What is up with the living cost and their housing options in Korea?
How can I find a suitable place to live??
Since I recently moved, I wanted to make a posting for fellow home-hunters...
From what I know, Seoul is a unique city that offers what's called (Jeon-seh, 전세) as one of their housing options.
Here are the three options in Korea :
1) Monthly rent - "Wall-seh', 월세
2) Down payment based - "Jeon-seh', 전세
3) Purchase - 분양/매입
So depending on your financial situation, you can choose whatever works for you. If you have no lump sum of money that you saved up/cannot take out a bank loan, then monthly rent is a good option. Depending on neighborhood and the size of the house, you can pay from $200 ~ $3,000 per month. Of course the cost and the condition of the house correlates!
If you have lump sum, but don't want to settle down in Korea for a long period of time, consider Jeon-seh. It's a good option because you get the whole amount back at the end of your living contract. However, be careful the owner may have taken it out as collateral, and there are unfortunately too many foul playing owners/realtors, so be sure to accompany a Korean friend or whoever has some experience with the Jeon-seh stuff.
As for the country itself...Korea is a small country (slightly bigger than lake Superior). It's population density per sq. km is 508.86 (with its population @ 50 Million)! Considering Canada has a population size of about 34.88 million, that is....very dense (I hear Japan is worse).... I actually cannot find a solitude space in Korea as of yet.
So, where can I find a decent neighborhood at an affordable price?
One of the few things I consider when looking for a place to live are...(is it safe?, easy to approach without a car&get around the city without a car?, in good shape?)
Here are some neighborhoods I know in Seoul (sorry, Seoul is quite exceptional)
Here's a link to Seoul Subway map
- Itaewon/HBC (cost good, approach-ability soso)
- On subway line 6, Itaewon station / noksapyung station
- usually the places will be 10~20 minute walk or <5 min bus ride from subway st.
- one of the old neighborhoods in Seoul, but your neighbors will be expats/other foreigners
- Hongdae/Hapjeong (Cost soso, approach-ability great)
- It's an up-and coming neighborhood, fairly new but very bustling with individual coffee shops, cool bars, underground music scene, and there's also the club scene.
- Also non-Koreans walking around here are usually exchange students/tourists
- Since many Korean celebrities are spotted here, there are fans visiting this area from overseas.
- Gangnam/Seocho area (Cost is high, approach-ability great)
- This is south of the Han river, and is one of the busiest areas in Seoul.
- Business district (trade center, many companies are located here) included
- You can see many non-Koreans walking around Gangnam station (I've seen more lately after Psy's 'Gangnam Style' song came out), but usually tourists.
- Bundang (cost good, approachable not good)
- This is a suburb area just outside of Seoul. Non-Koreans usually live in this area because of their work (Teaching English).
- They have nice, quiet, clean neighborhoods but if you want to take a trip to the city, you should well expect at least 1~ 1.5 hours of bus/subway ride.
To be honest, comparing the cost of accommodation in Seoul with Canada, I feel it's more expensive in Korea (actually, Seoul to be specific). $500,000 doesn't go far in Seoul when trying to buy a house. You can probably get a 1-room apartment in downtown Seoul, but hey.. it's like comparing apples and oranges.
For more [living] postings to come : motel culture, glamping, and more
* Please, feel free to add/correct me if I'm wrong since I'm no expert. I'm just speaking from experience.
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