591 in English: How to Use Taiwan's Biggest Rental Site When You Don't Read Chinese

If you searched for 591 rent Taiwan English, here is the short answer: 591.com.tw has no English version. We checked again in October 2026. The site is built in Traditional Chinese only, there is no language switch anywhere on the page, and the English URL you might guess simply returns an error. You can still use it, and you probably should, because 591 is where most Taipei rentals are listed. You just need a browser translator, a handful of Chinese filter words, and a plan for the part translation can't fix: talking to the landlord.

This guide walks through exactly that, step by step: how to get 591 into readable English, which filters to set, how to read a listing, which traps to watch for, and how to message a landlord or agent when you don't speak Chinese. Our recommendation up front: use 591 to learn prices and neighborhoods from wherever you are, but don't try to close a deal on it from abroad. Book a short stay, land, and do the viewings in person.

Short on time, or on Chinese? TRA does the 591 search, the landlord messages and the viewings with you, in person. See how our apartment search works.

Does 591 have an English version?

No. 591 is run by a Taiwanese company for the local market. Every menu, filter and listing is in Chinese, and almost every listing is written by a Taiwanese landlord or agent for Taiwanese tenants.

There is one small exception that matters: some agents who want foreign tenants put the word "English" or "ENG" in the listing title. More on how to use that below. It's the closest thing 591 has to an English section.

How to read 591 in English: three methods that work

1. Your browser's built-in translator (best for searching). Open rent.591.com.tw in Chrome on a laptop, right-click anywhere on the page and choose "Translate to English". Google explains the setting in its Chrome translation help page. Safari and Edge have a similar translate button in the address bar. The filters, prices and listing titles translate well enough to browse. Long descriptions come out clumsy but readable.

2. A camera translator (best for photos and signs). Some of the most important details in a listing are inside the photos: a floor plan, a building notice, a hand-written sign. Your browser can't translate text inside an image. The Google Translate app can, using the phone camera or a screenshot, as described in Google's image translation guide. The same trick works on paper "for rent" signs (出租) you walk past in Taipei.

3. A human (best before you contact anyone). Machine translation tells you what a listing says. It doesn't tell you what it means. "Rent excludes tax" or a vague line about "household registration" reads innocently in English and can be a dealbreaker. Before you message anyone, have a Chinese-speaking friend, colleague or a service like ours read the full description of the two or three listings you actually care about.

Photo: Dquai via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

How to set the 591 search filters

The rental list page (rent.591.com.tw) shows the main filters at the top and hides the rest under 展開選項 ("show more options"). Here is what each one means in plain English, so you can set them even before you switch on translation.

• Filter: 位置: 按鄉鎮 / 按捷運 / 按學校 / 按商圈 | What it means: Search by district, MRT line, school, or shopping area | What we'd pick: 按捷運 (by MRT), then choose the line your office or campus is on
• Filter: 類型 | What it means: Type: 整層住家 whole apartment, 獨立套房 studio with own bathroom, 分租套房 room with own bathroom in a shared flat, 雅房 room with shared bathroom | What we'd pick: 獨立套房 for most single newcomers
• Filter: 租金 | What it means: Rent range, or type your own minimum and maximum | What we'd pick: Your real ceiling, not your hope
• Filter: 租金含 | What it means: Rent includes: 管理費 management fee, 水費 water, 電費 electricity, 網路費 internet | What we'd pick: Tick 管理費 if your budget is tight
• Filter: 特色 | What it means: Features: 近捷運 near MRT, 可養寵物 pets OK, 可開伙 cooking OK, 有電梯 elevator, 可短期租賃 short lease OK | What we'd pick: 近捷運 and 有電梯
• Filter: 型態 | What it means: Building: 公寓 walk-up, 電梯大樓 elevator building, 透天厝 townhouse | What we'd pick: 電梯大樓 if you want fewer surprises
• Filter: 須知 | What it means: Rules: 男女皆可 any gender, 限男生 men only, 限女生 women only, 排除頂樓加蓋 exclude rooftop additions | What we'd pick: Always tick 排除頂樓加蓋

That last tick box is the one we'd never skip. Rooftop additions (頂樓加蓋) are often illegal structures that are hot in summer and hard to register an address at. Our guide to rooftop additions and subdivided units explains why. If you're unsure which type of unit you want, read suite, shared room or whole floor first, and use our Taipei rent guide by area to set a realistic price range.

