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Planning move to HK in Oct. 2010

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  1. #1

    Planning move to HK in Oct. 2010

    Hello all,
    I'm moving to Hong Kong from Belgium around 1st of October and am looking for a good real estate agent to help me find a place to live. I'm planning on flying over for a week or so during the summer to visit some places and choose one to move into in October. Can anyone recommend an agent/agency?
    Any pointers are welcome.
    Thanks!


  2. #2

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    Agencies are typically local. You need to find the area you want to live first, the visit agencies in that area. Just walking in the door is fine.


  3. #3

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    Ask your company if they recommend someone or if they have an agent that works with expats. That is what my husband's company did for us and so far it has worked quite well. Except for the fact that everything we liked has been rented.

    Look for our family of four to descend on HK August 1st. We're the ones living in a tent down by the water. :-)

    Amy


  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by attkrt:
    Ask your company if they recommend someone or if they have an agent that works with expats. That is what my husband's company did for us and so far it has worked quite well. Except for the fact that everything we liked has been rented.

    Look for our family of four to descend on HK August 1st. We're the ones living in a tent down by the water. :-)

    Amy
    My gut feel is that those agents only rent out expensive places and cannot find the best deals. The best deals come from the smaller local agencies. SO unless you have money to burn, stick to them!

  5. #5

    Thanks for the input. I guess we'd best select an area and contact a local agent.

    There's plenty of threads about locations on this forum, so I'll look into them for pointers, but if any of you have a suggestion on a suitable area for a 30 something couple (no children, so school's not an issue), with a maximum 30 to 45 minutes commute to Tsim Sha Tsui, I'd be very grateful to get them :-)


  6. #6

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    Get a map, visit Hong Kong (give it a good 3 days), and arrange to meet up with people you know who have lived here awhile or local friends with expat tastes. Zoom in and decide on a district first (don't even say shortlist 2, just decide on 1), they go in and ask a local agent about the properties in the area in general, which would suit your budget and size and other requirements.

    It will be too early to look at actual to let apartments until early September (no landlord would commit to letting you an apartment in October more than one month in advance), but what you can do is, if you see an agent you like and who is good, to show you some apartments on the market now for sale and to let, so you have an idea about the apartments in that building. He will probably do it if you tell him when you do come closer to the time again, you will go through him to rent.

    Then when you actually come in October, you can just focus on the one/two buildings you like and see what is available, view those apartments, and negotiate and sign immediately.

    Danish likes this.

  7. #7

    hey fraugenau,

    30-40 mins within TST could be most of HK (almost). so your criteria needs to be a little more specific... right in the smack of "down town"? residential? commerical? more "expats"? more locals? close to shopping? country side? quiet?

    the truth is for any of the above preference there is an area within 30-40 mins that fits... well maybe except country side (if you don't have a car), and of course budget plays a big role as well.

    if you have ideas on the preferences you have, I can help with suggesting some ideas re. areas you can look at!


  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    My gut feel is that those agents only rent out expensive places and cannot find the best deals. The best deals come from the smaller local agencies. SO unless you have money to burn, stick to them!
    I would say your gut feel is rubbish. Having been through this recently, and used a selection of local agents and an expat-centric agency I would say you are shown the same properties at the same prices by both.

    The difference I found with the expat-centric agency was they were prepared to show us round properties in a variety of areas (rather than just one), and had a car and driver to drive us around Hong Kong to visit places. This may or not be important for the OP, at the end of the day both agencies charge the same fee so pay your money and take your pick.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Geoff:
    I would say your gut feel is rubbish. Having been through this recently, and used a selection of local agents and an expat-centric agency I would say you are shown the same properties at the same prices by both.

    The difference I found with the expat-centric agency was they were prepared to show us round properties in a variety of areas (rather than just one), and had a car and driver to drive us around Hong Kong to visit places. This may or not be important for the OP, at the end of the day both agencies charge the same fee so pay your money and take your pick.
    Always good to know if I'm wrong. My feeling came from only one experience of a business colleague who used the 'agency paid for by his firm' to start with and was only shown very expensive top-end properties, but eventually went out on his own and found the rest of the properties in HK and eventually something he liked for alot less. It was more about different types of property than the same thing at different prices.

    So it is possible that my gut feel is more about 'relocation agencies paid for my overseas firms who stereotype expats into people with loads of dosh' rather than anything else.

  10. #10

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    My agency was also paid for by my firm - I guess your colleague might not have been specific enough on his criteria/firm enough if they showed him a lot of the wrong type of property. Having been through this process 3 times already, I was very firm with both the local and firm-provided agents and rejected 60-80% of properties they put in front of me without visiting them...

    I think all agents will try and show you what they have rather that want you want if their inventory is not a perfect match.. the trick is not to waste your time (and theirs) looking at properties that are unsuitable in terms of location, space or price right from the get-go.


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