Moving to HK 1 Month enough to find accomodation?

Hi guys,


I'm moving to HK probably next year January and I'm not familiar with the place and the rental market over there.


Is 1 month enough to find a nice rental accomodation over there? I have a budget less than 8K a month and wouldnt mind to live in NT in accomodation like village house in Yuen Long.


I'm planning to move in Jan 15th 2014, would it be possibe to start looking at 15th Dec 2013?


Any advise will be highly appreciated!


Thanks!

That should be plenty of time - where will you work be? Yuen Long is quite a ways out so the commute would be time-consuming if you work on the island....

8k is tight but should be do-able. 1 month is no problem at all as many landlords will not even want to talk with you unless you are ready to begin the contract in 2 weeks. So use the first two weeks to search for the parts of town you like and then the last two to pick the actual specific place to live.


Negotiate hard, don't believe the BS stories about "these things go fast" and "its been on the market for only 1 day" - all lies. It's a buyers & renters market now and the landlords & agents are desperate, despite the facade that they are tough as nails. Do your research on Centadata to get comps for your area so you can tell when you are being ripped off / being given an honest deal.

8K is very tight. It all depends on where you want to live. Living in N.T. is not a bad idea but be prepared to travel an hour to work everyday.

Hi guys,


Thank you so much guys for all the valuable respond.


I’m not going to work as I run my own online business so New Territories won’t be an issue for me. The reason I am moving over there is for my GF as she will be working in HK for 2 years.


I did some research into Yuen Long and found some Village houses to be really cheap like range between 5K to 8K, anyone have any experience with housing like those? How is the environment like for village house?


And I understand that 8K is a tight budget for a place like HK, but do you guys think it is possible to get a village house with a free car park in the NT with this budget?

You may be lucky, or you may be not. By all means bargain but if you are negotiating a rental contract in a village house, I would advise against going too hard - especially if the landlord/lady loses face. Always be polite as there are triads - and people connected/related to triads living there. I doubt you would get a free parking dpace included but I have never lived in the New Territories. Also, I don't think there are many desperate landlords as rents have still been rising in the Consumer Price Index. HKD 8,000 is very tight. You probably want to budget for double that if you are serious. 8,000 is possible though.

I think Park Island has village houses for rent at 10k flat. No triads there, much more convenient commute than Yuen Long.

Budgeting 16,000 would give you some leeway as you can definitely get something cheaper. Budgeting 8,000 overseas is a big gamble.

Do you know where YL is?

(And how far it is from your place of work?)


You may get a middle floor for your $8,000 - with a long walk to the MTR


Sorry.

I just noticed the OP's name.

You may only need a phone booth, and so okay maybe.


You will have many more choices, if you can bump your budget up to $10,000.

I wouldn't mind to increase my budget but certainly not 16K.

Are there any places in the NT that is free from triad and safe but within the budget between 8K to 12K then?

Superman50. Don't let me put you off. It's possible but I get the impression this is not the best thought-out of plans. Usually, if you save on rent in HK, you pay more on transport, or convenience, or size. Same everywhere, I suppose, but in HK it's a pretty sharp drop in living conditions -- though HK is very safe (my point about triads is simply don't be rude to people or argue with them in public). You need a visa to work unless you plan to marry your local girlfriend. If you move abroad, it's best to have some cash to get the lay of the land. That's why I said 16,000 is a good budget target which you can work back from.

Triads won't bother you in HK unless you get into some village dispute.

Yo Superman,


You're getting some misplaced advice from people on this thread. Let me go through and dispel them for you. I live in a yuen long village house, moved in bout a year ago from kowloon and it's been great so far. There are a couple villages where there always seems to be some kind of problem (people using the houses to store drugs or constant burglaries). You can read about that on the news. Other than those bad apples, the rest of the villages are A ok to live in.


"Is 1 month enough to find a nice rental accomodation over there? I have a budget less than 8K a month and wouldnt mind to live in NT in accomodation like village house in Yuen Long."


ME - 8K is the minimum you need for a 700 sq. foot flat in a village house in YL these days. For 5K, you are looking at a 350 sq ft flat thats probably outdated and needs a good cleanup. If you go under 8K for a 700sq footer, be prepared to scrub, clean or paint before moving in.


Ed-"That should be plenty of time - where will you work be? Yuen Long is quite a ways out so the commute would be time-consuming if you work on the island...."


ME - Neighbour works at IFC, commute time is 1 hour. Bus to west rail station 20 minutes, west rail journey to central including changing station at nam cheong - 40 minutes. The yuen station is only about 4km from where I live, so if you have car or taxi, it only takes about 8 minutes to the west rail line. 8 minutes because there are loads of traffic lights.


MY RESPONSE Lucane01 THREAD - 1 month is not a problem but you should look at a few flats, each have its own merits. But if you are shown a newer built flat or a pristine condition flat, those get rented out REAL quick. Lots of Kongers rent flats, and absolutely let them go tosh*ts. then the landlord wont clean it up before renting it out. So the onus is on you to clean it.


