Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mariaanceney]

Hi, I'm new to Korea. I just got a job with Hankuk University and I'm trying to find housing on line 1 or the jungang line. Cragislist only has houses in Hongdae or Itaewon and I want to find something that doesn't require a transfer for the morning commute. Does anyone have any ideas? I would really appreciate any help on this.

Thanks!

[sojusucks]

I hope you understand that "line 1 or the jungang line" covers a great deal of territory. You may have to be more specific about potential locations if you want an answer that will be helpful.

[Milwaukiedave]

There are lots of one rooms in the area across from Hoegi Station. That would be one stop from the university (or a short bus ride). Get off at Hoegi and take exit 1, walk straight out to the main street and cross to the other side (the cross walk right next to the street where you come out). There are 10-15 new one room apartment buildings that have been built in the last few years, many that are sitting empty. I'm not sure about anything larger then that because you will have to pay a larger deposit. With a one room you might be able to find something for 10-15 million down and 400,000 a month. The rent is starting to go up in the area though.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=37.589139&lon=127.0599747&z=16&l=0&m=b

The area I'd look at is right below the yellow line (which is the major street which runs through that area) and west of Seoul Adventist Hospital.

[chrisjbrooks]

[Milwaukiedave]

No problem. Keep in mind the one rooms are going to probably be too small for both of you. I had originally geared my advice toward the OP who sounded like a single person. Given that one room is tiny, it is probably still enough for someone like that. I don't know if some of the new buildings have larger apartments or not (I just assume they are one rooms since they are in a university area). There are also a lot of older villas in the area as well that have bigger apartments, but as I said earlier the deposit on those are going to be higher. Probably for a two bedroom 20m deposit and 500-700,000 a month. The first step is finding a real estate agent and letting them know what your needs are. I wouldn't put it off long though since apartments will probably fill up closer to when the term starts in March.

[cdninkorea]

As there are two universities (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Kyunghee University) in that area (Hoegi station, whic is line 1 and the Jungang line), there are tons of one room studios, but few two room apartments.

I just found a two-room place in that area, but I had to go to 7 real estate agents to find something decent. Good luck.

[dongjak]

Yeah, I also wanted to move into a student area similar to Hankuk. But since I have two dogs and many houseguests, I was adamant about moving into a two bedroom villa. In the student area, I went to every single Real Estate Agent and there was nothing, plenty of one rooms but that was it. Which makes sense since they are geared toward student living. So I went one subway stop to the east (a 15 minute walk from what I originally wanted) and found many to choose from.

Good Luck! I really like the Hankuk Area, there are a ton of good restaurants to eat at! and I also had the best chinese food in Korea there!

[chrisjbrooks]

[chrisjbrooks]

[mariaanceney]

[nathanrutledge]

I'd avoid the Jungang line. It's not really a subway/metro line so much as it's a commuter line. The trains on that line are very infrequent.

Also, do some research into bus routes. Lots of places might take an hour by subway, but a fraction of that by bus.

[Milwaukiedave]

Nathan is right about the Jungang line being infrequent. I usually look up the schedule online before going to the station. The OP though will be taking Line 1 since their place of employment is close to there. Good advice about the bus. There is a bus map in English which is searchable. You can find it on the Seoul City website.

As someone else mentioned, you may have to try multiple real estate agents before finding a place. Some will be more helpful then others. If they aren't, then move on to the next one. The way I see it, they need to earn their money.

[Milwaukiedave]

[sallymonster]

[dongjak]

Line one is good if you live in Seoul because there are so many different trains (with different destinations) that run on subway line 1, that you rarely have to wait long for a train to arrive. Once you leave Seoul and are on subway line 1 in Gyeongi Do or Cheongchunnam Do, I have no idea how they run.