hi, i am a newcomer to Sh, with a housin budget no more than RMB25,000, and i want to live within downtown since i am working in People's Square. to find a house by myself is really a technical job since i am not familiar with local situation, and can not speak Chinese. how do you guys find your house when you first came to sh, and where should i live within my budget? is there any good international agent or relocation company to recommend? or any magazine i can be aware of them?
Many thanks!

Get a good agent is the best advice. Have a look at Adrienne's website. Expats don't have a bad word to say about her. Even if you don't use her there's a lot of great info on the site.
http://www.shanghaiprops.com/

Your budget is more than double what I pay and I've got a great two-bed apartment in a good area so you'll be fine.

One wonders if you are not you who seem.........If not, you'll get several people here very shortly offering their services.

trousers wrote:One wonders if you are not you who seem.........If not, you'll get several people here very shortly offering their services.

Had the same thought. Best to get in quick with legitimate advice before the scams start...

Thank you for you two guys suggestions.

where are you from dellazuo?

hi, dellazuo, i am from joanna real estate, a large relocation service company for expats, 25,000 budget can get you really good apartment downtown,
if you need any help or advice, you can PM me, or you can get the access to www.joannarealestate.com.cn to have a look at the properties there.

Hi Dellazuo,

I've used Joanna Real Estate before and found them very helpful. My budget was about 20,000 and they had a big range of places. They gave me a tour of Changning, Jingan, Xintiandi etc etc
Actually, they were really pretty good cos they managed to get the rent down too. I think the landlord was after about 22,000 and eventually we agreed 18,000. ( "We"...I didnt do much myself - Chinese is not my strong point )

They gave me a load of introductory documents when I arrived - guide to stuff around town, useful Chinese phrase book, map etc. And I know they've got French speakers as well as English if that helps. All in all, I'd definitely recommend them.

Hope that helps!!

And so it begins...

Joanna Real Estate

Most overpriced listings I ever saw...

comingbaby wrote:hi, dellazuo, i am from joanna real estate, a large relocation service company for expats, 25,000 budget can get you really good apartment downtown,
if you need any help or advice, you can PM me, or you can get the access to www.joannarealestate.com.cn to have a look at the properties there.

Wow Joanna Real Estate has a username as "coming baby". I wonder what other kind of services they offer

At least he waited 5 hours after his OP to start the scamming...

For a company that offers you 25000 a month for rent I'm surprised they didn't make any suggestions for areas to live or agencies heh heh

What's absurd if they would come hree "Hello, I am rep. of JRE etc." it would work for them not like this AGAINST them. I donlt know why those copanies are doing it - must be a mentality thing, maybe it works on locals..

OP, you will have no problem finding a place, suggest you look at the real estate section on this site, www.cityweekend.com.cn and also Adrienne as mentioned above.

Only look at apartments that have decent photos otherwise you will be shown all sorts of crap, but for 25K you will be able to find a great place in the centre of the city.

Thanks guys for your recommendations. Sure owe you plenty of beers.

Mat, maybe I can shout a night of Pure Blondes at The Shed.

Well, to the newbie Dellazuo, firstly welcome to rainy ole Shanghai. Just wanted to let you know that with your budget you will have plenty of accomodation to choose from but one thing you may want to know about is the differences here between accomodation types.

There are three kinds. One is DEVELOPER COMPOUNDS which are built and owned by one single developer and have standardised floor plans, high quality fit outs, decor and furnishings. Generally, these compounds are managed by international property companies. Due to their high quality and level of service, they charge premium rentals.

Another kind of compound is classified as LOCAL HOUSING built by developers and partly or wholly sold off to private landlord who fit out their property according to their individual taste and budget so all of these apartments are completely different.

A third type which is commonly called LUXURY PROPERTIES, are built and sold already fitted out and units only vary according to the owners taste in furniture, lighting and curtains. Most of the these type are bought by investors and provide a good happy medium between the often poor quality local housing and expensive developer compounds.

There are quite a few properties that would fit your budget in the People's Square area. Please let us know exactly what kind of property you would like "your wish list" and I can make some recommendations.

Feel free to PM me on this site (the little PM box at the top of this post), email me at manager@shanghaiprops.com or call me on 13122 810 421 if you want any more help.

Adrienne

Oooooooops. Just remembered that we have a fabulous Penthouse at People's Square for 25k. Owned by an expat and fitted out to expat quality standards. 200sqs, 3 beds. Am gonna post pics of it this weekend.

Adrienne