KMK: Finding an Apartment in South Korea

One of the perks of being an English teacher in South Korea is that your employer will also offer housing. Arriving in a new country with an apartment already waiting for your tired bones to come trudging inside with loads of suitcases truly is a relief. How could a newcomer be expected to navigate realtors, locations, city bureaus, and all the other ins and outs of renting with the added barrier of language? I’m not sure who could do that, especially when most places want you to arrive on Monday and go straight to work on Tuesday. However, once you’ve been in Korea for a spell it becomes more feasible to leave the proverbial nest the school provided and look for housing on you own.

That’s the situation I now find myself in. I need new housing by January, so I thought I’d share the insights I learned from my Korean friend walked me patiently through the intricate maze of the Korean rental system. Before we get into the nitty gritty nuts and bolts of how to find your own place to live I need to mention something. Unlike back home, here in Korea, most folks don’t start looking for a new place until at the earliest a month before they need to move.

Crazy, right? I know! If you do start looking two and three months ahead of time realize that most realtors will just stare at you blankly and send you away with orders to come back at a more sensible time, like two weeks before you need to move. Still, I would play it safe and start looking a month before moving day. With that out of the way the first thing to do is to know the terms bandied about when discussing renting an apartment.

1. Budongsan (부동산): This is what the realtors are called in Korea. They can be found on almost any street corner in little shops with huge maps on the wall. These folks will be the people you primarily deal with. He should registered with the government and have a license. Make sure you see it to know he’s legit.

2. Pyeong (평). Back home we do square feet, here they do pyeong. Trust me you don’t want to live in something that’s 10 pyeong. I did and it’s not pretty. To compare, Wikipedia says a pyeong is equal to 3.3 square meters or 35 square feet.

3. Cheungsu (층 수). This is the term for floor which is important when there might not be an elevator. Plus, most women I know don’t want to be on the first floor or deal with a basement apartment.

Ok, you’re armed with some terminology and think you’re ready to kick some apartment booty. Hold fast, my friend, you’re not quite ready yet! You still have to figure out how you’re going to pay for your housing and exactly what type of housing you may be interested in. Read on!

Types of Options Unlike back home, Korea has a few different options when it comes to apartment hunting.

1. Buy. That’s right, buy that sucker. I’m sure if you’re in the position to buy your own apartment here in Korea you’re probably not reading this.

2. Cheonsae (전세). This is where you put down a huge chunk of money. I’m talking 100,000,000W, but with the bonus that you will pay no rent. The landlord gets his money by investing yours. When your lease is over you get your money back.

3. wolsae (월 세). This is where you pay a deposit and monthly rent. Usually for each 10,000,000W you can scrap up you’ll knock 100,000W off your rent. Nifty! Some places will lower the “bojeung geum” (re: deposit) in exchange for higher monthly rent and vice versa.

4. Kalse (칼 세). You may not want to hear it, because it’s bad news. With this option you are basically paying the entire amount of the lease up front. That means if you have a 1 year lease you are forking over 12 months worth of rent. Of course that means you’re not paying it every month either but how feasible is that?

Types of Housing

Houses

Not really what most ESL teachers are looking for. If you want an actual house prepare to shell out big bucks or call your rich sugar daddy or sugar momma.

Apartments

Now this might seem like a good place to start looking but first you should know something about apartments in Korea. They’re like little cities. Apartment complexes include a handful of huge monolithic buildings clustered around a small park with post offices, grocery stores, and other places right on the premises or close by. Korean families love their apartments and you won’t find too many foreigners living there mostly because of the high prices or rent or because they may want you to buy the apartment outright.

Officetels

Love them! Officetels are high rise buildings usually for students, single workers, or those with an on the go single life style. These places are not that big, but they are nice. They come with all the amenities designed for maximum efficiency with refrigerator, cabinets, and washing machine, all discretely part of the wall or something to that effect. Convenience stores, shops, restaurants, can usually be found in the building or close by. Some are even connected to the subway station. One thing to consider is that Officetels, like apartments, have building fees (maintenance) which are included in the utility fees you pay.

Villas

Villas are usually older buildings a few stories high. They may or may not come with an elevator. They don’t have all the nifty perks of apartment or officetel life.

Now that that’s out of the way the next step is to figure out just where you want to live. Since I’m in Seoul and plant to stay there that means I need to find a neighborhood that I like and that’s, hopefully, close to work. A good way to do this in Seoul is by subway station.

I still haven’t completely decided on one location, but that’s OK. I can proceed and just factor in more time to see more places in more than one area. You can to! Some people have suggested using online sites, but my Korean friend advised against it. He thinks the pictures will not be of the places the realtor will show you and that it’s just a waste of time. The best bet is to just go to the realtor agency and see the places in person.

However, since most of these online sites list prices it is a good way to judge how much the rent is going in a particular area. Some of the online rental agencies are:

Speed Bank

Eden Realty

Near Subway

One Room

House Hunting

Onnuri Real Estate

Short Rent

Green Real Estate

Hi End Places Seoul Realty Lucky Realty Seoul Life Wolse Speaking of doing things online you can also check out the following resources that list available places but are not actual agencies.

English Spectrum

Craigslist

Naver

Ok, you’ve got your neighborhood picked, good running shoes on, and a Korean friend to help you with those Lost in Translation moments. Good. Now you’re set to hit the streets and go into as many Budongsans as you can find.

Why not hit just one? Well, just like back home realtors have a list they work from. An apartment not on the list of one realtor may be on the list of a second or third realtor. Some of these guys and gals don’t play nice and may not want to share a fee by steering you to the competition so just hit as many as you can. Be sure to let your realtor know of any preconditions you have for the type of place you want to move into.

Can’t think of any? Well, here are some helpful tips to think about when looking for that new bachelor pad.

1. Have a budget in mind. Sure those hi-rise penthouse lofts are nifty but are you really moving in there? Don’t your time or the realtor’s time.

2. Have the size in mind. Do you want a 1 bedroom or a studio? Do you need two bathrooms? Narrow this stuff down before hand if you can.

3. Furnishings. Some places come furnished. Some do not. Find out. You don’t want to move in thinking everything is set only to find out the air con, washing machine, bed, couch, TV, and refrigerator you saw before are long gone.

4. Age of the building. Newer buildings have modern conveniences built in. Tell the realtor you only want to see buildings no older than six years ago. Now when you’re out and about with the realtor looking at places don’t take the first thing he or she shows you. My friend cautioned that realtors will show you the places they want to get rid of first. These are usually crap holes that no one wants to rent.

Hopefully, you’re list has bypassed that but just in case be on guard. Be prepared for the long haul. Sure, you may find that dream place on the first couple visits, but be ready to look at ten or more places at least. Treat your friend to a nice meal for the help they’re giving you. Oh, and when you do find your dream pad there are some things you need to know about.

1. Realtor fee. Yup, no one is helping you out the kindness of their heart.

2. Penalties. Just in case you can’t live up to the contract know what the penalties are for ending it early.

3. Liens, collateral, debt oh my! Does the owner have outstanding liens on his property? Is it even his property? A good realtor will have this information for you.

I hope this helps in the great apartment hunt! If you have any insight, comments, or suggestions to add please leave a comment and I’ll add it!