Now that we have a bit of experience apartment hunting in Taipei, we wanted to share some tips for those who might be in our shoes.

Tip 1: Rent.591.com.tw is the most popular website in Taiwan to search for apartments. You can filter by city, district, number of bedrooms, price, parking, and so much more. There is no English version of the site, but you can use Google to translate the text into English.

I’ve seen people use dd-room.com as well, but 591 is by far the most popular website for apartment listings.

Tip 2: If Chinese is not your native language, it’s best to bring a Taiwanese friend with you to view apartments and negotiate with the landlord. But if you’re like us and don’t have any close friends or family in Taiwan 😅, then work with a real estate agency that caters to expats. We worked with Elegant Realty and UR House (and ultimately found a place with UR House). There is a one-time fee of a half-month’s rent when working with agents.

Note that agencies will typically only show you apartment listings from their inventory. So, you’d have to do your own research on rent.591.com.tw if you want to explore other options.

Tip 3. On top of rent, pay attention to the monthly management fee on the listing. Management fees include general maintenance of the building and security. They can be exorbitant, but can also be negotiable with the landlord.

Tip 4. Reduce the number of pings listed by approximately 30% to get the actual living space. This is because listings often add in common areas like hallways, lobbies, etc. into the total number of pings.

Tip 5: Look for an apartment that uses natural gas or piped propane. Some of the older buildings still use natural gas cans, which means you’ll be taking cold showers if they run out and until you get them replaced.

Tip 6. Get an apartment with an individual electricity meter. If it’s a shared meter, there’s no control over how much you pay per month as the meter is shared by everyone in the building.

Tip 7. If you don’t have a car or scooter, make sure the apartment is close to public transportation (either MRT or bus). Taipei is a huge city, so you’ll need access to public transportation to get around.

Tip 8. This may not be applicable to everyone, but having an apartment with natural light was important to us. Look at whether there is ample light in the living areas. Are there bars over the windows? Are the windows frosted?

Tip 9. As mentioned in my previous post, everything is negotiable in Taiwan. You can negotiate rent, management fees, furniture, etc. I’ve also heard people negotiating for the landlord to pay for the internet and cable fees. Of course, this is dependent on whether the apartment is highly sought after.

Tip 10. This is a great, and much more exhaustive guide for foreigners looking for an apartment in Taiwan: https://www.foreignersintaiwan.com/blog-370963385326684/taiwan-apartment-rental-guide We referenced this guide many times during our apartment hunt.

If I think of any more tips, I’ll add it to this post!