Moving to Taipei soon and I saw apartments listed on zuker, but it looks too good to be true. Are any of you familiar with this site, is it trustworthy? Also do you have any recommendations for what sites are trustworthy for studio apartments.
Also I’m not familiar with the city, do you have any opinons on where is safe/ unsafe to live in Taipei especially near NTNU? anything to look out for or avoid?
sorry for all the questions, thank you in advance!
I’ve never heard of Zuker. People here primarily use 591:
Taipei doesn’t really have ‘bad areas’ like we know them in the west.
Since you are not familiar with the area, stick to the vicinity of a 5 block radius. If you get too far out by Wanhua, the neighborhood gets a bit rough but nothing like the West. Just very poor.
Never even heard of Zucker. In general terms, avoid English language websites, those are for expats whose company pays for the housing.
Please check the advice given before, like not living with the landlord, no basements, better not share utilities, bring witness when signing, not paying ridiculous amounts because “you do not have a choice” etc. Feel free to ask here for opinions/advice.
unfortunately my chinese isn’t very good so i don’t think i’ll be able to use 591 :(. but that’s good to hear that taipei is safer! i spoke to someone who studied there for a while and she had too many scary stories about being harassed and followed home so i was worried
well… You’re coming here, right? I think you won’t be moving in immediately as you’ll need to look at places first before deciding. While staying at your AirBnB or talking to your school/employer, they should be able to help you find something on 591 and save you money.
I’m not going to say it’s impossible because harassment exists. It exists everywhere. But violent crime is low and it’s pretty safe to walk around here. Taiwan doesn’t really do ghettos that people should avoid.
that’s really comforting to hear thank you for the advice! I’m so excited to stay there, Taiwan looks like such a beautiful country and everyone says its so friendly. Of course my university has warned me to only sign a tenancy once I have visited the place in real life and to stay in a hotel/hostel for the first while until I’ve found a place, do you think NTNU might offer help in translating a tenancy agreement or checking it? I feel embarrassed asking so much of them.
I’m glad Taipei seems to be so safe! Thats good advice to avoid zuker, it all seems too good to be true and definitely targeted at foreigners. I’ll definitely ask for advice here again in the future when I am finalising a place to live!
It’s their job to help you. They are not obligated to do anything but also the sole purpose of the international office is to help guide you navigate better in Taiwan. So ask away my friend.
My girl friends routinely walk back to home drunk at night after going to bars or parties. Never had any problems. Not that it’s impossible just very rare.
exactly, not impossible…
common sense should be sufficient in 95% of the time, if its late at night amd you see 4 guys standing in an entrance to a dark alley, dont go there… if you are in a club, avoid the gangster wanna be types…
stick to well lit streets with lots of people and you will feel perfectly safe.
16 years ago the clubs near guting mrt attracted all sorts of types, one of them followed a friend of mine in the street while rubbing his penis…
Club Wax? All you can drink if I remember correctly.
i see we are from the same generation 
did you also like Roxy Vibe?
Like? Maybe not totally, but the nights always ended there!
Used to live by 9% so went there a lot too.
Not like most of the rest of the world, no, but Wanhua absolutely has the highest concentration of creepy men and shops selling porn out on the sidewalk of anywhere I’ve been in Taiwan. Especially the area around Longshan Temple. But compared to Chicago or NYC? Meh.
There is a volunteer agency geared for students. It’s called Tsui Mama. They regularly check on both tenants and landlords.崔媽媽租屋中心
Harassment is rare but not unheard of. This is a very safe place in terms of low delinquency. It is usually safe to leave stuff around, for example. Nevertheless, it is common sense not to leave your guard totally down, especially in crowded places. One good thing is to learn how to ask for help and keep the phone of the Foreign Affairs police handy in your phone.
Use Google Chrome translate for 591. Unfortunately, it is the largest rental website available.
I saw a Zuker apartment several months ago. The apartment looked fancy at first but didn’t seem well managed. I soon realized that it was immensely dirty - I was told to arrange for cleaning myself. The TV screen had a crack on it (as if something had been flung at it). There was one very angry faced lady maintaining all the apartments (including cleaning) and the whole experience rang some alarms for me.
Btw, Zuker seemed more like a serviced apartment hotel. They offered short term rentals as well. Based on my experience with their staff and the TV I wrote about it above, I wouldn’t trust them to repair/care if some appliance broke down or if you had bad neighbors or other crazy experiences.
The people living in the shacks here are usually quite nice except when they’re too chatty from being too drunk. Sometimes I sit and enjoy a free beer in return for answering a few strange questions. No way I’d do that in the US
it is one of the most god awful neighbourhoods in TPE, can’t wait for its gentrification it the only place in Taiwan where i saw hookers in the street.
NTNU’s Office of International Affairs should be able to help you with your concerns. Don’t feel embarrassed to ask them questions. The purpose of the office is to help students like you have a smooth transition to living and studying in Taiwan.