Was it hard to get housing close to the base? Where did you go to find apartment?

If you understand that the Base was here first, and the town started building around what at that time was the main gate, you can see that there is no problem finding everything within walking distance. After some time, larger and taller apartments were built farther out, and the village grew into a city,things got newer on the outskirts, and the area developed as any small city in the U.S. would. As the older areas deteriorate, they are torn down, and rebuilt. A good portion of the area burned in the early sixties, and the present day city is a great improvement over the dirt roads and alleyways of the past.
Modern apartments are available within a reasonable distance, and there will never be a shortage. Hotels within walking distance of the gate are reasonable, and well within a soldier's budget. You can negotiate a weekly rate at any hotel, and take your time in choosing a permanent residence. Again, there is really no need for a car. If you have sufficient rank and status, and shipped or will buy a car, then you should get an apartment with yor own designated parking spot. Do not accept less! It can be a real pain fighting for a legal parking spot near your apartment each day!

We had a realtor find us a place close to base; he showed us about 7 places until we decided upon one. We are 5 minutes away from Gate 3.
Housing should have a list of Realtors, and they can help you find one.
I agree about the parking spot, find a bldg that has them assigned, otherwise you might be in the situation where you can't park anywhere.

We found an apartment through a friend who was PCSing out. We're about an eight minute walk from the main gate, and that's with my two year old walking. There are places EVERYWHERE with signs up!

Kara

Does anyone have any good websites for realtors in ROK?

Just don't got to the place the is across from gate 3, A-1 Reality. They ripped me off big time.

I was living as a contractor and didn't have the smarts to have the housing Office help me get the place. I knew nothing about bills and stuff in Korea so the Realtor told me that I had to pay him 20,000 won every 2 months for the water bill. I'm like, okay.

Almost year later, about two months before my lease was up, I told him I wanted to renew. He said he would talk to the owner. He said that the rent would not change. A week later I went to tell him I wanted to sign a new contract for the new lease. He said wait till the old one was up. I came in two weeks before the lease was up and told him I wanted to sign the new lease. He told me the Owner wanted 600,000 won a month (I was paying 500,000). I told him that when i asked him TWO months ago he said it wasn't going to change. He told me he never said that, but he would talk to the Owner again. I came back two days later and he said that it was going to me 550,000 won a month. I said ok, I didn't have time to find a new place.

Now lets go back to the second week of January this year. The Lease was ending soon and i wanted to renew. I talked to the Realtor and he said that he would talk to the Owner. She said that she wanted 700,000 a month. I said no way. They gave me 30 days to get out. I couldn't find a place and was told by a Korean friend of mine that they couldn't do that. I guess the law is that when a lease ends if the Owner doesn't give you 6 months notice that she doesn't want to renew it automatically renews for a year. you don't even have to sign a new lease. The Realtor said that it wasn't true. I contacted a lawyer and was told that it was true. The Owner said that it has been two years since we first signed the lease. But I told the Owner that we signed a new lease a year ago, so the old one is void and the new one is the one we go by. She said that there was no second lease signed. I showed it to her. She was surprised. She didn't know about it. Apparently the Realtor had me sign a new lease to he could get another fee from me.

Then the Owner asked about the money for the water bill. Remember the Realtor said that I paid him 20,000 every two months. Well, that was a lie two. The water bill was much more, and the Owner never saw that money. I didn't have to pay her for the first year, but I still owed her almost 200,000 for the second year.

watch out for A-1 Reality, they will rip you off.

go to www.usfkclassifieds.com our sister website. Don't you have housing info in your sponsor package?
Insure you go to Housing at Osan upon arrival and check with them before signing anything at all.

We have not got a sponsor package yet.My husband is deployed right now and they have been (misplacing) papers he faxed them.

I live about 10-15 min drive off base (Osan). I live in a brand new high rise and it is beautiful. You drive out the rockaf (sp?) gate and it is an easy little drive past some farms and then to the high rise buildings. The area is so much nicer, newer, and cleaner out here. There is like at least 20 little playgrounds in the vincity around my house, we can go to a different one everyday. There are a lot of nice little shops. We have a Duncun Donut, Baskin Robbins, Subway, a cute little french bakery, an italien ice cream shop, and of course a ton of nice Korean restraunts.

I love my realtor. Her name is Kay and she is at Happy Reality, the office is just outside the main gate. She has helped me sooo much. I call her everytime I need translation.

Thats sounds nice.The only problem is I want have a car.Being as my H is only a e-4. So it needs to be in walking distance. Plus I have a 16 month old.So the shorter distance the better.