Finding apartments near Wanchai

Hi,


I'm moving to Hong Kong for a fellowship, starting mid-April. I'll be working in Wanchai, and am unsure about the best way to find housing. I am 23, female - but my boyfriend may be joining me in several months.


How do you recommend I find housing? I've been responding to ads on the xpat site, but haven't been getting any answers back. Should I try to arrange for housing ahead of time, or should I stay in a hostel for the first week, and hope I find an apartment?


If I'm working in Wanchai, is Causeway Bay a reasonable commute? Should I be looking in Wanchai only in terms of the commute, or should I also examine other areas?


I'm willing to pay up to about HK$5900 to rent a room in a flat with others. Thanks for the tips!

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

Definitely find somewhere to stay for at least a week, and look around. Don't try and arrange somewhere to live before you get here as you need to see it first. Causeway Bay is a very reasonable commute from Wanchai - it's only one stop on the MTR so can't really even be considered a commute, you could in fact walk there. I would certainly recommend that you look in other areas too - it depends on how much time you're willing to spend travelling to and from work every day. Public transport in Hong Kong is extremely good. If you look for a flat share, make sure you tell the people you're sharing with that your boyfriend may be joining you, otherwise they might be very unhappy about it when he turns up later on. You could get a flat of your own for $5,900 - but it would be small and further away, like Sheung Wan which would take about 15 minutes on the MTR to Wanchai. If it's possible I would give yourself longer than a week to find somewhere - you might be lucky and find a place immediately, but sometimes it takes longer.

Don't forget to allow for the deposit (if not sharing) in your budget. Also, if not sharing, leases in HK are usually for two years.