Interestingly, JR Yamanote and MRT Circle line are almost the exact same distances: 34.5 vs 35.7 km. Considering Tokyo is three times the size of Singapore (2000 vs 700 sq/km). given that, i think calling everything within the circle line "central Tokyo" is pretty fair when trying to make a comparison to Singapore.JR8 wrote:S$2k/US$1600pm in rent in Tokyo. Considering you’re in perhaps the most expensive city on earth, that sounds like quite the deal you’ve got there! By way of comparison I rented a studio there 20 years ago, and it was US$2500pm. It was pretty central, but tiny, and 20 years is some while!
I wouldn’t say the Yamanote/Circle Line defines ‘Central Tokyo’ or ‘pretty much the centre’. For example of you live in say Roppongi, then Ueno (half-way across the area of the Circle Line) is ‘the boonies’. Akin to living in Singapore D9/10/11 and calling Jurong West ‘pretty much the centre’, it’s all relative.
As others mention above, there is something of an anachronism here in SG. The government actively promotes marriage, children, multi-person/generation homes. There are very few studio units (and 1-beds are scarce) to cater for those who do not bend to government policy and breed. However where there are small units, they are likely pitched at foreigners who are here temporarily, and want to be central. The net result is that such units tend to be very central, and in far higher end blocks than average. So if you’re searching on just studio/1-beds you’ll be seeing the result of that double-whammy.
This is why you’ll see people having to flat-share here in SG, whereas most other places they wouldn’t have to...
So where did you end up staying if you don't mind answering? Haha. I'm really interested after all the searching you did. =]GSM8 wrote:Many people in Singapore (at least newcomers) seem to use a renters agent. I didn't when I moved here in January, and instead used one of the online websites which works out okay if one spends time to research price trends, localities etc. There are two types of properties HDB and condo (google the difference if not clear).
Note though, that photos and descriptions can be misleading at times so one might have to do a lot of walk-by's or drive-by's especially if not familiar with various localities/districts in Singapore, their accessibility etc, probably more than one would have to do with an agent. After seeing 30 odd places from outside and 6-7 from inside (basically most of 4 weekends), I negotiated a condo thats turning out to be quite convenient. But I did this because my relocation did not have an explicit reimbursement for agent. If your agent fee is reimbursed, you may as well use an agent, and this forum seems to have a few links to suggested real estate agents.
I thought of flat-sharing, but because I make frequent business trips, I won't be in Singapore that much (maybe 60-70% in Singapore in a year). Sometimes, I'm out traveling for a whole month, so I thought it would be unfair if I had to pay for the utility bills while I'm away. Why should I pay for the AC/electrical bills when I wasn't at home, right?the lynx wrote:If budget is your concern, you could look into flat-sharing. It is very common among single expats who do not get their accommodation covered by employers.
If privacy is a huge factor, get a master bedroom with attached bathroom. So you will only share hall, kitchen and etc.
Tell me about it, I just did it in the opposite direction.GSM8 wrote:Close to Paya Lebar MRT. I had moved here from San Jose California, and compared to current Bay Area, rents here actually seemed reasonable.dyoo wrote:So where did you end up staying if you don't mind answering? Haha. I'm really interested after all the searching you did. =]
Talk about cutting off the nose to spite the face...!dyoo wrote:I thought of flat-sharing, but because I make frequent business trips, I won't be in Singapore that much (maybe 60-70% in Singapore in a year). Sometimes, I'm out traveling for a whole month, so I thought it would be unfair if I had to pay for the utility bills while I'm away. Why should I pay for the AC/electrical bills when I wasn't at home, right?the lynx wrote:If budget is your concern, you could look into flat-sharing. It is very common among single expats who do not get their accommodation covered by employers.
If privacy is a huge factor, get a master bedroom with attached bathroom. So you will only share hall, kitchen and etc.
Better than paying for 4x to rent for own apartment for yourself!dyoo wrote:I thought of flat-sharing, but because I make frequent business trips, I won't be in Singapore that much (maybe 60-70% in Singapore in a year). Sometimes, I'm out traveling for a whole month, so I thought it would be unfair if I had to pay for the utility bills while I'm away. Why should I pay for the AC/electrical bills when I wasn't at home, right?the lynx wrote:If budget is your concern, you could look into flat-sharing. It is very common among single expats who do not get their accommodation covered by employers.
If privacy is a huge factor, get a master bedroom with attached bathroom. So you will only share hall, kitchen and etc.
Just keep the aircon on all the time and it will become perfectly fair.dyoo wrote:I thought of flat-sharing, but because I make frequent business trips, I won't be in Singapore that much (maybe 60-70% in Singapore in a year). Sometimes, I'm out traveling for a whole month, so I thought it would be unfair if I had to pay for the utility bills while I'm away. Why should I pay for the AC/electrical bills when I wasn't at home, right?the lynx wrote:If budget is your concern, you could look into flat-sharing. It is very common among single expats who do not get their accommodation covered by employers.
If privacy is a huge factor, get a master bedroom with attached bathroom. So you will only share hall, kitchen and etc.
We had a complicated system where we paid for the number of nights we spend in the flat--electricity and water. We had an even more complicated spreadsheet that computes how much each person would share, taking into account that even if no one's home, the fridge is running (we had times where the whole household would go on a holiday) or if someone had guests over and stuff. It was just a matter of honor system in reporting how many nights one spends. No one felt to needlessly spend electricity/water but no one also felt that they're missing out on AC/shower/laundry usage.dyoo wrote:I thought of flat-sharing, but because I make frequent business trips, I won't be in Singapore that much (maybe 60-70% in Singapore in a year). Sometimes, I'm out traveling for a whole month, so I thought it would be unfair if I had to pay for the utility bills while I'm away. Why should I pay for the AC/electrical bills when I wasn't at home, right?the lynx wrote:If budget is your concern, you could look into flat-sharing. It is very common among single expats who do not get their accommodation covered by employers.
If privacy is a huge factor, get a master bedroom with attached bathroom. So you will only share hall, kitchen and etc.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests