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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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 Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:03 pm Post subject: Some apartments have gotten cheaper, if you look hard |
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My wife and I looked around yesterday, after a 2 month break. We'd found the general area of the city we wanted (near Gunja station). We were looking for Wolse (down money) of around 40,000,000 plus rent of around 900,000 won.
A few months back, we could find some 32 pyung places at 40,000,000 and 1,000,000, and 50,000,000 and 1,000,000. After scouring a few real estate offices in the same area, we were disgusted to see that we were finding less available than 2 months ago.
We did get lucky, however. We landed a 40 pyung place for 40,000,000 down and 800,000 per month.
The good:
It was built four years ago, so it's newer. The owner's daughter lived there and they have spent a good chunk on nice wallpaper with different patterns in each room -- NOT white. There are new appliances (new oven), and flooring. We'll have two bathrooms, and two perfect-sized balconies for this kind of place (not massive space-wasters) which is great.
The bad (and why it's cheaper):
It's an 11 minute walk to the subway (or 3-4 min bus ride from out back). We're in the Jangandong area, and area notorious for prostitution and the recent major crackdowns putting pimps out of business. Luckily, we're nestled between two other large apartment complexes and near some schools, so we're not smack dab in the middle of the motels in the area. No doubt that's why we got such a large place for the price of a newer 25-30 pyung place elsewhere.
One thing you learn is that some real estate people are:
a. Liars
b. Lazy
c. Sometimes fronts for other illegal things (we saw one obvious case of this)
d., one who works his/her butt off calling all over the place to find you something.
You can literally find a corner on a street that has 4 real estate agents within spitting distance of an apartment complex or villa area you want to live in. Three of them will tell you, "no... nothing here at all." The fourth guy will possibly have something or know someone who does. It pays to ask around.
They're like English teacher job recruiters. They'll smile at you and tell you "nothing here" when the truth is that they don't have something for you, but they want to put you in something else. |
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Chamchiman
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Location: Digging the Grave
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:24 pm Post subject: Re: Some apartments have gotten cheaper, if you look hard |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
| We did get lucky, however. We landed a 40 pyung place for 40,000,000 down and 800,000 per month. |
Congratulations on (finally) finding a place. Sounds like you were looking for a long time.
| bassexpander wrote: |
One thing you learn is that some real estate people are:
a. Liars
b. Lazy
c. Sometimes fronts for other illegal things (we saw one obvious case of this)
d., one who works his/her butt off calling all over the place to find you something.
You can literally find a corner on a street that has 4 real estate agents within spitting distance of an apartment complex or villa area you want to live in. Three of them will tell you, "no... nothing here at all." The fourth guy will possibly have something or know someone who does. It pays to ask around.
They're like English teacher job recruiters. They'll smile at you and tell you "nothing here" when the truth is that they don't have something for you, but they want to put you in something else. |
The recruiter analogy is an interesting one. I'll be needing a real estate agent in the next little while - would you recommend asking a friend which real estate agent they used (just as you might ask your buddy which recruiter he used)? They all have access to the same listings after all... don't they? Or do I just have to hit the bricks and ask around like you did? |
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mheartley
Joined: 18 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:35 pm Post subject: Re: Some apartments have gotten cheaper, if you look hard |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
One thing you learn is that some real estate people are:
a. Liars
b. Lazy
c. Sometimes fronts for other illegal things (we saw one obvious case of this)
d., one who works his/her butt off calling all over the place to find you something. |
Yeah with 98% falling into the first 3 categories. They're a bunch of crooks, the world over. Lying and dishonesty is such a central part of the way they do business. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: Re: Some apartments have gotten cheaper, if you look hard |
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| Chamchiman wrote: |
| bassexpander wrote: |
| We did get lucky, however. We landed a 40 pyung place for 40,000,000 down and 800,000 per month. |
Congratulations on (finally) finding a place. Sounds like you were looking for a long time.
| bassexpander wrote: |
One thing you learn is that some real estate people are:
a. Liars
b. Lazy
c. Sometimes fronts for other illegal things (we saw one obvious case of this)
d., one who works his/her butt off calling all over the place to find you something.
You can literally find a corner on a street that has 4 real estate agents within spitting distance of an apartment complex or villa area you want to live in. Three of them will tell you, "no... nothing here at all." The fourth guy will possibly have something or know someone who does. It pays to ask around.
They're like English teacher job recruiters. They'll smile at you and tell you "nothing here" when the truth is that they don't have something for you, but they want to put you in something else. |
The recruiter analogy is an interesting one. I'll be needing a real estate agent in the next little while - would you recommend asking a friend which real estate agent they used (just as you might ask your buddy which recruiter he used)? They all have access to the same listings after all... don't they? Or do I just have to hit the bricks and ask around like you did? |
Definitely hit the bricks and ask around!
One guy will tell you the apartment complex across the street has nothing, and the other guy will have one or two apartments in there that are for rent. It all depends on who the person owning the place went to to list his/her apartment.
Realtors share information and call around, but they split the fees if another realtor gets involved. If the realtor that has a listing on a place thinks they'll be able to easily rent it out soon without a tip from another realtor, they may opt to lie and say that they don't know of any apartments for rent. They'd rather lie, rent out the place by themselves later, and keep the full fee to themselves.
Don't bother asking a friend for a realtor -- you'll feel obligated. That puts you at a disadvantage, and severely limits the number of places you may find. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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Well, just learned that the family is pulling out of the deal.
Seems they now don't want to offer Wolsae, but will think about it for a week. In other words, they probably want to hold out and see if they can get a higher offer. The thing is, we agree to what they asked.
We're writing them off, and will keep looking.
Typical Korean bullshit. Try to change the deal. |
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SHANE02
Joined: 04 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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| interesting. I thought right now most landlords wanted wolsae. Good luck, you'll find something. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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Who knows.
Apparently, the daughter didn't know that the parents were going to do Wolsae or something. I believe my wife said the daughter wants Joensae.
Maybe they want a big chunk of cash to put down on their next house, or to invest.
Or maybe they found out I'm a waygook, and lost interest.
We'll probably never know. |
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Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:37 pm Post subject: |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
Who knows.
Apparently, the daughter didn't know that the parents were going to do Wolsae or something. I believe my wife said the daughter wants Joensae.
Maybe they want a big chunk of cash to put down on their next house, or to invest.
Or maybe they found out I'm a waygook, and lost interest.
We'll probably never know. |
You should have immediately paid a deposit upon agreeing. If you'd done that they wouldn't be messing around, they would feel obligated. Also, if you don't pay a deposit right away someone may gazump you and offer another 10,000won a month or offer to move in a couple of days earlier so the landlord gets the money sooner.
If you find a place you like I suggest paying a deposit and signing a contract immediately.. don't mess around or say you'll come back in a week or something. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Hyeon Een wrote: |
You should have immediately paid a deposit upon agreeing. If you'd done that they wouldn't be messing around, they would feel obligated. Also, if you don't pay a deposit right away someone may gazump you and offer another 10,000won a month or offer to move in a couple of days earlier so the landlord gets the money sooner.
If you find a place you like I suggest paying a deposit and signing a contract immediately.. don't mess around or say you'll come back in a week or something. |
We saw the place last night. Today was the first chance we could get to meet with them. There was no earlier time. We weren't about to blindly send someone over 4 million won last night -- I assure you. As it were, they were unable to meet us last night anyway. |
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