First time in Taiwan

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
, ,
46

Thanks a lot for mentioning this. Air quality is a big thing to me. Don’t want to be breathing exhaust fumes not once. if the air is cleaner up north. then I will take that.

I’m late 20s but I prefer chill lounges and bars.

with 591, I have been using auto-translate available on chrome. Are the agents expensive to engage. I tend to stay away from agents based on my experiences with apartment brokers in NY.

but of course, me not knowing mandarin and trying to get a tour of a place and even sign a lease is going to be tricky.

47

thanks for your response. as a newbie, I’m gonna try to avoid driving as much as possible till I at least know the language ? how does acquiring the ID here work. So I guess the other cities have smaller metro transport systems

48

Aye, Tamshui it is then. Thanks again Tommy for your pointers on neighborhoods.

49

hey Bree, what would you say is the typical rent here in Taipe for a decent place then. Because from what I saw on 591 it seems the prices are all over.

50

It wasn’t essential. I got the gold card, and figured out why not ? and having lived in the states for 8 years I wanted to try something different. the only screw up I did was coming here during chinese new year. I had an issue that prevented me travelling before the 15th when the strict quarantine was put in place. you win and you lose.

51

It all depends on what you consider “decent”. If you’re coming from a major city in the US, you might find Taipei to be somewhat interesting in that you can find places in Taipei that are quite cheap located not too far from places that are quite expensive.

You could rent a furnished studio (basically a small room) of 250 to 500 sq. ft. in Taipei for under $20,000 NT (~$700 USD). These types of units will likely be in an old(er) building of typically 1-5 stories. Some of these won’t have elevators, most won’t have front desk staff (to accept packages, etc.) and you’ll probably have to deal with your own trash.

You could rent a slightly larger place with a bedroom and a kitchen for anywhere from $20,000 to $45,000 NT ($700-$1,500 USD). Depending on your location, in this price range you might still be in an old building, or you could be in a newer building. In a place like Da’an, for instance, you’ll probably be in an older building. In a place like Neihu or Nangang, towards the higher end of this range you could be in a newer building with some amenities, such as on-site staff to accept packages, etc., as well as trash removal.

Finally, you could easily spend upwards of $50,000 NT (> ~$1,800 USD) on a larger and/or more upscale apartment in a new(er) building. These will typically have on-site staff to accept packages, etc., trash service, and they might have a gym and lounge. Some will even have pools.

So, put simply, location and size matters a lot, as does the nature of the building (old, unstaffed versus new “luxury” build).

Once you figure out the locations you like the most, you can use the map search on 591 (地圖找屋-591) to get an idea of what types of apartments are available in those areas and what they generally go for.

52

This doesn’t even exist in Austin

This is below average in Austin (2020 prices)

This sounds more like Austin.
I agree with RBE that what makes tpe “cheaper” are your options. In the states, fire code requires that bedrooms have escapable windows. Here, if you are on the cheap, your bedroom may not have a window at all. You will need to visit places for sure to get a feel for how best to spend your $.

53

I had a few friends from Europe, in which their countries can apply for local license without taking the road test and they got on the road after being in Taiwan for half a year or so. However, d riving is not for everyone!

The other major cities like Taichung and Kaohsiung have metro systems. Taichung’s has been delayed and Kaohsiung’s has been running for awhile now. However, these cities are quite large and their metro systems do not reach every part of the city.

2 Likes
54

?? you already have ID if you have gold card, no ??

56

rents in Austin, cratered lately even though californians are moving into town. for 1200 you can get a 700 sq ft modern apartment but built cheap af. then 1400 you’ll get a 1000sq ft apartment well built decently. that’s either north or south austin. as long as you avoid the hot spot areas domain, south lamar, eastside and downtonwn.

57

thanks a lot for the pointers. and the ranges.

1 Like
58

I thought maybe there were different ?

59

Quarantine about to end. in a much better hotel and mood has improved. sorry to bother ya friendly folks, but which cities would one be able to get a decent apartment with ocean view ? + of course good air quality.

hope everyone is doing okay.

60

Tamsui

2 Likes
61

fyi

62

@gmu thanks a lot. from the links posted below it also like tamsui has really good air quality. damn the south looks like the air is really bad.

63

@tando thanks a lot. this was really insightful and will be my go to guide in terms of having a general idea about air quality.

64

for the folks that are foreigners, what problems did you run into if any when renting apartments. I have read blogs about renting in taiwan, and it seems it’s not as difficult to rent compared to say japan. but any first hand experiences would be welcome.

65

Beware electrical standards are much different and overall think about if there is a fire how to get out
Im a cheapass we looked about 10-15 places mostly cause we were aiming for 10k.
Found a great place backed up to the mountains settled for 11k and 2 year lease to have some security (from rent increase a u.s.of a rental flashback)

1 Like
66

I am curious. Where?