Can anyone give me some prices for apartments here? We would like 2 bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area. Of course it would be nice if it was in a safe area too 
Also what are the differences in non furnished and fully furnished? Which is the norm for here? Currently we are residing in germany and the apartments here dont come with anything.
I canât speak for the whole city but the apartments in Holland Village on Wuling Road are very good and is a very safe place to live. Itâs very central and close to the city centre. The price pretty much depends on the real estate agent you deal with but most of them come out at about NT$33,000 a month. Most are furnished already (ourâs was) but again, it depends on what the real estate agent has to offer.
Iâd recommend living in a hotel for a few weeks and shop around when youâre already here.
Depends if you want to live downtown Hsinchu or near the Science Park (closer to work for people that work there).
Norm in Hsinchu is unfurnished. Only dormitories from companys come furnished and those are small. If you want something easy as foreigner I suggest you live in one of those block buildings (as I do) with some building security and central garbage collection (you donât have to run out every saturday morning to drop your garbage into a truck that passes by, and another truck that passes by for other trash).
I live directly next to the Science Park and I pay 15000 for 65m2 (unfurnished, 3 rooms, kitchen, bathroom) with building security, garbage collection area and a reserved parking for my scooter in the basement. Its very clean. Furniture is not high quality here as you would have seen it in Germany, but it comes cheap and within a few months you have your own stuff easily (there is Homebox and B&Q in Hsinchu for that). There are billboards around the area and in the basement area of those buildings that are listing appartments so you wonât need an agent.
Downtown you can find something similiar for a little cheaper and there are some nice rental agencys (donât go to Century21 as they rip off).
Some apartments are REALLY ugly. Another advantage of those higher buildings is that you have an elevator⌠oh, yes, earthquakes are rare here.
And deposit is usually 2 months.
[quote=âlady_skywalkerâ]
I canât speak for the whole city but the apartments in Holland Village on Wuling Road are very good and is a very safe place to live. Itâs very central and close to the city centre. The price pretty much depends on the real estate agent you deal with but most of them come out at about NT$33,000 a month. Most are furnished already (ourâs was) but again, it depends on what the real estate agent has to offer.
Iâd recommend living in a hotel for a few weeks and shop around when youâre already here.[/quote]
33000? Sounds like a real rip off, or your place is 120m2 
[quote=âengerimâ][quote=âlady_skywalkerâ]
I canât speak for the whole city but the apartments in Holland Village on Wuling Road are very good and is a very safe place to live. Itâs very central and close to the city centre. The price pretty much depends on the real estate agent you deal with but most of them come out at about NT$33,000 a month. Most are furnished already (ourâs was) but again, it depends on what the real estate agent has to offer.
Iâd recommend living in a hotel for a few weeks and shop around when youâre already here.[/quote]
33000? Sounds like a real rip off, or your place is 120m2 [/quote]
We donât pay for it so we donât care.
Thanks thatâs helpfulâŚan aquaintance had told us a nice apartment would go for about 30000. Thatâs more than we pay here in germany (our apartment is rather large also) so I just wanted to get some idea of how big a place for that cost would be and any inclusions the building itself might have. I had seen some listings in taipei for apartments around the 25000 mark and the building had a lot of extras like an exercise room, garbage collection, etc. Didnt know if it would be the same here.
You are wrong. Normally such high figures would be only told you by a Taiwanese woman (who have this thing with numbers so I guess thats your aquintance). I had an appartment in the center of Paris, 2 minutes from Notre Dame, 40m2 for 950 euro a month. You have really never been in Taiwan if you believe its the same here. For 15000 - 17000 you get a very decent place (thats half of what you estimate now) and its 60-70m2 tops. The rental agencys will show you some videos when you visit them, Hsinchu is after all a small city and not Taipei. And where the heck in Germany do you live, and what is rather large? 
1 USD = 32 TWD
30000 TWD = 937 USD
Ok? Its insane, or are you up for 150m2?! 30K is more than the average salary here. Remember this is a third world country in many ways, and nothing compared to the banks of the Seine.
