# where to live for less than 20k in area with expats east kowloon



## Nuy

hi new to this forum
hoping to move to hk soon
family of 3
max 20k monthly for housing
must be very close to lam tin
we want some expat families around
nearest possible is lohas park but we saw very few expats indeed on recent visit
salary around mid 40k monthly
can we find asuitable place in that part of kowloon
kowloon tong, diamond hill and kowloon buy was above budget
we need some kind of expat community
sai kung too far to travel
thanks in advance
Nuy


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## Nuy

thank you


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## jart

I think there are some residential complexes in Tsueng Kwan O and Po Lam which are relatively new (<10 yrs). unfortunately the expat community there wont be as visible as HK island or DBay.


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## zephod

Hi, we're in the same boat, moving to HK in Nov/Dec family of 3, originally from the UK, and same budget.

I've been looking at so many real estate sites my eyes are spinning. I think what we'll end up doing is going for a short visit (easier as we're currently based in mainland China) and have a reccy of some areas. We looked at Sai Kung, beautiful as it is, it's remote. Lohas Park looks like something out of a Ballard novel. 

Am literally driving myself crazy trying to figure out the layout of the city, flicking in between about 10 websites at a time.


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## hurtmesome

Advise to both, are the children of school age? U might wanna get them into a school first and then find housing with little travel for ur kid.
As for cheaper, try park island. In an other thread MikeK mentioned is was nice and cheap with atleast Mikes family as expats ;p
Good luck


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## zephod

@hurtsmesome yep been in contact with some schools, the admission list for the school year 2015/2016 is already closed at a lot of them. Already been in touch with the EDB too. Waiting lists at some places over three years. Gotta love it.

Think we'll go with practicalities first. A bed to lie down on and a roof over our heads. 

We'll deal with the possibilty of our lad maybe getting into a school if the wind's blowing in the right direction by the time he's drawing his pension when we have a place to live.


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## freedirt

*Quiet and some Expats.*

Best bet New Territories, Tai Po.


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## Nuy

Thanks for reply. We have already visited HK and Lohas Park should be fine, given the limited choices. Working 3 mtr stops away. Hoping to live in Lohas with our 10 year old son. Flats are very small and best to budget below your allowance to allow for rent increases. Looking forward to moving there in December. Hope this offers encouragement. Closest cheapest choice we could find.


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## zephod

Sounds like it'll suit, especially if you're working so near. Work for us is in Central so it'll be a nice commute despite where we chose to live. We're Asia lifers so happy to go more local, which are the sites I've been looking at. We boot over every 3 months so next trip in October we'll check a few bits out then. Good luck to you and hope the move's a happy one.


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## Imogen123

Hi all,

I have a couple of days to look around Hong Kong to see where I'll like to live when I relocate there in a month... where do expats generally live? And where's reasonably priced? Are there any areas that should be avoided for any reason?

Thanks!
Imogen


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## Campervan

Hi we live in diamond hill at the moment and its under 20k. We're from the uk and have been living here since end of 2008. Got 2 kids too. Firstly I would say I agree that school placements are actually more important simply coz this city is completely different to anywhere I'm aware of (except New York I've heard). I hope you don't think I'm prying but 40k in this place with 20k taken as rent, it's almost impossible - mostly coz school fee is enormous. Your kids probably arelike ours can't get into local coz they don't do chinese. International schools are out of reach and some other options like ESF is just as expensive (currently about 7k a month). And our daughter can't get in - just take a look at the ESF website - we are right at the bottom of their categories, even though they suppose to provide for families whose main language is English. 

Sorry I diverged. Back to housing. Probably not your thing but there are a few villages off hang hau mtr (tube) toward clearwater bay road that offer a lot less than 20k and you can walk to hang hau mtr in about 10-15 mins. We live in diamond hill not out of our choice but of necessity. 

Expat nowadays live all over but probably not too up north, so like north east side such as Saikung, clearwater bay, shatin and Kowloon tong got plenty of expats, further down to east/centre part of Kowloon such as Hung hom, TST, you'll find plenty. Then all around to the west such as near Kowloon station you get to Elements, loads of expats, further up above it near Olympics you also get a lot of them. Now plenty have even moved to tung mun and tuen long but I wouldn't say there're that many. On HK island expats are everywhere. 

I hope everything goes well for you and your family - pm me if you need further help! Good luck


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## SumLai

kwun tong


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## grvqw

rent level in hong kong is very unreasonable


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