I’m currently planning a move to the Taipei area for roughly a year, hopefully in the fall, assuming my gold card and dependent visas come through. We’re a family of 6 with 4 children under the age of 10, and we’re trying to figure out what the best housing setup would be for us. A few notes:
Min 3 bed/2 bath, prefer 4 bed to have room for a home office.
Planning to send our older kids to the local public elementary school, they already speak and read Mandarin.
Fairly flexible in terms of location as my work is remote. Need to commute to the Taipei Main Station area probably 1x/week.
Trying to balance being centrally located vs price vs size/quality of home.
Preferred price range of < 40000 TWD/month, although that could be stretched if necessary.
Totally unnecessary, but having access to Costco would be nice!
With that, I have a few questions.
Are my expectations reasonable? What do I need to adjust?
What size/quality of place can I expect to get? Is it worth it to rent a furnished place?
When looking for a place, what should I keep an eye out for? How much does age matter?
Will the kids generally be able to walk to and from school?
Is there a recommended area of town? We’re looking for an area which has convenient access to “everything”, but isn’t too hectic. We also don’t need easy access to western food.
Is buying a car recommended? We love public transport generally.
I perused 591.com.tw, but there’s such a large price variance I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. I also searched but feel free to link me if I missed something. Thanks in advance!
Are you looking to buy or rent? Are you OK with commuting or do you need convenience? Do you intend on driving or taking public transport? What do you consider a long commute?
Looking to rent since it’ll probably only be 1 year. Ok with commuting for myself 45 min-1 hour each way especially since it’s only 1 or 2x/week, need convenience for the family. Generally prefer public transport!
If you have that much budget I would suggest you to use a 日商租屋仲介, a housing agency targeting Japanese companies.
They have higher standards in terms of sanitary, service, furniture, layout, basically everything. You could even ask for the Japanese housing, that’ll blow your mind. Dude their bathroom equipment is CRAZY!! Saves so much cleaning work.
I would not recommend 紅樹林 and 淡水 though. Because of the weather. You might need dehumidifier if you’re staying in the north (doesn’t matter which city).
I would recommend Taoyuan. Basically natural disaster free. Good air if you pick the right location. Not as pricey as Taipei and New Taipei. Their COVID policy is a bit worrying, but I guess you would have that part covered if you’re vaccinated in your own country.
Wow, those all look really nice! Re: template URLs, yes please! Is that like a pre-filled search?
Also, do I need to be concerned about distance to schools? For example, looking at this listing, when I search Google Maps for 小学校, the closest ones seem too far for walking and would need a car. Or are there school buses?
That’s not true. It rains half the time it rains in Taipei. I know cause I live in Danshui and commute to Taipei daily. Often I leave a sunny house in Danshui to be hit with rain in Taipei centre.
Secondly, the humidity in Greater Taipei barely varies. It’s just as humid and hot in Taipei centre due to the basin and density causing a heat dome. I commute every day and there’s no difference.
OP also said they’re taking public transport. Traffic is a non issue if you’re taking the MRT and if you live in Zhuwei or Hongshulin, you’re right at the border of Taipei and avoid any traffic issues.
A 4 bedroom house in Banciao would be way out of the OP’s budget.
You would need a car in taoyuan. Definitely need a car. Remember to look for a place with a parking space, preferably in the same building and with a roof.
I’ve never personally used the service in Taiwan before, so I do not have a particular agency to recommend. You’ll have to use the keyword: 日商租房仲介 to google. There are many options as you can see.