You are wrong. Normally such high figures would be only told you by a Taiwanese woman (who have this thing with numbers so I guess thats your aquintance). I had an appartment in the center of Paris, 2 minutes from Notre Dame, 40m2 for 950 euro a month. You have really never been in Taiwan if you believe its the same here. For 15000 - 17000 you get a very decent place (thats half of what you estimate now) and its 60-70m2 tops. The rental agencys will show you some videos when you visit them, Hsinchu (Xinzhu) is after all a small city and not Taipei. And where the heck in Germany do you live, and what is rather large?
1 USD = 32 TWD
30000 TWD = 937 USD
Ok? Its insane, or are you up for 150m2?! 30K is more than the average salary here. Remember this is a third world country in many ways, and nothing compared to the banks of the Seine.[/quote]
Actually our aquaintance is a male german from the same company as my fiance. Our apartment here is 84m2 so I am guessing from the price the man gave us (He did say it would be very nice) that it would be bigger than our apartment here. We do want a place thats at least as big as the one we have now. And no we havent been to taiwan. Thatâs why I am on here getting everyones opinion. 
Hi Germany
I work in Hsinchu and live in Jubei . It depends on who is paying. Jubie is cleaner and there are many new buildings. Often the apartments in these high rise buildings are income properties of individuals,so rent amount is well known among all the owners. Furnishing in my case was all new including appliances after some negotiating to get rid of old small refrig. and very old drier. So rent is higher. âIâ pay 40KNT$ but I am sure 30K to 35KNT$ is possible.
My place is three bedrooms and there are all the facilties of a high rise, exercise room, poolâŚ
The disadvantage compared to Hsinchu is everything is not just outside your front door. But everything is within 2km. So I bike or walk for food, shopping⌠The other disadvantage is the Jubei train station is a local station whereas Hsinchu is a main stop for the faster train to Taipei. 110 minutes ride vs 70 minutes ride.
I am sure no one here can guess what your expectations are. I know from experience , âOldâ in Europe meaning more than 50 years can be very nice. Here more than 5 years and it is often beat up pretty bad due to low quality . My bathrooms are still spotless as well is my kitchen. and I have no mold . I am not sure even industrial cleaners would have had much affect on some of the places I looked at in Hisnchu where families had lived for say five years before buying a better place and using this one for income. And I am a guy and I like clean. Imagine a woman who is really looking at this as a home.
I would not rent based upon video or brochure you really have to see for yourself. The Taiwanese brochures are fantastic for showing dwellings as though they are surrounded by open spaces with trout fed streams and happy children frolicking in the green manicured park just outside the door.
[quote=âmikehsâ]Hi Germany
I work in Hsinchu (Xinzhu) and live in Jubei . It depends on who is paying. Jubie is cleaner and there are many new buildings. Often the apartments in these high rise buildings are income properties of individuals,so rent amount is well known among all the owners. Furnishing in my case was all new including appliances after some negotiating to get rid of old small refrig. and very old drier. So rent is higher. âIâ pay 40KNT$ but I am sure 30K to 35KNT$ is possible.[/quote]
For what size? Should be around 80-90m2 right? I donât get it what this unmarried, - no children - couple need such a huge space for, but they seem to want it. Must be american âthink bigâ style.
I go to the UMC Recreation Center in the Science Park for swimming. Its under a roof, big and quite convinient if you want some regular exercise few times per week during lunchbreaks (90 NT during that time).
There are many things in Jubei though, such as Carrefour, Homebox and plenty of good restaurants. What really sucks in Jubei is the traffic jam each day (especially if you work in the Science Park) and its one of the reaons why I wouldnât move there.
Well, one day with the High Speed Train station it will be the other way around.
