Korean Job Discussion Forums

[veejjang]

Hi guys, so I'm here in Seoul right now looking for work.

I have a few friends here, but I've noticed that living alone is way too isolating for me.

I have a friend who is looking to move into an apartment at the same time as me. What's the odds I can find a job that will pay our 5 mil key money?

Thanks~

[amoonbot]

Generally, for public schools, they will find you a place without paying any key money. The reason places allow this is because they trust schools not to bail out on paying rent. I'm not sure about hagwons. I know some hagwons find you a place and some just give you a housing allowance.

Anyways, if you end up finding a job through a hagwon or public school and they just give you a housing allowance, most likely, you'll have to find a place on your own. Most places require hefty security deposits and from what I've heard, these institutions will not fork up that money.

That being said, what you can do is go into a real estate agency and tell them that you are backed up by a school/educational institute. You need to reassure them that there is no way a large organization will back out on rent. There are tons of agencies that are willing to work with foreigners backed up by schools. Usually, they won't require a deposit and will negotiate the rent with you. Once you find such a place, you are required to pay a real estate fee, which is around 100-200,000 WON.

In regards to jobs other than the ESL field, I'm not really too sure how companies work in regards to housing. To my understanding, most of my friends in the corporate, non-esl field, had to either pay the key money or somehow negotiated with the real estate agency. Hope this helps.

[veejjang]

Thanks so much for the info! I didn't know that bit about a real estate agency, that helps out a lot. Is the rent usually higher when there's no key money, though?

Also, I'm currently looking at an after school position. THis is under the "accomodation" section of the sample contract.

9.1 The employer will provide the employee with a private apartment and the employer is
responsible for the deposit (5million) and monthly rental (400,000won).
9.1.2 The employee is directly responsible for the Realtor�s fee paid to the realtor.
9.1.5 If the employee chooses, the employer will pay 400,000 won per month in lieu of providing
accommodation.

[marsavalanche]

[Malislamusrex]

One thing you should be aware of, when you leave your house you still have to pay rent until a new tenant lives in your house.