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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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 Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2015 5:52 am Post subject: |
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Kids are doing well here in Canada but we supplement their education with some private courses and programs.
Had we stayed in Korea, I suspect it would also have resulted in us applying our own educational approach as parents when choices came! |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2015 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| PRagic wrote: |
| Actually, 10 million down and a million to 1.5 a month isn't bad. If you can get a decent 3 bedroom in the Twon for that still, it's better than you can get in other central locations by a long shot. |
If you put down 50 or 60 million won, what kind of apartment with what kind of rent would that get you in Seoul? Just curious.
I always assumed the more you put down, the cheaper your monthly rent is? |
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Lazio
Joined: 15 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2015 1:05 am Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
If you put down 50 or 60 million won, what kind of apartment with what kind of rent would that get you in Seoul? Just curious.
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If one pig eats one bucket of corn in one day, how much corn would 5 pigs eat in how many days? |
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Fallacy
Joined: 29 Jun 2015
Location: ex-ROK
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| Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2015 6:01 am Post subject: |
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| If one has (not) enough money, or nothing (something) better to do, then one will stay forever ... or leave immediately. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| SHGator428 wrote: |
| Yaya wrote: |
| Funny thing is, I really haven't heard of English teachers in Korea all flocking toward the new Promised Land of ESL, China. I wonder why. |
You are trolling, right?
Based on this post and the one here below, you almost have to be.
At least half of the people I've met here that are ESL teachers during my 5 years were there before. 100% of them say they wish that they'd come here first. |
No, I couldn't troll if I tried. Anyway, the market in Korea is drying up fast, with many longtimers leaving the country and newbies finding it very hard to find even a hakwon gig.
A few posters have written about how China is more lucrative for teachers, with one who learned Chinese earning a very pretty penny. They say you don't have to live in the polluted areas and such, as a small-size Chinese city probably still would be a megacity in most countries. I also remember other posters who said when they worked in Korea, they had few, if any, Korean friends, just coworkers and acquaintances but that in China, they had "cool friends" and the like. |
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motiontodismiss
Joined: 18 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| PRagic wrote: |
| Actually, 10 million down and a million to 1.5 a month isn't bad. If you can get a decent 3 bedroom in the Twon for that still, it's better than you can get in other central locations by a long shot. |
If you put down 50 or 60 million won, what kind of apartment with what kind of rent would that get you in Seoul? Just curious.
I always assumed the more you put down, the cheaper your monthly rent is? |
In Seoul, that kind of down payment (30%) would get you a 300 square foot, "one-bedroom"(actually a studio) apartment that is structurally unsound in a terrible area. Not only do you get to deal with low water pressure, a complete lack of insulation, cockroaches, parking problems, and others of that nature, you might one day come home to find your apartment reduced to a pile of rubble.
Outside of Seoul, you'll do a little better.....at least you're not in danger of the roof caving in. |
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Sister Ray
Joined: 25 Mar 2006
Location: Fukuoka
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| Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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| motiontodismiss wrote: |
In Seoul, that kind of down payment (30%) would get you a 300 square foot, "one-bedroom"(actually a studio) apartment that is structurally unsound in a terrible area. Not only do you get to deal with low water pressure, a complete lack of insulation, cockroaches, parking problems, and others of that nature, you might one day come home to find your apartment reduced to a pile of rubble.
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Are you sure?
I was living in an officetel in Anguk in 2012/13. About 40m2. 10,000,000 down and 650,000 per month. It was nice. Entirely structurally sound. No cockroaches. Equidistant between Anguk and Jongno3 stations.
If this is your experience, it sounds like you got totally shafted by your real estate agent.  |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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Problem with officitels is the maintenance fees. They can get insane, well over 100K a month.
Depending on where you want to live in the Twon, you can probably get a 3 bedroom or larger 2 bedroom still for 10-20 million down and 1.2-1.5 a month. But don't be surprised if 1) it's up a freakin hill, and 2) the state its in isn't too impressive (read: old).
If you don't mind being a bit further away from the subway (e.g. Noksapyoung) you might be able to still get a decent place for that ballpark. Don't know as my buddies moved out more than a few years ago and that's what they were paying then. Other posters may have more insight.
I know that a couple of buddies shopped around the Hongdae/Hapjeong area a few years back and couldn't find anything decent for 10 or 20 million down plus 1.2-1.5 in rent. Might get you a one room or a not-so-nice two room. Maybe. Now? Imagine that everything's gone up. |
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motiontodismiss
Joined: 18 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 5:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Sister Ray wrote: |
| motiontodismiss wrote: |
In Seoul, that kind of down payment (30%) would get you a 300 square foot, "one-bedroom"(actually a studio) apartment that is structurally unsound in a terrible area. Not only do you get to deal with low water pressure, a complete lack of insulation, cockroaches, parking problems, and others of that nature, you might one day come home to find your apartment reduced to a pile of rubble.
