Where would you live for under $18,000?

[jac8]

Hi my husband and I and our 1 and 3 year old children will be moving to HK in July. We are really excited and are now madly searching housing on the net. Hubby will be working in Northpoint area. My kids love swimming so we would really like a place with clubhouse facilities, hopefully 3 bedrooms and a maids room and within a 45 minute commute for my husband. Does such a place exsist for under $18,000? We have researched a bit about the Hang Hau area (ie.Residence Oasis) and would possibly consider Discovery Bay if the commute wasnt too bad. Does anyone have any advice or recommendations regarding these areas or any others? We may purchase a car if we need to (and dont live in DB) but would probably prefer for my husband to be able to catch public transport to work.

Thanks in anticipation of your help
Jac

 

[carang]

it would take probably 1.25 hours to commute via public transport from discovery bay to north point.

we live in sai kung country park. about 45 minute drive to north point or 30 minute drive to hang hau mtr station.

we do not have any facilities as we are in a village house.

what do we have?

1) 5 bedrooms (two ensuite)
2) 4 bathrooms
3) 2 large balconies
4) rooftop "garden"
5) 1000' real garden (used to have grass, until dogs killed it all!LOL!)
6) 2100' house
7) two carparks
8) peace and quiet
9) very friendly neighbours, we have neighbourhood get togethers a couple of times per year, almost all of them are expats
10) safe environment, very few vehicles as you need a special permit to drive into the park

and

11) $15,800/month!!! no extra fees.

it isn't suited for everyone as the closest supermarket is a 15 minute drive away, but we find it great for what we spend on rent! my son goes to the kindergarten in sai kung town (sai kung lok yuk) and is VERY happy there. it is chinese medium, but they have LOTS of expat kids, so notices etc come home in both languages. the teachers all speak english. and the kids all seem very happy. we got a gov't voucher for our son (anyone with a proper visa/hkid card can apply) and the school costs us only $160/month... yes, $160 NOT $1600!!!

both of my kids attend socatots in sai kung town and love it! there are lots of other classes around as well, so you don't always have to trek to HK island for activities.

 

[rani]

I had a friend who lived in a spacious flat in an older Chinese building close to Victoria Park. Building didn't have any facilities but they were at Victoria Park daily, pool/playgound. Best to come for visit and check out the different areas.

 

[Buckeroo]

Cara --that's a wonderful you have on your house! If only hubby's work is not just 10 min's walk from where we currently live...

Jac8 - You might want to check out Island Resort. A friend just recently renegotiated their lease and was able to get theirs at HK$17,500 per month for a 1200+ place with 3 bedrooms + a helper's room. Island Resort has a great clubhouse (2 pools, children's playroom, tennis courts, gym, outdoor playground, bowling alley, a spa, squash court, etc.). They also have a huge open podium where the kids can run around / ride their bikes. Right downstairs is a bus depot with buses taking you directly to North Point, Admiralty, Central, Causeway Bay, etc. From Island Resort to North Point, you could easily take any of the 2 buses or hop on the minibus to Chai Wan (or Heng Fa Chuen) and then take the MTR.

 

[carang]

that's the thing... hubby works from home. i work 45 minutes by car away, so it's not too bad.

 

[sunniefaith]

Park Island. You'll be able to get 1027 square feet for 15K or less, 3 bedroom, 2 bathrooms and a maid's room. 3 clubhouses and I think 4 swimming pools. 2 indoors, heated pools and 2 outdoors. It'll take around 1hr from Park Island to Northpoint. Ferry and bus.

 

[thundacatchergo]

Heng fa cheun on the mtr hk line might be suitable for you
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heng_Fa_Chuen

 

[jaetee]

Tung Chung - excellent facilities/clubhouses, 3 bedrooms plus tiny maid's room for 12K. Direct MTR line to Central, with train change to North Point.

 

[Buckeroo]

Haha, now you are bombarded with choices.

You really will just have to take time out to do a look-see to get a feel for yourselves how well you'll like the place/s.

Good luck.

 

[0ze_Kid]

If your DH is anything like mine he will not like to commute very far. (until recently he thought 30 minutes was too far!). The North Point/Quarry Bay area is nice with some good international schools nearby (such as Delia School of Canada in Taikoo).

We lived in the area BC (before kids) and liked it a lot. It has CityPlaza nice and close with just about everything you need in a mall, but the area is still close to central. I worked in Central at the time and could travel from our apartment to my office (about 45 minutes) without having to step outside! I had a short outside walk from central to the office (about 5 minutes)! The best dumpling shop (I think!) was also near us in North Point. DH worked in TKO and it was about a 40 min trip for him too.

We rented a serviced apartment for 2 months on our return to HK (after kids) as I thought we would move back into the area but the commute to Kowloon for DH was just too long (about 1.5 hours) so we moved to Discovery Bay.

You need to decide how long DH is willing to travel and then you will be better placed to pick an area to look into. Lots of areas are good for famililes - Sai Kung, Discovery Bay, Stanley, Tung Chun and so on.

I think the public transport system is excellent in Hong Kong so I would not consider that a factor.

re prices, I think you will be able to find a nice place in the North Point/QB area for your budget because it is a little less popular an area to live than somewhere like Discovery Bay (which I think you can find a place for that budget too it would not have nearly as many features as a place like carang's in Sai Kung).

Good luck on the move!