You decided to live in Korea. What should you do? Where should you start? Try going through these steps. They seem pretty general and universal but there are some tips you can use in Korea.
Decide where to live
First step is to decide where you are going to live.
You must have set a city at least. Within the city, you have the routine destination which could be your school or workplace. Right next to the area would be great but you do not necessarily have to limit the area to a walking distance. Korea is a small country and most of the urbanized places have a very good public transportation system. For Seoul, I would recommend a up to 40 minutes commuting distance is just fine to live as well. Try to make sure you live where subway stations or bus stops are nearby in a walking distance. Having a convenience store or a big mart can make your life easier in Korea.
Search online
There are some websites out there where they post rooms for a deal. While it is not so bad taking a look at them, I do suggest you check if the website is owned (or the posts are uploaded) by a legit real-estate agency (REA) or it eventually leads you to the REA. If not, use the information you get from the website but keep in mind that the website or the house advertiser is just another broker. Legally they cannot sign the contract. Also, try to avoid contacting directly with the owner of the house. Remember that you are a foreigner, and you get very vulnerable if you sign direct contracts. There won't be much of a safety net if you haven't used the REA.
Koreans use two typical phone applications a lot when finding rooms or houses: ▲Dabang and ▲Zigbang. They are very much reliable and the housing information uploaded are all from legit REAs.
You can look around the area you have in mind with these apps first. Check the approximate numbers of houses available in the area, average rent prices, public transportation and other infrastructures, average types of houses(rooms) and space.
If you spotted several houses you like, go make a call with the related REA and set up a date to visit.
On the other hand, signing new contract is not always necessary. You can look for people who are already settled and looking for roommates on online communities.
These are some of the communities you might want to visit.
Visit in person
Due to the corona virus, some un-tact contract signing services have been developed. But it is your shelter and big amount of money exchange that we are talking about here. You would definitely need to go check the house in person. Check if the neighbor is okay, the room condition is decent, you get the sunlight as much as you need during the day. Most importantly, check who the owner of the house is and the house's ownership/debt history. This is the difficult part that you will need the very best help with. The REA will check it for you in advance but the contractor yourself should also know if the status of the house is okay or not. Remember that the REA is a compromiser between you and the owner, not your
guardian. You can book our service for help when looking into the real estate register book.
Deal
If you really have a house in mind and want to secure it, prepare a down payment when visiting the REA. The amount will be 10% of the total deposit(price). Once you put a down payment, the REA will block other visitors coming for the house. Then you can set a date to comeback and sign the contract with your full amount of money prepared. But since it is a down payment, be very sure with the house. If you change your mind, you can walk out from the deal right away but you will need to give up the down payment.
Finding houses are always difficult and fresh to people, even for the locals. If you have other curiosity or things to consult about your housing, K-Housing AID is right here for you to talk.