renting an apartment in Korea?

Shaquita Wernicki: Neighbors of mine just obtained a two bed room condominium for about 400 bucks a month they usually needed to put up 20000 dollars for the deposit on a one 12 months contract. They're going to get the 20000 back after they move out. Their new condominium is in Taegu, on a subway line practically downtown. If you're going to only be staying for 6 months you may also more difficult time getting a inexpensive to remain. I would suppose your month-to-month appoint can be around 800 US a month in Taegu, however that simply my wager. Good success....Show more

Carli Watterson: I agree you're young but it's always nice to prepare anyway ...I know what it's like not wanting to live in the dorms. I went to university in Korea as an exchange students for 1.5 years and I didn't live one day in the dorms. They're shared, naturally - very small (smaller than most US dorms).. some rooms were shared with up to 4 people, they are sex segregated (you can't even bri! ng a friend of the opposite sex in your dorm), and most of them have curfew (ours was 10:30 at night, including weekends!). Now, as a 22-23 year old I was not feeling all these rules when my parents didn't even have such rules for me any longer. That being said. Renting an apartment in the traditional sense would be very difficult - even a one room/studio often called an "Office-tel" would be hard because of something called "key money" which I'll get to. First, you would be very young and a non-native of the country. Many apartment owners won't even rent to non-Koreans unless you have a crap-load of credit in the country already. Also, Korea has something called "key money" which is basically a security deposit. Unlike western countries these aren't 200 or 300 dollars but upwards of 5,000-10,000 dollars. You then have to pay the monthly rent and utilities on top of this (usually 300-600 dollars on average). These "key money" fees are often higher for non-citizens as owners! of scared of you running off to another country and not payin! g rent (I know, who does that? but someone must have..) For my first year studying in Korea I rented what's known as a "Study Room(고시원)". It's a very small room, basically like a dorm - but it's private! People, usually students, rent these in order to have privacy to study. Most come with a small refrigerator in the room and have shared common rooms for showering, cooking, sometimes a sitting/lounge area. Some have showers in the room, but these tend to smell and I wouldn't advise renting one like this. There's also some 고시원 which are for travelers and so most everyone is non-Korean, if you prefer that. It's usually much louder though and more of a "dorm atmosphere" than the traditional 고시원. The price range is usually 200 - 600 per month. You get what you pay for - I wouldn't stay that asks for less than 400 honestly. These don't require key-money and utilities are included in the rent price. One thing to note, if you stay in the traditional Korean studen! t based 고시원, you're going to have to be very quiet, the walls are paper thin and people actually usually use these rooms to study.I studied in 부산 - I love that city and think it's the best! I went to a very small private university where I was the only American student the first semester and only one of two after that. I took normal classes for my major as well as a 4 hour per day Korean course. I LOVED my time at Korean university and had so many friends and whatnot despite not living in the dorms. I got to meet friends from all over the world. Korea, of course - but also Germany, Russia, China, Myanmar, etc .. I'll admit that the other exchange students were probably closer to each other than I was to them but this is also because I spent a good majority of my time with my Korean friends and hung around with the other exchange students mostly during class. Most non-Koreans go to university in Seoul though as it's the capital and so the "heart" of Korea. As for j! obs. English teaching is still the career most native speakers choose a! s it's the easiest to obtain. But if you're fluent enough in Korean - translating may be possible. This is something you'll have to think more about though....Show more