Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PatrickSiheung]

ok, so my girlfriend and I are moving back to Korea next year. Probably Feb. Need a place to live. It's my impression that all apartments ask for quite a bit of key money At least 10 million won. Does anyone know of some livable apartments that don't demand so much for key money?

I need place for a year tops and I am hoping for something for no more than 5 mil for key money, and hopefully around 500,000 / month. Am I dreaming? LOL

Also if anyone knows of any alternatives to apartments for extended stays, I would love to hear about them

Thanks in advance!

[BTM]

I just went through this in the last couple of weeks, and though I begged for help here, nobody was really forthcoming, so here's the poop (some of which you probably already know), and I hope it helps you (and anyone else interested) :

There are three types of medium-to-long-term accommo, basically. In order of cost, they are

1) the ubiquitous apartment buildings (ah-part-uh, ie 'aparts')
2) low-rises (bee-luh, ie 'villas')
3) Western-style apartments, with shops and offices on the first couple of floors (opis-tel, ie 'officetels')

Unless you're seriously moneyed-up, you can pretty much forget about the first one, and possibly the second. Even way, way out in the 'burbs, you're looking at a deposit on the order of 70,000,000 or more for a one-bedroom, if you don't want to pay monthly rent. With 500,000 or so rent, you might get down to half that deposit, if you're lucky.

(There are two types of rent here, 'jun-seh' (ie key money) and 'wohl-seh' (ie monthly). Contracts are usually for a combination of both, although most landlords are leaning towards monthly rent these days, as the interest rates are low.)

We found some nice villas in Gangnam, but for no monthly, they were all asking over 100,000,000 key money. We found some places as far out as the area in the south between Anyang and Suwon in the southwest (and also looked near Bundang in the southeast) and prices were not that much lower. We also looked in the northwest, and in the central parts of Seoul, and all over Gangnam.

Keep in mind that in almost all cases, you will be made to sign a one-year lease, and that if you should want to leave, your deposit will not be returned until you find someone else to take over the place. If you have a big deposit, this can be scary indeed. Also keep in mind that you are supposed to check on your own if the owner of the place (even if you're doing this through a real estate agency) is the real owner, and not just a scam artist. You need to go to a local office of some kind for this (my wife did it). You are required to pay the agent around 200,000 after you sign up for a place, just for the pleasure of their (usually minimal) assistance.

All this said, there are officetels popping up everywhere, and they rock. They usually have built-ins (fridge, washing machine, air-con...) and western-style bathrooms. They are often smallish, but not always, and invariably new. Some have gyms and many have gardens on the roof. They are oriented towards young professionals, young couples, and the like. Basically like you'd expect of a modern high-rise in Vancouver or Sydney or wherever.

We eventually found one very near Songnae station - a really nice area out towards Incheon, with a Tesco's, Walmart, Carrefour, and all the usual fastfood suspects within walking distance, and lots of parks and public works - way way way better than the crappy Gunpo-shi area we used to live. The officetel is brand new (still getting the final construction touches), and although small (about 18 pyung), good enough for me and my wife.

It's a loft, which is way cool, and has 4 metre windows comprising one entire wall - bright and airy like you wouldn't believe! I love the place, to be honest. It could be bigger, but it's really nice.

We paid 5 million deposit, and are paying 450,000 per month. One minute from the subway station. If you want to walk 10 minutes further away (through parks and stuff, and closer to the Big Shopping Centres), you can pay considerably less for monthly rent for a comparable place.

Songae had the best prices for this sort of thing that we found, but we were in a hurry (contract and housing running out), and I'm certain that there are other new, fastgrowing areas that have similar deals.

Good luck, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me, or post them inthread, and I'll try to answer them.

[BTM]

If your Korean is up to snuff, here are some good places to start looking for 'oneroom' and 'tworoom' officetels.

http://www.oneroom.co.kr/
http://www.rentmall.net/
http://www.oneroom011.pe.kr/

[PatrickSiheung]

BTM, Thank you VERY much for your response. Exactly what I was hoping to hear Lots of great info there and I'm sure it will help me.
My girlfriend and I plan on checking out those apartments you mentioned.
I'll be sure you PM you in the future if I need any more help

Thanks again!!

[BTM]

No worries, Patrick. Good luck.

[Gord]

[The Lemon]

BTM- great post. Lots of details. sounds like a good place you have too. Does it have the garden-on-the-roof Gord has?

[Gord]

Roof, nothing! I've got one on the roof and right outside my window.



I also learned that the sauna a floor below me also has a full size swimming pool in addition to a bunch of other facilities I did not expect to find.

[BTM]

Cool, Gord, sounds good. Are you a beer afficionado, by any chance?

*prays*

[crazylemongirl]

I love my offictel apartment. I never want to go back to a villa.

CLG

[jazblanc77]

Could I suggest that this thread be made into an FAQ?

[Harpeau]

I'm wondering if people are aware of the housing close to Songsu Station, Hongki U. Station and Hapcheong Station. Are there places that are pretty good where you can lay down a nice jun-seh? My wife and I are thinking about 50-80 mil. 24-32 pyong. Is this one big fantasy, or might it be doable?

Also, KK mentioned that we should "...avoid small real-estate agents, and ones run by ederly people as they are most likely to be the crooks. If that is the case, where do we find an apart. or villa?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.[/b]