Where To Look For Accomodation In Taiwan

[bumclouds]

Hey guys,

I'm going to study Chinese for 6 months starting september of this year at MTC (NTNU). I have no idea where to start looking for accomodation - i had a look on craiglist. There was a bit there, but not much.

I've heard that on websites in english aimed at foreigners, the housing costs are way more expensive than they should be. Someone also told me that to get a reasonable price you should pick up the local paper - but alas, I have no access to one, and my Chinese wouldn't quite be good enough to read it anyway.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Andrew

[Daan]

There's a bulletin board on the seventh floor of the MTC building where you'll certainly be able to find some phone numbers of landlords, but I don't think that'll be of much help when you want to arrange accommodation before moving to Taiwan and cannot speak Mandarin. I'll ask around tomorrow if I don't forget - I'm not sure how my friends actually found their rooms. Accommodation was included in my scholarship, so I didn't have to arrange it on my own.

[Daan]

Right, so friends tell me they found their landlord on www.tealit.com.tw which is available in Chinese and English. I also got the e-mail address of a landlord who my friends recommend. I'm not sure whether she has any properties in the Shida area specifically but many students commute there from other parts of town. I'll PM you.

[Lu]

The foreigners' forums are tealit and forumosa. There are some ads there.

I'd also recommend Cui Mama (or Tsuei, or Tsui, however they spell it). It's an agency that helps people find accomodation, it costs something like NT$100 to subscribe, and then you get lists of available places in whatever area of Taipei you want to live in.

A great thing about Taipei is that there really are a lot of rooms available. You can pay more for a nice/big/well-located place, or less for a crappy/faraway/small place, or a reasonable price for anything in between. Shida can easily be reached by bus or MRT, so you could even consider living a bit further away from the school, but close to an MRT station.

[bumclouds]

Thanks folks =)

What do you think of 13,500 NTD per month for a small one BR studio apartment which is very newly built and right new NTNU?

Good price or too much?

It just has a bathroom, little kitchen and a bedroom with a bed =)

Andrew

[Lu]

That sounds very good to me. I lived in a taofang (bedroom and bathroom), shared washing machine, no kitchen, but very clean & new, for NT$10,000.

I'd suggest you look at some more places, to get an idea of what's on offer. That can make it easier to judge how good a deal this place is for you.

[bumclouds]

Hey guys,

I've almost decided on the 13,500 place. It costs an extra 1,400NTD or so per month for all the standard utilities including shared laundry and cable TV and internet.

The place looks very modern and nice, except when I look on a map, it's about 25 minutes bus ride every day to school. I really don't know if it's worth it or not!! Do you guys know much about this area?

[Ann]

Actually, I think that is a little bit far from your school. I would suggested you to find somewhere else closer. You can try to find a house in Guting,Dingxi or Shuanglian, maybe it will be easier and cheaper.

[Lu]

For that money at that location, it'd better be a palace. You can get a decent room at a much better location for half that amount, or a very nice studio at a much better location for the same or less than you'll pay there. I'd look elsewhere if I were you.

[bumclouds]

Hey guys I settled on a place. It's pretty exp, but its nice.

Its 16,000 NTD per month plus approximately 2,000NTD in utilities per month.

It's a short walk from NTNU and its in a new building with an elevator, security guard, etc.

It's probably a fair bit more than a locals or experienced expats would pay, but I guess it can be attributed to the fact that it's my first time here, and also because of the location.