What do we obtain renting a place for 2.200 US$ ? A house?

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
41

I agree with MJB. I live out here too and I live in a free standing single 3.5 story home, about 70+ pings. There are better ones here as well. For 70 K you can get a very nice one. I can’t wait to see what Mr. He posts(which ones he chooses to shoot). There are also quite a few of us foriegners up here too. Problem is, as MJB pointed, is that it is a long commute. Great environment for family though. Lots of space, other kids, great neighbours, and quiet(well except around MJB :smiley: ).

There are also ones around here tha have golf course views. Depends what you want. Check things out a bit more. Agents will help you but they will also take a big chunk of money too. Eg. My place was for 50K when they thought that the company was paying, it is definitely not that now, not what I am paying.

42

Right,

I think I got more than enough tips from all of ya to get even more stressed :s
For sure that I will ask several agencies to come up with some proposals, but it gets more and more clear that my company is rather making a IAP regarding housing as for all of my Asian colleagues (I guess most Asians are used to live in smaller surroundings than caucasians?)

A 1 and a 1/2 hour drive to TP 101…mmmm, not an option neither.

Oh, those who should have some pic’s to compare as MJB posted, send me a private message and I 'll reply with my private e-ail.

The Belgian Beer at a bar is still standing of course!

Gumper, I do forgive you regarding the IA officer remark. You know those guys in their ivory tower don’t you.
I had similar same “tips” when I went to Seoul last year.

43

Ankeng in Xindian (Taipei County) definitely has communities with houses. I was up there in the weekend,and have also seen many pictures of houses there for sale ont he net, and on the real estate channel.

Most are townhouses but there are also a lot of fully independent houses with yards and lawns. They’d be expensive to rent, but not as expensive as Beitou/Tianmu. It took me 25 minutes to get to Ankeng by scooter. Car would be at least as fast as there is a good expressway and you’re very close to the freeway too.

Brian

44

Right or wrong:

Some people recommended me to find a place in Peitou of Hsin Peitou.
The proposed budget should be enough to find something called a “house” and the trip to the office near Taipei 101 should be “smooth”

Wellington heights & Tianmu :

  • Too expensive (+4.500 US * for a house)
  • Too difficult to reach office, even by MTR

Q: I posted several e-mails to some real estate agents, but no one responded…
NAR, MTR, President Reality…seems lile they do not speak English, or.the budget is way to low to get interested in??

RRRR, this is giving me a bit of stress…

45

Its definitely the English, not your budget.
Beitou/Hsin Beitou have MRT access. Beitou (or at least parts of it) has a suburban feel to it and plenty of green.

46

Definitely the English.

47

MTR (Masters) have lot’s of English speaking staff and deal mainly with foreigners, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Give it some time.
The better thing would be to go there in person though (not possible for you right now since you aren’t in Taipei yet), at MTR they can show you pictures and layouts of the places on offer, so you can already narrow down your choice without wasting too much time visiting all the places on offer.

I think someone mentioned already that you should ask your company to put you up in a hotel first - and a month is IMO the minimum, because finding a suitable place here takes time … a lot of time.

48

I did some surfing of real estate sites last night. I was looking at houses to buy. Here’s my thoughts.

If you want an independent house with yard (not townhouse), not too far from the city, your budget us not as big as some people think. That kind of house is expensive.

Tianmu/Wellington heights/Songren Rd are probably out of the price range unless you were lucky.

Up the back of Beitou might be an option. The commute to 101 would still take close to an hour by MRT and bus, or perhaps 40 minutes by taxi or car.

I think Ankeng or other parts of Xindian might be a good option, but the commute would be long too. Probably over an hour by MRT or 40 minutes or so by car/taxi.

Try this

(Chinese but with pictures) to see what’s available in the hills around Xindian (these are to buy not to rent). Clickt he text beneath the photos to get more details with more pictures and video.

I think you’re going to have a hard time trying to fnd something before you arrive without excellent help from someone who speaks and reads Chinese.

Brian

49

[quote=“ceevee369”]Right or wrong:

Some people recommended me to find a place in Beitou of Hsin Beitou.
The proposed budget should be enough to find something called a “house” and the trip to the office near Taipei 101 should be “smooth”

Wellington heights & Tianmu :

  • Too expensive (+4.500 US * for a house)
  • Too difficult to reach office, even by MTR

Q: I posted several e-mails to some real estate agents, but no one responded…
NAR, MTR, President Reality…seems lile they do not speak English, or.the budget is way to low to get interested in??

