Is there anything particular about renting a house in Hong Kong? How can I rent the right one?

A guide to renting and fraud prevention in Hong Kong-for international students

Information comes from the world (diy mutual aid study abroad platform)

1. renting vs dormitory

Due to the large number of non-local students, except for the Hong Kong Institute of Education (which is inaccessible in remote areas), other universities generally do not provide dormitories for students who teach postgraduate courses, so renting a house has become a top priority for many mainland students to come to Hong Kong.

In fact, renting a house also has the advantages of renting a house. If you plan to stay in Hong Kong in the future, you can rent a house when you start school, and you don't have to rush to find a house to rent after graduation. As for the dormitory, you have to reapply every semester. For colleges and universities with very tight dormitories, there are still cases where you can't continue to go to the dormitory. In the year of graduation, graduates will be required to move out of the dormitory before July, and you can't renew the dormitory in the summer semester.

However, when you come to Hong Kong to look for a house, the first thing you face is the size of the house in Hong Kong, which is usually half that of the mainland. The unit of calculation is square feet (referred to as "feet" for short in Hong Kong, roughly 1 square foot =1square foot), so a set of 496-foot two rooms and one living room is 45 square meters (the Hong Kong characteristic term "unit" is actually

Then you have to face ridiculously high housing prices. Renting a house in Hong Kong is very expensive and the cost performance is very low. . . The rental price here can be rented in the mainland. . . Due to the increasing number of mainland students year by year, housing prices have basically soared year by year, and they are unable to vomit. . .

2. Location selection

Most mainland students tend to rent houses near universities. In recent years, due to the influx of mainland students into Hong Kong to rent houses, the housing prices around the school have been rising, especially along the East Rail. But in fact, the traffic in Hong Kong is very developed and convenient, and the transportation cost is not particularly expensive (half price for students' Octopus), so it is not necessary to rent a house next to the school. For example, a friend goes to school at City University, but lives in Yuen Long.

2. 1 Understand the surrounding environment

For mainland students who have never been to Hong Kong, it is inevitable that many people will be a little flustered when they suddenly have to live for a year. However, in today's advanced technology, even if I have never been to Hong Kong, I can know it like the back of my hand. The magic weapon I use is Google Maps: In addition to the most basic maps, I can also plan my trip and use the street view function to stroll the streets. Another life in Hong Kong is closely related to the MTR system map, which is used to quickly get familiar with some place names, landmarks and regions in Hong Kong. There is also a map showing almost all properties in Hong Kong, Zhongyuan Map, which was released by Zhongyuan Real Estate Company, and it is quite easy to use. Of course, if conditions permit, it is better to visit Hong Kong in person.

In addition to being familiar with the environment, you can also use Google Maps to see which residential buildings are in a certain area. Generally speaking, buildings or groups of buildings named after "a court", "a building" or "a village" are all public housing or Home Ownership Scheme units. Public housing cannot be subletted, and HOS flats cannot be rented or sold before the premium is paid. Some owners divide a whole house into several rooms. Guest room (suite) with bathroom and kitchen. If these houses do not meet the fire protection regulations and building regulations during the reconstruction, the risk of renting such houses will be very great, and personal safety and property cannot be guaranteed. Usually, the properties that can be rented are foreign buildings (private housing estates and home ownership housing with paid land price), Tang buildings, village houses and serviced apartments. Other essence posts are introduced, so I won't repeat them here.

After a real estate project, you can go to a large real estate agent like official website and Zhongyuan Real Estate, and check the recent transaction price, so you will probably know how big the house is and what the price is. The Hong Kong version has a top post to share all kinds of houses rented in the mainland over the years (no links, please go to the world to search). In addition, I recommend a local online real estate in Hong Kong-Hong Kong House Network. You can also check the price and rent.

When looking for a house, a picky person like me will also consider factors such as building age, floor, greening, noise and infrastructure, such as whether the drinking water pipes will age and turn yellow when the building is too old, whether there are high-rise buildings, whether there are many trees around, whether there are small parks or sports gyms, whether there are public libraries, whether it is inconvenient to shop nearby, whether there are many bus routes, whether it is close to the MTR, whether there is a lot of traffic noise at night, and whether there are nearby.

