|
14000 is, well, average I'd say for an expat on a stipend. We had a very small 2 bedroom in a nice building for 14,000 in the Central area, though you may want to be closer to the airport (not sure). How are the prices in Disco Bay or Stanely? Not sure myself. Depends what kind of life you want to live (i.e. somewhat suburban or hard core urban).
If your husband gets free passes on the airport express train (of the company pays) than you can live on Hong Kong island and really take in the full brunt of the city.
OF COURSE--the general rule for all moves applies--rent a corporate apartment for 1 month (or 2) and THEN find a permanent place once you get to the new town, see the highs and the lows NOT printed on the website.
Moving companies. Your best bet is to look locally for international movers. The guys you ship with, say...well Allied or something, will team up with someone in HK totally different, say Santa Fe. Timing is more important. I think the bulk of your goods will go by ship (6 weeks) but you may be able to air cargo a certain amount that will be there when you arrive. You will want to find people who pack it themselves (rather than you do it) and who have a pretty good reputation.
Do you really need to sell your house? Could you rent it out while you are away and make a profit? Find a management company that oversees the day to day and then, when you come back to the US, you a) have a place if needed (or wanted) or b) have some equity in something (probably that has gone up in value). Remember, you are basically getting an extra 14000HK (1,700 US) a month, and if you rented it out that is another XXXX US. Maybe that could pay your mortgage and then some. I'm not a financial advisor, but as you are planning budgets you may want to consider that option...
One other thing--do you have some form of repatriation? Will the money be there to ship all this stuff home when your time in HK ends? Many people who come to HK do a massive yard sale of stuff before heading to HK--i.e. no sense in taking the IKEA stuff with me to Hong Kong only to bring it back when I return. Furniture is comparitively cheap in HK vs. the US so maybe some redecoration is in order. Family heirlooms are family heirlooms, but some stuff can probably go in a yard sale.
|