Nanjing university area apartment searching

[Wahed]

Any thoughts on what to expect in searching for an apartment in the Nanjing university area? I'd like somewhere clean (hopefully by Western standards), hopefully close to a park (walking, jogging, strolling etc), has capacity to keep tenant warm during winter etc. 

 

Any thoughts or recommended areas or companies that you personally have experience with? (hopefully this doesn't attract spam, but rather senior members can share advice) It doesn't have to be cheap but I wouldn't want to get ripped off either. Thank you.

[道艺]

Does the school not have on-campus housing? 

 

Are you already in China?  If so just go to the area and find a 中介公司 like 我爱我家,  or any local place with a 租房 sign. I've had good experiences going in, telling them my budget and other preferences (distance from subway/high low floor/etc), and having them scooter me around town to check out a few different places. 

 

I was able to negotiate a bit on the price, and it can usually all be done in one day. 

[道艺]

ps if you aren't in China there are some websites for renting places like Smart Shanghai. com but the prices I've seen are jacked up. 

[Wahed]

I should be in China sometime next week.

 

I'm pretty sure they have on-campus housing but I am not interested at all. I tried that once in Beijing and it was horrible. Never again. I prefer to pay a bit more for quality (hopefully).

 

My biggest issues were overall cleanliness, availability of hot water, water pressure and plumbing/ draining issues.

 

I guess I'll just have to wait until I arrive in China then. Thank you 

[道艺]

Will it be the Shanghai campus? How's your Chinese level? 

[Wahed]

There's a Shanghai campus of Nanjing University? I thought it was only one big school. 

 

My Chinese is fine as far as I know. I plan to add some journal entries early next week to practice apartment hunting so I can ensure what I'm saying is correct.

[道艺]

Maybe not, I'm not too familiar with Chinese schools. 

 

I think the 中介公司 should be no problem when house hunting for you. You will be far more prepared than I was and I was able to get the room, location, and price I was looking for without the foreign tax. I'll be on the lookout for your entry so I can learn a thing or two. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

it seems to the same anywhere in China from reports on here. 

 

1. Find an area you would like to live in (the rent a bike schemes can be useful to cover ground) or just wander around. Its worth considering places that are a bit away, but accessible by subway, bus.  Don't know about nanjing but often in Beijing people want to be within walking distance so prices can be overly high. the apartment block near my language school was ridiculously high for a 2 bed (11000 for a month), 

2. Go into any of the main chain store estate agents on the street and state you requirements (price , bedrooms etc). Places are always advertised better in the ads than they actually are. 

3. Be prepared for them to show you everything that doesn't fit your requirements, so be forceful

4. go see it, you can probably negotiate a bit, depending on area, demand. 

5. Don't be coerced into anything by an agent, there are apartments everywhere

6. Not sure about Nanjing but in Beijing, the tenant pays the agency fees (1 month) unless its a higher end place then then landlord can/may pay. I never paid an agency fee but that seems to be the exception rather than the norm. 

 

Depends on how fussy you are  (i.e cleanliness) but you generally need to look at a lot as they are so many filthy dumps around. I looked at about 30 here but settling on one. I would just ask to see the 豪华 ones. The word 豪华  will be a complete exaggeration 

 

I would 100% stay in a hotel and find a place after you come and not try secure something become you come. If the apartment is empty they will want you moving in asap (i.e. the next day)

 

I found the APPS only useful as rough guide, it's more trouble than it's worth to filter out all the fake adds, prices, photographs  etc

[道艺]

Ya,  he made a good point that I neglected to bring up. 

 

both times I've rented here in Shanghai, it's been strictly a 1yr contract with at least 2 mo + sd required when signing. 

 

Also, be prepared to make a quick decision. I spent a Wednesday looking at 6 or 7 rooms, and the next day 4 or si of them were taken. I was then shown 3 new rooms the next day lol. 

 

Then again, that is SH, not sure about NJ. 

[mungouk]

I was apartment hunting in Beijing a few months ago, and I found the agents from the high-street places a waste of time... maybe I was just unlucky to get agents who weren't used to dealing with fussy foreigners.

 

In the end I got a personal recommendation for a real-estate agent from a work colleague and he was great... I had a place within a week. 

 

It will be a bit harder to get a word-of-mouth recommendation as a student, but it made a huge difference to me.

 

 

 

 

[Wahed]

On 8/11/2019 at 11:30 PM, 道艺黄帝 said:

both times I've rented here in Shanghai, it's been strictly a 1yr contract with at least 2 mo + sd required when signing. 

There have been previous students that have had this problem during the Spring semester, I've been told. However, it is less of a problem for students arriving for the Fall semester. 

 

@mungouk 

I was told some teachers have connections that they will share with students so that's a start, I suppose. 

[889]

Take care. About Lejia, a Nanjing-based rental company that's gone bankrupt:

 

"It’s a common practice among rental apartment operators to collect one year of rent from tenants in advance, and then pay to individual home owners on a monthly basis.

 

"Lejia took the money from tenants, spent it all and is now unable to make payment to home owners.

 

"The company is now asking the owners and tenants to sort out the mess themselves.

 

"Some tenants have been expelled by the landlords and many others may soon face the prospects of becoming homeless."

 

http://www.ejinsight.com/20190812-how-a-china-rental-housing-operator-went-bust/

[道艺]

I used 我爱我家 here in SH. Not sure if NJ has the company, but I had a positive experience. 

[daoyi]

There are two main campuses of Nanjing University: Xianlin and Gulou. Which one will you be at? 

[Wahed]

I will be at the Gulou campus. But I've heard I'll have classes at the Xianlin campus also. Regardless, I have to live near the Gulou campus.

[daoyi]

Well, it all depends on your budget. 

 

You could live on Ninghai Road, near Nanjing Normal University. The campus is really nice and relaxing to take a stroll through. It is also just about a 5-10 minute walk from NJU. There is also a track that I think is open to public so you can run on that. I am not sure of specific complexes there as they are all a bit old. I know of one building 南秀大厦 very close to NNU (and just a straight shot, maybe 10 minutes walking to NJU). I think rentals would be 3500-4500 here (1-2 BR). For general Ninghai Lu rentals I'd check this website: https://nj.lianjia.com/zufang/ninghailu/rt200600000001/ or https://nj.5i5j.com/zufang/ninghailu/     -- you can see there is quite a range in price/quality.

 

For a proper park, the closest one I think would be "清凉山公园" which has housing nearby. It would be a 25-30 minute walk to NJU. Not sure on prices but I used to love walking around in there. 

 

Guangzhou road is another option, e.g. Wutai Huayuan 五台花园 - it is probably expensive as it is mainly 2-3BR places. It is next to the old olympic stadium which is a massive sports center now. It would be a 15-20 minute walk to NJ. I'd guess rental prices here are 4000-6000 RMB