Korean Job Discussion Forums

Cymro · Joined: 11 Jun 2004

I'm renting a bright spare bedroom in my new place close to Edae station and a ten-minute walk to Sinchon.

We'd share the living room/kitchen and bathroom, as well as all the utility bills.

I've just moved in and am getting the place sorted, so no photos just yet, but you're welcome to come over and see the place.

I'm a British guy in my twenties and teach at a university here.

Email [email protected] to arrange a viewing time.

rooster_2006 · Joined: 14 Oct 2007

sunnyvale · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Location: Korea

Unless it's a massive room in a penthouse that is waayyyy too much to ask.

rooster_2006 · Joined: 14 Oct 2007

CrikeyKorea · Joined: 01 Jun 2007 Location: Heogi, Seoul

sorry to hijack the OP's thread but rooster'06 can u PM me the details of ur old accommodation in sinchon with the meals etc that you were talking about, thanks.

Phlex · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Location: Seoul

rooster_2006 · Joined: 14 Oct 2007

To all the people asking me if I can give them leads on cheap rooms, sorry, all I can do is to say "look around Ewha and Yonsei, especially Ewha." I don't have any of their numbers anymore, since I'm living with a friend who only charges me 90,000 won a month (and even that I have to force on her, she's fine giving me a room for free). Almost all the places have their phone numbers posted out front so you can call right from the front entrance around dinnertime when everyone's home (which will also allow you to see what kind of food is provided and whether it's buffet-style or family dining room table style [I prefer the former]). The places I stayed were cheap, but they came with landlord problems (one who refused to fix the internet and one who constantly complained about resource usage). So that's the caveat -- if you get a cheap place (330,000 won a month or less, I'd say), expect the landlord to either be a deadbeat or a penny-pincher. The latter is worse because they bother you. The former isn't much better, because if a utility goes down (like internet or hot water), they'll often do nothing to fix it.

This is not to say that you need to pay a lofty sum of 400,000 won a month with NO MEALS and IN SOMEONE ELSE'S HOME to get a room to sleep in. That's crazy. Seriously, go into five hasukjips/goshiwons, and I pretty much guarantee that within the first five you visit you'll find a better deal than this, even with your foreigner face. Let me put it this way -- my friend rents a two-bedroom apartment in Hyehwa for 450,000 won a month (though there is a relatively minor security deposit).

Just speak Korean (or bring a Korean-speaking friend) and be polite. I don't have a single drop of Korean (or any other kind of Asian) blood in me. I just called the numbers on the front of a bunch of places and had the landladies come down.