price of rental deposits

[JJ in Hong Kong]

Hello there,

I plan to move to Hong Kong to continue my employment in the film and music industry.

For the past few hours I have been checking out the forums and still have not located information pertaining to deposits. In Vancouver we pay half a month up front but when I lived in Bangkok it was 2 whole months (ouch). Is there a standard for HK and if so what?

Thanks for your time.

[carang]

the standard is two months plus first month plus(if you use an agent) half month commission....that makes a grand total of 3.5 months....and you thought two months was bad...lol...

good luck!

[JJ in Hong Kong]

OUCH, how easy is it to avoid an agent?

Thanks for the reply

[carang]

direct owner flats are available, but it would be much more difficult and time consuming to find a place. with an agent, you can see 10 flats in a couple of hours...

what's your budget? it might help to know what your range is so that people can recommend places for you to search for budget accommodations...

(ps. i'm from saskatoon, are you a BCer?)

[JJ in Hong Kong]

I am from Vancouver, that is correct.

Well regarding the budget, I am sure sure yet. While in Hong Kong I plan to have 3 sources of income.

1. DJing: I have been playing music professionally for 7 years. This was my primary source of income when working in Thailand after I made enough connections to obtain the right work. But I am not sure what to expect for pay. I should hope that I could easily make 10,000-20,000 a month. But this would possibly take me a few months to get established.

2. Teaching: Of course a very profitable choice for easily obtained work. I enjoy teaching very much and had lots of experience in Bangkok. I don't know what to expect from teaching, I have heard so many variencies. I guess somewhere between 20,000 - 40,000 depending on how much I work but again, I am really not sure.

3. Acting: I consider this work as bonus but I do expect some income from it for sure.

I expect my living expenses with exception of rent to be about 10,000. With that in mind, I should budget about another 10,000 for rent. My goal is to be making a minimum of 40,000 with my 3 incomes.

Do you feel my expectations are logical? Please advise and thanks for your time