English-Speaking Expat Apartment Rental Agency in Taipei
Signing an apartment lease is one of the most daunting tasks for anyone moving to a foreign country. We published an article to help fresh expats in Taipei find a new home, but wrote that unfortunately there was “no foolproof method for doing so in English.”Β If only we’d known about UR HOUSE REALTY!
No matter who you are — student, working professional, local firm, or global organization — they can meet your needs through multilingual agents and collaborations with multiple landlords, serviced apartments, building developers, relocation companies, and embassies. They even help with short term rentals (minimum one month). Thanks to expanding networks, they offer a great selection of properties in the market.
Our move to Taipei would’ve been a lot easier if we’d known there was a professional English-speaking housing agency that would cater to our needs. UR HOUSE covers every step of the process: finding an apartment you love, signing a contract, and solving any problems that may arise during your lease.
Check out the services they provide:
1. Property Listings
Head to UR HOUSE website to browse listings across Taipei. You can filter by district, # of bedrooms, rent per month (you can manually enter your own price range), and more. Best of all, their site is English friendly.
Listings on their website provide details like rent and management fee, layout, size, floor #, address, and additional information like whether or not the building has an elevator and whether or not it accepts pets.
Whatever you’re looking for — even if it’s only for a short term — they can help.
2. Free Showings and Orientations
An English speaking agent will schedule viewings and meet you to check out apartments that you want to see. Having one of the largest selections of rental properties in the market, UR HOUSE is able to find any housing to suit your needs (whether it’s a listing from other agencies or from landlords).
This is a huge help considering we’ve had to use Google Translate to conduct broken conversations with agents and landlords in the past — not fun when you’re unfamiliar with the Taiwanese rental environment.
They also have a brochure with an English map and an introduction to all the major districts in Taipei which really helps if you are not familiar with Taipei or have just arrived from abroad.
3. Tailored English Lease Agreements
Arguably the most stressful part of the apartment hunt is signing a lease when you can’t read Chinese. Although landlords may provide an English copy of the contract, we’ve often noticed discrepancies between English and Chinese versions in the past — and this could come back to bite you.
Thankfully UR HOUSE removes the stress by producing identical English and Chinese lease agreements that both parties can review beforehand so there are no surprises!
4. Move In and Move Out Condition Inspections
UR HOUSE drafts detailed move-in checklists with photos and helps you assess the condition of the apartment before and after your lease. While the Taiwanese rental market usually overlooks or neglects inspections (which can lead to conflicts), UR HOUSE takes this process seriously and will go out of their way to make your move-in and move-out days as smooth as possible.
5. Coordinating Vendors For Repairs
A common problem with agencies in Taipei is they are usually very friendly at the beginning, but then offer little assistance after the lease has been signed (and they collect their money). We’ve had to chase after agents, communicating through Google Translate, to help us fix problems with house appliances that break down part way through our lease.
UR HOUSE prevents those headaches by offering you service for the entire duration of your lease. Contact them with any issues or concerns and they’ll do the work — whether it’s coordinating with vendors for small repairs, or discussing bigger problems with the landlord. You can sleep easy knowing they’ll have you covered in the event of a rental emergency.
6. Service Fee
After learning about how comprehensive UR HOUSE’s professional services are, we expected their fees must be high to match the quality.
Not the case — in fact, UR HOUSE charges less than many other agencies in the city. Their one-time service fee is only half a month’s rent. Yet another reason we wish we’d known about this company before moving to Taipei (we paid a full month’s fee to our agent for much less service with no English).
To get started, check out their website or contact Adam (whom several of our friends have used and have highly praised) using the information below.
Still looking for ideas on how to find an apartment in Taipei? Check out our full article here.
Last updated: March 2020
| Adam |
| Phone: 0984-389-079 |
| LINE ID: adam5659 |
| Whatsapp: +886 984389079 |
| Email: yuadam86@gmail.com |
