Job Discussion Forums

[Trinley]

I notice a lot of jobs in Shanghai don't offer housing, unlike most other China jobs. They often mention "assistance finding an apartment". In your experiences, has it worked out okay arriving and apartment hunting in Shanghai? Or does it turn out to be a hassle, making it worthwhile to take a lower-paying job that provides housing?

I'm thinking in terms of not only finding a place but potentially having to pay deposits, deal with language barrier with the landlord, furnish the place, etc.

[askiptochina]

I don't think any of the problems you mentioned are worth worrying about. You're going to have to communicate some way. You will go to banks, you will go to stores, you will be surrounded by Chinese speakers. This language barrier is not going to go away because your school gets you an apartment.

What you do instead is go with a Chinese friend and take notes. Know what they are saying. Ask them after it is all said and done what went on so you can become educated. If you just rely on your employer to get you an apartment, you are missing out on the opportunity to learn how to do it yourself if the time ever comes where you need to leave the school. They will definitely not help you at that point.

The reason why they don't want to pay is that you have to front 3-6 months usually with a security deposit (called "yajin") to the landlord. You end up paying 4-7 months. The school simply doesn't want to gamble that you will stay, especially with Shanghai rent rates.

I suggest you look for rooms to rent initially. In Beijing, I got a very nice apartment in April and shared it with a Chinese guy who rented a room out to me and another room to an Australian. You can then visit different apartments and decide where you want to live. In my case, I simply got a new school, but before Beijing I shopped around at about 6 different places before I decided on one.

I ended up getting the closest one to the school, which paid off because after I quit, my school asked me to move out to let the new teacher replacing me move in. I got the security deposit and a couple months rent back that I would have lost if I had picked an apartment further out.

[Trinley]

True that the language barrier with the landlord could be gotten around, but I would still be concerned with deposits and furniture. I probably wouldn't be prepared for those upfront costs on arrival in China.

[dean_a_jones]

There is a fair bit of information regarding the ins and outs of renting in Shanghai.

http://www.echinacities.com/shanghai/city-life/how-to-find-an-apartment-in-shanghai_1.html

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/phpbbforum/housing-questions-looking-for-insights-t130797.html

Those are just a few (and I am not vouching for their veracity). I would not expect much more help from the school than someone providing you with a list, but speak to other teachers working at the school (you will want to do this anyway) and they will be able to confirm how much help they received (or be willing to assist you/might know of somewhere). You might get a very helpful FAO, just don't assume.

I wouldn't turn your nose up at the free apartment/lower salary offer (you need to view this as a salary package) but you might be happier in control of where you are living if the higher salary can cover something decent (and you have the savings for things like deposits when you arrive).

Just make sure you go over any contracts very carefully, both for what is in and what is missing--landlords are complete *beep* most of the time back home (at least where I am from) so would not be expecting too much kindness and understanding over here.