Finding Somewhere to Live

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
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Maybe consider renting an unfurnished place? We did and it’s surprising how little furniture you actually need. Also, there are lots of ads on Tealit for people who’re going home and are clearing their apartments.

Our apartment here in Wanlong is $NT20,000 (plus management fee). It’s 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom and was unfurnished. It was filthy (and I’m not houseproud!) but a day or two’s cleaning sorted that out. Plus we only have one air conditioner which is going to be a problem come the summer. The only other drawback is that it’s next to a recycling depot which I found to be really noisy when we first moved in but now we’re just about used to it. On the plus side it’s 10 minutes from the MRT, has a lovely park at the end of the street, has little traffic, an elevator, lots of space and the neighbours are really nice.

So you can find cheap, decent apartments but they probably won’t be ideal. We found this one through a friend asking around in her area. It took us a few weeks to find a place, though.

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[quote=“Piffle”]headhonchoII - It would be slightly impractical to commute from Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) to Taipei every day. :laughing: It was my husband’s job offer in Taipei that brought us here, after all.

Icon - At the moment we are having to do all this through a friend. There was very little time between the job offer and the starting date to prepare for the move, let alone learn any Mandarin. Most of the landlords so far do not seem keen on replacing anything (I guess there is always someone who will happily accept it so they don’t need to spend anything on replacements) and quite a few of the places we’ve seen would need everything replaced. But we will keep trying because we will get nowhere if we don’t.

Thank you for the tip. We’ve been hearing about nice places in Xindian from quite a few people, so we are going to investigate again over the next few days.[/quote]

Oh, usually homes comes easily when recommended by a friend of a friend. Also try Tsui Mama’s housing service. The places are a bit more decent than those you find on the web/public boards. And you have backup in case of trouble.

Though you can’t read Chinese, have a look at some pics in the ads I attach. Close to MRT, elevator, cleanish, and under 20K.

This is a nice neighborhood, with a nearby park, and many small cozy restaurants:
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1083349.html

This neighborhood has its own shuttle bus:
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1079342.html

A bit of a splurge, a real house, but great air quality:
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1110601.html

Furnished but smaller:
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1132285.html

Lots of foreigners live here:
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1131396.html

This area is really convenient:
rent.591.com.tw/rent-detail-1103017.html

In Xindian, I’d say most areas are OK. I do not like the building on top of the Zhichang MRT station, it has too many problems, but many foreigners live there, too. Bitan and up the hills are fine.

EDIT:

[quote]
This means house has:
2房 two rooms
2廳 two halls -living room and dining room
1衛 one bathroom
2陽 two balconies
Size given in pings 台坪數：38坪[/quote]

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591.com can be put into googletranslate. That’s how I used it.

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Thank you for all the help and suggestions! We may have already found a place (furnished). Everything we found was from 591 because, although I cannot speak Chinese, I at least know some characters from having studied Japanese in the past. The place is not ideal due to the neighbourhood, but the apartment itself and the furniture appeared to be in a good condition. The best we have seen for an old apartment building. We’ve placed a deposit.

We had considered going unfurnished, but if we are unhappy here and I cannot succeed as well, it would be rather stupid to invest in so much furniture for one or two years and then leave. We have had a look, worked out what we would need and calculated it would absorb a huge chunk of our savings. We could sell it, but we’ve tried that before multiple times (we have to move a lot) and it never really worked. Taking it with us also cost a fortune. Either way, it would equal a huge loss for us if we were to leave that soon so unfurnished was really going to be our last resort.

345

Thanks Icon, for introducing 591.com, I just spent 2 hours looking at all the places :astonished:
Alot of the places I like near MRT stations are all available for 1 yr lease min…

I mean I guess that would be fine but I’m in a state of transition and I’d like a place I can bust out easily. Does anyone know of a website to find roommates other than tealit.com? Like a website to find foreign roommates? Thanks in advance.

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It is Tsui Mama www.tmm.org.tw -with locals- or the good old board -at the universities or college areas.

347

Today I saw a first: a house with tiles on all the walls. Internal walls. Not only the kitchen and bathroom. And not even a top floor or basement, but a third floor. :thumbsup: :thumbsdown:

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I’ve seen that before when looking around. When I asked what all the tile was about, I was told that it is because it’s easier to clean. :unamused: I don’t know how many times I’ve even actually had to clean a wall in my living room before that it would be much more convenient to have tile…

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I’ve seen shockingly filthy walls in apartments I went to look at for renting over the years. I mean food stains all over the walls, crayons, grease marks, hand prints, etc. In my apartment in Taoyuan (which I own) we had a Taiwanese women live there for less than 6 months and afterwards we had to repaint the walls. Cleaning wasn’t enough.

