Hey everyone!
I have an LH apartment that I won through an apartment lottery program called ν볡주ν.
Here is a tour of my brand-new apartment in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea!
It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.
Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) is a government-owned corporation that is responsible for the development of land in cities and the maintenance and management of land and housing.
LH provides affordable and quality public housing to low and middle-income Korean and multicultural families. These apartments are usually built in new cities or rural areas to help develop those cities.
LH offers these apartments at much lower costs than other apartment brands in South Korea. The cost to buy these apartments is lower and the monthly rental fee is also enormously cheaper normal than normal apartments.
⭐️Let's compare my previous apartment with my current one!⭐️
π My previous apartment
(Just a normal apartment brand)
Location: Anyang
Size: 15 Pyeong
2 Bedrooms/1 Bath
Deposit: 10,000,000 KRW
Monthly rental fee: 600,000 KRW
Monthly utilities: around 150,000 KRW + or +
π My current LH apartment
Location: Gyeonggi-do
Size: 21 Pyeong
3 Bedrooms/2 Baths
Deposit: 9,000,000 KRW
Monthly rental fee: 350,000 KRW
Monthly utilities: around 200,000 KRW + or +
The utility fees include the following
-apartment complex fees
-elevator electricity fee
-elevator management fees
-cleaning fee
-common electricity fee
-tv broadcasting fee
-management fee
-construction/fixing fee
-security fee
-disinfecting fee
-insurance
-pipe water fee
-community usage fee
-hot water fee
**I KNOW IT"S A LOT OF FEES!!!!!
Usually, apartment complexes have higher utility fees than villas or other places. These fees can increase from month to month. Other fees can also be added. Apartment complexes usually have a group of community members that vote on these changes.
If you move to a new place in Korea, make sure you know how much your monthly utility fees will be. Some places can be much more expensive than others.
My monthly rental fee and utilities are quite affordable. If my apartment was just a normal apartment or even an apartment located in Seoul; the monthly rental fee would probably be at least 700,000+ KRW.
Some people who win these LH apartments, may not necessarily need them and end up buying them just to rent them out. These situations can sometimes be unfair. Low-income families who actually need these apartments lose their opportunity because of others.
I see many people in my apartment complex that drive Teslas, Mercedes, BMWs, and many other name-brand cars. Sometimes, I wonder how they won this apartment because most people that live in LH are usually lower income.
However, this is Korea, and Koreans care about their image a lot. Even though they are struggling and in debt, they will still drive around brand-name cars, lol.
***If you rent out one of these LH apartments from a landlord, the rental fee would be higher because you would be renting from a person who owns the apartment and not from LH.
Let's compare
LH Apartment (Owned by someone, not LH)
Location: Gyeonggi-do
Size: 21 Pyeong
3 Bedrooms/2 Baths
Deposit might be: 10,000,000 KRW + or -
Monthly rental fee might be: 700,000 KRW + or -
VS.
NON-LH Apartment (Name brand apartment complex in Korea)
Location: Gyeonggi-do
Size: 21 Pyeong
3 Bedrooms/2 Baths
Deposit might be: 20,000,000 -30,000,000 KRW + or -
Monthly rental fee: 1,000,000 KRW + or -
**Usually, the difference in renting these apartments is the amount of the deposit and the amount of the monthly rental fee you will pay.**
⭐️Examples⭐️
Normal LH Apartment
-Lower Deposit Required: you can pay as much as you want
-The more deposit you pay, the less your rental fee will be
-Rental fee will be low
-You can only live here a certain amount of years
(I think max 6 years, maybe 10 if you have kids)
LH Apartment (privately owned)
-Still a lower deposit
-Rental fee will be much higher
-You could live here as long as the landlord allows
Normal Apartment (NON LH)
-Higher deposit amount
-Higher rental fee
This is a lot of information to absorb! The main takeaway from this is that Korean Housing is very very very expensive and hard to afford! That is why most Koreans live with their parents until they get married. It is also why most continue to live with their parents even when after they get married.
Basically, if you want to buy an apartment in Seoul, it will cost almost a million USD. If you want to rent an apartment in Seoul, be prepared to pay thousands of dollars for your deposit.
Banks do offer housing loans to help you pay for your deposit but you should be prepared to have a percentage of the deposit already. That is why having a housing savings account in Korea is really important (μ²μ½μ μΆκ³μ’). Please open one of those accounts as soon as possible!
Overall, don't live in Seoul! :D I definitely recommend settling down and getting your housing outside of Seoul, if possible! I really enjoy my quieter life outside of Seoul but it can sometimes be inconvenient.
I am thankful that The LH corporation exists in Korea. Because of this corporation and the program they provide for newlyweds, I am able to live in my current apartment now.
However, I am worried about the future. What will happen when my contract ends? Will I be able to afford normal housing in Korea? I hope that I will be able to!
⭐️To find out more information about this program, watch the video below!⭐️
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