Urgent: Housing help

[Arcadia]

You guys have to help me...

My company tells me that i can find a good apartment (in an expat area) for 5000 HKD? I find it so hard to believe. Is there any area where this is possible for a good apartment (1 bed room/studio) and where this rent would cover electric costs as well?

My office is in Pacific place and i dont mind traveling upto 45 minutes.

I have to decide in a few hours and just wanna be sure if this is possible.

Thanks a million

[virago]

You can find apartments for $5000 a month but I wouldn't class them in an expat area and I wouldn't know what 'good' refers to as it's very subjective. I would be going for a minimum of $7000-8000 for a housing allowance.

$5000 will be in New Territories for something just OK. Though I did find $5000-$6000 in Jordan when I was looking around but wouldn't class them as good and they were tiny.

[Claire ex-ax]

My company tells me that i can find a good apartment (in an expat area) for 5000 HKD?

It lied. A) There are no "expat areas" and B) HK$5,000 won't get you a good apartment, well good as in reasonable size, good condition, not too far from an MTR station.

Is there any area where this is possible for a good apartment (1 bed room/studio) and where this rent would cover electric costs as well?

You would have to look out in the New Territories, probably a flat in a village house. Rents are usually exclusive of utilities, internet, phone, etc. (and inclusive of government rates and management fees) - the exception is for serviced apartments which include everything.

[Arcadia]

Thanks. Would 7000HKD be enough? If i say that much - would that be ok. I would not want to compromise on the area. I am ok if the flat is small, but the are should be ok.

Also if i go for flat share, would 5000HKD get me something good?

[bryant.english]

5000 would get you a slice of a village house near Tuen Mun and you could get to work in just over an hour. It would be an okay place, 700sqf. with 2 bedrooms.

[Mat]

Thanks. Would 7000HKD be enough? If i say that much - would that be ok. I would not want to compromise on the area. I am ok if the flat is small, but the are should be ok.

Also if i go for flat share, would 5000HKD get me something good?

if you can push at least until 8.000 that would widen your options a bit (ie you could find flats even on the island - Taikoo, ShauKeiWan...for that price)

5K can get you something but will be far (ie +1h) or shared (we have some of our trainees doing so and it is not bad - ie in the center)

[chateau]

You need 10K minimum I think, and even then, if you are not used to HK, you will be very dissappointed with what you can rent for that price. 5K is totally unrealistic.

[seahawk]

Rental prices are up and up lately. I'm more familiar about prices on HK island, especially around Kennedy Town. Plan HKD5000-8000 for *sharing* in a decent flat in Wanchai (next to Admiralty - where Pacific Place is), Sheung Wan (two MTR stops away), Kennedy Town and Mid-level (relatively short commute to Admiralty). If you want a studio/tiny but decent one-bedroom, expect HKD12,000 and above for 400 sq feet apt. Utilities (Internet, water, gas, electricity, phone) will be another HKD500 or so. By decent, I mean clean and well-kept apartments and buildings.

[seahawk]

p.s. just check out the classified for housing on this website.

[MovingIn07]

If you work in Pacific Place and are happy to travel 45 mins, then there are various places you could get something OK in the NT for about 7-8k - like Gold Coast (right on the edge of the travel time and only on the residents bus) or Sham Tseng (45 mins to admiralty station on a 962B) or perhaps Tung Chung (30mins on MTR plus walking plus another 10 mins or so). I would not want to try going below that. All these places i mentioned are nice and other expats live there, there are no "Expat areas" in HK. You REALLY don't need to live on HK Island to have a nice life.