2.2 Calculate the distance

If you are optimistic about real estate, you can use the planning function of Google Maps to calculate the distance from the house to the school. Personally, I think the flow distance of 1 hour is not far.

Looking for housing

It is difficult to find a house in a strange place. Personally, I suggest going to Hong Kong to find a house in August, because most of the houses have signed a lease of 12 months, and most of the students have rented houses since August, so August is the peak of housing release every year, so don't worry about not having a house to live in. Of course, there are also many mainland students who are worried that they can't rent a house in August, but they can rent a house in July. Many "seniors" leave school in May and try to get back three months' rent in short rent from May to August, so there will be a large number of so-called "houses" in May, but these "houses" may not be guaranteed and may be illegal (see points 3.2 and 6 of this post for details).

Here are some ways to find a house:

3. 1 real estate agency

Real estate agent is the most common way to find a house. The real estate agency in Hongkong is very standard, you can put 90% of your heart into it (if there is an illegal agency, you can go to the company registration office in official website (no links, please search the world) to check the agency's license plate), but you should also be wary of black-hearted agents introducing you expensive ones in order to earn your money. Sometimes, in order to attract business, real estate agents will advertise attractive and cost-effective properties (called bamboo shoots in Hong Kong), but as soon as you contact him, he will tell you that you just rented it out, and then fool you into renting another house at a high price. If you don't rent it, it will be gone. . . So don't worry about renting a house through an intermediary, you must shop around.

As Hong Kong is well developed and there are many intermediaries, there will be different houses in each district and even in each street. Therefore, we must first determine which area to rent a house in, and then decide to find an intermediary near that area. You can familiarize yourself with the surrounding environment and major real estate projects by the methods described above, so that when you contact the intermediary, they will know that you know something about this area, and you will not be unscrupulous. Choosing an intermediary is the same as choosing a house. Although very large-scale intermediaries (such as Zhongyuan and Midland) look more reliable, I won't go to them because the same property in their hands is likely to be more expensive than other small and medium-sized intermediaries.

When looking for a house through an intermediary in Hong Kong, you must first make it clear to the intermediary what price you are looking for. For example, if your budget is 9K- 1 1K, the intermediary may take you to see the house of 13K to make money. There is a great chance that those houses are not suitable at all, and looking at the house is a very time-consuming and laborious thing, so you must spend your time and energy on ideas when looking for a house through an intermediary. Then, we should make clear the ideal geographical location, such as convenience and the nearby subway. I remember the first time I visited a building, it took the agent 15 minutes to go to a building 25 minutes away from the MTR, and the landlord collapsed instantly.

After basically determining the real estate to see in person, the intermediary will let the guests sign a "real estate paper". Its function is that if a guest sees a real estate through agent A and the same real estate through agent B, but finally signs a contract with B, then A can ask the guest for an agency fee (commission) with "real estate paper". Therefore, when looking at the house, you might as well take notes and write down the situation of which real estate you have seen through which intermediary, so as to prevent the occurrence of double commission and save the time and physical strength of looking at the house.

The agency fee for renting a house is generally one month's rent for the completed property, and the owner and tenant are each responsible for half. The agency fee shall be paid in one lump sum when the lease is formally signed. After the transaction is completed, there is no need to pay any fees to the agency. It doesn't matter if you renew the contract with the owner and act as an agent in the future, and you don't have to pay the agency fee. Another little-known fact is that agency fees can actually be discounted. You can offer an agency fee discount right after you find an agent or sign a contract. However, in recent years, intermediaries have become accustomed to raising in the mainland, and the chances of successful intermediary fee concessions are very small.

If the house is confirmed to be rented after on-the-spot investigation, the intermediary will sign a temporary lease with the tenant on behalf of the owner, and a deposit (usually half a month's rent) is required. After paying the money, ask for a receipt and write it into the temporary lease. Landlords and tenants will sign a formal lease when they meet. Please refer to the signing notice in point 4 of this post.