RRRR, this is giving me a bit of stress…[/quote]

Hi ceevee369,

You have a few weeks before your transfer to Taipei. There’s time. The best recommendation so far is to have your company put you up in a service apartment or hotel for a month to give you and your wife time to find the right place. Not very many families will accept a place unseen.

Assuming your housing allowance is fixed, your trade off right now is between travel distance/commute convenience and ideal house. Until you can be here on the ground to do your own leg work, you may have to sacrifice. Your budget and preferences means that you will need to be in outer Taipei City/Taipei County or Taoyuan County and drive to work.

You can also contact our office for assistance in negotiating with local companies to help you find the right place in time for your arrival. Our strength is that we don’t have a language problem unlike many local companies here. Our contact information is below.

Regards,

50

[quote=“Bu Lai En”]Try this

(Chinese but with pictures) to see what’s available in the hills around Xindian (these are to buy not to rent). Clickt he text beneath the photos to get more details with more pictures and video.[/quote]

Bu, just out of interest, how much were those place(s) in the pictures? I couldn’t buy property even if I wanted to, but the pictures look gorgeous. I went to the website but my Chinese isn’t good enough to navigate. Thanks.

To the OP: I suggest you find a suitable time and actually ring the real estate agents to get a feel for what they can offer you on your budget. Email never seems to work very well for most companies.

51

I decided to come over for a first visit next week. I will meet some agents recommended by my company, and I’ll start looking at their catalogues first.
Indeed, as some of you mentioned, it’ll be a balance between finding probably a house further away from the center, and making sacrifices.

And yep, I

52

Yu can try Lao Ye Shan Zhuang up the mountain in Neihu, that is not far from Taipei101 and the house are in your price range. You can try those in Hsindian, but that is a little far and they are newer and most likely either not for rent or too expensive for your budget. In SiJhih (Xizhi) there are two, Buo zhuei Shan Zhuang (I am not sure of the characters or the pinyin and across the valley is FuJi Shan Zhuang. Both are in your price range and have yards, just find a nice one with a view, or with nice interior design and garage.

One someone else mentioned was Da Xiang Shan, Elephant mountain right up there nearby Taipei101, they have some houses there and they are in your price range as well. That should be towards the top of your list.

Wellington Heights, is kind of far, but if Sat. TV Jim says places there can be had for about NT$80K then he should know as most likely he has been there recently to install some Sat. TV.

Honestly there are not a lot of free standing house in Taipei any longer. Should have came here 60 years ago, the whole city was a bunch of freestanding homes.

Good luck, I have visited almost all of the freestanding house communities in the Taipei area and the ones for your budget are listed above.

Like you, I didn’t want to make a sacrifice so I live in a freestanding home and don’t mind that I don’t live downtown. Just get a nice car or two and enjoy living in the burbs on a mountain with a view, or partial view, or at least clean air and a yard and some extra room and a garage.

Good luck.

If my wife has some time I will ask her to post the Chinese characters of all of the places mentioned above and some kind of simple directions to the places (for the taxi). The only problem is most of them are gated communities and you can’t get in unless you know someone or are going with a real estate agent to look at houses there. You first have to find the real estate agent with homes for rent there.

53

[quote=“Hobart”]One someone else mentioned was Da Xiang Shan, Elephant mountain right up there nearby Taipei101, they have some houses there and they are in your price range as well. That should be towards the top of your list.
[/quote]

It only took about 20 posts for somebody to finally give out the name of this place… :sunglasses: :notworthy:

54

Hi ceevee369, I agree with this quote. If you don’t have the option of an early trip here just to pick a place to live, then go for a temp. living arrangement first, followed by a move to something more permanent. And the tradeoff of perfect place vs. reasonable commute is well described.

Where is your office, and how long a commute are you willing to accept? Will you have a personal driver? Can you afford a taxi daily? Will you drive yourself? Do you require mass transit? These are all important factors to consider. If you answer these, we can give far better advice.

55

Dear Dragonbones,

To respond on your Q’s:

Office is Golden Global Plaza, seems to be near Taipei 101
Personal driver…mmm wishful thinking. I am not an Ex-pat of that level. I have to work :smiley:
Taxi daily? If same price as in Korea, YES! (3 US a trip)
I will have a car, but I would not drive if it is so bad as in Seoul…neither when MTR is sometimes a better option, as it goes mostly faster…

Unluckily, company is giving me a week :frowning: (next week) to organize house hunting.
But, if what I see does not fulfills my wishes, I will suggest to live temporarily in a serviced flat I guess. :bravo:
Gives me the month of May to look before my wife joins me in June…

Regards !

