After coming back for three weeks with our 7 month old baby we’re planning to move over from the UK to Taichung at some point, probably next summer. We’d plan to stay for 1-2 years.
Accommodation is something I’d be keen to pin down sooner rather than later. Parents in law have a large house in Changhua City which we could have a floor of but for my sanity we’ve agreed renting in Taichung is a better option - close enough to family for baby sitting duties, but with own space so I can cook what I want, when I want and don’t have to smile 24/7. Have been asking around and people have suggested the area around the Science Museum as one of the nicer parts of the city. I’m looking for the following:
Open spaces nearby - don’t want to drive to go and play in the park
Car parking space
Reasonably modern, hopefully furnished apartment
Variety of shops and restaurants in area
Not too far from high speed rail station
We walked around the Science Museum area and it does indeed seem a nice area. One really nice building caght my eye - Caves Books was on the ground floor, I think it was called the Science Tower or something similar. There were a few for rent signs in windows, letting agent next door told as two apartments were available, both about 50 ping, 3 bedrooms each for over 40,000NT a month plus about 3,000NT management fee. Now I don’t really know my pings from my pongs so not sure if this is particularly large for a 3 bedroom apartment. I do know it is way to expensive for us though. Could probably go up to 25,000NT for a 3 bedroom place but no more.
So, a few questions:
Should I be looking in a different area, or is this likely to be a particularly over priced building and perhaps other more reasonable places are available?
What other areas could be a possibility for a family in Taichung?
What kind of pingage would a decent sized three bedroom apartment be?
Thanks for any help or advice.
Steve