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Are you sure?
I was living in an officetel in Anguk in 2012/13. About 40m2. 10,000,000 down and 650,000 per month. It was nice. Entirely structurally sound. No cockroaches. Equidistant between Anguk and Jongno3 stations.
If this is your experience, it sounds like you got totally shafted by your real estate agent. |
I was talking about buying or jeonse, but yeah, if you can afford to pay out 650k a month on rent, have a social life, and accumulate significant savings, all on an ESL teacher's salary, I guess so.
And IMHO Anguk's a terrible area to live in. Too many people. Great place to hang out, terrible area to actually reside in. |
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Sister Ray
Joined: 25 Mar 2006
Location: Fukuoka
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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| motiontodismiss wrote: |
And IMHO Anguk's a terrible area to live in. Too many people. Great place to hang out, terrible area to actually reside in. |
Fair enough. Personally, I loved living in Anguk. Best place I lived in Korea, handily beating my former preference of Yeoksam. The many people didn't bother me at all - that's Seoul. Traffic noise was my main complaint - specifically over zealous use of car horns.
Also, 650k strikes me as pretty cheap rent. That would get you nothing, nowhere in my hometown. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 5:09 am Post subject: |
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Heard about Vietnam too Yaya.
We were discussing it with a couple we hang out with here. We have no intention of moving for now but they want to work abroad. Vietnam as a TEFL destination came up and they seemed interested.
They hesitated because they did not know if they could live well with their kids there in terms of revenue, access to education, health care and so on.
I am completely unfamiliar with the Vietnam teaching market but it got me wondering...if you have more info on this, please do share! |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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I haven't gone into much about Vietnam, but well, you basically need just 600 bucks a month in Nha Trang to live as a couple, and 1,000 bucks a month buys a much more grand lifestyle. I've heard that Nha Trang is getting worse mainly cuz of the influx of Russians there (the locals tell me Russians are FAR worse than Koreans). Unfortunately, Nha Trang has insufficient medical facilities and so the better bet would be HCMC (Ho Chi Minh City).
I met a Chinese-Canadian guy in Nha Trang who recently moved back to Canada after 12 years in the Vietnamese beach city. He loved it there but the Russian influx jacked up the rent on his bar and grill so he had to close his biz.
At any rate, Vietnamese don't make much money per year but they're willing to pay 15-20 bucks to native English speakers. I hear Hanoi is rather dull and boring so HCMC is a nice place to be. I met teachers in Nha Trang but they had to hustle for jobs and such (and many never did college but got jobs). |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:44 pm Post subject: |
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Vietnam gives a mixed bag of impressions and opinions. Wouldn't consider working there, and wouldn't personally even put it in the top 3 for SE Asian vacation destinations, but some people really take to it. Different strokes and all that.
For retirement in SE Asia it's tough to beat Thailand when it comes to accommodations, insurance and care options. Pick your spot. Still pretty cheap, though not as cheap as those prices quoted for Nha Trang. But I'm talking about retirement, not about getting by on a 600-1000 a month budget as an ESL teacher. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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| PRagic wrote: |
Vietnam gives a mixed bag of impressions and opinions. Wouldn't consider working there, and wouldn't personally even put it in the top 3 for SE Asian vacation destinations, but some people really take to it. Different strokes and all that.
For retirement in SE Asia it's tough to beat Thailand when it comes to accommodations, insurance and care options. Pick your spot. Still pretty cheap, though not as cheap as those prices quoted for Nha Trang. But I'm talking about retirement, not about getting by on a 600-1000 a month budget as an ESL teacher. |
Thailand is more expensive than Nam, but the former's quality of medical services is a huge plus. I remember reading about a comparison of Nha Trang and Hua Hin (http://www.huahintoday.com/local_news/best-place-retire-southeast-asia/), and the latter won because the former has no major hospital and you'd be screwed if you got into a major accident and such in Nha Trang. I remember when in Nha Trang, I heard about a guy who was hit by a car and they had to airlift him to a hospital because Nha Trang's wasn't sufficient.
And well, 600 to 1,000 dollars a month in Nam would be FAR MORE than just getting by. I heard of one guy who was making around 4,000 dollars a month in HCMC and putting away like 3,500 of it. Could be urban legend but the Vietnamese hunger for English is strong. |
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