Between two lifestyles: living in a 2-3 bedroom older apartment without parking and a gym, and paying for both separately, and renting from a modern elevator building with parking, pool & gym, how much would one pay for either option?
Context is someone with a car, does not tend to use public transport, goes to the gym/pool a few times a week, and lives/works in a large city.
The older apartments I have seen to rent are pretty depressing - weathered/stained balconies, bathrooms that smell funny and kitchens with sticky walls/cupboard handles. For say NT$10k extra a month you get a shiny new/almost new apartment in an elevator building with all the amenities.
Of course a lot of the modern elevator buildings seem to be in busy/developed areas of the city so having âfree parkingâ in a central location is also valuable.
Would you say that parking in your own building is essential in the cities? Having driven around large cities like Taipei/Taoyuan/Hsinchu and Chiayi, it seems that the only places where one can reliably find parking are in paid-for parking lots. In Taipei near the TICC I paid NT$50/hour.
Fitness memberships in Taipei cost about NT$1,500/month.
My point being depending on lifestyle one may not really save all that much staying in an older, cheaper apartment.
You can rent parking spots around the city for about 4000-5000 per month, is my impression. You might have to walk to your parking though. Parking inside the building is much more convenient, obviously.
A gym membership is 1300-1500 or so. Apartment building gyms may not have all the gear or equipment that you need, depending.
Obviously, having everything in one building is an advantage. I would rate that advantage at about 10-12K / month subjectively. I guess it depends, do you think you will end up using the apartment building pool or gym facilities? Are they good enough to satisfy your pool and gym needs?
Another advantage of living in a big apartment building is that you can have stuff delivered to the doorman in the lobby.
Is the extra 10 including the building management fee?
Personally i would pay extra for things like bigger kitchen, nice bathroom and balcone. For me personally i am willing to pay about 5K more for an elevator, 3K more for a parking spot.
For comparison, I pay NT$ 26k in a (15-yr old) elevator building with pool and gym in Xinyi (some say in the most expensive part of the town). Studio - somewhere between 8-11 ping with a small kitchen and tiny balcony.
I have some marble on the wall, but the paint is already chipping off from the door frame in the bathroom. Maintenance fee included - but no parking. That would run me another NT$ 9k per monthâŚ
Overall, I still consider it a âgoodâ deal - especially compared to some other places I had looked at earlier (one was $24k between two MRT lines, but old building and shared entrance - and moldy bathroomâŚ).
Yeah ⌠building management fee is another cost that may vary considerably. In an old apartment, you probably only pay a fee for picking up garbage 500-600/month.
Yeah, that sounds like a fairly good deal for the location and amenities.
I may be wanting to rent a 4-bedroom place with parking in the Yonghe area in the next half year. Seeing prices from 35-40K on the low end
35-40k for 4 bedrooms for a newish building with parking, elevator, and building management fees included? That seems like a steal.
As for price premium, yes I think itâs roughly 10-15k/month. Parking makes up 3-4k of that, building management maybe 4-5k, and the rest is just the premium. Also keep in mind a lot of the community pools are only open for a couple months a year during the summer.
Last year I ended up getting a 3 bedroom place which is as youâve described, and is larger than a bunch of 4 bedroom places. More details which might be helpful here.
Edit: now that I think about it I also remember looking at a nice 4 bedroom place near Yonghe Renâai Park, in that stack of new buildings by the river. It even had a built-in Bosch dishwasher. Price was ~55k/month.
It depends on your needs and means, plus location.
Look, an apartment building would have also other advantages and disadvantages. For example, you get someone to pick up your packages and mail when you are out, plus throwing out your garbage. If you are a busy person, this is very helpful, even necessary.
Older buildings tend to be cheaper. You wonât need a gym if you live over the third floor. The rooms are bigger, too. But as said, they may be darker, more humid and most should be brought down and rebuilt.
In the end, location determines rent prices. Being a modern or older building adds to it but still location is king.
Taipei is far more expensive than the other cities. So where do you want to live exactly? Our family prefers modern apartment buildings with parking and services. Hard to beat.
Yes, it seems like I may need to increase the budget Seeing nothing under 40K even half-decent. Seeing some places around 45K without parking. Seeing great places with parking from 50K and above.
Usually the swimming pool is out of order most of the year and the âgymâ is a couple of discarded machines and an aircon that may or may not function i.e. donât count too much on those factors.
Size, security, noise, light, elevators , parking space, garbage disposal, mosquitoes and smell, and location.
These are the main factors you should consider. Take it from me I have moved around a lot in Taiwan. Get the basics of living right first.
Last place we lived was a gorgeous apartment, good light, location, four bedrooms, space for office, parking, but I had discounted the problem of street noise as it was near an intersection. Also the parking space was small. Rookie mistake !!!
I looked at a place in Sanchong last year. It was actually originally two 3 bedroom apartments, one above the other, with the bottom one converted to be a living area and the top still had all 3 bedrooms. Think a two story house in the US, but inside an apartment building. It was massive and extremely cheap for the size.
After looking at the place we decided to take a walk around the area. It was all small industrial shops and roads without any sidewalks, commercial areas, or even a 7-11. Iâm sure there are nicer areas in Sanchong, but that definitely was not it.
