleased.
5. Mortgage. Whether a bank holds a charge on the building.
6. Park fit. Whether your business line is allowed in the park and at that address.

The guides on landlord due diligence, business-line fit and fire approval go through each item. If a few units already hold approvals that match a typical use, they are worth a look: see factories with permits in place. Papers are a legal matter, so use a licensed Vietnamese adviser. Nothing in this guide is legal advice.

Step 7: Sign a letter of intent

A letter of intent holds the unit while you finish checks and the lease. It can say that the owner stops marketing the unit for a set time and that both sides negotiate in good faith. Be careful with any payment at this stage. A holding deposit is a risk if it is not tied to written conditions and a refund. Read what is binding in a letter of intent and reservation deposits before you pay anything.

Step 8: Negotiate and sign the lease

Rent is only one term. Rent escalation, the deposit, the rent-free period, repair duties, the power upgrade, the break option and the handover condition often matter more over a three to five year term. Landlords move most on things that cost them little. See how to negotiate a factory lease and the clauses guide.

Put every promise in the contract. A verbal assurance on kVA, a fit-out contribution or a repair does not survive a change of manager or owner. A Vietnamese lawyer should read the final text, and you should know which language version controls. If you are a foreign company without a local entity, the lease and the investment registration are linked, so agree the order of steps with an adviser before you sign.

Step 9: Take the keys and record the condition

On handover day, walk the unit with the owner and record condition, meter readings and defects with photos and signatures. This record protects your deposit at the end of the lease. Use the handover report guide.

The mistakes that cost most

Most failed searches share a short list of errors:

• Starting with price. Rent per m² is the easiest number to compare, so it dominates, yet power, papers and height decide whether the unit works.
• Skipping the fire approval check. A unit without valid approval for your use can stop your start-up.
• Paying to hold a unit too early.
• Trusting the listing. Gross area, claimed power and “ready now” often differ from the facts.
• Using one visit as a decision. A second visit with an engineer finds more than the first.

The guide on 15 common search mistakes covers these in detail, and the risks of informal agents is worth reading if you plan to use one.

When time is short

If you need a unit in weeks, you can still follow the same steps. You compress them and accept trade-offs on the nice-to-have lines, never on fire approval, power or papers. See finding a factory fast.

Writing it up for head office

If a board or regional office must approve the lease, start the approval pack while you screen, not after. Show the shortlist, the scorecard, the year-one cash and the risks. The guide on the head office approval pack gives an outline.

Who can rent in Vietnam

Many foreign manufacturers ask first whether they can rent at all. In general a foreign-invested company can lease a factory in an industrial park, and the lease often forms part of the investment registration. The details depend on your business line and structure. See can a foreign company rent a factory in Vietnam and confirm with a licensed adviser.

What we do in the search

We take your requirements, check ready-built factories on site and send a shortlist of up to 5. Before a factory goes on the list we check power supply, floor, crane, fire safety approval and papers, and we send photos and notes. The lease is between you and the owner. Tenants pay nothing for the search. The owner pays our fee only when a lease is signed, on terms agreed with the owner in writing before any introduction. We do not own or manage factories.

Get a shortlist

Write the brief, then send your requirements. We reply within 24 business hours and send a shortlist of factories checked on site. You can walk away at any point before you sign.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• The 15 Most Common Mistakes When You Search for a Factory in Vietnam
• Should You Build to Suit or Lease a Ready-Built Factory?