Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
What Exactly Do I Want?
Clarify ahead of time exactly what you want in your home, and write it all down. This will
hopefully minimize wild goose chases with the real estate agent. Specify how many bed-
rooms you want (be explicit if you want a studio or a one-bedroom, as these are typically
lumped together), if you want it furnished or unfurnished (unfurnished can be difficult to
come by in inner-city apartments, though not impossible), whether you want it in a complex
with a gym or a garden, and so forth.
Apartments in Beijing are generally described first by their overall area in square meters,
so this may be something to consider as well. An average RMB6,000 per month apart-
ment around Dongzhimen, for example, should be about 80 square meters (861 square feet).
Apartments down in expat hub Fulicheng (just south of Guomao) are a little larger. Aver-
age two-bedroom apartments here are about 120 square meters (1,292 square feet) and cost
around RMB7,500. Occasionally, agents will factor in the foyer area outside an apartment,
making it seem larger than it actually is.
There are various ways to try to find a home in Beijing. You can use one of the several
international-level real estate agents and relocation specialists, such as Bel & Well Property
International (
www.bel-property.com.cn
) and Super Estate (
www.superestate.cn
)
. These
companies are staffed by multicultural teams, specialize in dealing with foreigners, and un-
derstand the importance of service. You can also use local real estate agents, but these are
another thing altogether. They will typically tell you anything to get you to a place, will
show you fake photos, and when you discover it's a different place than the one you've been
promised tell you that that other one was already taken (even though the ad may have been
posted only hours earlier). They will most likely be in a different ballpark entirely when it
comes to understanding what you want. The fun thing, though, is that many of them will
drive you on the back of their scooter from place to place.
Many foreigners use sites such as The Beijinger or eChinacities (
www.echinacities.com
)
to find an apartment. But be warned; these sites are swarming with local agents, and even
though they will tell you they're not agents, they probably are. While expat sites are ex-
tremely helpful, the prices of apartments on them are usually heavily inflated, and the range
is largely limited to the city's expat hot spot area.