56

Be careful with agents recommended by your company - they often know your exact budget (from previous clients) and might offer you sub-standard places for that price.
If you see an ‘independent’ agent give them a figure about 20-30% below on what your company pays so you have some room to play.

Also note that so-called company contracts are subjected to a 10% tax, which is usually added on top of the advertised price (which typically is for private contracts).
AFAIK private contracts should also be subjected to the tax but it’s often “forgotten” for the benefit of the landlord and tenant.

57

Near Taipei 101, then I would first go to the Xiangshan (elephant mountain) area, which is one of the SiShoushan (four animal mountains) group, just a couple kilometers SE of 101 I think. I’m guessing a taxi ride would be $4US or so. If the company and house both provided dedicated parking spots, that wouldn’t be a bad drive either, I imagine, although others living in/close to that area may have better advice.

Note that some folks sign contracts with agents to sell/rent their place, and I think the agent charges a full month of rent EACH from the landlord and tenant for this service; at least, that was standard practice 6 years ago in my area.

I had mixed experiences with the agents; some ignored what I said about my requirements, and wasted my time taking me to unsuitable places; others were showing places that were not worth the asked price.

Note also, there are not a few landlords who post their own “RENT” sign. THe Chinese character looks like this: 租 and if it’s rent or sell, it says 租/售. If you don’t speak Chinese, you might be able to get a colleague to go with you; although it sounds easier to rely on an agent, relying on both an agent and yourself simultaneously gives you a broader choice. I did that, and ended up renting a place I found myself. I got a better deal, too.

One of the quickest ways is to borrow a scooter, and strap a digital camera around your neck. Zip around a suitable area, and when you see a nice, quiet, hopefully shaded little lane , zip in looking for the rent signs. If you see one on a nice building, take a pic of the sign (has cellphone no.) and then the address (at 1st-floor entrance) so you can find it again. (Assuming you don’t speak Chinese and can’t call the no. immediately)

After a morning of collecting these, return to the office and have a colleague or secretary call all the no’s and get more info. If any look good, then you return with a local to have a looksee.

I find this method more efficient than agents, personally, because you eliminate from the get-go any apartments on noisy streets, or too far, or which look old, or (important!) which are resting on tiny little pillars that will collapse in a big earthquake. Also avoid 1st floor apts due to typhoon flooding, as well as apt’s right next to a big hill where they’ve cut away from the hill to build it, as there’s landslide risk there.

58

[quote=“Dragonbones”] One of the quickest ways is to borrow a scooter, and strap a digital camera around your neck. Zip around a suitable area, and when you see a nice, quiet, hopefully shaded little lane , zip in looking for the rent signs. If you see one on a nice building, take a pic of the sign (has cellphone no.) and then the address (at 1st-floor entrance) so you can find it again. Assuming you don’t speak Chinese and can’t call the no. immediately)

After a morning of collecting these, return to the office and have a colleague or secretary call all the no’s and get more info. If any look good, then you return with a local to have a looksee. [/quote]

What an excellent idea! :notworthy:

59

A lot :slight_smile: 26, 32, and 39million NT for those three.

I was looking on that website last night at houses up in Shilin, Beitou, Neihu and elsewhere. They were even more expensive. I sid see a really nice one for 200million NT though (just a little out of my budget :wink: )

Hobart may be right that most of that sort of house os for sale rather than rent. I don’t really know the rental market.

Back to the OP. Traffic is probably worse in Taipei than Seoul. I’ve never been to Seoul, but I can’t imagine anywhere being worse than Taipei. Also, a taxi trip to most of those places is likely to cost more like $US5-10.

So I have another suggestion for you. On that real estate site I saw a lot of independent houses up around Danshui. Danshui is out in Taipei County but is the last stop on the MRT. I guess the MRT commute would be something like 50 minutes, but unless you want to drive, you’re going to be very lucky getting an independent house without at least an hour commuting by public transport. Againt he houses I saw were all for sale, not for rent, so I don’t really know if a lot are available or not.

Brian

60

I will compare 2 agencies already working for us…and a third new one putting the other 2 under pressure.

Value for money is the word, let them come up with what we look for.
20 year of Sales experience :smiling_imp: would help, or am I wrong?
Are those Taiwanese not flexible at all? :frowning: