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Considering moving apartments - advice needed!

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  1. #11

    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Cramped island
    Posts
    5,585

    If you ask me, if you are not that particular with living too close to office, then QB is a nice place to live. Quiet neighbourhood, and lots of eateries around that are actually not the standard Fairwood/CafeDeCoral/Maxim chains.

    For around 20k, I think with your circumstances you can get 350~400 sqft apartment, depending on the state of the building. Look at hoi-kwong street nearby, or even the royal terrace.

    Many seems to have something against QB MTR station. Maybe I am taking the other way (i.e. i leave QB in morning and back to QB evening) so it doesnt' feel that bad, but i do have to cross the road against the large crowd of people coming to work in the morning. Other than walking in the underground coming up three levels, what's so different from e.g. walking from HK station to central, etc.. its still a distant walk...

    BTW however the tax savings work, you will never be better off.. you are talking about additional 10k p.m. of rental versus an annual savings of 3k ? that's 120k versus 3k.. should it even be considered in the first place?!


  2. #12

    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Sai Kung
    Posts
    275
    Quote Originally Posted by MsPenguinn:
    Another point to consider is the tax saving that comes with renting a more expensive place - my employer would treat the amount of my rent as rental allowance instead of salary, thus the more expensive the rent, the less I pay in taxes. I did the maths and if I were to go from a 12k apartment to a 18k one, after adjusting for the tax effect I’d be paying around 4K more instead of 6K. The question remains if the marginal upgrade is worth the 4K and the hassle of moving.
    You might also consider the actual cost of moving (property agent's commission if you use one, movers and packers, discarding a few items and perhaps few new ones etc. etc.) to compare the actual additional cost. If the rent allowance from your firm is not "use it or lose it", you can weigh the tax cost on the additional "salary".

    I lived in Wanchai for a few years in a place similar to yours. The cost of moving was higher than the net savings so I continued staying there. Plus the convenience to places, commuting etc. was unmatched.