serviced apartment vs. renting flat

Posted by artec_d (41 days ago)

i will be staying in hkg for one year. would you recommend staying in a serviced apartment or renting a flat in hkg?

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Posted by Ed (41 days ago)

Moving to the Living in Hong Kong forum

Advantages of serviced apartments:

- if you want domestic help no need to find and contract a helper
- no need to purchase furniture and lose big bucks when you sell it
- hassle free in that all bills are rolled into your rent
- flexibility... if you dont like where you live you can move easily
- no need to pay agency commission because no need for an agent as the the most comprehensive hong kong serviced apartment guide is here http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/property/serviced.asp

Please note if you take a lease on a standard flat the period is generally 2 years... often you can get a break clause of 2 months notice after a year... but that would mean you pay two extra months rent...

Posted by funbobby (41 days ago)

Ed, I'm curious about your first point...I assumed that the maid service is similar to a hotel, not a traditional full time helper...if you had toddlers requiring childcare, you'd still have to hire an amah, no?

Posted by GreenValleys (41 days ago)

Yes.

A serviced apartment will typically provide a cleaning and linen-change service at intervals ranging from daily to weekly.

Posted by Ed (41 days ago)

I assumed the person making the enquiry was single... I've lived in a number of serviced apartments in HK and most had daily maid service and a twice a week change of bedding. If you need more help than that the only option would be to hire a part time maid but that is not legal unless the helper has local residency.

Posted by cyberience (41 days ago)

in fact, a flat based contract, is fixed for 2 years, but can give 1 months notice so long as your last day of tenancy is not on or before the last day of the first year. Then you live out one month of your deposit, and get the 2nd month returned to you on delivery of the key and reasonable condition of the flat and any included furniture.
All tenancy agreements are templates of the legal tenancy agreement laid down in law. Variations can exist on agreement.

Posted by drm888 (41 days ago)

For the same rate, a serviced apartment will likely offer you less space, minimal cooking and refrigeration facilities and likely only a coin operated laundry.
A one year lease will be harder to get (typically 2), but certainly available.

Posted by funbobby (41 days ago)

my question was more hypothetical than directed at the OP...in any case, assuming you could find a 3Br serviced apt (do these exist?) could you not hire a full-time live in maid if you needed one? (1 br for parents, one for child(ren), 1 for maid)

Posted by axptguy38 (41 days ago)

As cyberience says you can get a two year lease and break it in 13-14 months.

You can certainly hire a live-in maid in a serviced apartment. All Immigration cares about is a) that you make more than 15k/mth and b) that she has her own space (does not technically need to be her own room).

Posted by mayo (41 days ago)

Pacific Place has good size 3brm apartments. They come at quite a price though. We stayed in one of the 2brm apartments there for a 6 months. It was very comfortable.
From memory maid service was twice a week my only problem was the washer dryer was an all-in-one but thats no biggie in the scheme of things.

Posted by Ed (41 days ago)

Best way to get info and deals from hong kong serviced apartments is to complete the form at the top of this page - it will fire out your requirements to over 90 apartments in hong kong

http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/property/serviced.asp

Posted by artec_d (41 days ago)

thank you so much for the useful information Ed. i suppose moving in with just my suitcase and a few essentials would be a lot more practical. at least until i can find an area that i would really to get a flat that i can rent.

it is true. there are benefits in having a flat. i can do my laundry. cook. if i am renting a studio or one bedroom flat, i do not really need to do much cleaning.

Posted by artec_d (41 days ago)

does anybody know how much commission does a property agent ask for?

Posted by aussieinla (41 days ago)

last time I paid 2 weeks rent and the landlord pays 2 weeks rent.

Posted by Ed (41 days ago)

If you deal directly with serviced apartments no need to pay a commission

http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/property/serviced.asp

Posted by axptguy38 (41 days ago)

"last time I paid 2 weeks rent and the landlord pays 2 weeks rent."

Same here. But as Ed says for serviced apartments there is no such.

Posted by artec_d (41 days ago)

thank you for all the responses. i already sent out the request form from asiaxpat. so, i will be reading through the responses. hopefully i can make a decision.

so that is two weeks for the agent, quite reasonable.