Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iggyb]

What is housing like in Seoul for people who get a monthly allowance?

I need specifics, please.

The school I'm looking at will give 500,000 a month - which I've heard is pretty good - but either no key money or you have to talk them into key money --- they don't mention it in the contract.

What are housing options?

My wife (Korean) is pushing the SMOE job hard because it has housing provide and I won't have to hunt a place to live or make arrangements for a temp place while I'm trying to find housing.

I also have the contract in with SMOE and have been waiting for the Visa info to process...

...The other job is much better in pay but has a housing allowance..

....and frankly.....since I'm seeing a lot of people freaking out about not having gotten the Visa processing info from SMOE and that SMOE has severely overbooked this year ---- I'm starting to worry about not having the Visa yet myself with SMOE ---- whether I'll get an email telling me the Visa info or telling me I've been dropped...

....If I had more information about common examples of people using the housing allowance in Seoul to pay for their housing, it would help me decide and help convince my wife...

Thanks...

[Theo]

iggyb, I could use a bit more information from you, but I'll try to offer some useful comments nevertheless.

I worked in Seoul this time one year ago for an adult hagwon. NO housing was provided for us -- we had to arrrange housing on our own, ugh!

However, the employer would post key money up to 10 million won, if needed, and for most of us, it was. Also, 10 million seemed to be the standard key money demand (at least for expats) in Seoul at the time, sometimes a little less.

During the final month I worked for the company, they finally provided a housing allowance of 200,000 won per month, which was a joke, as most FTs there were paying 700,000-900,000 a month for a tiny-medium size place.

Because I hated the employer and the job, and didn't want to invest the money in full furnishings (bed, refrigerator, TV, everything) I lived in a decent gosiwon (are you familiar with gosiwons?). But even the gosiwon cost me 300,000 per month.

The 500,000 won allowance is good, but posting your own key money is obviously quite expensive. 500,000 will likely cover only about 50% of your housing expenses (including utilities) in Seoul.

[iggyb]

Thanks.

I am only slightly familiar with the alternative style housing in Korea because when I worked there before for 4 years, I always had an officetel or larger, shared apartment provided.

My wife and I aren't thrilled with the idea of paying key money. We could technically do it, but we could not afford to run the risk of losing it or a substantial portion of it, and I know that is possible with foreigners living in Korea.

What I'm thinking now is that I'd use the monthly allowance to stay at pretty much any place the money would cover and build up key money through savings. I've ask the school to provide some key money but have to wait for their reply.

I am probably significantly more flexible in terms of conditions than many are who come to Dave's. I lived in some not-too-great places working for hakwons but felt fine because I wasn't paying for it.

I've been checking on this some and have seen officetels with key money as low as 3 million and maybe a little above 500,000 a month. I could probably swing that within a couple of months after arriving...

Anybody else with examples and advice - I'd greatly appreciate hearing from you...

[nyla54]

[Sody]

You need key money trust me. Especially in Gangnam, but I have no idea where you will be.

Also keep in mind that SMOE housing does NOT allow you to share your housing with your spouse. Regardless of whether or not she is Korean.

I had a friend who was in those dorm like SMOE housing units and he tried to move in his Korean GF and they kicked him out! The school was pretty angry about it but there was nothing they could do. He had to stay in a hotel for six days until they got him a new place.

[iggyb]

This is for a university job, and they do not offer a housing option - just monthly stipend.

It probably won't matter now, because in looking over the job ad again, something I should have caught from the start jumped out at me, and I'll likely cancel the application.

Thanks for the help though

[Carla]

[iggyb]

Well, 3 things -- 2 of which should have screamed out the first time I looked at the ad - which would have made me notice the third as well:

The ad said nothing about airfare or 12-month contract completion bonus. I guess I just took it for granted that would be in the contract because it is so standard in contracts for full-time employment in the ESL industry.

The 3rd was the part of a sentence that read, "This position is a full-time, biannually renewable contract..." Given the fact they don't mention the 12-month bonus, it should have been obvious from the start that the school was trying to skirt Labor Law by hiring people for 6 months at a time instead of 12.

This is the kind of stuff that started happening a lot around 1997-98 the last time the Korean economy tanked. You started seeing hakwons trying to sign people to 11 month contracts and so on.

I was surprised to see it being tried nowadays and by a known university. I haven't been reading Dave's for many years, so maybe this stuff has still been going on all along, but I imagined such sites like Dave's had wised up the TESOLers pool to the point the better institutions wouldn't think to try to do it...

[Carla]

[pkang0202]

For you and your wife, 10 mil deposit will get you a 2 room place. The monthly rent will be anywhere from 700,000-1 mil depending on the location and size.

I have a 2 room in Gangnam, and its 800,000w a month. Top it off, it came with nothing. Not even a damn stove, so I had to buy all the furniture. Everything from the Air conditioner, to the bedside lamp.


The housing allowance helps a lot, but I still have to pay a lot out of pocket.

If you get the housing through SMOE, you will get a 1 room apartment. It will may not be big enough for 2 people. If it has a big veranda, then its doable because you can use it for storage and to dry clothes. I'd say 40% of my current apartment is used for wardrobe closets, clothes racks to dry, suitcases, and random crap that would easily have gone into a big veranda if I had one.

[iggyb]

Thanks.

I got used to the housing hakwons provide. I'm not picky concerning it.

Actually, my wife (Korean) will remain in the US for the first year. She'll come visit twice - once now - once in the spring. I'll be spending a fair number of weekends with her mother in another city.

It didn't make economic sense for her to give up her job in the US at this time. We're saving up to begin having children in 2 or 3 years.