Job Discussion Forums

[jgmodlin]

I am wondering why so many posters here seem to have roommates? While I suppose roommates for the under 25 crowd is fairly common in the west, it seems that most mention shared housing while in VN. Is that indicative of the TEFL crowd being younger in VN than other countries?
I taught for 8 years in Japan and encountered very few fellow teachers who were living with roommates (other than g/fs or b/fs). Why the difference in the two countries?

[inky]

One possible reason: you can rent beautiful, spacious houses here and they become much more affordable by sharing the rent. Another reason: people living alone aren't looking for roommates, so maybe you get the impression that everyone shares since those are the people you hear from.

[blateson]

Housing is one of the scams of Vietnam that no one can stop and frankly no one in the local community wants to either. A two bedroom apartment lists for $2400 a month. Then when and if you finally bargain it down to say $1000 (still a lousy price), you will only end up paying 400% more than you should as opposed to the astronomical figure at $2400. But you are not going to achieve anywhere near such a drop in price around here. The locals are too stubborn and will wait until a foreigner comes along willing to say "ok" to their price.

Go to google and type in 'rent in Vietnam'. Or click this --Here's an example of Hong Kong prices in Vietnam:


Hoangha1
Hoang Ha Serviced Apartment
Rental/month:USD $ 600
Hits: 4015
District: 3
Ref. No: HCMAP33
Bedrooms: 1
Features: Garage, Cable Televison, Internet, Wifi, Telephone, Furnished, 24/24 security, Parking, Back-up Power
Status: Available now

An Loc Serviced Apartment
Rental/month:USD $ 800
Hits: 5177
District: 3
Ref. No: HCMAP39
Bedrooms: 1
Features: Garden, Cable Televison, Internet, Wifi, Telephone, Furnished, 24/24 security, Parking, House Keeping Service

Serviced Apartment in Ho Xuan Huong, D3, 2 beds, 150 sqm, 2200$, ID: 10779
Rental/month:USD $ 2,200
Hits: 226
District: 3
Ref. No: HCMAP10779
Bedrooms: 2
Features: Garage, Cable Televison, Internet, Wifi, Telephone, Furnished, 24/24 security, House Keeping Service, Hot Water, Refrigerator, Air-Conditioning, Bathtub
Street: Ho Xuan Huong
Usable Area: 150 sqm
Status: Available in 2 months

Lastly, take any of the descriptions with a grain of salt. It may say "garage" but when you see it you might be disappointed. It may say wifi internet or housemaid, but how reliable they are won't be known until a few months into your lease. A local tactic here is to hype things up using fancy words. But the inflated prices are the biggest problem. This is where Thailand seems to greatly outcompete Vietnam -- a lot more selection and they don't treat you like an idiot fresh off the plane.

[inky]

blateson, have you ever actually lived in Vietnam? I rent a lovely 5-floor house with three huge individually soudproofed bedrooms (each with a full bath and a balcony), a huge kitchen, a ground-floor TV room with motorbike parking and another half-bath, all fully furnished and equipped including microwave, washer, two TVs and a DVD player. Lovely landlord who quickly responds to any issue, great neighborhood with friendly people and good restaurants and bars nearby. The rent is $600US a month (or $200 each if split among three people). The electric bill came today, it was $35 for the month. Cable TV is $3/month, and unlimited ADSL internet is $16/month. The housekeeper, a lovely and hardworking person, comes once a week and asks for under $10 for cleaning this whole place (I always give her more). Water, beer, food and wine delivery are a phone call away. This place is typical, most of my friends are in similar situations. Oh, I forgot, there's also a huge rooftop patio which serves as a sixth floor, covered to protect from the weather, and offering a panoramic view of the city. I think I died and went to heaven.

There's a lot of poverty here, and I'm always aware of how incredibly lucky I am to be able to afford all this, based simply on my random birth in an English-speaking country. The advertisements you have posted here aren't typical, and they are not directed at real people who want to experience living in Vietnam, they are for people who don't want to be here. People like you, blateson.

[ajc19810]

My last house in Saigon in 2008, 3million = $175 / month 2 bedrooms, 2 floors, balcony, huge kitchen, 2 bathrooms. However it was in district 8, but still great for the price. When I left the landlord was kicking the price up to about 3.5million. (3month deposit was needed, semi-furnished). Local beer on the corner was about 20cents a glass.

My current house, outside of Saigon, 2million = $120 / month. 2 bedrooms, no sink in the bathroom, nice kitchen and 2 minutes from the beach. (semi-furnished, paid 4 months upfront, no deposit needed).

Cable TV = $4 / month, Cable Internet = around $6 monthly, Electricity $30 /month (one room aircon), water = $3 / month.

Finding a good place in Saigon takes more effort than it might have done last year , but there are still really good deals around.

Forget searching for places on the net, those places arent for teacher salaries.

