So you’ve landed a job and you’re ready to find housing in Taipei. You’re now ready to teach English in Taiwan and start you life in one of Asia’s most exciting cities ! Now you need to find housing in Taipei. Unfortunately, we do not have as comprehensive of a list for housing options in other teaching locations in Taiwan, but the first option on this list might serve your well. Additionally, schools are usually more open to assisting teachers in finding housing outside of Taipei and New Taipei.
The first thing on most people’s to-do lists would be to find a place to live. Taipei is like any big city; it’s full of options. You can pay big bucks and rent a very fancy place in a posh Taipei neighborhood or you can pay a lot less for a basic room just outside the city center.
Most people want to have something in between. You’ll probably want something within a reasonable distance from your school. Thanks to Taipei’s excellent public transportation system, commuting is easy and cheap.
*Note that Reach To Teach does not make affiliate fees on our suggestions. It’s a conflict of interest for us. Your well-being and safety is our main concern. We work for you and you only.
How to Find Housing in Taipei
There is one pitfall you can easily avoid and save yourself a lot of time when looking for a place on the Internet. Don’t look for an apartment on a random English language website.
This is where you want to start:
1. www.591.com.tw
So you’re a loner, eh? Don’t need anyone’s help?
Then 591 is the site for you! This site features listings in Chinese for apartments for locals. That means cheaper prices than other websites, but it’s in Chinese. All is not lost, because all you have to do is use Google Chrome as your browser and it will translate the page for you.
It’s a great tool to view the market, find different options for housing in Taipei, and to see what kind of places are available.
You can search by area, size, and amenities, just be aware that the landlord you contact (or agent) will most likely not speak much English.
Have a Taiwanese friend helping? Great!
Speak reasonably good Chinese yourself? Fantastic, knock yourself out. This site is very popular, so there are lots of new places posted daily, but because it is so popular the places get scooped up very quickly.
The thing about viewing sites on 591 is that a lot of people renting their apartments or studios out have no idea what foreigners consider important in a place to live. This means that the pictures they post will sometimes be strange. You might get a photo of the bedroom, a closet, and the front of the building from street level and that’s it. Be sure and go see the place yourself, because even if the photos are good, they might be from four years ago before the last renter destroyed the place.
Also, in Taiwan they don’t measure the size of a place by square meters or square feet, but in ping. What’s a ping equivalent to? One ping (坪) is about 3 square meters or 36 square feet.
2. Facebook Groups
There are some great groups on Facebook designed to help you find an apartment or studio, but there are also a few groups that specialize in helping get the word out that a roommate is wanted.
If you wouldn’t mind sharing an apartment with someone, give this group a try. The most popular one, with over 36,000 members, is Looking for Roommates or Apartments in Taipei and Taiwan. Most people put up the kinds of photos that are helpful in showcasing the place’s finer qualities, not just a photo of the outside facade.
Feel free to advertise yourself on this group. Many people advertise themselves and what they are looking for in this Facebook group. People will usually help you out and refer you on to any apartments they think match what you are looking for.
Facebook groups seem to pop up for about any possible thing, but a very useful one for new arrivals is Taipei: Buy, sell, trade. People who are leaving Taiwan post their items for resale and you can find some great deals on used furniture, kitchen items or appliances or anything at all.
Beware of housing scams in Facebook groups!
Don’t put money down on an apartment or room unless you’ve seen it with your own eyes. These groups are monitored by admins, but scammers do get through from time to time. They’ll post fake photos of an apartment, ask you to put down a deposit and then sail off with your money.
3. Local Realtors
Not satisfied with any of the above options? Sheesh, you’re picky!
There is another way to find housing in Taipei. It will cost you a finder’s fee of one month’s rent.
Every neighborhood has many small real estate offices. They are usually limited to the surrounding neighborhood that they are in. This is a quick way to find a place in a specific area that is close to your school or in an area you like.
The staff of the real estate offices are very helpful and eager to please. Once they find you a place you like, they get paid from you and the landlord.
The realtor that helps you will also basically be your slave for the duration of the contract. The air conditioning goes out? He’ll call the landlord and coordinate repairs or have it replaced. Have a strange light fixture that you can’t find a replacement bulb for? Call him and he’ll be back with one tomorrow. Need a back massage? Well, maybe he won’t rub you down but you get the idea.
They will make themselves available to help with any problem you might have. This option is only good for those who speak Chinese comfortably or have a Chinese speaking friend who can help. Rental agreements could get ugly if they think there is any advantage they could pull on you. Not everyone is a crook, but why take chances?
4. Rooms Taipei (5 star reviews) – Newly added Sept 2024
We are a close-knit team of foreigners and locals that spent the past decade living in countless short term houses around the world. We’ve seen the worst, and the best.
When we met in Taipei, we decided to do it right for others. They also have a FB group called Rooms Taipei: Budget Serviced Apartments in Taipei.
A note from Rooms Taipei Founder, Edouard:
“We only offer the spaces that we manage ourselves. In the industry, we describe this as co-living spaces. Essentially, these are higher-end shared house where aspects of the shared experiences are managed for the housemates. This means that we can ensure quality and an optimal experience for newcomers to Taiwan. This includes maintenance and housing services in the house, but also a house guide to introduce the functioning of the house, the layout of the neighborhood, as well as welcome events twice a year, or a member card that give discounts and free entry in a handful of bars and nightclubs. In Taipei, we tend to be on the higher bracket in terms of price because of the quality of the spaces and the service. This is reflected in our close cooperation with the NTU CLD and NTU OIA, as well as NTU’s academic partners.”
4. Easy Taiwan (5 star reviews) – Newly added October 2024
Easy Taiwan is an agency focused on finding housing and providing assistance to expats and foreigners. Run by a lovely lady named Minny, you’ll find that Easy Taiwan offers all kinds of services to make life simpler for expats here. Everything from filling out an application to making a doctor’s appointment can be a massive challenge when overseas and it’s easy to feel completely on your own and overwhelmed.
“That’s why Easy Taiwan is here to help. We specialize in helping foreigners find housing, especially in Central and Southern Taiwan where options are more limited. Easy Taiwan doesn’t just find you an apartment, we educate you about housing in Taiwan and ensure you have everything you need to get set up. We offer expat services such as hiring a mover, applying for a license, getting internet/phone, translating, and more at a rate of just $600 an hour.”
They also want teachers to know that their housing fee is half a month’s rent and this is especially relevant as most housing agents charge a finder’s fee of one month’s rent.
Find them on Facebook or join their housing Facebook groups!. We post available apartments regularly (we are opening one for Taipei now at the request of some landlords). They have a Kaohsiung FB apartment rentals group and a Taichung apartment rentals here.
CLOSED Summer 2024 Rental Taiwan
A Taipei-based brand for finding quality homes/apartments within the area.
We provide reliable, secure and efficient rental service for Non-Chinese speaking people who plan to move to Taiwan or relocated themselves in the Taipei area. We offer a number of property-based services including home/apartment findings, property marketing/viewing, leasing negotiations, on-going support, property maintenances, corporate home search, property management and tenancy managemen
CLOSED Summer 2023: Taiwan Rental Assistance (5 star reviews)
We’re sorry to see Ray and his team go. They were indispensable in helping Reach To Teach teachers find apartments in Taipei for many years.
In Taipei there are some good apartments for a steal, and there are roach traps that cost an arm and a leg. Hopefully this guide has given you the resources to make an informed, intelligent decision on where to live and how to find the place that is right for you. Good luck!
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