YOU - And I understand that 8K is a tight budget for a place like HK, but do you guys think it is possible to get a village house with a free car park in the NT with this budget?


ME - If you live closer to yuen long town, NO. most car parks are rent from 500-1000 a month, and thats where you have to deal with the triads. Every village is different, ask around.


REPLY to Loyds post: Most likely you're going through an agent, and if the offer is 8k, a first counter offer is 7.5, which you prob get back a counter from the landlord of 7.8 or no discount. Don't worry about the face issue. Its a business transaction. 7-8K is still very doable for a village flat. I still see local ads for 8K, but location is bit further away from yuen long town.


(Y_H): If you live in a village house the internet connection might be too slow to run your business?Also, your girlfriend might still need to commute to work, right?


REPLY TO Y_H: Internet works great here. PCCW guys are all over this place. We're lucky that our forward thinking landlord got someone to install a fiber cable from the main road. Otherwise, you're dealing with line of sight antennas, which is a bit slower, but still enough to do emails etc.


REPLY TO OTP: I don't think you can get 8K with a long walk to MTR anymore unless you mean a 30 minute walk. Most villages have mini bus feeder service. There a few villages next to the west rail stations and I am sure they aren't 8K anymore.


Y_H: Yes, there are, but these are the very isolated places in the middle of nowhere, and we might not necessarily know about them.I wonder if you will enjoy your life in hk... (DUDE YOU ARE GIVING SOME PISS POOR ADVICE, IF YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, DONT ADD YOUR 2 CENTS)


CONCLUSION:

For those naysayers who talk like once you move to Yuen Long, you can't escape from it or that it takes like 3 days to get anywhere in an oxen cart. Here's the truth:


Transport to Yuen long from HK island is surprisingly well thought out. For LKF party revelers, there's 968 bus which goes CWB to yuen long (last bus at 12:40am), after that bus n368 picks up the slack at 12:50am ALL NIGHT!!, both buses take about 45-50 minutes only to YL.


Though YL is not as gentrified as say SOHO with bars/pub/macaroon/lingerie shops, there's lots of little eateries in YL and all the major branded chain eateries are here (except subway and burger king). There's an aeon and nata upscale supermarket next to tsuen wan west rail station, which is about 15 minutes by rail. Thats the only drawback I have so far. Having an upscale supermarket here be nice. It's not that the people can't afford it, some very wealthy people live here. But there seems to be a lacking of big commercial spaces over 10-20,000sq ft. in YL.


My advice: Unless you're driving your girlfriend to work in say Tin shui wai or tuen mun everyday or you are living in one of those villages where the public transport is weak, you won't need your car to get around. There's a tunnel fee of $36 each way to get to kowloon, so if you're taking the car just to kowloon you're looking at spending $200 or more that day.

Without the initial expense of a car, you'd have a much larger budget.


Hope this helps, and PM me if you have anymore questions. Cheers!

Here's my advice:


Spend $9-10,000 and get a nice modernized flat in 38 year old Cosmopolitan Estates development in Tai Kok Tsui. There's a 5 minute walk to Olympic station, then you have a 7 minute (two-stop) ride into Central.


What you say on transport, will make up the difference in rents... probably. And you will be in a better neighborhood, now undergoing gentrification.


(But, hey, there may be other solutions too, that people who know their particular neighborhoods can suggest. Send me an PM, if you want more info.)

where i live you can get a middle floor for 7K. Yes, it's out in the sticks where no sod lives, but it is very peaceful. Oh yes, the San Mig is only $5.5 a can in the local shop. PM me if you want to know where I live. I don't want to tell everyone!!

Seeaaaaaa Raaaaaanch.

Harbour Plaza Resort City.....if your renting...get a gym and a pool...


why change light bulbs and unclog sinks yourself?

Sea Ranch?

Nice environment, and cheap.

But whatta journey !

PM if interested in a room in Mid Levels, with clubhouse (swimming pool, gym....), ideal if you work in Central (walking distance or a 20$ cab ride).

Has anyone on this forum ever been to Sea Ranch?

Sure. I have been to Sea Ranch.


It was a long journey there, and a long way back, via Cheung Chau


They closed the clubhouse years ago, because there are not enough people living there for it to make economic sense to keep it open


Maps, Photos : http://www.greenenergyinvestors.com/index.php?showtopic=17060

should be plenty of time if you are not fussy! but they will need to see some form of employment proof before the landlord willl agree to lease the place!

Hi guys,


It's been a while since my last update, but anyway I'm in HK now and have settled in one of the apartment in Tuen Mun.


Just to let you guys know that a lot of people here have no idea what they are talking about and most of the advises I received here are completely misleading.


I have found a 8500 a month 1 bed room apartment decent size with a nice clubhouse near to the MTR. The environment is fantastic with good transportation system, my gf can get to Taipo which is her workplace in an hour by using public transport system.


