Hong Kong Flat Hunting 101

 For me, moving is a way of life. I tried counting up all the places I have lived once, and I think I am at 21. I get around! A good chunk of that has been moving around Hong Kong. Moving in this city is not for the faint of heart, especially if you are not hiring movers. So since I am almost an expert (ahem), I thought I would share my wisdom as well as a few cautionary tales. 

Moving has always been an exciting prospect for me. Exciting and nerve-wracking are perilously close together. Things in the city move quickly. From the initial search to signing the contract to the moving date is often just a few weeks. The fastest that I’ve ever signed a contract was one hour after seeing the place. Flats don’t wait! 

In case you are considering the feat of moving in Hong Kong, I thought I’d make this handy guide to kick off my moving stories series. A slightly more practical departure from my usual posts, but hopefully it will help someone out. 

First, where to look? Well you could march into any real estate office in the area you're looking in. They would be more than happy to show you available units. For me personally, I like to start my search online. 28hse is king, but you can also use Facebook Marketplace, Squarefoot, or any of the other random housing search websites around. Facebook occasionally has good deals, but they usually tend to be pricey so I spend most of my time on 28hse. 

The thing is, because the market moves so fast, many of the flats that you see are not actually available. They have probably already been rented out and the agents have not gotten around to taking the listing down. That deters some people, but not me. I see it as an excellent way to find an agent and let them know exactly what you want. That flat may not be available, but now the agent will know exactly what kind of flat you are looking for and your budget. For the most part, if you’re looking on the Island, the agents will be able to respond to you in English. It gets a bit more spotty in Kowloon, but agents are scrappy. Google translate is always there for you when you need it. 

Which leads us to the agent or no agent debate. If you have an agent then you have to pay them a half a month’s rent as a fee, which can be a hefty sum. So there are plenty of people who would rather work directly with the landlord. I can understand that, but I personally try to go the agent route when possible. First, they are working for you as much as for the landlord (a hard line to walk). The landlord is just trying to get his flat rented out, while the agent wants to keep your goodwill so that you will recommend them to your friends and come back to them in the future. Especially as a foreigner, it’s helpful to have another layer of protection. I once had a landlord forget how much we had paid as a deposit and wouldn’t believe me (even after I sent over the contract) until asking the agent. 

From a practical standpoint, they will just be seeing more flats than you will and can steer you in the right direction, assuming they will listen to you and not just work off of assumptions. One agent insisted on showing me Star Street flats even though I told them I am not a Star Street person. I did not keep working with them. You can have more than one agent but tell them immediately if they take you to a flat that a different agent already showed you, since the first agent would be the one who gets credit for it. 

Timing is important. You can’t really start looking until about a month before you are ready to move. Most landlords want a renter in ASAP and will rent it out to the first person to sign. Desirable flats get rented out fast. You definitely don’t want to have to pay double rent just to secure your dream flat. Better to not know it’s out there! The only exception I have seen to this is when someone is looking for a person to take over their contract. They tend to start looking early to make sure they’re not on the hook for rent. Facebook is the way to go if you want a little more time to look. 

When you go out to look at flats with an agent, make a list of pros and cons for each apartment as you walk through. Take a few videos if you can. After seeing 10 flats in a row, it gets hard to remember which is which. Think about the location and see how close you are to supermarkets and transport. How easy would it be to move into the flat? I have not thought of that in the past and it makes for a very stressful moving day. Even if the move will be challenging (i.e. a lot of stairs or a busy street by your entrance), perhaps it is still too good of a deal to pass up. 

Check the the sinks, flush the toilet, count how many outlets are in each room (and where they are). If you shop on the budget side (aka small), be sure to bring along a tape measure and record the measurements of all the rooms. Make sure that the bedroom can actually fit a bed in it. Shocking that that has to be said, but it does. If you are moving from a different flat, make sure you have the measurements of all of your other furniture to make sure it will fit inside AND through the door/hall. 

There are a lot of building considerations as well. Consider how high you are. Most people prefer higher lifts since you have a lower chance of plumbing problems or roaches. How many lifts there are there? How fast or slow are they? You could run into lift traffic jams on your way to work. Are you near a busy area and on a low floor? You could have noise issues. 

Most people also have a preference for new versus old. I personally like cheap but still decently sized places, so my go-tos are old but renovated flats. And I am flexible on the renovated part. There are people who prefer new flats since they are less likely to have roaches or old pipes or some of those old building problems. The downside is that they can be quite small, oddly designed, and eye-wateringly expensive. Pick your poison. 

Once you find a place you like, then things move fast. Your agent will inform the landlord and then if the landlord agrees, you meet as soon as possible to sign the contract. Like I said, my fastest signing time was within one hour of viewing the flat. Gotta get it locked down! You can do some bargaining through the agent and see if they are willing to come down in price at all. Sometimes agents can help you negotiate a rent-free period or other perks. One even had them make curtains for me! 

Landlords often require proof of employment, although not all of my landlords asked for that. So be sure to have a copy of your employment contract, your documents, and three and a half months of rent ready to go. If you can, ask for a copy of the contract ahead of time (but that doesn’t always happen if you are meeting them that day). Make sure that they will be paying the management fee and you will split the stamp duty (the norm). Occasionally utilities will be included in the rent, but that is rare. 

Look over the contract and see if there is anything fishy. Most of them are pretty standard 24-month contracts where 13 months are fixed and either party can break after that with one month’s notice. I did have one contract (the most convoluted one I have ever seen) where they had a clause about us being responsible for typhoon damage, which seemed a bit ridiculous to me. But after bringing it up, we crossed out that section at the signing. 

After the contracts are signed and money turned over, you are in business! Stay tuned for my next guide: moving in Hong Kong.