I will likely be moving to Taipei in May and have been looking at apartment ads on Craigslist, tealit, etc. and it seems that most apartments come furnished. Is that tre or is this because the web sites mentioned know expats are looking and prefer furnished places? Will I be able to find unfurnished apts in the same buildings when I get to Taipei? My company will be providing a local RE agent to help me find a place. I have some furniture (i.e. sofa, dining table, bed etc) and am trying to figure out if I should plan to get rid of it. I would ultimately prefer to bring my own furniture and find an unfurnished place but I don’t want that to limit my choices too much.
I think usually on Tealit they are furnished for the reason you say. I’ve never had problems finding unfurnished places though. You can look at 591.com.tw and those are mostly unfurnished. Normally, the price is a little better too with an unfurnished place. If your company is getting someone to find a place for you, just make sure you let him/her know, cause they will most likely look for furnished places. Most of the time, if there’s an apartment building you like, you can just talk to the security guards and they’ll know the places that are up for rent or will know the realtor that everyone rents their apartments through.