Here are some experiences for finding an apartment or suite in downtown Taipei:
Firstly, because of overly high housing price in Taipei (some are high than that in Tokyo), the rent here is therefore very high, and there comes a new career as professional landlords. Buying house only for rent, they try hard to optimize the profit, and therefore, minimize the quality of life of the lodger. My advice is to avoid this kind of landlords. They may be nice people in person; however, their house is not that nice for living in. The clue of this kind of house is: “newly partitioned and all new decorated a private refrigerator and washing machine.” And usually they welcome foreigners and short-term lodgers more than other landlords. As I see it, it is because they find them easier to deal with. Because of the high price to get the house, professional landlords calculate carefully and budget strictly. You can hardly get a good deal with them. On the contrary, some landlords got their house long time ago, when the house price were pretty low, they don’t have to squeeze the roomer for their house mortgage. What’s more, they love the house and tend to keep it the way it was, which is suitable for living in, so the apartment won’t be partitioned into small cages to accommodate as many lodgers as possible.
Secondly, timing is important especially when you’re finding an apartment in a popular area. Taipei is a very crowd city. There may be a lot of nice landlords; however their houses are rent first. I’ve been looking for an apartment near Shi-Da for 7 years. I found it hard to find a house after August, like suddenly all of the houses are rent out. Therefore you are forced to have a choice between houses that are eliminated.
Thirdly, if possible, try to ask one of the locals to accompany you. I’m not saying Taipei-ers will cheat foreigners, but it’s natural that people respect individuals looking like have a lot of information. And as a foreigner, you look like you with no experiences. Maybe the landlords are worried that you will do something they could not anticipate so they think they have the right to charge more for taking risks or something I don’t know.
As the furnitures, most apartments are unfurnished and most suites(with a private bathroom but no kitchen) are furnished with a bed, a desk and a chair. That is because apartments are for family, and usually they have their own furnitures and suites are for single or couples. There are also some suites with a tiny kitchen, and the price is higher.
Last but not least, the fee for “middleman”. If you go to a real-estate agent, you have to pay them. And I think it’s a good idea to go to real-estate agents directly, be sure to go to the one with big brand such as “Sinyi” and “Evertrust”. They may not be cheap; However you could bargain with them and they would bargain with landlords for you for you are the one who pay. Otherwise, you don’t have to pay any additional fees. If the security of the doorman asks for “red envelope”, 1,000 is enough. It’s okay if you don’t want to pay them.
Looking for a nice lodging in Taipei is not easy, even for the local. I found a good place seven years ago, and lived there for 5 years. Though it’s very small and I had to share the kitchen and bathroom with roommates, it’s cheap, quiet and the neighborhood was of good quality, and the landlord was nice, too. However she needed to sell it, so we were forced to find another apartment. The second was a suite without any public space, such as living room, kitchen and balcony. The washing machine was in the passageway. There was no fresh air and enough natural light in that apartment since the former 3-room-apartment had been partitioned to 5 rooms. It’s horrible to live there. Then I find where I’m living now. It’s very nice and spacious, with three big windows in the room. And I don’t want to move out anymore. So here is the last advice: Don’t bother to take a look at an apartment which the landlord fails to rent it out for a long time. There must be reasons for that.
