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Am about to move to HCMC.
What are good living ares for singles? Ideally, the place should not be far from city center and within reach of some restaurants/nightspots.
Am not looking for the cheapest place in town.
apartments Houses condo (add tags) Why? Details of tags
answered about 6 months ago by tonicboy
The simplified answer is, Google yourself a map of Saigon and locate the Opera House. The closer you can be to it, the better. District 1 is best if you can afford it, then District 3 after that. Binh Thanh District or District 4 after that.
answered about 6 months ago by aXXelF
Thanks tonicboy, will follow your advice. As a rough indication, what monthly rental payments are we looking at for the different areas, assuming I would go for an approx. 250sqm house or condo. Tried to check some places on the web but can't really judge the location and how realistic the asking prices are.
answered about 6 months ago by cheapie
I dunno where you are relocating from, but 250sqm is huge by Saigon standards. That's like a 5 br condo, which hardly exist here. 250 for a house or a villa is different though. For a flat in D1, expect to pay roughly $15 USD per sqm for a baseline rate, higher for more amenities. If you are looking for 250sqm, then it sounds like your budget would fit the An Phu area in D2 and the nicer/bigger villas out in Phu My Hung in D7 (also called Saigon South). PMH is about 30-45min away by taxi, An Phu is about 20 minutes away. Away from D1 and the Sheraton/Opera House area. If you are not adverse to paying $3k USD and up per month, then there are villas in D3 and the like. Between 5 to 15 minutes from the Opera House, depending on where in D3 it is. As you may know, D3 is adjacent to D1.
Thanks cheapie, moving around through some Asian countries and figured that condos are rather spacious in this part of the world ... Your message gives me a good indication on prices in different areas. Thanks you.
I would have to agree, 250 sq. m. is really huge. Even in America that would be a house in the suburbs, nothing you could find in a city (for a reasonable price). I only managed to look at about 5 places before I found the one I'm living in now, so not sure how well I know prices, but... the place I'm living in now is a 3-story 2BR house with roof terrace. About 100 sq m or 1,000 sq ft and I'm paying $600 + utilities. It's a great location about 5 blocks east of the Opera House. I really like the neighborhood a lot. Walking around here, there are tons of "Rooms for Rent" signs down the alleys, and I have also seen a few "House for Rent" signs. I would recommend walking around the neighborhood and see if you get lucky. Or, you could always go the "serviced apartment" route where you would pay about US$1500-$3000 for probably a 50 sq m 1BR apartment, but really modern and nice quality with all the amenities.
answered about 6 months ago by suvving
tonicboy, are you paying $600 for one bedroom in a 2BR house? Or is it $600 for the whole 2BR house? Since property values are dropping in Vietnam, rent prices should be dropping too, right?
I'm paying $600 for the whole place. Even though property values in general are falling, properties in high demand areas still retain the most value. This is the same as you can see in the States. On top of that, many landlords have written their contracts in US dollars, so they remain expensive despite the falling value of the Vietnamese dong. Fortunately, I was able to negotiate my lease in dong.
Any tips for getting a lease in dong? It seems like that's a good idea for a renter since the dong is expected to fall at least another 10% in the next year.
Yeah, be a hard-nosed bargainer :-) When asking about the apartment, make it clear that you will negotiate the rent in dollars but will pay the rent in dong at current market rates. When signing the lease, double-check the small print.
Tonicboy, have received some offers for An Phu (District 2). Pictures of the places look quite nice but I read that connectivity to District 1 is limited. What's your take on District 2? Thanks.
