Home Hunting

Today we got to go on a home hunting adventure.  Since we have decided to stay in Korea until March 2014 we definitely wanted to try and find a bigger place.  The lease that our boss has on our current apartment is up the first of November and she gave us the go ahead to find our own place and receive a housing allowance from her instead of having her choose and pay for our apartment.  This was the first time we have had the opportunity to go house/apartment hunting so we were very excited!  Someone has already signed a lease for our current apartment so we have been told we can move anytime before the first.  Our biggest desire has been more space.  We know that for 16 more months we just have to accept living in a tight space but we still need more than the small studio we have now.  We would like to actually have a bedroom and an area bigger than about three feet for the entire kitchen, entry way, bathroom sink and laundry room.  We knew finding something we actually liked might be a challenge since housing is very expensive and very small in Seoul, but we made it our mission today to find something.

We were very fortunate that one of our Korean friends could go to real estate offices with us today and see if anybody had anything in our size and price range.  In Korea you have to put a very large deposit down on an apartment before you can sign a lease and then you get the deposit back after your lease is up.  The first few places we went just told us that the deposit amount we were willing to do was not enough and they couldn't rent to us.  Fortunately there are MANY real estate offices in our area so we kept looking until we found one that would show us some places.  What we really wanted was a villa.  In Korea these are often larger and less expensive than apartments (because you aren't paying for the 24hr. security man, cleaning lady, a parking space and the convenience of restaurants in the basement.  They also don't generally come with appliances).  We looked a couple and decided on one that we could live with.  Neither of us were extremely excited about it but it was a nice two bedroom villa with a kitchen that was larger than what we have now (thought that isn't saying much).

But our Korean friend thought we should keep looking so we did.  One of the real estate offices we went to said they had a one bedroom villa available in a new building just built this year.  We had already looked at some one bedroom villas that were barely bigger than what we have now since the one bedroom is literally all the space there is.  So we didn't expect to like it but figured it didn't hurt to look.  That was a good choice.  We fell in love with it as soon as we saw it.

It did only have one bedroom but it was a very large bedroom (not much smaller than our current apartment).  It also came with a living room (about the size of our current apartment).  There was plenty of room to make a nice living area with a couch, coffee table, TV, etc.  and the bedroom was plenty big enough for our bed, a dresser, etc.  The kitchen area was much bigger than what we have now and even though it was in the same area as the living room we would have more room for working in the kitchen (we could actually have two people working in the kitchen instead of only one!).  It also came with the essential appliances that we were assuming we would need to buy right away like a washing machine and refrigerator.  It's on the fifth floor (no elevator!) which is the top floor meaning we also have easy access to the roof where there is a BBQ area.  We both got so excited when we looked at it for the first time that we knew it was THE one.  The price is right, the location is right (it's less than a ten minute walk to work), and the timing is right.  We went back later in the afternoon with one of our coworkers who contacted our boss and said it was fine.  He helped us sign the contract and lease and we move in next Saturday!! 

We are so excited about this place.  It will definitely make the 16 months we have left in Korea enjoyable, more comfortable and exciting.  It will be the first home that we got to find together and we cannot wait for moving day and the months of making our home that will follow.  We will also have room for visitors to stay now so just let us know when you're coming!

We started looking and finished looking for a home on the same day.  I wonder if house hunting is always this easy? :)

Updates and pictures coming soon... :)