Posted by
sev123
15 yrs ago
Im moving to HK in August with my girlfriend and would appreciate some advice on which area to move to.
We are both Australian, in our late 20s and are students, studying at the Uni of Hong Kong (HK island) and Hong Kong Polytechnic Uni (Kowloon side).
Our budget is approx 20k per month and we are looking for a 1 bedroom apartment. We would only be after a 9 month lease (I understand that it may be difficult obtaining such a short term lease). We already have a serviced apartment booked for one month so we have time to hunt around.
So my questions are:
1. Is it possible getting a lease for 9 months?
2. Will it be cheaper to rent a serviced apartment, a furnished apartement, or a vacant apartment and buy the furtniture ourselves (we would be happy buying from ikea or second hand through asiaexpat)
3. which areas in HK would be best for us (or even any apartment you could recomment)? Ideally, we would like to be no more than 40min from either uni (peak hour), close to restaurants/supermarkets, no more than 30min from nightlife and the apartment should be clean. A view, gymn, pool and other extras are not important to us.
Cheers for your help!
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Ed
15 yrs ago
My suggestion would be to spend a month at least in a serviced apartment to get a feel for the city and the various districts... it sucks to lock in a two year lease and find you are not happy in the location...
You can check for deals on hong kong serviced apartments here http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/property/serviced.asp
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DMFT
15 yrs ago
Hey,
You can check out Horizon Hotel & Suites in Hung Hom. It is right beside poly tech in Hung Hom, however abt 45 min to HKU.
They have shuttle bus services to hung hom mtr and TST mtr, so you can easily get to central / LKF within 30 mins
Good facilities, and starting rate at 10,000 ish ... but expect to pay 13,000-16,000 or more depending on vacancy.
http://www.horizonhotels.com.hk/
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Thanks for the responses.
Ed, I will only be in Hong Kong for 10 months all up (I already have a serviced apartment booked for the first month which is why Im asking if its easy enough to negotiate a 9 month lease - see Q1).
Also, I was really hoping someone could answer questions 2 and 3 (suggest some areas given the details)?
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Anything is possible at a price. Some landlords are flexible. That said, the normal contract is 1 plus 1 with option to opt out after 12 months with 2 months notice. ie you can get out after 14 months. But I have heard of people who sign 6 ths contracts. You can negotiate with landlord - either pay more per month or pay for his cost of finding a new tenant after 9 months.
The other option is continue with a service apt which have shorter leases.
Your other problem is one is at uni on HK side and the other is on Kowloon side. You could pick somewhere in the middle like above Elements or western/Sheung Wan. Sheung Wan has good links to HKU and lots of cross harbour buses to Kowloon side, plus you can get a 600 sq ft place that meets your budget. Elements is newer and more expensive.
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Sheung Wan would probably be the go, As Philly mentioned, it has good transport options and will fit you price range and is close to all the nightlife and general conveinences. You will probably find it easier to get a furnished pad, price does not vary much in terms of furnished or not, for 10 months, no point to purchase. The one thing you may struggle with is a gym and a pool on your budget. In saying that, even if it is in the building, you generally need to pay to use it anyway, go figure, I can't work out why. Anyway, you will love HK, great vibrant city with lot's going on. Cheers!
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Check out the Olympic area in West Kowloon. You can get real value for money, and you are less than 10 minutes MTR ride away from Central.
Many expats won't even look "on the dark side" (in Kowloon), and they are wasting their money on inferior and more expensive accomodation in the usual expat ghettos on HK side.
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ckang
15 yrs ago
When do you need the apartrment? I have an apartment in Mid-levels west and very near to HKU ie about 5 min walk which will be available next week onward. Let me know if you are interested. It's a fully finished.
CK
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There is a property in Mid-Levels called Bella Vista on Ying Fai Terrace between Caine Road and Mosque Street. Now in the interest of disclosure, I own a flat there but it is already rented out so I'm not trying to hawk it. The advantages are 1) Less than 10 years old, very clean and well-managed 2) quiet (as it is at the end of a cul-de-sac) 3) right next to the escalator to Central 4) 5 minutes from night-life at SOHO (Staunton Street area) 4) Can walk to HKU in about 15 minutes (but there are direct buses on Caine Road 3 mins away). getting to Hung Hom is less easy but you could walk down to Central (10-15 mins), get on the MTR and go 2 stops to Tsim Tsa Tsui. You would then have to change to East Tsim Sha Tsui East (a walk of about 5-10 mins through connecting passage-ways at the station - ie no need to go outside) and get on the West Rail for 1 stop to Hung Hom. I think there are also buses to Hung Hom (maybe from Caine Road) but the problem is getting through the Cross harbour Tunnel at peak hours so really not an option). A 1 bedroom flat of 477 sq feet will go for around 15,000 per month inclusive of management and rates (but not utility bills). Nine months is a bit short but there are also lots of serviced apartments in this area. Another good property close by is called Cameo Court.
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Olympic area -
OLYMPIC - A newly developed area in western Kowloon, having 2 connected shopping malls (the 3rd is in development) right downstair of the estate - with a food court, and some korea,vietnam,japanese,chinese,taiwan,western style restaurants.
We live in the area, and like it.
View: http://tinyurl.com/olympview1
That's the view from our BR. If you are on a high floor, you can see over to HK island
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hi.....i have a studio for rent now.....cannot gaurantee that i can hold till august, we may keep in touch.....our location is in the heart of tsim sha tsui kowloon, rent will be hk$15000 per month. pls reply to juvenile@netvigator.com if intrested.
thanks/ ISA(MR.)
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