Quote:
Originally Posted by USANATO
Well, living in economy for past several years in California and Europe, we are tired of being ripped off by unethical landlords/agents. We have just paid 1000 Euro (yes, 1,000 Euro) to clear our Belgian apartment because of smart-a** agent and dumb local housing officer. They charged us for all wear-and-tear damages, appliances repairs, and painting job for a couple of sticker spots. The laws in Europe are protecting local landlords, not tenants. Additionally, utilities (water and electricity) are so expensive in Europe. Unless I hear that economy housing situation in Korea is better than Europe, we want to live in government housing and alleviate pain from landlords/agents and utilities expense.
Safety is another issue. Is it safe to leave my wife and new-born son in economy housing in Seoul without military protection? At least Hannam village has military security guards and visitor system.
When we arrive in Korea on mid May, we have to make decision between HV and economy housing in a few days. Your comments/inputs will be greatly appreciated.
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Seoul is one of the safest cities in the world, and I am not exaggerating one little bit. You should have zero concern about your family on or off base. As for the transformers mentioned earlier, the "approved" list of Realtors know the deal, and each landlord is required to provide you with a minimum of three transformers, but it should not be difficult to find a place that is dual voltage. Oh yeah, and they must provide you with washer and dryer too. My place had a dual purpose machine that did washing AND drying, and the novelty of that was cool, but it did take a while to get a load done. I will say though, that my clothes were never cleaner than when I was using that machine!
As for being ripped off, I guess the possibility is there, but it is a very unlikely occurrence because of how regulated the process is by the USFK housing office in Yongsan.
I am sure several of us could turn you on a person that treated us well or is currently treating us well, and that would be one warm fuzzy in your pocket right off the bat!
I personally LOVE to get totally away from Army stuff when I am off duty, and living in Government housing with Government rules just makes me really freaking angry sometimes. Clearing is much easier off post too as long as you respect the property.