House Hunters International: Changwon, South Korea

            The past week in Korea has not been as touristy as others because of the current demands at work. This posting is more of a collection of thoughts about the housing differences between South Korea from the U.S. Many lunches are eaten at the Samsung cafeteria with the other manufacturing engineers and it has been a great opportunity to learn more about their culture.

When you drive along the roads in Korea you see 30-story condos (called apartments in Korea) all around you. According to a Samsung engineer, it is more preferable to live in an apartment than a house mainly because they go up in value faster. There doesn’t appear to be much of a housing slump here because just in the next town over, Busan, there are dozens of these buildings going up. Supposedly they don’t even build them until the majority of the units are sold. In a previous bike ride through some local towers there appeared to be the typical underground parking structures but very little amenities. The only pools I’ve seen in Korea to date are the ones at the hotel and the only amenities at these apartment buildings are playgrounds and a few more pieces of exercise equipment. Hopefully one day I can go see the inside of a Korean apartment. The average home and apartment price is around $400,000.

Short and tall apartments



A large apartment complex down the road from the hotel

Another view of the same complex above

A street of smaller homes. Notice there are no driveways



A fancier residential street

Apartments in the neighboring town of Masan



The apartments across the street from Samsung

        Koreans are a very debt-free culture, often only buying things if they have the cash on hand. This includes condos and automobiles. Min Gu, an engineer at Samsung, just bought a brand new Hyundai Elantra for all cash. Many young Samsung engineers like Min Gu do not have the bankroll yet to buy their own apartment and they live in Samsung owned dorms within walking distance of the office. This is a great way for them to save money as rent is only $20/month. This is also a great way for their bosses to get them to work longer hours. Although I haven’t seen one of these rooms yet they have been described as college dorms with two people per room and the only cooking area is a common room down the hall. Instead of renting my apartment in LA for one month I could live in the Samsung dorms for over 8 years.
        Korean rent in apartments is much different than that in America. When they move in the building company will give them some options. They can pay a monthly rent, they can pay upfront, or do a down payment with a smaller monthly rent. When they move out they get their initial deposit back but I'm not sure about monthly rent. So if a Korean fronts $400K for a $400K condo, he gets $400K when he moves out and only pays HOA fees monthly. The property managers make money by investing your down payment while you are occupying your unit. Also, when asked about leaving the Samsung dorms, the common answer was, "When I marry". Traditionally the Korean men purchase a house for them and their wife when they get married. This contributes to the divorce rate being low because the wife often has few large posessions and the judges don't just give the wife half of her husbands house.