[carang]

clearwater bay is close to sai kung.

you ARE going to have a very difficult time finding some place that will fit all of your requirements. hk is not very dog friendly. if you want somewhere that isn't a shoebox, then you are going to have to compromise on something.

$11,000 is not a huge budget. to get a taxi from sai kung town to central non-rush hour would be about 45 minutes. this is normal commute time for HK. it would cost you about $200-250.

i'm not sure what you would get for the $, but you MAY be able to find something in pok fu lam or aberdeen for your price range. however, aberdeen isn't exactly, ummmm green....more of another concrete jungle. pok fu lam is much greener and closer to central, but it seems to me to have a lot of larger flats that would be way out of your price range.

if i'm wrong on that, i'm sure it won't take long for someone to correct me.

[carang]

besides, sai kung has a few pubs and a lot of expats, so you may not need to travel over to hk island as often as you think if you are happy enough with the expats on offer in sai kung.

also forgot to say that you could try a village house in tseung kwan o, or hang hau... you would be MUCH closer to MTR but further away from the multitude of expat neighbours that you would have in either CWB or sai kung. (when i mentioned sai kung earlier, i was refering to 700' in a village house, not a flat in a highrise).

[timklip]

you might try South Horizons in Ap Lei Chau (near Aberdeen)...11000 (and a little bargaining) will get you about 600 -700 ft with 2 brs. Its a big complex with big supermarket and a mall in the middle, quite a few expats, multiple clubhouses, swimming pools... blah blah....buses into Central (20 mins?) and all over HK Island...

[carang]

when i said aberdeen earlier, i was actually thinking of South Horizons.

[Wendy]

Hi Carang, I emailed a few weeks back about cheaper places to live. I love Happy Valley where we are but we feel it is a waste of rent money for the next few years. It would be mid year before this lease finishes anyway. With Sai kung, Clearwater bay or anywhere else, how do we find an agent or places to look at. The few I see in mags here are usually very expensive. When we were looking around here it was only mid levels, not even North Point or areas near there. I don`t want to be too isolated - we are an older couple on our own but will have family and young grandkids visit sometimes. Grateful for any advice.
Wendy: Hope this doesn`t go thru twice!!

[carang]

head out to sai kung for a visit and go to see a couple of agents. that would be the easiest way to go.

[carang]

ps> i did answer the email, didn't i?

[Wendy]

Yes you did. I am just trying to get as much info as I can. Have you heard any good/bad reports abt the Gold Coast side? We would need about 1700 sq ft and could pay up to HKD35000. would we get a place (not too isolated) for that near Transport?
Thanks W

[carang]

we have clients that live there with their dog. they have a duplex in a lowrise, but i honestly have no idea what they pay.

[Skyhook]

Hi Wendy,

we live 2 bus stops away from the Gold Coast Mall/Residences, and absolutely love it here, I will list a few points of why, below.

* It's dead quiet in our particular street as its a no through road, and far enough away from the main road not to be bothered by traffic noises.

* Most of the apartment complexes follow the contour of Castle Peak Bay, in our case we have our own private beach and a tree lined park right opposite our place.

* Public transport is limited to Buses if you work on the island, a typical trip takes between 30 minutes and 50, depending on the time of day.

* The efficency in most apartments here, which are in the 30 - 14 year age range, is around 80 - 85%, considerably larger than what you'll find for the price elsewhere. Rule of thumb is the newer an apartment is, the smaller it will be be. e.g.. A 14 year old apartment of 1380FT2, will be as big as a 2 year old 1700Ft2 apartment, because you're not wasting floor space on public area's. Older apartment blocks are also either 2 or 4 to a floor, not 8 like the sardine tins they build today.

* The residence, public area's during the weekends are typically quiet and free of BBQ roudy locals, one thing we deliberately didnt want around our home environment.

* The Gold Coast Yacht club is very well appointed, and if you sail, you will find this a very enjoyable aspect.

As we don't rent, I can only give you a rough idea what you'll be paying rent wise, we recently helped a new recruit in the company find a place out here, prices were as follows.

For a 1450FT2 Gold Coast Residences, 3 bedroom duplex with walk in pantry, and walk in storage room off the kitchen, Big master bedroom, (3 toilets) , a bathroom and an ensuite gas oven equipped, full length apartment balconey and 700ft2 roof top, prices were 23,500 per month. A 1380ft 2 ( 8th floor of a 11 floor complex ) apartment in Siu Lam 10 minutes walk away was $17,000 per month, inc a car park. Both had excellent sea/marina views.

We do our weekly shopping in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, a very quick 10-15 minute mini bus or car trip away. There is a Welcome super market at the Gold Coast, but we find the wet markets are 70% cheaper and prefer the wider range of fresh produce options a little further away.

Sai Kung is another location I can also nominate as a great lifestyle location to live, but rents have more than doubled since 2005 when we lived there, and its starting to become a bit unfair considering your high transport costs. It also gets mad busy on the weekends, which can be a little irritating. However, during the week its a pleasant place to shop, grab a coffee or get a beer. One unfortunate thing is the big corporates are starting to muscle in on the local businesses, I hear that Steamers has lost out to one of the big 2 coffee chains, which is very sad if they are going to just turn it into another boring personality-less commercial zone.

If you would like any further info about the Tuen Mun ( Gold Coast area ), message me, i can send you some photo's and put you in contact with Peggy our agent, she speaks fluent English, and is professionally dedicated. More than i can say for the pathetic agents provided by Sino group at the Gold Coast, who need a management change like yesterday.

The agents in Sai Kung when we were living there, TMT property, opposite the Wilson Car Park, were excellent.



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