Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itaewonguy]

ok put the key money aside and think what you are getting for the price you are paying...

1 million won a month will get you a 40-50pyung apartment in seoul!!

thats just 250bucks a week guys...

2 million a month will get you a 50 pyung apartment in a good area..

thats just 500 bucks week...

4 million a month.. would get you a fantastic house!!
thats just 1000 bucks a week..

seems like normal family houses back home in and around the city...

compare those prices to where you live...

because I will tell ya... in san fran, new york, london, sydney, wellington, rome, paris.. you will get CRAP for 250bucks a week, and a small old house for 500bucks a week...

you think tokyo is better?? no way...

if there was no key money... seoul would be seriously cheap!

an officetel for 700.000 a month.. when you think about it..
its bloody cheap!!Im trying to think what would I get back home for 175pw
wouldnt be much better...

how does seoul compare to your home town...

[Xuanzang]

A million won is more than 250 euros, let alone 250 US dollars.

[jkelly80]

For the most part, cheaper than Chicago. I have a friend who lives b/w Hongdae and Hapjeong who pays 550k/mo and when I told my co teachers they said it was 너무비싸. A comparable place in Chicago in one of the main party districts would run at least 7-800 dollars easy. I don't know about anywhere else though.

[Beej]

This is what I have been saying. I have a three bedroom villa with a seperate living room and kitchen, two balconies one ,on each side. Its a newish building, nice area and I pay 600,000 a month with 20 million down. 600,000 is currently about 450 dollars US or normally 600 US depending on exchange rate. No way I get my own place of any type let alone three rooms in San Francisco for 600 a month. Now in San Francisco you dont need 20 million to get into a place, but you do need first and last months rent, security and cleaning deposits, probably 5-6 thousand US dollars.

[blackjack]

[aka Dave]

Ten years ago, I paid 750 dollars a month for an apartment in Santa Barbara that was literally a closet. It was on State Street which was really the place to be, and it was in a real estate bubble, but that was really insane. Still, my brother lives in the bay area and my sister lives in La Jolla, even with the deflation the California real estate market is insane.

[T-J]

I've always considered the Korean rental system to be much more consumer friendly.

It enables you to move up much more easily than in the States.

You can pretty much upgrade your key money by million won every year.

5~10 years out and you are living rent free after you put a deposit down. Your deposit earns interest so it is not completely wasted money either.

It's a pretty sweet system.

[Beej]

[Unposter]

In Cleveland, where I am from, you can BUY a decent 2 bedroom apartment for $21,000. Of course, good luck finding a decent job, though the cost of living is much less than Seoul.

[T-J]

[madoka]

[Beej]

[VanIslander]

Most ESL teachers in Korea pay NO RENT so, yeah, that's pretty cheap.

[Thunndarr]

[crossmr]

Even considering the key money..which you get back.. the rent here is cheap. If you can afford the high cost of entry, once you're in it is MUCH cheaper than most cities in Canada. In Calgary I was paying $1000 a month for something around 25-30pyeong (standard 2 bedroom)
here you can get something like that at various prices depending on your ability to commit a large deposit. The bonus is you get it back and you can use it to buy a house later, where in north america you're paying through the nose constantly and get nothing back when you move.
Its got a lower barrier to entry so you can get a place for a song..but here you can move to goshiwons, etc if you can't swing the big deposit to get yourself started.