[quote]
I would not rent based upon video or brochure you really have to see for yourself. The Taiwanese brochures are fantastic for showing dwellings as though they are surrounded by open spaces with trout fed streams and happy children frolicking in the green manicured park just outside the door.[/quote]
True, but those videos are a good idea to get a first impression of a place, then again I would go for private rental (much cheaper).
When we first moved to Germany, we were staying in a place that was probably about 50m2 and just felt like we were constantly tripping over each other and that we just didnt have our own space. Previously we had stayed in a 3 bedroom 2 story house when in the Philippines so that did spoiled us to an extent. However, It just works out better and makes life more plesant for us as a couple if we have a little more room.
Also donât worry, we will definately be checking the places out ourselves before we make any final decision. I wouldnât go by a pamplet or video no matter which country I was living in. There are To many fancy techniques to âbendâ the truth.
I was sharing an apt in Taipei County for a while, big-ish place, own room, NT$5,000/month incl. utilities and a/c. Wasnât amazingly nice but liveable.
Iâm now leasing a beautiful 130-ping (400-odd sqm?) house in Taichung for NT$15,000/month.
I think itâs telling that the only people with $30k/$40k+ apartments have them as company benefits paid for by international firms who seem to have been wooed by flashy housing agencies. I had a room in the most expensive part of Los Angeles for US$1000/month (NT$33k?), fer chrissake!
Another option that I like to take if you have the time, skill and/or inclination is to find somewhere in a decent area thatâs a bit unloved or grotty and arrange with the landlord to do it up for free (or discounted rent if youâre really good). You get a place dirt cheap that looks exactly how you want it and everyoneâs happy.
[quote=âengerimâ][quote=âcnelam7â]You are wrong. Normally such high figures would be only told you by a Taiwanese woman (who have this thing with numbers so I guess thats your aquintance). I had an appartment in the center of Paris, 2 minutes from Notre Dame, 40m2 for 950 euro a month. You have really never been in Taiwan if you believe its the same here. For 15000 - 17000 you get a very decent place (thats half of what you estimate now) and its 60-70m2 tops. The rental agencys will show you some videos when you visit them, Hsinchu (Xinzhu) is after all a small city and not Taipei. And where the heck in Germany do you live, and what is rather large?
1 USD = 32 TWD
30000 TWD = 937 USD
Ok? Its insane, or are you up for 150m2?! 30K is more than the average salary here. Remember this is a third world country in many ways, and nothing compared to the banks of the Seine.[/quote][/quote]
hello all,
I lived in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom unfurnished apartment in Hsinchu and I only paid $8000nt/month. It was on the 5F (no elevator, no security guard). When i moved in, there was only a bed in 1 room and my landlord was nice enough to lend me a table with 4 chairs. I had to buy everything (TV, fridge, washing machine, computer, microwave, A/C). I was the only foreigner in my neighborhood and it was safe. It was a nice place and very CHEAP.
SoâŚi guess iâm the winner out of all these posts. j/k. I just wanted to point out that there are a lot of different kinds of places for foreigners to live and if you want to be adventurous, find a place like this.
Carlos
Interesting to see the outlandish prices people are paying in Zhubei. If your company is not refunding or taking care of your rent I would never dream of paying over 20k a month in Hsinchu. Itâs completely unrealistic - this is not Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, or âParisâ. Itâs a small backwater town in Taiwan that just happens to have the Science Park, a couple decent Universities, and ITRI. My first apartment in Hsinchu was a newish 3 bedroom with security, parking, etc for 13k and that was no doubt padded because of where I worked. Currently we have a 4 floor house in the downtown which we pay 18k - we rent parking on top of that.
If I started paying prices for rent comparable to what you pay at home you are going to be quite disappointed. The standards here are just much much lower. It may look nice but believe me there are a million hidden problems with just about every place I have seen - from faulty wiring, low quality this and that, bad infrastructure etc⌠That first apartment building I lived in had no true right angles - think about that for a moment.
Donât waste your money on rent. Spend what you save on flights to Kho Samui or buy rounds at the Forumosa Happy Hours.