What price to expect?

[3bg]

I'm looking for a 450 - 500 square foot, 1 bedroom flat between Sheung Wan and Causeway Bay. My requirements are that the building should have elevators, the flat is recently renovated (prefer western to Chinese style), and the shower is not right over the toilet! I see quite a few posts that tell me I should be expecting around 10k/mo for that size, but looking at rental ads on craigslist, hongkonghomes.com, or even the classifieds here, the prices are in the range of 12-14k!

I'm wondering if the premium is just inflated due to these westerner-targeted sites, or if there is substance to it. Also, does anyone know how much more one would have to pay for a furnished vs. unfurnished flat?

Many thanks!

[er2]

Have a look at property.hk, add like 10% for management fee which is never included in the ads, deduct 15-30% of the flat area (which is your part of the elevator etc., depends strongly on the developer unfortunately), see what you find

Best of luck!

[jahoga]

Pick a neighborhood and walk into a few agents there.

Let them show you around and you will quickly figure out which ones have your interests in mind.

That has always been more successful for me than mucking about on websites.

[gilleshk]

CWB is likely to be more expensive than Sheung Wan. Go a little further in Sai Yin Pun and you'll find a 2 bedroom 600sq ft for 10K in a building that's not that old. It can actually be harder to find one bedroom of a decent size as it doesn't typically net as much money as a flat of the same size with 2 bdrm. Those larger 1 bdrm often target foreigners and can be more expensive.

Forget the websites and walk the streets of the neighborhoods you like, find a few nice buildings/streets and go to agents with your requirements.

You can also try the Tung Wah website: TWGHs / Residential

Nice flats in Sheung Wan and excellent value but often a waiting list.

[movingin08]

Have a look at property.hk, add like 10% for management fee which is never included in the ads, deduct 15-30% of the flat area (which is your part of the elevator etc., depends strongly on the developer unfortunately), see what you find

Best of luck!

Rentals quote are normally inclusive of management fees unless it says exlcusive

[er2]

well, I've done my fair share of flat hunting last month and didn't find a single listing on property.hk that was available for the price listed. It usually was "plus management fee". Of course when you talk to the agent the price quoted is the real price, but not online.

3bg, if you're around of course visiting an agent is the best way, but if you're still overseas the website might help.