Posted by
Lexiphanic
13 yrs ago
Hi everyone. I've been lurking for a while and love the wealth of information people are willing to share here.
My girlfriend and I are Australians and we're moving to HK in January with a plan to stay for between four and six months. I'm an online community manager and do my whole job online (so why not do it from somewhere else?). My girlfriend is a graphic designer and runs an online vintage fashion store.
Anyway… we've been exploring our options. One person has advised that we rent a serviced apartment for at least a month until we get an idea of where we might want to then rent for the rest of our time there.
Does this sound like good advice to you?
If so, does anyone have any recommendations for (very cheap) serviced apartments in HK? I've seen the odd bait-and-switch horror story so I'm hoping someone here might have some recommendations for who the more legit operators might be.
That aside, we've been keeping an eye on the Shared Flats property section of this website. However, if anyone has a spare furnished room to rent to a professional couple for around HKD$10-15K/month, we're very clean, quiet and friendly. :)
We were thinking of just renting an apartment for ourselves but fear the lease periods might be longer than 6 months. Thoughts?
Sorry this is long with lots of questions! Really looking forward to coming to HK in *gasp* 6 weeks!
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Finding very cheap and decent accomodation in HK is not easy. I would say that you would need to allocate at least 15k per month for a serviced apartment. If you dont mind living further out in the New Territories, you could also try the Royal View Hotel serviced suites. You could probably get a studio room for around 12k??
http://www.royalviewsuite.com.hk/
Finding a landlord willing to lease for 6 months (or less) will be difficult.. probably impossible.. not to mention the added costs of furniture. If it comes furnished, its going to cost more again. Depending on your budget, maybe renting a room is a better option.
But it probably is a good idea to lease a serviced apartment for a month first and get a better feel for what your needs are. IF you stick with serviced apartments, you could also enjoy the luxury of moving from place to place and experiencing city life as well as a more secluded lifestyle living further out on Lantau Island or the Gold Coast in New Territories. It really comes down to how much you can afford, and what your preferences are.
Goodluck!
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sk76
13 yrs ago
It will be hard to get a lease for such a short time by HK standards.
I think the best thing for you would be to flat-share, but as you are a couple and may value your privacy then serviced apartments are your best bet.
Your budget is limiting so u may have to get a serviced apartment without kitchen facilities...but if u dont mind eating out then its not really a problem. I had a mate come out to stay for a few months and he stayed at Urban Cube in CausewayBay after spending a few nights on my couch. I would however, suggest that you try to book once you arrive in HK so you can view exactly what you are getting. I say this as another friend also stayed there but he booked online and was given a room that frankly was not clean at all! Just be wary of online ads for such places as they seem too good to be true.
Another suggestion is try Discovery Bay. I used to have friends that had flats there and would do short-term lets for when they were working out of HK, so you would have a fully furnished flat all to yourselves:)
Hope that gives you food for thought:)
PS: there is a DB forum and i think you may find such lets on there...not on this site
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Ed
13 yrs ago
http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/property/serviced.asp
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Thanks for all the responses everyone! So glad I'm a member of this forum.
Based on your advice, renting our own place is off the cards.
And if I book a serviced apartment, I'm better off getting something around at least HKD12K-15K to ensure I don't get something a bit dodgy like sk76's friend.
After that, it seems like finding a flat share for 5 months will be the best way to go.
Incidentally, why are there so many DB forums around?
rob_378: I think Royal View might be a little far out for a first stop.
Does anyone have any direct experiences/recommendations for a serviced apartment on HK Island or in Kowloon?
I've been through the places on here but hoped it could be filtered down by what you all have seen/experienced/tried. :)
cara: great feedback. So glad you responded. :) If we had a place to swap here in Oz, we would. But we're location independent/digital nomads. After HK we're moving to Sweden for 6 months… then Canada after that… then France, Iceland, Turkey, Morocco… :)
Thanks! :)
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Just responding to the comment about landlords not renting to you if you don't have a "proper visa". I've rented here and nobody at any of the agencies ever asked me about a visa, they simply wanted to know if I could pay the rent regularly.
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I"ve shown ID, but no questions about visas ever came up. I don't have HKID, as a matter of fact. I have a Canadian passport.
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No landlord will rent to you without a HK ID card. Unless they are doing something dodgy. You need to have an ID card to file lease agreement with Inland Rev for Stamp Agreement.
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That's odd, as I live in a flat in Sai Kung that I rented legally through a licensed rental agent, with all the legal papers filled out. So you can't actually say "no landlord will rent to you without a HK ID card", because that's simply not true. :)
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I've never heard of that Kate but if you have done so then it must be possible. The general rule of thumb is that if you have an ID card then you are here legally, so most landlords will only rent to a person that has a HK ID card. Generally people that do not have a HK ID card here do not have a job or one that is legal so there is no guarenteed source of income which would put most landlords off.
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The other think to remember is that if you do not have a HK ID card then you can not get a telephone line, gas or electric so you would have to ensure that the landlord provided all utilities for you. If you don't have a HK ID then do you have a work visa? or do you just have a visitors visa?
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ecareken and KateinHKare both absolutely correct . No HKid is required Any passport is acceptable . The reason any property agent or landlord asks for any type of ID is to authenticate correct name and identity number for the contract . It is no way a necessity to have an HK ID for the purpose of contractual rental agreement .
I must correct you JJChan . An HKID is not required at all to have connected any utility services to the premises you rent . Lease agreement is all that is required along with the required security deposit . I and many (well..., three different couples) foreignors I know personally , rented and had utilities connected as well as Internet and phone , all on their various country's passportas acceptable ID . Two couples were on visitors visas and are still on that status after 12 years . The others are working and they have the appropriate visas . Not I or any of them have an HK ID . But it is absolutely necessary to have one or the other for those purposes .
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Thanks selda. Those are some cute flats!
I've been privately entertaining a variety of housing options. Some people were looking for a housemate for a boat in Aberdeen! Very tempting. :)
Lamma Island looks incredibly tranquil. If I get tired of the hustle and bustle of the centre of HK, I think I might look at moving to Lamma.
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