People here do things to their walls that just can’t be explained.

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Howdy formosa’ers

Looking for an apartment (preferably studio or single room) in Xizhi City. Any online resources or ideas as to where / whom I can contact?

Specifically I’m looking for areas near the Acer HQ in Xizhi, New Taipei City.

Any help would be appreciated thanks :slight_smile:

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There is the Hung Guo (sp?) apartment complex near there on DaTong Rd, suitably modern and has many stores and restaurants within walking distance (along with the train station). A lot of people rent out of there and it is a short jaunt to XinTaiWu Rd (where you want to be near).

FYI, XiZhi is a proper shithole, in the truest Taiwanese way. There are some nicer places up in the mountains behind the Acer building but not sure on the availability, and the suffer from an extremely low rate of fangbianity.

352

[quote=“Deuce Dropper”]There is the Hung Guo (sp?) apartment complex near there on DaTong Rd, suitably modern and has many stores and restaurants within walking distance (along with the train station). A lot of people rent out of there and it is a short jaunt to XinTaiWu Rd (where you want to be near).
.[/quote]

Is this near an English cram school called Global Kids? :ponder:

353

Try Lotus Hill.

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I would never live in Xizhi. Personally, I would live right next to Songshan Station and just take the train over there (I’m assuming for work). All trains stop at both stations, and it takes about 15 minutes. Also you might be happier living in Taipei. Just a thought.

355

100% agreement. Songshan station is closer to a nice night market, a shopping area and it’s in Taipei City. You can easily reach Xizhi by train, as mike020 said. You might be able to rent a nicer apartment in Xizhi than in Songshan for the same price, though, so it all really depends what kind of person you are and how much you prize living in the city over having a bigger/newer apartment.

356

If you live in Xizhi you can get a bigger apartment and also rent a car parking space cheaper if you want to drive around. Xizhi has some okay spots and and is convenient for train into Taipei. Songshan might be a bit more convenient but it’s not much better IMHO.

357

Depends on your social schedule I think. If you see yourself out more eating dinner with friends or going out more often, go for Songshan. If you see yourself staying in more and once and while going into Taipei for some reason then go for Xizhi. Depends if you want to commute to work or commute to go out.

I live in Sanchong and commute to both school in Shilin (15 minutes) and fun other places. The extra 100 I spend on a cab 6 times or so a month after clubbing doesn’t add up to the difference in rent in Taipei City for me…and I have a big apartment in Sanchong for very little money. About 4 times the amount of space for the same price as my old place in Yonghe. Scoot scoot everywhere else I want to go.

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Hi there! I am planning on living in Taipei for roughly two months this summer (June and July), with the intent to visit friends, travel around Taiwan, and study Chinese (one on one with a tutor several times a week, not in any classes or programs). I went to Taipei last month for two weeks to get a feel for the area and am now attempting to start planning out my summer visit.

I have close friends who live near the 紅樹林 and 唭哩岸 stations on the MRT red line, as well as other friends who live along the blue line. I’ve been thinking about living near 北投 since one of my close friends said it was cheaper to live around the northern part of the red line. Another friend said that, since I have friends along both the red and blue lines, I should live near the main station for the convenience, but I’ve heard it’s really expensive and typically requires an one-year lease minimum?

So, I’d like some advice on where to start in searching for an apartment (my Chinese is limited enough that it was difficult to try to wade through 461.com). Where would be a good place to live on the red line north of the main station that would allow me to rent for just two months? I’d be willing to pay three months since I will probably be coming in at the end of May rather than June 1st. I will need a furnished apartment since I’m only there for two months, and I want AC as well since I’m coming during the summertime. I will not need a kitchen since I don’t cook much in general.

Thanks for any advice you can provide :slight_smile:

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Zhongshan MRT would be my pick. It’s just one stop north of Taipei Main and has 3 department stores right next to it. You’ll find lots of interesting shops and restaurants in the quiet alleys that run between the MRT line and Zhongshan N. Rd. The art house Spot Theater and Zhongshan Sports Center are also in the neighborhood. For cheaper places, look in the area west of the MRT line.

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Incubus, thanks for your response. Do you have any advice on how someone who doesn’t speak that much Chinese can look for apartments to live in Zhongshan? I’m also not in Taiwan - I live in the US. Thanks :slight_smile: