Posted by
hostie
19 yrs ago
hi i guess you all have these e-mails constantly but here goes. I'm moving to hk in 4 weeks with my husband and we are really confused about where to live. we are renting in db for a month purely because the transport links to the airport are so good. I really liked stanley but am really worried about not meeting people. I'm 28 and not really wanting to be surrounded by children (as much as i like them). Any help or positive thought would be great.
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Thanx for the replies, think i'll look very closely at stanley. Are there any other areas you can recommend, i don't have kids and my husband needs to be commutable to the airport.
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Stanley is too far for us with my husband's frequent travel and his office in Central. We lived in the Central midlevels when we first arrived and found it very convenient for all the social things that came up. Parkview is convenient too.
I also joined the AWA (American Women's Association, very active organization and NOT all Americans) which is how I met practically all of my many friends of the first 5 years. A great thing for a newcomer to do. Now we have a child, so our socializing has taken on a markedly different bend, that may happen to you too :-)
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Moved here from the UK with my husband a few months ago. Chose to live in Mid Levels and am glad we did. So convenient - less than 10 minutes to get to Central/Airport Express by cab (and cabs are plentiful as well so no waiting like in London) and a 10 minute journey home after a night out in the centre of town is bliss! Our apartment is in a modern block and has all the facilities too, pool, gym, etc. I suppose it depends a lot on budget as you would get more space for your money in say Happy Valley or Stanley. Right or wrong I don't know, but our estate agent said as a young couple with no kids the best place to start off was Mid Levels (budget permitting).
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Thanx for info haggis. we've also looked at mid levels and it lookk great except we want some sort of outdoor space- not sure how easy that is to get. Our budget will be about 55k. Did you find it easy to meet people living there, with my husband working i'll be at home and so want to be able to meet people easily.
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If you mean more than a balcony for your outdoor space then not likely in mid levels, although shared outside space is there (the pool area or a bbq patio maybe). To be honest haven't found it that easy to meet people so far, I don't work either and my husband doesn't work with many his age/level so it has been tough but still early days. Today is my first at posting on this site (although I have looked at it loads) and things are improving. Have read lots of posts for organisations like the AWA mentioned above but haven't had the courage to go to anything like that yet... The first couple of months was busy with sorting furniture and getting to know my way around the city etc but now that's all done it is time to make friends! Am definitely glad we made the move so don't be put off by this.
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You sound very similar to me, i've also read about the awa but hate doing these things for the first time-always daunting. we will be arriving at the end of march and i've also just started posting on this site. Don't know wot age bracket you are in but i'm in my late twenties so hoping it'll be easy to make new friends. Do you happen to know much about happy valley??
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Lime
19 yrs ago
I also felt daunted by the idea of joining an organisation when I arrived but my friends (who had all lived here in the past as expats) persuaded me to join the English Speaking Members Department of the YWCA (really non religious!). I have never looked back and have made many friends from all over the world, from all walks of life, of all sorts of professions and backgrounds. They run many , many courses but the one I do recommend is the At Home course which introduces newcomers to life in HK. Here I made my closest friends, I guess because we were all in the same boat as newbies and we explored and discovered our new home together. Hong Kong can be lonely , like any other big city, so do get out there and join up and meet some new friends. Have fun!
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GM157
19 yrs ago
Am arriving in HK in 2 weeks time from UK and will be based in Sheung Wan. Pleased to give anyone advice and support to all as I need to build my own network too. Haggis you are from Scotland obviously, so got something in common as my daughter lives in Glasgow. Good luck to everyone and hope to meet up with some of you soon. Go to 'Oriented' website for monthly gatherings. Bring your partner and widen your circle of friends. Will post the March meeting place as soon as it arrives. Usually a restauraunt in Lan Kwai Fong area.
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Hostie, think you might be a bit more pro-active than me - the fact you are already posting on here before you arrive when it has taken me 4 months! As to age, I have just turned 32, I emphasise the "just". We have friends who live in Happy Valley and love the area, they moved out here a few months before us and have a 3 bedroom apartment with balcony but without any facilities and their rent is way lower than your budget. He works in the area so it was an obvious choice for them. Haven't spent much time there but they say it has quite a village feel to it, you get to know the barman in your local and the lady on the checkout in the supermarket. It is a bit further from central than mid levels (not by much) but does have public transport which is lacking where we are. There are loads of trams and buses and the MTR is within walking distance at Causeway Bay. Causeway Bay is good for shopping but is always so busy I wouldn't want to live there. Where you are moving from and what you are used to will make a difference too, we came here from London so being in a busy city wasn't a worry.
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Hi GM well i'll only be 2 weeks behind you arriving so we'll prob end up at the same 'newbie' get togethers. I suppose i'm quite lucky as two friends are also coming out at the same time as me, one of them also from scotland, me i'm from bristol but spend alot of time away from home as am long haul cabin crew. think i'll look more into mid levels as really want to live a little and be involved in the hustle and bustle. Not too sure where sheung wan is, but would be great to meet up once we're all out there. also going to have a look at parkview although i can't find any rental prices only sale prices???
Ps big thanx to all for advice and help
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pps will be away for next 8 days so apologies if i don't reply til i'm home
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Parkview looks nice, I had never heard of it before. On the website you can get rental prices for the "suites" - not sure but I think this means serviced apartments and for your $55k you could get a decent size 2 bedroom so presumably for non serviced you would get more for your money? Is your husband's employer setting you up with an agent? If not contact the big ones before you get here so they can have things lined up for you to look at.
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Hi,
I have a luxuary fully furnished and victoria seaview flat with 42" Plasma TV, Int'l Cable TV, DVD Recorder.
Club House, Swimming Pool next to Ocean, Very Very Quiet without any children and elders even at the Club.
For more photos, pls email to me at water082002@yahoo.com.hk
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hi all well have been in db for a week not sure wot to make of it except lots of children, are there any young couples here??? does anyone know how much you'd expect to pay in mid levels for a 1200sq ft place and anyone know wot the house market is like-is it a good time to buy??? i like db but will i meet young people
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Hi
You could spend anything from HK$30-60k depending on the location, renovation, building, view etc.
There are mixed views about whether it is a good time to buy. Prices are still less than they used to be in 1997 although they have risen considerably since 2003. Rentals have been soaring in the last 18 months pushing values up too. The economy is doing well and companies are still hiring. There is a lack of supply to purchase so it is not a buyers' market. However there is a mortgage war between the banks right now so this could be a good time to raise finance and this is also stimulating transactions.I produce an occasional email newsletter for investors in Hong Kong. It is free. Call me or text me your email if you would like to receive it or have any property questions. I would love to hear your experience as a new person in HK looking to rent - what is available, where, what price etc.
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Hostie - Welcome to HK, hope the move went smoothly and was stress free. Sorry can't help you with what life is like in DB. We rent in Mid Levels so don't know about buying market.
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hi haggis just looked at mid levels above the lrc really like so may end up there. if you want to meet up my e-mail is lizzylu78@hotmail.com
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As said in the Park Island threads I live in and highly recommend Park Island. It is a 25 minute ferry from Central, 30 Minutes to the Airport by bus and train (you could also keep a car nearby and drive yourself) not nearly as large, expensive or overpopulated with buildings as Discovery Bay and is green by intention. Rental for 1050 sq ft flats from around 15K and 1800 sq ft duplex with roof about 30K. All those apartments have both sea and green view. www.parkisland.com.hk
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Hi There, I am not sure if you are still looking for a place but we are wanting to break our lease of our apartment, It is at south bay between repulse bay and stanley. the size is 1650, It is a 2 bedroom, huge master bedroom with carpets in all bedrooms modern western bathroom with a great spa bath walk in robes new decoration throughout entire apartment including the kitchen it also has an amas quarter and nice balcony overlooking the trees mountain and water. you can rent this place anytime from the end of the month and can just take the lease for 6 months if you like but you can lease it for longer if you want., my husband also commutes to and from the airport on a regular basis (pilot) but I have moved back to Australia to have our first baby and we are going to commute for the next couple of years..
there is a shuttle bus to the grocery store pool and club house and is walking distance to all the beaches.the rental is 40kper month which is great value for the area and the quality of the apartment and includes the mamagement/rates in that price. if you would like any more info you can e-mail me at annainhongkong@hotmail.com.
thanks.
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thanx for option but we decided that we want to be in town for awhile. hope all goes well back in oz
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qvong
19 yrs ago
Hostie -- There is no better place to be in Hong Kong than in the Mid-Levels if you have never been here before and especially without children. You've got everything you need within walking distance from you and tons for you to explore during your day. My husband and I went through your same debate, Southside where it's greener and the pace is slower or diving right into the heart of it all. We are so happy we chose the Mid-Level and even happier that it takes us 5 minutes to get home from LKF.
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hi jnl group i tried e-mailing awhile ago, not sure if you received it but will try again. we are moving out of db to mid levels wish us luck, hope to meet lots more people as met no one in db, although living on a a boat was a laugh
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Hi Hostie,
Good luck in mid levels. My partner and I are moving to Hong Kong in the next couple of months. I have been checking out rental properties on this site. We are also keen on moving to the mid levels. Do you know what sort of place we could get for about $20,000hkd/ month? It's hard to tell from the pics on the site. Any advice would be appreciated,
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Hi Hostie,
Actually I got some flats in Gold Coast and they have beautiful seaviews, you want to have a look?
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hi celburg, will have a scout as agents are on our road. its a great place to be and very convenient for shops, nitelife etc.. but your also out of the noise so its best of both worlds. if you want to see more properties go on to websites like - hongkongpropertyman.com.hk or hong kong homes they are good sites.
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Thanks for the advice hostie. Will check out those sites. What part of the midlevels are you in? Central?
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also have a look at century 21 properties. I've seen adverts for flats for 23k that gets you about 1200sq ft. i found it really hard to find anything looking at websites, you really need to book a day with an agent and look everywhere. if your a couple on your own then mid levels is fab. are you going to be working??? I don't work at the mo so being in the heart of everything is great. We live on robinson road which is right by the escalator so convenient in midlevels.
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Have you ever looked at Tung Chung? My husband and I love it there. He has to fly all the times so it's an ideal place for us to live since it is only 5 minutes from the airport by taxi, and 10-15 minutes by bus. The rent here is pretty reasonable. The estate that we are in has a big club house with 2 swimming pools, gym, bowling alley, squash court, multi-purpose gym, pool table, karaoke room,...etc. Here you have ocean and mountain views, cycling path, hiking trails so there are lots of things you can do. It's also convenient because the estate is attached to the Citygate mall, which is being developed into a Outlet shopping center, the first of its kind in HK. The MTR Tung Chung station is right below the Citygate mall and is only 30 minutes from Central. Many restaurants have opened up in the last two months. There is also a Irish Pub called the Aviator with live band on weekends. For those who love World Cup soccer, it will be open late for most matches. Anyway, if you are still looking for a condo to rent, we are renting ours out for $12,000 HKD, inclusive of government rates and management fees. It's about 1200 sqft and has 3 bdrms, 1 store/maid room, 2 bathrooms.
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Could be interested. could you send details:size, rental (inclusive, exclusive), facilities in the building, exact location....
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