I was just wondering what everyone’s housing situation is like. I wonder if you would be willing to share your story? I will share first:
How long have you been here and what’s your occupation?
A. I’ve been here for 1 year 6 months, with a 1-year break in between. I am an English teacher! (Surprise, surprise)… but I also correct Senior High School students’ practice exam papers at a bushiban.
Rent/own, where and how much?
A. Rent in Yungho for $10,000/month. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1 kitchen, 1 living room, 18 ping abouts, 5th floor. Closest MRT is a 25-minute walk!
Hi shawn,
I live in Jiayi City; I pay NT$7,000 for a 3-bedroom, 2-toilet apartment. My guanli fei (building fee) is a rather steep NT$1,600 a month, but at least i have a free parking space.
When I lived in Taipei (a 5-minute walk from Dapinglin MRT station) I paid NT$17,000 for the same. Taipei really sucks when it comes to expenses - certainly eats into a man’s drinking money.
I rent: 47 ping for a modern apartment in a gated community about 25 minutes outside of Taipei. The air is clean, the neighborhood is quiet and safe, there are no bars on the windows, and I can’t see or hear any traffic from any of my windows. Lake view, Multiple elevators and underground parking. Good-sized kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two balconies. Cost $20,700 (rent) $2,350 (management fees) $2650 (Parking for motorcycle and car), $3000 (gym/swimming pool/spa/tennis/rec centre fees for two people).
Total: $28,700, but life is very nice.
I own my place in Niaosong, Kaohsiung County. I’ve got 2-storey floor to ceiling windows in my living room and a private grassy yard that runs on two sides of my house (30 ping land ownership ~23,000 per month mortgage).
almas john - Yes, Taipei does eat into a man’s drinking money! To buy an apartment is also ridiculously expensive, albeit it being in the downtown core. But $10 Million NT for a 20-ping place! Whoa!
MJB - Why do you say your house in Zhongli was an unwise purchase? Is it that you can’t find renters… or has the price plummeted?
Maoman - That does sound very nice… and very expensive! I guess you make a bundle each month, eh? I’m looking for new opportunities, by the way…
dangerousapple - Land ownership sounds real nice. How far away is Niaosong from Kaohsiung City?
I also rent and own (well I suppose technically the bank still owns) in Kaohsiung county. I pay less in rent (5000) than I pay every month for interest (~8000). What was I thinking?
MJB - Why do you say your house in Zhongli was an unwise purchase? Is it that you can’t find renters… or has the price plummeted?[/quote]
Like a few of the old-timers that got roped into purchasing at the height of the real estate boom, I got burned pretty badly when the prices plummeted a few years later…I probably lost 30% or better.
Fortunately the location is good, so renting is never an issue.
Taichung, north area, 3 bedrooms, fully furnished, pretty smart. 17,000/mo. Maybe 35 pings, at a guess. Community building type thing, gardens etc. Turned out to be owned by the mob, who kicked us out after six months and tried to screw us on our deposit. Got it back in the end. Was teaching English, had two roommates.
Taichung, north area, 3 bedrooms, minimal furnishing. 12,000/mo. Maybe 30 pings. No community stuff. Landlord was decent, we screwed him by moving out early for unrelated reasons. Was teaching English, had two roommates.
Taipei County, YongHe, across the #4 park from the MRT station. 3 bedrooms, ~30 pings. 17,000/mo. Landlord claimed it was expensive because of commercial zoning. She was lying, and later ripped me off over my deposit. Salaried software position for a big company. No roommates (girl who didn’t pay rent, doesn’t count).
Taipei City, a block from the airport. One room, one private garden, ~25 pings. 15,000/mo. Really nice area. Landlords were friendly and fair. Salaried software position for a big company, contracting on the side. No roommates (broke up with girl).
Taichung City, south area near DaLi. One bedroom, big living room, big kitchen. No community stuff. ~25 pings. 8,000/mo. Never met the landlord, xiao fangdong was a good guy. Contract software work only, no roommates.
Taichung City, south area near DaLi. Five (!) bedrooms, double height ceilings, three balconies etc. No community stuff. 57 pings. 12,000/mo. Landlord is okay but not great. Contract software work plus evening teaching. Roommates one non-rent-paying girl, three dogs.
Basically I’ve discovered that I need lots of space. A private garden is awesome. Failing that I need a bedroom, a study, a junk room, and a dog room, at bare minimum. It’s really worth the extra money to live in a place, not a room.
I rent a 23 ping place in Zhonghe, livingroom and 2 bedrooms and kitchen. It’s not within walking distance of the MRT, though, and there’s nothing to do around here. But very nice apartment, the owner made it into a real nice place. I pay 13 thousand a month, and need to pay around 1 thousand for building maintenance.
I’ve been living here a couple of years now and I’ve seen some really, really shitty places for rent. There’s not a very high standard for living.
I rent an awesome studio in Zhonghe, spacious 10 ping. Fully furnished, incl. cable TV & broadband. Oldish building, 7 minutes walk to Nanshijiao MRT and 10 minutes to Jingan MRT
I rent a so-called 2 bedroom, 16-ping apartment very near Song Shan train station. I use the second bedroom as storage/refrigerator/closets. I pay nt$14,000, plus about nt$1600 maintenance. The landlord wanted nt$16,000, but my Taiwanese friend talked her down ‘:bravo:’
I used to live in a wonderful studio in Zong He, but the landlord gave it to his son when he got married.
My place isn’t cheap, but I like living close to work and in a modern/new building. No noisy or neighbors! ‘:D’
We own, 28 ping low rise (so less than 1 ping is common) in WanFang area. 5 min walk from MTR. We refurbished throughout, 3br, 1.5 bath, living room, kitchen. mortgage NT6,500/pcm and the property valuation currently ~2mill higher than purchase price.
What does ‘pcm’ mean? Is that the interest on the mortgage per month, or the mortgage payment per week (or something)?[/quote]
pcm - per calendar month
The payments we are making are interest only (why they are so cheap), next year we start paying off the capital and payments will increase by another NT5K… although still cheaper than renting.
Does no one else find that a bit of a contradiction?
We own a 35 ping apartment in Luzhou, Taipei County. 3 bed, 2 bath, small building so lower common property (which they include in the area on the title deed :fume: ), 24k per month, value is already increasing and should be much higher when we get MRT in 2009…
