Korean Job Discussion Forums

Bloopity Bloop · Joined: 26 Apr 2009 Location: Seoul yo

So for the first time in my life (in Korea), I'll be lookin for my own place. Pretty excited, actually.

Right now I'm looking at HBC/Kyungridan or Hapjeong/Hongdae.

Any recommendations? I'll be working around Gangnam but I'm not too concerned about the commute.

Only thing is that my gym is in Daerim and I don't want to be anywhere prohibitively far from there.

daeguowl · Joined: 06 Aug 2009 Location: Seoul

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

I"m also currently house hunting. Quite frankly it's a pain in the ass, especially if you aren't looking for a plain old officetel or villa. Go to Naver, type in the name of the area you want to live in and put 부동산 after it. You will find approximately eight-hundred-million listings that will tell you nothing other than the general area, whether they are apartments or houses and how much they cost. If you want to actually see something, you have to call or visit their office. Don't expect actual "for sale" or "for rent" signs anywhere.

jfromtheway · Joined: 20 Nov 2010

I hope you're not taking my job Sad

. But I'd be wary of the line two commute from Hongdae to Gangnam. Ugh, I've done that a number of times and found it to be a miserable sardine can. I can't comment on your gym situation, but if I were you, and I had the key money, I would find a nice villa in Hannam. It's a great neighborhood, right by the river and a short, though uphill, walk to Itaewon. You should be able to find a couple of buses that will shoot you across the river into Gangnam fast. IMO, bus > subway, almost always. Due to figuring out bus combos, I've whittled down my getting to work commute from Itaewon to Gangnam to around 20-25 minutes, when I hit the buses perfectly. 30-35 minutes on a bad day. But coming home is a whole different story. Gangnam is a madhouse if you get off work at 6 pm. Consider the commute... I'm grateful I get off at five most days. And, again, I'd seriously consider finding a place in Hannam.

fustiancorduroy · Joined: 12 Jan 2007

jfromtheway · Joined: 20 Nov 2010

Fustian, I don't live there, but my ex-girlfriend did, and I spent a lot of time there. I thought it was a lot cleaner than most places I've seen in HBC or the bottom of the hill poor person parts of Kyungridan, and Itaewon, generally. I don't know about shopping but I've always thought it to be a pretty nice neighborhood. Western foodwise, definitely lacking if being compared to KRGD (I feel like a dick for trying to create that acronym), HBC, and Itaewon proper. It is expensive, there's an international school somewhere around there, a nice hospital, and I've heard it's a popular place for affluent westerners to reside. But if you have 5-10 million in key money, you can find a decent place somewhere inside there for 600k a month. The girl I referred to previously had a small but decent place and only paid 400k a month. I was in Hannam today because my quack is stationed there, and I see it as a nice, quaint area. If I did things over again, I would have looked for a place in Hannam. Fustian is likely more correct than myself, but if I were working in Gangnam and looking to live near a westernized area like Itaewon... I would definitely consider living in Hannam. Itaewon first, Kyungridan is nice, and HBC is the Canadian ghetto. Avoid.