Posted by
tywrenok
12 yrs ago
Hi all,
I am moving to HK next month with my wife and 2 children but unfortunately not on an expat package. Both kids are young, a newborn and a 2 year old. We have a budget of 15 - 18k / month, perhaps 20k if necessary. We need a preschool for my oldest (preferably around 3500hkd) and hopefully some place that is relatively stroller friendly. My wife is mainland Chinese, non-expat environment isn't a problem and we don't have a lot of extra income anyway.
My job is in Wan Chai but will travel out of country perhaps once a month.
My coworker who I am replacing recommended Park City on Ma Wan or Tierra Verde & Villa Esplanada on Tsing Yi.
These seem great to me but thought I'd ask about alternatives.
Any recommendations on locations and/or preschools are most welcome!
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Is that your rental budget or total monthly budget? We live in a 1 bedroom (2 adults, 2 kids) in Villa Esplanada for 16k a month. The apartment is around 800 square feet but even though it's small by our standards, it's really well organized with regards to storage/layout etc. The two kids are sleeping on a pullout sofa. Our daughter does her homework at our inbuilt desk in the bedroom. There is a great wet market at Cheung Fat Plaza nearby where we can get food pretty in expensively or for convenience, there is a large Taste supermarket in the mall attached to the MTR station. it's a 20 minute commute for my husband to Hong Kong station -3o mins door to door. Outlook over mountains and water is beautiful and I think people are much friendlier here than on the island :)
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CW@HK
12 yrs ago
Surely you can find a 2 bed apartment for less than 16k so your kids can have a proper bed!!!
I Suggest you look at village houses where you can get a 700 sq ft. 2 or 3 bedroom often with outdoor space for around 10k. You can find these on outlying islands like Lantau, lamma, cheung Chau or in the New Territories - Sai Kung, Sha Tin etc etc.
For 18k per month you can find a 2 bedroom apartment on the island in places like Kennedy Town.
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We don't mind because we are not sure how long our stay here will be. We didn't bring much over and haven't bought much here for the same reason. Village houses sound nice but probably too far away for u in terms of commutes and the midge bites that we get in those areas affect our skin pretty badly...LOL
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Ed
12 yrs ago
I know a couple of guys who are renting a two bedroom place with a roof top on lamma island for 12k
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190k
12 yrs ago
Have a look at Fairview Park. Bus to Wanchai 35 minutes and for that budget you can get a 850 three bedroom house with garden and a town centre will full facilities
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Try City One Shatin area. Direct bus service (88R, etc) into Central. Farther out on the West Rail Line, you have Ma On Shan. Both have good pre-schools and sizeable mainland Chinese populations. A 1245 sft/3-bdrm is listed for $20K at Belair Gardens. Best of luck.
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Try looking around Clear Water Bay area. Standard 800 sft flat can rent from 12K up. Hang Hau MTR very close $ 20- 30 in Taxi, great bus services too. Nice clean air and mixed nationality villages.
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Hugie
12 yrs ago
you can have a duplex for 15K up in the NT. 1400 sq ft with garden...
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Topol
12 yrs ago
It may be worth checking out LOHAS Park over in the New Territories. It is a new modern development of high rises with some great sea-views. It is on the MTR line which would be convenient for your husband BUT as it is a new-ish development there is not much going on over there, from memory, one supermarket with everything else one stop away in Tseng Kwan O. As a result you get a little more bang for your rental buck with apartments within your budget but worth adding to your list with the ones above.
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Really? Those little black insects that you can hardly see? My legs are festooned with four or five bites right now but it's much worse in summer. I don't actually feel them bite at all but my husband and daughter do. The next day though, the bites swell up to the size of half a walnut and turn incredibly red and itchy. We have found that dipping our legs into seawater immediately after being bitten will prevent this reaction but as I can't feel when they bite, or if I'm not close to the sea, I usually don't get to do that in time. Only thing that helps is a Japanese creme - can't remember the name of it right now.
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Older but accessible may be a good idea. Try looking up something in Mei Foo (Kowloon) or Shatin City One (N.T.). Both places offer good accessibility to Wanchai/Central areas. With your budget, you may be able to get a 3-bedroom 2-bath flat at around 20k. Please tell us your experiences when you finally decide.
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Hi all,
Thank you so much for your quick and wonderful responses. My wife and I are thrilled that there are so many alternatives and extremely relieved.
To clarify, 15 - 18k is our rental budget, not total budget.
Thanks!
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Also try looking in Kennedy Town. It's an older part of town but there are now some newer buildings there which are attracting younger expats (singles and couples) so the area has quite a few restaurants that have sprung up that caters to this crowd. The newer developments may be out of your budget but I know a friend who rented a decent 2-bedroom apartment there recently in a slightly older building called Harbour View Garden for $15.5K.
Regarding "midges", they're everywhere, certainly not just near NT villages. I was almost bitten alive by them when I took my son to the park near the Police Museum (off Stubbs Rd and Peak Rd) on HK island!
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Hi,
Welcome to Hong Kong! We lived in Villa Esplanade for 2 years when we first arrived and we LOVED it!!!! Due to a crazy owner trying to raised 35% on the rent, we decided to move out. Your budget would get you about 700 sq. ft. there right now. Alternatively, after some research and a lot of house hunting, we ended up at Festival City in Tai Wai, Shatin. The complex is about 1.5 years old. It is stroller friendly environment. It has many facilities for kids and it is very close to a lot of schools in Kowloon Tong or in Shatin. It takes less than 30 minutes by mtr to Wai Chai. For $15K, you can get a 900 sq. ft. flat (3 bedrooms, 2 baths) and for about $17-$17.5k, you can get a 1030 sq. ft. flat (3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a storage room). Something to consider.
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staxi
12 yrs ago
Have a look in Tung CHung. You can go to Wanchai by MTR and the area is very kids and stroller friendly. APartments here are still cheaper than anywhere else. The quality of the apartments is great. And the accessibilty is fantastic. Your wife will be happier here with everything in front of her doorstep than in a village house where she has to call a cab or take a bus to go to the playground or to the supermarket. Just have a look, it's not so far away, just 30min MTR ride to Central.
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I would personally find living in New Territories too far away especially if you have two young children. You should look at Sham Wan Towers in Ap Lei Chau. There are 2 or 3 bedroom apartments with great views and for your budget you should get soemmething 650 - 780sqft. There is a large private play ground which is enclosed and safe, a swimming pool and bbq area and there is also a kindergarden on the groudn floor! There are direct busses to Wan Chai 2min walk from Sham Wan Towers. I know because I use to live there but have moved to Wan Chai. Good luck!
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Lohas Park is built next to HK's biggest landfill and the stench is something else...
Outlying island are good for families, Lamma and Lantau in particular, great communities of mixed expat and local people and the lifestyle beats the heck out of trying to raise kids in a shoebox in the sky. Plus the $ you save on rent you gonna need for schools. Welcome to the Kong
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Hi all!
Well, we eventually went with Park Island. My wife absolutely loves it. We're still in the honeymoon phase, but so far we couldn't be happier! My commute does take some time, but I enjoy riding the ferry a lot more than the MTR.
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Can't help on the rental side but it looks like you have yourself sorted.
I think the bug bite stuff you may be referring to is Mopiko which is really easy to pick up here - works wonders for all sorts of bites.
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Hi Cara!
It's my pleasure and thanks!
Hope to see you around some time! Our two little guys pretty much keep us in a state of disarray as well :)
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