The Truth about Beijing Apartment Hunting

There are several lessons that you learn early on when you begin your apartment hunt in Beijing.

Lesson 1: Motives

Everything that you read about an apartment on sites like theBeijinger (great site for expats) should be taken with a very itty bitty teeny tiny grain of salt. 9 times out of 10 it is written by a real estate agent whose only goal is to get you to see that apartment. Most of the time, they have never even seen it. For the most part, telling them to only take you to apartments that have, let’s say, a bathtub, an oven and that cost between a and b, is a waste of time. This sounds harsh, but it has been my experience...with 5-6 real estate agents from different agencies.

One particularly poignant example I found just last month. I live in an area called Lido, a wonderful neighborhood with a lot of diversity. You can find some reasonably affordable apartments here because there is no subway within walking distance, the closest one being a 15 minute cab ride away. The apartment right next to mine, Richmond Park, was being advertised as follows “Richmond Park!!! Lido!!! Several subway exits right outside your door!!!” When I saw this I felt morally compelled to email the guy and tell him that it was not nice to lie :) and confuse us poor foreigners. He told me to mind my own.

Lesson 2: (Similar to Lesson 1 and a good lesson on human nature):

When you tell an agent that you can spend between 5000 and 6000 kuai a month, expect to be taken to two types of apartments. First being the very worst apartment in your chosen area that can be found for 5000 directly followed by what is in comparison a palace that costs 6500 a month. Essentially, the agent is showing you that your price point is unreasonable and that you need to spend more. Keep in mind that the more you spend, the more they make. These people have terrible hours and get paid very little so although I don't blame them, I wasn't so forgiving when I was new to the city, didn't speak Mandarin and needed a place to live. If you can only spend 6000 a month, tell them you can only spend 5. Trust me.

Lesson 3: More expensive does not necessarily mean nicer, it often just means bigger

Where I come from, the more you spend the nicer the apartment. While that may not always be true, due to the odd wealthy person with slightly objectionable taste, I would be willing to say that it’s more often true than not. That is not often the case in Beijing. We live in a very nice apartment that is filled to the brim with IKEA everything. I love IKEA for dorm rooms and it is convenient but in a nice grown up apartment, I personally am not fond of faux wood, plaster board dressers and wardrobes. You will find this in apartments that are 3,000/month and 30,000/month. I visited quite a few really expensive large apartments in my area to prove this theory.

The most expensive apartment of the day was hilarious. Absolutely massive at over 300 square meters with 4 bedrooms and a connected office off of the master yet your first impression is the resemblance to the couch pattern and your grandmother’s hand towels 30 years ago. The TV from the late 1990’s was also an appreciated nice touch. It is one of those that involves several men helping you move.

Those lessons learned, here are some suggestions:

•Find an area you like and that suits your lifestyle

•Talk to other expats living in the area

•Set a price point and tell the agent your price with this super tricky algorithm: Your maximum price – 1000 kuai

•Make very clear to the agent that you will not meet with them again if they take you to apartments that don’t have what you are looking for. If you press them, they will call ahead and make sure, if you don’t, they won’t and you may be out all day during a particularly blustery day in February without the proper outer wear seeing apartments that were either (oops says the agent) for office space or without a person there to open the door.

•Relocation specialists seem to know what they are doing and I have heard great things. If you can afford, go for it.