Another Salary and rent question

Hello,


I have been offered a job in HK @ $60,000 per month. I will have one dependant (my spouse!) who may or may not work.


I am planning to spend $25,000 to $30,000 on rent (High, as this is up to 50% of my income !).


Would this % be typical ? What type of place could you get for $30,000 ? I've looked at real estate rentals, but its difficult to guage what these places are really llike !


Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi Simon,


50% of anyone's income on rent is generally not advisable, particularly when you can get a half way reasonable (for HK) flat for 20k or less.

What size apartment are you after? Where abouts will you be working? What type of lifestyle are you used to?

The type of apartment you'll get for 30k depends on a number of factors - the area, the age of the building, facilities available.

30k is now enough to get a halfway reasonable (albeit smallish) apartment in many of the more popular areas for expats - Midlevels, Happy Valley, Soho, TST etc. It really depends on what your needs are, and how far you want to commute.


Basically, the further you move away from the CBD, the better value for money you'll get. I'd tend to suggest that your rent money would stretch further in TST or Kowloon, not bad when you consider the easy commute via MTR.


Cheers,


Kim

OK, I am from Sydney and live in a largish house with garden and pool. I'll be renting this out for the equivalent of about $HKD 16K per month.


Will be working in Wan Chai. Thinking of living in Pok Fu Lam. Have been to HK before, but not to live. Maybe $20K/month in Kowloon might be better.

Hi Simon,


Be prepared for a very different lifestyle! If you're used to living in a large house with a pool and a garden, Hong Kong will be quite a shock to the system.


I agree that it's probably not a good idea to plan on spending half your income on rent - but you'll have to be prepared to live in a much smaller place than you're in now.


The area you choose will depend on lots of factors, not only where you work and how far you're willing to commute every day but also on your preferred lifestyle and your age. If you're a young couple who'd like to plunge headlong into the frantic social whirl of Hong Kong you might want to live in the Mid-Levels area close to the escalator, where there are loads of bars and restaurants. If you're more the stay-at-home types you might be happier somewhere like Pokfulam which is a purely residential area with no nightlife at all.


Having said that, nowhere on HK island is far away from the nightlife, it's a small place and the public transport is excellent.


The best thing you can do is arrange to stay in a serviced apartment for a month when you first arrive, and get an agent to take you around and show you different flats in as many different areas as possible.


I am an agent, and would be happy to do this - on HK island and also in Kowloon, Discovery Bay, Sai Kung, wherever you'd like to look! I'm sending you a personal message with a listing of properties which we have available now, to give you some ideas.

Great advice ldavy. Without our first month in a serviced apartment we'd have made some very wrong decisions!

hello aussinla,


Thanks for the info. That sounds quite good and thanks for the advice. I sent you a PM.


Simon.