[jgmodlin]

With the exception of one reply, I am still wondering why it is that is most still seem to rent places with roommates? I mean most people over a certain age would generally prefer to have a place to themselves, right? Don't get me wrong, I am not faulting those that choose that lifestyle I am just thinking about my own situation with a wife and child on the way and not keen on living in "Animal House". It was fun though when I was 21

[inky]

There isn't any rule that says you have to share. What more do you need to know? There will be three of you, so rent a house and have lots of space. Or rent an apartment. No one will care if you don't ask for roommates. It's a non-issue.

[jgmodlin]

Of course it's a non-issue. I was just posting because I was curious why roommates seem to be more common in VN than other places where people TEFL.
At the end of the day half the postings here are basically non-issues, right? They simply reflect things people are curious about.

[ajc19810]

I would say most live alone in guesthouses. But people like to live together for a few reasons. Well they are the reasons I liked to when i lived with roomies

3 month deposit required on houses. Helps to split the cost.

Houses often structurally resemble guesthouses so why not fill the empty room/s.

Its crap having to furnish a whole house by yourself.

Drinking buddies.

Added safety of another person round.

Someone to cover your rent when you've blown all your pay 3 days after pay day.

Probably the other major reason is that its simply fun. Many of the people that come here or work in ESL generally dont want to settle down, especially in Vietnam. Vietnam is still very much a place to come for a good time more so than other ESL nations. Partying by yourself is never fun.

[jgmodlin]

[lost_gypsy]

To ajc19810

Quote: "My current house, outside of Saigon, 2million = $120 / month. 2 bedrooms, no sink in the bathroom, nice kitchen and 2 minutes from the beach. (semi-furnished, paid 4 months upfront, no deposit needed)."

The comment about the no-sink-in-bathroom. Is that common? I think it would be a bother when you needed to say, brush your teeth or shave. You have to go into the kitchen??? Strange to say the least. You ought to contact your landlord and insist they install a sink, regardless of how cheap the rent is!

I noticed during my time in China that it was not uncommon to find refrigerators in people's living rooms! Now, a lot of the older Chinese apartment kitchens were very cramped. Usually a long, tiled counter for food prep, beside a slightly higher squared counter with a small hole near the back for the gas range and the hose would go through the hole to the gas cannister beneath. Also a sink would be either incorporated into the food-prep counter, or along another wall.

But in the new kitchens there was a planned empty space for a fridge, yet the Chinese would utlilize this as dry storage, placing large sacks or containers full of cabbage or dried vegetables, and the fridge would STILL be places somewhere in the living or dining room!

Do you get that kind of odd appliance placement in VN??? Oh, and I plan to come to VN in summer!

[ajc19810]

Kind of funny really, when you rent a house you dont think to yourself 'I better check if there is a sink in the bathroom'. I realized the first time i went to brush my teeth and had no where to spit. Not having a sink is no problem, its just one of those little quirks which makes you laugh and then you get over it. My joint is really nice and tonnes better than places in saigon. Lots of places outside of saigon dont have things like that, but I wouldn't say its common. I recently rented a place for a friend and there wasnt a western toilet, the landlord simply just put one in that week before he moved in. A real benefit of cheap labor.

My landlord is really cool, I have bashed holes in the house in order to install washing machines and aircons, no problems. Another benefit of renting in Vietnam is that you can do things like that.

[thomas123]

ajc19810:

"Finding a good place in Saigon takes more effort than it might have done last year , but there are still really good deals around.

Forget searching for places on the net, those places arent for teacher salaries."

So where/how do you search for such great deals?

[ajc19810]

As I said in a previous post the best place I have found to look for a house has been in the Mua Ban paper. As I said in a previous post it can take a while to find what your after.

The reason it can take a while is quite simple (well not that simple). A lot of the places that are advertised in the paper are actually the details of that house but the contact details will lead you to a usually small and out of the way real estate agent who is in charge of that listing. In order to use that service one will often have to pay a small fee of about 50,000 and that will give you a complete list of houses with the actual oweners contact numbers which you can visit often without the realtor.

Furthermore the listings are not always updated as often as one might like so when you get the list, some of the houses might be off the market.

On top of that some landlords will not want to rent to a foreigner, not because they dont like foreigners but because they cant be bothered with the paper work which can differ from district to district.

Again, like many things it Vietnam it seems complicated but when you get a good deal and then compare it with what you pay in your home country its never as bad as it seems. I have been lucky in the past and found a house where I contacted the owner directly out of the paper, other times I have spent a few (too many) afternoons driving around the city looking at places till I found the one I was after.

What you will need; a few copies of the mua ban, pen and paper, good map, a vietnamese friend not afraid to bargain, a motorbike, spare afternoons and of course patience. If you dont have the patience then enjoy sleeping in a 5 x 5 room for your time in Nam.

The alternative is to have a large group of expat friends and word of mouth then becomes your realtor.

[Texas_blu]

Hey AJC,

Well stated! Couldn't have said it better if I'd done it myself!

Personally, I'm paying 6,500,000 VND for a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in Phu Nhuan District. Was previously in District 7 (next to District eight) and payed 1,500,000 VND for a similar but much smaller version of the same (almost) thing but the commute was 30 minutes or more to work. Now I'm 5 -10 minutes away. But also, I've got a wife and baby in tow.

BTW, aren't you in Phan Thiet now?