Moving alone in HK

[emx]

Northern New Territories... Those are bad locations for a lone white girl

Why?

[merchantms]

Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, Northern New Territories... Those are bad locations for a lone white girl IMHO.

French =/= white. Interestingly most of the French women I meet in HK seem to be ethnically African.

As to OP, budget $20K for your flat and you can stay either on HK Island or Kowloon near ICC like Olympic, in a 1 bed or studio in building near MTR with facilities.

[Bob Loblaw]

Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, Northern New Territories... Those are bad locations for a lone white girl IMHO.

having lived in the Northern New Territories, I'd agree it's probably not a great place for a "lone white girl." But only because of the "lone" part. things are pretty family oriented, so i suspect it'd be pretty boring and probably kinda lonely.
very safe though.

[Plutark]

I don't know what locust is on but you can definitely get a flat for under 20k in HK island. Just need to search a bit. I had a flat with two bedrooms in Kennedy town for 12k when the station was opened.
You said ICC, is that Natixis then?

[civil_servant]

Why?

I don't know. I know a single British lady who's been living in Fanling for over a decade now. Never seems to have a problem.

[chuckster007]

My friend lives in Kennedy Town, 2 small bedroom apartment and only pays 12K, nothing fancy but still beats paying 20K for a single person.

[SannyJ]

I moved here on my own as well OP and have had no issues (female as well). HK is one of the safest places I have ever lived in. You still need to be smart, but I have had no issues and have walked home more than once in the early hours of the morning.

You can certainly get a flat for around 15k on the island in the areas you are looking for. Yes, they would be a bit older and have no facilities, but a lot of the times they are renovated and look very nice inside. Just take your time and have a look at a few. Be firm with your budget when speaking to the agents. If you say 20k, they will only show you apartments in the 19-25k range.

Good luck! You will really enjoy HK!

[jgl]

Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, Northern New Territories... Those are bad locations for a lone white girl IMHO.

Sham Shui Po and Mongkok are incredibly densely populated, with lots of people around all hours of the night. Not ideal places to live from a quality of life perspective, but if you're a conspicuous foreigner then this is hardly in line with being dangerous.

[AGxM]

I moved here on my own as well OP and have had no issues (female as well). HK is one of the safest places I have ever lived in. You still need to be smart, but I have had no issues and have walked home more than once in the early hours of the morning.

You can certainly get a flat for around 15k on the island in the areas you are looking for. Yes, they would be a bit older and have no facilities, but a lot of the times they are renovated and look very nice inside. Just take your time and have a look at a few. Be firm with your budget when speaking to the agents. If you say 20k, they will only show you apartments in the 19-25k range.

Good luck! You will really enjoy HK!

Absolutely agree...did the same myself 6 years ago and moved here alone. Great advice and absolutely agree regarding safety. Good luck!

[locust.fund]

I moved here on my own as well OP and have had no issues (female as well). HK is one of the safest places I have ever lived in. You still need to be smart, but I have had no issues and have walked home more than once in the early hours of the morning.

You can certainly get a flat for around 15k on the island in the areas you are looking for. Yes, they would be a bit older and have no facilities, but a lot of the times they are renovated and look very nice inside. Just take your time and have a look at a few. Be firm with your budget when speaking to the agents. If you say 20k, they will only show you apartments in the 19-25k range.

Good luck! You will really enjoy HK!

I worked as a realtor about a decade ago, in the West Mid Level area (covering "Lan Kwai Fong" in Central, all the way to Bei-Air in Cyberport). Hated the job.

To tell you the truth, my manager had told me repeatedly NOT TO bother helping those who were seeking rentals with a budget less than HKD$15k/month. He said it was not worth it, because, first of all, there are very few options available even within the vast area (I could do a search on the company database and saw he was telling the truth), and the few available options are pretty bad anyway so my clientele (a majority of which is western people) won't like them so the success rate for me closing a deal would be low...

And that was about ten years ago, Hong Kong's rental market has soared since.

I am just being realistic.