I’m wanting to move to Taiwan (am here now). I can get three month visas so I’m looking for a source of short term rentals other than air bnb. I spoke to some estate agents and they told me the minimum contract tends to be 12 months. I’m looking to be in Taipei or Kaohsiung or maybe even Kenting.
I got a quote for one apartment in Songshan in Taipei for 45k NT per month. It’s about 35m2. Overpriced?
Thanks in advance.
You can get a regular 12 month rental even if you are not on a long-term visa. Or is there another reason you don’t want that?
But yes other than AirBNB you won’t have a lot of options and the ones that are there are incredibly overpriced. What you describe sounds insanely overpriced to me as well. There is not much demand for serviced apartments in Taiwan it seems.
Indeed, searching for serviced apartments in Taiwan was a waste of a few hours hehe.
Why would I get a 12 month contract if I can only use the apartment for 3 months and need to pay for the other 9? Am I missing something? 
[quote=“dingbingo”]I’m wanting to move to Taiwan (am here now). I can get three month visas so I’m looking for a source of short term rentals other than air bnb. I spoke to some estate agents and they told me the minimum contract tends to be 12 months. I’m looking to be in Taipei or Kaohsiung or maybe even Kenting.
I got a quote for one apartment in Songshan in Taipei for 45k NT per month. It’s about 35m2. Overpriced?
Thanks in advance.[/quote]
Visas and rentals are unrelated, no-one will be checking your visa, so rent for as long as you plan to stay in total. You just need a deposit (usually 2 months, to ask for more is illegal) and possibly a chop to sign a contract (can be made in 5 mins). Basically the only place to go for listings is rent.591.com.tw/
Minimum contract duration expected by the landlords is 12 months or sometimes 6 months for studio apartments. You can also search for short-term rentals on that website or ask the landlords who were hoping to rent for longer. There’ll be a price premium but it’s a renter’s market. Get a Chinese-speaking friend to help you with this.
Don’t know what apartment you found but I’d say the quote is quite high. In Taipei City, shitty studios start at around 7,000元 and apartments at around 15,000元. A decent apartment can be had for 20,000元-30,000元 except in the few most prestigious locations, which are not necessarily the most livable. You can lower the rent by living in Taipei County (fancy name: New Taipei City) but if you ever have any dealings with the immigration agency, you’ll need to go to a different office in the middle of nowhere, not the one in Taipei City.
Good luck! 
There are plenty of places that specifically do month to month rentals. I don’t know how you find out about them but I have seen them advertised in Kaohsiung facebook groups and had friends find out about them by word of mouth. The ones that I have seen tend to be absolute shit but cheap and short term. And when I say cheap I mean cheap. 3000-5000NT/mo (Kaohsiung studio).
Doraemonster, I’m not sure what you’re suggesting: a) rent a 12 month place and leave after 3 months or b) rent a 12 month place and stay 12 months thus overstaying on the visa by 9 months?
I’m looking for something in the 20k - 30k price range, a building with a gym, pool, roof terrace, that kind of thing. I think air bnb might be my best bet, and then negotiate with the owner for a longer stay.
How long do you want to stay in Taiwan? Your post reads like you want to stay longer but doing visa runs instead of getting a residence permit for the whole period. I was just pointing out you can rent a place for as long as you plan to stay, regardless of whether you have the proper paperwork in advance, as the landlords don’t check this. I am not suggesting to sign a contract for longer than you actually intend to stay, chances are you’d lose your deposit this way.
I’d go for 591, Airbnb doesn’t seem to be that popular here.