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Housing near CUHK for Aug 2012

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  1. #1

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    Mar 2012
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    Housing near CUHK for Aug 2012

    Hey all,

    I'm an American who just got accepted to a master's program at CUHK. Currently living in Shenzhen, but I hope to move to Hong Kong sometime in August. I wanted to know how best to approach finding housing around Shatin (maybe Tai Wai) area. I hope to be rowing for the crew team in the mornings, so biking distance to the southeast corner of campus/boat house would be awesome. I'm looking for something around 10000HKD (15k max) and hope to share with another student. I've already found squarefoot.com and gohome.com.hk, as well as some other websites. Here on the mainland, it's easy to just go into the local housing agencies (assuming you speak Mandarin) to find housing in the area you want. Do they have these offices everywhere in HK, or is it better to go online? I speak decent Mandarin, but almost zero Cantonese (learning now). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And if there's anyone else coming to CUHK this fall, I'm super excited to meet new people in such an awesome city.


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
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    The online sites are good if you can find an owner and deal with him or her directly - saves on commission costs. Otherwise, best to go to the small agent on the street and get them to show you places. Ok English in many places, or perhaps they would even speak Mandarin.


  3. #3

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    Apr 2005
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    agents are on every street corner and usually there are 3-4 of them in between the street corners, too. you shouldn't have any problems finding an agent.

    keep in mind: the normal up-front money is 2 months deposit, 1st month's rent and if you use an agent, 1/2 month to the agent.


  4. #4

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    Mar 2012
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    Thanks for your reply. In that case I really ought to be alright. Though I still hope to get a flat mate as well. The process is just about the same in China, but much more expensive.


  5. #5

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    Mar 2012
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    Sha Tin
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    My Goodness if you're considering Tai Wai there're so many realtors here. On a weekend like this the MTR station is just AWASH with them so never worry about finding one.

    Drumbrake is exactly right about getting in touch with the owner directly to avoiding paying commission. Besides squarefoot & gohome, you can also try 28hse.com which I find very useful.


  6. #6

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    Yeah it would be great to get in touch with the owner directly. I just looked at the map again and I think I can consider anywhere on the Lo Wu line from Tai Wai up to the Tai Po Market station. From anywhere around there I can bike to uni and to rowing practice.


  7. #7

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    Mar 2012
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    As an update, the person in my department suggested trying to find housing now, instead of waiting until I got back. How would one go about finding housing that will become available in August?


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by pmatarrese:
    As an update, the person in my department suggested trying to find housing now, instead of waiting until I got back. How would one go about finding housing that will become available in August?
    If you are prepared to pay rent between now and August, not a problem finding somewhere. If you expect the landlord to keep it empty and rent free for you until August, then it is not going to happen.

  9. #9

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    the person in your dept doesn't know what they are talking about....


  10. #10

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    Mar 2012
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    What they said was that the housing market is of course very congested in HK all the time, but particularly for Shatin in August, since a lot of foreign students will be coming in and looking that month. With such a spike in traffic, it's fair to assume that a) prices can go up above what they really ought to be, b) number of available units will go down at a faster pace, and c) because term starts the next month, students might be inclined to accept lower quality places because of the pressure of settling in before term starts.
    Therefore, IF POSSIBLE, it could be wise to look for someone whose lease ends at the end of July, talk with their landlord, and try to make some sort of agreement that when the current tenant leaves, I could move in without them putting their apartment on the market. Less hassle and more money for the landlord since there's zero gap time.
    It's a smart idea, but from the last two responses, I'm getting the feeling that it's not likely to happen. I have a friend who's from HK and is living and working there, and he said it really shouldn't be a problem finding a place, so I'm trying not to stress too much. I just have one more factor that when I land back in HK I'm also going to have some personal stuff shipped from Shenzhen to my new place, so really I'd like to have my housing locked down as soon as possible (without paying rent from now until then).


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