Icon, that sounds very cheap…must be a small place though.
26 ping. But it is really old - which makes for tall ceilings, though. And as I said, some of these old places are fixed up very nicely.
There is a 3 bedroom/2 bath going for 16K -newly refurbished- nearby. But it is a first floor. And if you get further away from the MRT, but within walking distance, deals get better.
Sincerely, the smallest places I’ve seen have been around Shida. Gosh, back in the day they were packing us like sardines. But times have changed, there are not so many students anymore. And they are tearing down teh old houses and the new buildings are really cool.
I was offered a very nice deal -15K too- around Chengta in the past, also with a mezzanine. Very small but cute. Great view. Bit of a walk to school up and down a hill but doable. Alas, the landlady changed her mind about the cat at the last minute, and that is why I ended up where I am now.
You can rent a 2 bedroom apartment inside a new looking building with security guards, pools, gated access, etc. in Danshui.
If you hate old looking crummy buildings, Taiwan is not the right place to live.
Wow all that input was awesome…thanks guys
i ended up getting a place in Da-an…it’s a 2 minute walk to the technology building mrt and about 5 min away from CCU’s MLC so i’m really happy. I’m paying $8200NT + utilities but it came furnished w/ a bed, desk, dresser, closet (ikea closet?), fridge, bookshelf, nightstand…the landlady even let me sign a 4 month short term lease! The only downside is no kitchen and i need to share a bathroom…other than that i think it’s great…my floormates are fairly clean and there’s a lot of food around to choose from…it can get a bit pricey though…
anyway I’m happy in Da-an…the park is great to go for jogs in…
I haven’t had any experience living elsewhere in Taipei but so far my experience has been really positive
That’s a bargain… Daan is known to be the most expensive place in Taiwan… I bet most European cities are cheaper. In fact I just saw on a news report that for the price of a PARKING LOT in Daan you can buy a luxury condo in the south!
But just a thought: Why not live in Wanhua district or something? the rent is sure to be cheaper and it’s not that far from Daan district anyways.
As I said already, Taipei city center is small…you can live very close to Da’an if you want to…wouldn’t get fixated on it. Most of the the millionaire property owners are still living in hovels though .
Somehow even though they are millionaires, they still rather live in hovels and not really use those hard earned money to enjoy life… instead they buy tons of properties with them, which drives up property prices and the fact is, most houses in Taipei are empty because they feel the return on renting those properties are low therefore they rather let it become a “mosquito house”.
I wonder if this is a cultural thing, that enjoyment is somehow wrong…?
[quote=“bumclouds”][quote=“nateliu99”]I’m about to bite the bullet and pay 15,000 a month (5,000 is paid for by my school) for a small but really clean and modern place with an elevator at Heping and Shi-Da about 10 minutes to Guting. Look right outside and the Shi-Da night market is there. just a 10 minute walk to Da’an Park.
the only thing is the size. small living area but again, really really clean and modern. Half kitchen and then you walk up little stairs to the bedroom area. But you cannot stand up completely because the ceiling is low. For me, since I am by myself, I think I can tolerate this for the location, but all of my local colleagues and friends and screaming at me not to take it because it is “nenme gui”
What do you think?[/quote]
It sounds reaaaaly similar to my place man. Mine is new and clean, but as tiny as a shoebox (according to the girl who checked it out for me), and sounds like it has a similar floorplan to yours, and it’s also in a very similar location. I’m moving in in 6 days.
I’m going to pay 16,000 NTD per month… And this is after I’ve been house hunting online for a bout 4-5 months, on english and Chinese speaking websites.
There are lots of great places for cheap prices, but in really clapped out buildings. For example there was one place which looked fantastic. It was clean and new and had everything I needed, and was only 12,000NTD a month. The lady said she was offering it to me real cheap cos she was going on holidays for 6 months. Anyway, when I got a Taiwanese local friend to take photos of the building itself… Oh my god. There was rubbish all around the outside of the building, and the lobby (where the elevators are) looks a foreclosed house with squatters living in it dealing crack. I’m not exaggerating… It looked really filthy.
If my 4-5 months of house hunting is anything to go by, new places which are actually new, and not just old crummy buildings done up to look new will cost you a fair chunk extra and they will be much smaller 
.[/quote]
You came to my mind yesterday as the agent was showing me pics of places in Daan -just for curiosity, for comparison purposes. There was this small studio -10 ping - going for 8 million nts. The funny part is the place was brand new and gorgeous, but unfortunately they changed the angle of the opics to show teh view outside. Gosh, even to me, with so many years here, it was shocking. LOL, you were right. Favelas with hanging ACs, right in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in town.
Somehow even though they are millionaires, they still rather live in hovels and not really use those hard earned money to enjoy life… instead they buy tons of properties with them, which drives up property prices and the fact is, most houses in Taipei are empty because they feel the return on renting those properties are low therefore they rather let it become a “mosquito house”.
I wonder if this is a cultural thing, that enjoyment is somehow wrong…?[/quote]
TL, you have indeed posed a deep, meaningful yet inescrutable question. Maybe you should start a thread about it. Is it taxes, maybe? Safety issues -avoid mafia threats, kidnaps? Or mere Scroogeness? Who knows what lurks in teh hearts of Man?
[quote=“blabstrakt”]Wow all that input was awesome…thanks guys
i ended up getting a place in Da’an…it’s a 2 minute walk to the technology building MRT and about 5 min away from CCU’s MLC so I’m really happy. I’m paying $8200NT + utilities but it came furnished w/ a bed, desk, dresser, closet (ikea closet?), fridge, bookshelf, nightstand…the landlady even let me sign a 4 month short term lease! The only downside is no kitchen and I need to share a bathroom…other than that I think it’s great…my floormates are fairly clean and there’s a lot of food around to choose from…it can get a bit pricey though…
anyway I’m happy in Da’an…the park is great to go for jogs in…
I haven’t had any experience living elsewhere in Taipei but so far my experience has been really positive[/quote]
Wow, how did you go about finding such a low cost rental in Da’an district? Please do tell me, I would very much like to know. I could not even get my month long stay at a hostel in a dorm bed that cheap. By the way, I will also be taking Mandarin classes at CCU’s MLC starting mid December 2010. I am interested in finding a more permanent place to live in Taipei(rather than a hostel) since I plan on staying here for about a year. Da’an seems like the ideal area to live in since everything is close by; especially if you’re not a big fan of daily commuting.
[quote=“blabstrakt”]Hey everybody
I’m looking for a place to stay starting in August. I will be attending CCU’s MLC starting in September so I was thinking of renting a place in Da’an district. Does anybody have any knowledge of this area? Is it a good place to live? Stuff to do? Thanks for any feedback![/quote]
I live in Da’an district, in Shi Da 師大 area. It’s one of the better neighborhoods in Taipei City. You get best of both worlds. The Da’an park, the Shi DA night market, take chinese classes in Shi Da, lots of expats, bars, and very close to 永康 street where lots of great restaurants are located. It’s very close to Guting MRT station and the future Da’an park station (across the park).
Lots of stuff to do for sure. You won’t get stuck with just expats like in 信義 district.