Korean Job Discussion Forums

[clueless in Korea]

Hello Dave's ESLers,

I want to find a new apartment, but I'm hopeless when it comes to doing this on my own for reasons x, y, and z.

I recently came across a service here in Seoul that helps with this process: Your Ultimate Apartment. Has anyone used their services before? Are they helpful? Any feedback would be great.

As always, thanks for your help.

Sincerely,
Clueless

[optik404]

I don't know about that service but you'll probably pay out the ass if you use them.

All you really need is enough for the deposit and a Korean friend or some Korean fluency to find an apt.

[ttompatz]

and if you are a newbie in Korea then finding your own place is certainly NOT a good idea for at least a,b,c,d... x,y,z reaseons.

.

[yellowdove]

We used James Realty, based out of Gangnam... we did have to pay her realtor fee, but after doing some research it seems that it's normal for the renter to pay the fee... She was SUPER helpful, and did a lot of research for us.

[SeoulNate]

Really only need basic Korean to get the job done with most real estate agents. The only time you would need more is when signing a contract, have a friend help.

[Yaya]

[SeoulNate]

pretty much this ^^

It's not like house hunting back home, Korea has 4-5 different types of apartment in the typical teacher/professor salary range and another few types for families.

I've looked at probably 100-200 different apartments over the years and I can tell you that the vast majority of them look similar.

Pretty much you just go with the Budongsan to the apartments, look, if you like, sign, if not, say why and go to the next one.

[Aine1979]

There are a lot of real estate agents near us, so we just called into their offices. The ones who didn't speak English called a translation service when necessary, and in one instance, brought in the butcher from the shop next door to translate.

When you do go, make sure you know what you want, and what you can afford. We had a note written in Korean which we brought with us explaining how many bedrooms etc we wanted.

Once the real estate agent had that information, she would ask what key money and rent we were prepared to pay, search for properties which matched our requirements, and then show us their locations on a map. We then viewed the ones we were interested in.

It was all very straightforward, and we did the majority without having a Korean speaker with us, with the exception of having a friend check out the lease etc to make sure everything was above board.

We weren't charged any realtor fee, only key money and rent.

[schwa]

I've always been charged a realtor fee which was a fixed & reasonable percentage of the transaction.

[LPKSA]

Where in Korea are you looking?

It's been a while since I was in Korea (2004-2009). I learned that if you really want to find your own apartment, don't rely on agencies to find it for you. You will most likely be ripped off.

Look for it yourself. I went through 70 Budongsans before finally finding an apartment worth renting, in Sangsudong, near Hongdae, right on the Han (best two years of my life). Make sure that the apartment is insured though before renting it. Some real estate agents might be hesitant to rent to a foreigner, but there are also a lot who would gladly rent to you. You just have to hit the ground and look look look. Be prepared to be denied over and over again. Good luck.

[saram_]

Looking for a Jeonse place in Seoul at the moment is just a disaster..

Apartments are a no go. Minimum 200,000,000 Won..
That's for a small apartment too in a not great neighborhood.

Been looking for a Villa that we can Jeonse for about 150mill (including some bank help) but haven't had any luck yet.
It's all Wolse. Trying to get out of Wolse and into Jeonse but it's really difficult..
The cost of Jeonse has increased hugely over the past couple of years.

Any tips on this.. ? Where are the more affordable Villa type, officetel, 2 room places available in Seoul? Maybe they're aren't that many.
Working in central seoul so do not want to be too far out.

[LPKSA]

[Yaya]

[saram_]

Thanks for the suggestions
Found a nice enough place finally..
It's more than adequate we believe.
3 rooms- Spacious living room and ticked most of the boxes.

Its in Jungnang Gu in the North East part of Seoul.
About 30-40 mins door to door from there to work which is convenient.