Internet here are fantastic too, I have HKBN installed with their free to go plan and speed is at no issue at all.


Either way I think most of the misleading advise given here are from expat who have no idea how the locals do things here. So they are the one who have been ripped off no offense but I think that is mostly true.


I'm an oversea Chinese myself and speak English and Chinese reasonably well so I can integrate easily into the local society, I think if you can speak and read the language here, it is fairy easy to find good deals around. I find that NT is more comfortable than the island, there are more spaces and less congested here.


Now I am considering of renting a carport in my apartment and buy a car to get around during weekend.


All the best, best regards.

You are living in Tuen Mun


That explains plenty.


Good for you for finding it.

Most expats never leave HK Island, and are clueless about the rest of the SAR.


You should be grateful for the help offered (freely), even if people have a limited understanding of the wider world around where they live.


I think Tuen Mun is very suitable for people who are willing to consider a long commute. But you will find it to be socially "a bit remote". You will find that people from HK Island will be reluctant to visit, and they will always expect you to travel to them, and their area.


We find that even in the Olympic area, even though it is only about 7 minutes journey from HK station.

What a douchebag.


I've re-read through this entire thread just to re-confirm that no one here gave any absurd advice.


The primary contributors and their advice:


Myself - "8k is tight but should be do-able. 1 month is no problem at all" & "Negotiate hard"


Ed - "That should be plenty of time"


Shellyfast - "8K is very tight. It all depends on where you want to live. Living in N.T. is not a bad idea but be prepared to travel an hour to work everyday. "


Loyd- "HKD 8,000 is very tight. You probably want to budget for double that if you are serious. 8,000 is possible though."


OTP - "Spend $9-10,000 and get a nice modernized flat in 38 year old Cosmopolitan Estates development in Tai Kok Tsui."


Dolphan - long post basically saying YL is not far, has good quality and is cheap


So please explain to me where are the "a lot of people here have no idea what they are talking about and most of the advises I received here are completely misleading." We generally said that 8k budget is tight but do-able, that one month is no problem and that YL / deep NT leads to 1 hour commutes but it is acceptable. What did you end up finding? An apartment at 8.5k in one month in Tuen Mun with a one hour commute. How were we "completely misleading" ?


What an a** you are. We spent time trying to help you out and gave advice that almost perfectly matches with what you ended up experiencing and then you have the gall to come back and tell us that we have "no idea what they are talking about" ?


Edit: I'd like to further note that you came to an expat forum of a city where many (most?) expats are living in housing that costs 30-300k HKD per month. And yet the expats were able to confirm that there is decent housing available in the 8-10k range.

S-,

If you want to help others here - and maybe attract more expats to Tuen Mun (you may feel a bit like a Martian there), then why not start a new thread on the virtues of living in Tuen Mun.


Here are two examples of such threads:


TKT/Olympic : http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/hong-kong-property/threads/150218/the-olympic-station-tkt-thread/


CC/Tung Chung : http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/hong-kong-property/threads/96415/update-on-up-and-coming-tung-chung-area/


BTW, did you look in Tung Chung?

It is a bit more pricey than TM, but you may have been able to find something there within your price range.


I used to describe it as "the cheapest nice, expat-friendly area of Hong Kong."


Now, maybe TM will take the title as "cheapest", but it has some way to go to become truly expat-friendly, as you will learn, given time.


Most HK people work VERY LONG HOURS, and find a one hour commute too much. And the social isolation of living there may get to you after a while. Or Not. Perhaps you will "go local", as I have done somewhat, and you will find it just fine to be living there.


My GF likes TM, and thinks we could buy a property there someday (Century Gateway was her preference) - but only if she was not working far away.

I think the problem is that most expats thing that HK Island is the centre of the universe and everybody works there, and NT is some sort of third world country, without electricity, paved roads, law and order, etc. I think some expats never ventured to NT.


In reality, NT is a much better place to live than HK Island. I live in NT and I would never want to live in HK Island myself. Also, not everybody works in HK Island. Believe it or not, there are jobs in NT (I know you don't believe it). I used to work in NT (I am not kidding you), and now I work in Kowloon Tong.


The most amusing post about why living in NT is out of the question was by Loyd, who when asked to provide 5 or 10 reasons why living in HK Island was better than in in NT, wrote that living in Mid levels gives higher status (I am kidding you not), HK Island is where all the government offices are (I go like once every 3 years, so who cares?), and it's closer to Disneyland (or was it Ocean park?).


You would be surprised, but many many people prefer to live in NT. As is also shown by the Centacity index. Over the last 5 and 10 years the prices in NT East have gone up more than the prices in HK Island.

I am grateful for that "The Island is better" attitude, since it increases demand for property on the island, and reduces demand in Kowloon ('the dark side'), the NT, and the outlying islands.


This means HK island people are paying more, than they otherwise would, if demand were more evenly distributed.


I consider that extra amount, a "stupid tax" - a tax on people stupid enough to pay it. And I am glad that I have exercised the my freedom not to pay it.