I’ve recently moved to Taichung and am staying in an airbnb until I find a suitable place.
The area i want to live has a university nearby and as soon as an apartment comes available, it’s taken.
I met up with one guy, the apartment looked nice, and he would not negotiate on price or deposit. No problem, I said I needed a night to think. The next morning I asked my Taiwanese friend to accompany me for the contract signing and notified the landlord we would come at 4pm. He said 330 was better. I said my friends were free at 4, and he said ok, but don’t be late.
I trekked one hour across town to meet him, me and my two friends were waiting too, no landlord. I called him and he sounded surprised i was there. He walked in with a student beside him for, surprise, a contract signing. I was pissed. He then tried to lie to my friends by saying he said 330 but I didn’t care if he lost face so I pulled out my phone to show the truth. He kept buhaoyisi ing us. My older friend gave him a verbal dressing down that he not only wasted one persons time but all 3 since he knew we were coming.
Even if the guy lined me while i was half way there saying sorry, it’s taken., I wouldn’t be half way as angry as I was to get there and have that happen. I felt sorry for the student too as he didn’t know and kept his head down.
I guess it’s the Asian way of trying to avoid a situation, even when it just causes it to become bigger.
This morning guess who calls me. Guess the student fell through? Not sure I want to deal with him out of principle. That said the apartment was nice. Or perhaps he was just calling to apologize again
seems like he would be a shitty landlord anyway. i’ve had similar situations, not when looking at apartments though, i’ve managed to be pretty lucky on that.
What an asshole.
If you like the apartment just sign off , you probably won’t have much dealings with the landlord after that.
Otherwise don’t stress there are many apartments in Taichung!
[quote=“headhonchoII”]What an asshole.
If you like the apartment just sign off , you probably won’t have much dealings with the landlord after that.
Otherwise don’t stress there are many apartments in Taichung![/quote]
I’ll probably text him back to see what’s up. I’m looking for a tao fang in the south area, and 591 only shows a few good ones and the majority are taken but still listed for weeks for some unknown reason.
The real estate agent wants half a months rent to find me anything, so $3500. Might be an idea to rid myself of the hassle .
I’ve had that happen with a job offer too.
Accepted, forms and contract signed, and then no contact. Call back later and was told that someone with better qualifications hired.
[quote=“headhonchoII”]What an asshole.
If you like the apartment just sign off , you probably won’t have much dealings with the landlord after that.
Otherwise don’t stress there are many apartments in Taichung![/quote]
oooh, I would never assume that.
With how sketchy he was with the signing, I wouldn’t rent from him unless it was some sweet deal.
You’re not only choosing the apartment but the landlord as well. You’ll need something from the landlord sooner or later throughout the year. I’d stay away from this guy, if he’s behaving himself like that even before he got your deposit. There’s always going to be an apartment better than the one you’re currently looking at. If you really want to have another go at it, try to bring the price down.
thanks for the replies guys, he texted me this afternoon saying he was really sorry about yesterday, I guess he felt guilty about it.
Which for the Asian culture generally speaking, having someone personally call to acknowledge a mistake is a big thing as normally they just ignore you going forward. I said don’t worry about it, thanks for telling me.
On with the search
Edit: my Taiwanese friend looked at the “apology” text, and it is not really an apology. It says the other guy showed up before me and had cash in hand, which made him forget about his appointment with me, finishing with very sorry.
