4 small energetic kids, which area would be good?

Mat · 06-10-2014, 05:08 PM

I wouldnt do a Village house as my first rent in HK...way too many dodgy places.

It's great as a second rent after a year or two in HK when you have learnt more about the place.

But yeah, as said before: SCHOOL first, then figure the rest.

60 is not too tight but (and I may get flamed for it) it isn't luxurious too considering you have 4 kids - so dont expect too much either (for 60K)

rakedavids · 06-10-2014, 05:56 PM

i would suggest mid-levels area as it is easy to navigate from there for your first time to HK. most importantly you will find plenty of expats there to befriend for your first time here. with young kids too, you will find plenty of other moms in the area.

all the schools around HK will be picking up kids from mid-levels area so you wont find yourself out of the bus zone for any of the schools.

But more important than sorting your accommodation is your kids school. check out geoschools.com for listing of all the schools and call them up now...

kimwy66 · 06-10-2014, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by Mat:

I wouldnt do a Village house as my first rent in HK...way too many dodgy places.

It's great as a second rent after a year or two in HK when you have learnt more about the place.

But yeah, as said before: SCHOOL first, then figure the rest.

60 is not too tight but (and I may get flamed for it) it isn't luxurious too considering you have 4 kids - so dont expect too much either (for 60K)

I wouldn't necessarily say a village house is a bad idea. It is going to depend entirely on where the OP is living now. If they are in an apartment in NYC, then apartment living here won't be too much of a shock. But if they are living in the burbs with a nice back yard, then Mid Levels may be less than ideal with 4 small children. you have a lot of traffic, a lot of roadside pollution, and not many green spaces.

As I was once a mother of 4 under the age of six, I can say the one absolute must-have would have been a back yard, with a bit of grass. If not for the children's sake, for my sanity.

Yes, there are some dodgy places out there, but if the OP gets a good 6 weeks to 2 months in a serviced apartment then permanent living arrangements can be sorted out calmly, with minimum of fuss. Standard expat areas like Stanley or Clearwater Bay reduce the dodginess risk for a village house.

Given the OPs budget they may want to consider employing an apartment finder to work with them.

Also OP, hong Kong has one thing going for it with children - the parks and facilities are excellent, from basketball and tennis courts, to skateboarding parks and numerous well-maintained swimming pools, even sailing lessons for next to nothing. And not just in the main areas, out in the New territories you will find a selection reasonably close by also.

Mat · 06-10-2014, 07:06 PM

Kimwy...dont disagree totally but 60k for a house in stanley??? Where u are (as i understand Hong Lok Yuen) it is indeed the right blend but thats painfully far from CWB (unless hubby drives)…but indeed best is…school first and service appartment for a monrh odlf 2 to gwt a better idea.

kimwy66 · 06-10-2014, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by Mat:

Kimwy...dont disagree totally but 60k for a house in stanley??? Where u are (as i understand Hong Lok Yuen) it is indeed the right blend but thats painfully far from CWB (unless hubby drives)…but indeed best is…school first and service appartment for a monrh odlf 2 to gwt a better idea.

No, I'm Clearwater Bay way, and you can get a nice house here for OPs budget, and the commute to CWB is not bad. On Stanley, admittedly I'm thinking back about 6 years ago when we were first looking and Stanley seemed not too bad. It's a nice spot though for kids!

And I forgot to reiterate what everyone else had said, school first of course. Which makes the serviced apartment even more important.

Also OP, here is the link to HKs government run leisure services for basketball courts etc: Leisure Facilities - Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Mat · 06-10-2014, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by kimwy66:

No, I'm Clearwater Bay way, and you can get a nice house here for OPs budget, and the commute to CWB is not bad. On Stanley, admittedly I'm thinking back about 6 years ago when we were first looking and Stanley seemed not too bad. It's a nice spot though for kids!

And I forgot to reiterate what everyone else had said, school first of course. Which makes the serviced apartment even more important.

Also OP, here is the link to HKs government run leisure services for basketball courts etc: Leisure Facilities - Leisure and Cultural Services Department

oups re Clearwater. Not quite sure why i thought that :-)

am now interested (having looked back in 2009 - to buy - in the are) Is that a standalone home or one within a complex? I'd prefer as a newbie one within a complex (hence Hong Lock Yuen).

Re stanely with kids is definitely great, we spend a lot of time there and the place has a good vibe.

But anyway back to school, school, school.

Sent from my iPad using GeoClicks

Co Co Nut · 07-10-2014, 11:01 PM

Thank you for everyone's suggestion and I will definitely find more information on those areas. I had the strategy to look for school first, then housing, but the situation has become kind of hopeless for me (after calling about 100 schools (international, Chinese, English, subsidized, private in Island, Discovery bay,hong kong island, kowloon and still can't find two spots for my kids, I did not call the ones that are very far away from CWB). Most schools don't have spaces. Some Chinese school still have space, but they say my daughters have to take Chinese entrance tests and pass in order to enter (my daughters are fluent in speaking both Cantonese and Mandarin, but not in writing Chinese), a couple of schools would not accept my Primary 1 daughter because she is a couple of months younger than their age requirement (and I don't want my daughter be downgraded and repeat kindergarten because she was tested to have 2nd grade reading level when she was in kindergarten, and she very tall and mature for her age, I just don't want her to be "king" of her class and not learning much if she is downgraded to kindergarten). Right now there are two local schools that have space and are willing to accept her if my daughter passes the interviews when we arrive hong kong next month. But I recently found out those are the worst schools not only in their district, but also ones the worst in whole Hong Kong. And I am not sure if I want to send them there.

So, I guess if the worst happens that we need the government place them to not our choice schools (at least they say they guarantee our kids will be placed in schools in our living area district) and both of my kids are downgraded to kindergarten and 2nd grade, at least I hope we will live in a place that we like.

If school situation eventually does not work out, I may just homeschool them (I read an article that it is not totally illegal in Hong Kong). We are still excited about our new journey in Hong Kong, Cheers!!!