I will be moving to Pusan in 2 weeks. I have asked one of the locals i knew to find an appartment near PNU. She is young and unexperienced, so she went to the agent. And the agent offered some options which she forward me (concerns below)
This is my situation: I will be living there for at least a year, working at PNU as a postdoc. my family (wife and kid) will visit me for a period approximately 1-4 months.
Personally I am not picky, but taking into account the family visit I have to be rather selective.
So the rooms offered started at 400000 per month maintnence included (new, or newly repaired 36 sq room, with kitchen and tiny room for toilet +"shower")
Then later, when i expressed my initial agreement, "suddently it turned out" that the room costs 420000 and the maintnence fee (30000) was not included. Also i was informed that another ~40000 will come for bills. So 400000 becomes ~470000. And I was asked for the agent service 250000.
Now the questions.
Does this look normal to you? (I live in Taipei for 2,5 year now - never experienced none of the above - no agent fee, no enormous deposits (2 months max), no extra mantnence asked)
Also , I would appreciate very much if any of you can suggest a clean room with a comparable price somehwere within 10-15 minutes from the north exit of PNU.
Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Best.
P.S. excuse my mistakes. not native english speaker.
The photos of offered appartment are attached
Re: Accommodation near PNU
This style of accommodation is known as 'One Room' here and although I haven't lived in one for many a year I think the prices you are quoting seem about right.
At least there is no 'key money' mentioned. This is normally a large substantial sum around about 5 million (5,000 dollars) or higher. If you had this sort of cash available, there are a lot of better options than what you are being offered. It seems the two months deposit is what will be replacing your key money deposit.
The agency fee should normally be 2% of the value of the property. It seems high to me for your place, but real estate agents in all countries are usually looking for a fast buck.
Bills seem totally reasonable, usually bills are higher in the winter than in the summer.
Re: Accommodation near PNU
Yeah, as mattsid mentioned, usually if you're not putting down 5-10 million won in key money the rent will be a bit higher. One thing I would suggest is to check apartments in the Oncheonjang and Jangjeon-dong areas which are the neighborhoods immediatley south and north of PNU, respectively. They are both within easy walking distance around 15 mins. from the university and you may find lower rent in those areas. I haven't been in the market for a while but it's worth looking into to. Best of luck.