Goodbye Seoul. Hello Ansan!
Sigh, goodbye Bongchun-Dong.
Glorious views of Mt. Gwanak and summer rains from our apt balcony at Woosung in Bongchun-Dong
We moved out of our apartment above mid-October into a cheap place we bought in Ansan, south of Seoul. We needed somewhere cheaper and buying a place seem a much better move than renting again. I hate renting: you slave away at work for a landlord you’ve never met. It’s just throwing cash down a black hole.
Hello Ansan!
A physical assessment day at the Ansan high school across the road from us.
The view from our new place. Our new place will require low mortgage payments–a few hundred thousand won a month. Even if free lancing is slow one month, I can probably still manage it.
One great thing about our location is that Homeplus and Lotte Mart are a five minute drive away. There’s another Homeplus a bit further on, along with a couple of E-Marts, all easily accessible and painless to get to compared to the major operation it used to require in Seoul. And down the street is a restaurant serving what is probably the best Kimchi I’ve even tasted.
We found a quick way into Seoul via Shillim-Dong. It only takes us about 25 to 30 minutes to get to Seoul Natl. Uni. Station. That’s not bad at all.
So far it’s been great. One problem we are facing, however, is that we don’t have another tenant for the Woosung apartment yet! What this means is that we’re stuck paying rent there until someone is found.
The real-estate guy informed us that the economic climate is making people reluctant to rent. Most are seeking chonsae deals, which is paying a lump sum that is returned after 2 years. We didn’t expect and we’ve never experience such a thing, so that caught us out. Fortunately, some people have been showing interests. It’s a wait and see situation.
Most of our stuff is still back there, making the place look homey for prospective tenants. We kind of living out of suitcase, but comfortably so. I’m too busy with study and free lancing and other stuff to worry much.
Oh, and, um, I also discovered with great alarm that in this kind of small housing in Korean you are not allowed to put toilet paper down the toilet bowl. There are warning signs about it. It’s something to do with stopping processing costs from being passed onto tenants. I hope it does not cause me psychological damage. It’s just not an issue I want to deal with on a regular basis.
