Have we found our place??

As you know from Sandra's last post, we've been spending most of our time in Taipei looking at housing. It's been a tiring, but very educational experience. We've talked to about ten different agents and seen over 20 apartments in the last few days. In Taiwan, the agents specialize within a relatively small geographic area. So, in addition to our English speaking agent, we've basically been roaming up and down the streets of the neighbourhoods we're interested in to speak to local agents and security guards of buildings with postings. We joke about how if we don't meet anybody else in Taiwan, at least we'll know all the real estate agents! We've already bumped into a few in our travels!

Taipei is quite an expensive city compared to most Asian cities and certainly compared to the rest of Taiwan. Public transportation is quite good here with a network of MRT (trains) and buses. Like most markets, the Taipei real estate rental prices are driven by various factors like – location, size, condition of apartment, demand, etc. There are a few more unique characteristics like elevator in building or floor of the apartment (higher floors are actually generally cheaper in Taipei, not more expensive, due to the potential for power outages).

We decided that we wanted to live in Taipei city proper. There are a lot of decent choices in Taipei county (basically the surrounding area outside Taipei city), but we feel that quieter, suburban living is not the experience that we are looking for. Living in the city results in about rent that is almost double of what it would cost for the equivalent outside of the city. Many people cannot afford to live in the city, or choose to live outside of the city and have a car.

It's difficult signing a one year lease without really knowing what our live will be like. All we have to go on are our dreams and prayers. Here’s the key objectives in the apartment:

Location is always key in real estate and the key driver of price. This was or prime criteria and why we picked DaAn area – close to MRT, short bus ride to Ray's office, lots of local markets and food places. Other location reasons:

1. MRT will be key for Sandra's transportation to school and work (wherever that may be)
2. We don't know where our church or community - will be easier for people to come over
3. Generally safer if its close to MRT for Sandra if she's out at night

Other key factors:

Size of apartment – we do hope to invite coworkers or friends over to build relationships. We wanted a place that had a decent size common area. We will also have visitors (including parents), so we wanted a comfortable place for them to stay and experience life here.

Community / neighbourhood – this is the softer “feel” of the local area / apartment. Many of the places we have seen are either very old or converted offices. It's not uncommon to have residential apartments in the same building as commercial offices (sometimes this can result in higher rent for the landlord). We wanted a place where we could connect with people – e.g. local shops, vendors, neighbours, etc.

Comfort – this is the selfish criteria. Both of us have never really been into luxury or needed high end stuff. However, we did want to have a decent, clean place to live. This is a both for our visitors (local and overseas) as well as for ourselves. Many of the missionaries have counseled us to find a place that we can call home. When things get tough, it's our sanctuary and comfort. It's odd to think of things in this perspective, but I do agree that its important (within reason).

So... I think we were reasonable clear in what we were looking for. Even though there are people with LOTS of money in Taipei and lots of apartments in price ranges that we would not want to pay, we still questioned whether the price range was what we should be looking at. I had a chat with N today over google talk. I told him that it wasn't so much a matter of affordability (we’re talking a relatively modest amount), but what else I could do with this money. I think like back home, we have to consider this an “investment” in the community that we choose to set-up roots in.

Sandra is off doing final negotiations with a place that we both really like. Perhaps I should wait for the final decision before posting this, but I'm just talking outloud anyway right?

We found a place that is probably about $150 Cdn more than what we were hoping to spend. We hoped to negotiate this amount down, but the landlord wouldn't really move on the price.

This place is in a five story building, all owned by the same family – husband and wife and one year old twins (a sign?). 1st floor – Pizza Hut! 2nd floor – family and grandfather residence. 3rd floor – grandfather's private office during the day. 4th floor apartment for rent. 5th floor – empty for occasional family use.

We like the idea of this building being all one family. Each floor has its own self-contained unit. Sandra really connected with the wife on her very first visit. We may have too many high hopes, but we’re hoping that we can develop a relationship with this family. They seem very high – both speak a bit of English, the husband can also speak Cantonese.

The apartment is just down the street from xinyi lu, which is one of the busiest streets in Taipei and also a five minute walk from DaAn station and a ten minute walk from Sogo area. The nice thing about this alley is that in the evening hours from about 6pm to maybe 11pm, its bustling with local food vendors. There's no concern about needing an affordable bowl of noodles here! It's that nice balance of local street vendors and the commercial offices and residences of xinyi lu. It's how we pictured being in Asia.

The apartment itself is mostly furnished and semi-newly renovated (the landlord would argue fully renovated). Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room, pantry, etc. It's about 45 pings! (ping is measure of real estate in Taiwan. This would equate to 1200 or so sq feet). It’s larger than what we were looking for, but its got a great living room that would be good for entertaining. In the end, our rationale is that for the same price as some smaller (newer) places, we can do a lot more with the apartment. For example, we saw a nice two bedroom loft type place for exact same price – 350 sq feet!

So there it is... this is the apartment that we're most attached to. The biggest mistake in negotiations was made – we got emotionally attached. We left the apartment yesterday leaving the landlord the impression we didn't want it for that price... but both Sandra and I felt that this was a place we could call home and this was a place that we could use to invest in people.

I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to work out the details with the landlord, but even if not, I think this adventure has helped us clarify what we're looking for in a home, even for two years. We'll see what happens!

We'll post an update and, hopefully, pictures of this place soon.