Help! Movin to HK in a few weeks with a family!

sw18 · 25-01-2013, 09:31 PM

Hi Expat Lawyer,

I would also look at Discovery Bay as an area to live in - we moved here 5 months ago and it is very child friendly. Also, your budget in DB should get you a nice house.

Good luck!

Expat lawyer · 26-01-2013, 03:10 AM

Originally Posted by Satay Sue:

I am really genuinely concerned as to where you are getting your information. I lived in Central in a 3-bedroom, 1450 sq ft apartment with separate maid room & bathroom for less than half your budget! Even allowing for a small increase in rent since we moved out last summer, you will be able to get something quite nice.

Edit: just checked and the rent increased by $2000. So it would be half your budget. Maybe a bit more than half your budget for full facilities.

It is a serviced apartment and was priced comparably to others which I was sent to choose from. I intend to only stay for a month whilst i try and find something better. If you have any suggestions for other places in Central please do let me know.

Expat lawyer · 26-01-2013, 03:16 AM

Thank you - this info has been really useful

bryant.english · 26-01-2013, 06:06 AM

Originally Posted by Expat lawyer:

Actually, the most that the budget gets me is a 1.5 bed apartment in Central which is cramped conditions for me, the husband and two children - let alone a domestic helper :-)

Why on earth would you live in Central then?

MovingIn07 · 26-01-2013, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by Expat lawyer:

It is a serviced apartment and was priced comparably to others which I was sent to choose from. I intend to only stay for a month whilst i try and find something better. If you have any suggestions for other places in Central please do let me know.

I think the BOLD is the problem here. The OP is being given advice by some relocation consultant who is only bothering to send them the really fancy high priced places like the four seasons, for example. Very common with people whose budget is so high I think.

Expat lawyer - you are being kept in the dark. While prices ARE high here, they are not that high. There are plenty of even serviced appartments where you could get more than 1.5 rooms for 80k. The relocation consultants who service rich overseas expats usually only bother to show you t the top 5% of the market - plenty of perfectly good places to live in the rest. Have a google - or even search on here as there are serviced places discussed in many thread.

Angela1988 · 31-01-2013, 06:33 PM

As you said that you do not want to leave your children to a nanny you can leave them to the creches. Since your children loves to play with other children , leaving them to creche would be a nice option. There are 20 creches in honk Kong at present now. The creches are located at a prime location of G/F, Ka Lai Lau, Ka Wai Chuen, Hung Hom, Kowloon, 458 Shaukiwan Road, Willow Court, Whampoa Garden, Kowloon. You can manage your accomodation at these places so that it becomes convenient for you to leave the children to the creche before you go to work. But I would suggest you to give a second thought to have a nanny in the house, since you have two children. They can play with each other and this will enhance the bonding between the two child.

carang · 31-01-2013, 06:50 PM

20 creches for a population of over 7Milliion... angela, how many of those creches (1) have spaces; (2) are not for low income families and; (3) are affordable if you have 2 kids...

creches are not a viable option for a newcomer. don't make it sound like it is. it would be highly unlikely for a newcomer to get more than one spot in a creche... how unlikely? well, i would say that pigs would fly before that would happen.