The "English" trick. The search box at the top of the page (it says 請輸入社區名、街道或商圈名) accepts English words. Type English and search: in our October 2026 test for Taipei City, the results were listings whose titles end in "English", posted mostly by agents who handle foreign tenants. Trying ENG catches a few more. These listings are a small slice of the market, and almost all are agent listings with a fee, but they are the fastest way to find someone on 591 who will answer you in English.

There is also a map search (地圖找房) at the top of the page. It is useful once you have a shortlist of neighborhoods, because you can see exactly how far each unit is from the MRT station you care about.

How to read a 591 listing

Open any listing and the top half gives you the essentials: monthly rent, the deposit (押金, usually 二個月, two months), layout, size in 坪 (ping, about 3.3 square meters), floor, and a row of feature tags. Lower down, under 租住說明 (rental terms), you'll find the minimum lease (最短租期), who the landlord accepts (身份要求, for example students, office workers, families), and the move-in date.

Our guide to reading a Taiwanese rental listing covers the vocabulary in detail: 坪, 押二付一 and the rest. On 591 specifically, check these four things on every listing before you get attached:

• Who posted it. Next to the contact name you'll see either 屋主 (owner) or 仲介 (agent). Agent listings often say 收服務費 (charges a service fee). The agent listing we checked stated the fee plainly: half a month's rent. Our article on whether you need an agent in Taipei explains the legal cap and how it's usually split.
• What the rent leaves out. 管理費 (management fee) is often listed separately on top of rent. For electricity, look for 依台電帳單 or 臺電繳費, which means you pay what the actual Taipower bill says. If the listing instead says 每度X元 (a per-unit rate the landlord sets), ask how much it is and ask to see a recent bill, because a landlord's own rate can add up fast in summer. See hidden costs beyond rent.
• Tax and registration lines. 可報稅 means you can declare the rent on your tax return, and 可申請租金補貼 means the unit qualifies for the government rent subsidy. Both are good signs that the landlord is renting openly. Listings that say rent is 不含稅 (excludes tax) or are vague about address registration need a closer look; our rental fine print guide explains why.
• When it was posted. Listings show how many hours or days ago they were updated. Good units in central Taipei often go within days, which is exactly why browsing from abroad is good research and poor shopping.

Common 591 traps and scams

Most listings on 591 are real. The platform is open, though, so it gives you volume, not protection. 591 itself prints a warning on its listing pages: a poster who says the unit is hard to view or in high demand and asks you to pay a deposit first is a scam. We'd add four patterns:

1. Deposit before viewing. No legitimate landlord needs money before you've stood in the apartment. If anyone asks you to transfer a "holding fee" to a personal account, stop.

2. Prices well below the area. A two-bedroom in Da'an at half the going rate is either a bait listing, an old listing that's already gone, or a scam.

3. Photos that don't match. Agents sometimes post photos of a better unit in the same building. Ask to see the specific unit on the listing.

4. Pressure to decide. "Three people are viewing today" is sometimes true and sometimes a tactic. A real landlord still lets you view properly.

Our full guide to common rental scams targeting foreigners in Taipei goes through each one with examples. If something already went wrong, Taiwan's police run the 165 anti-fraud hotline. And remember the legal baseline: under the Rental Housing Market Act, a deposit can't exceed two months' rent, so anyone asking for more is already outside the rules.

Contacting a landlord on 591 without speaking Chinese

This is where many foreigners stall. Finding a listing is easy; getting a landlord to say yes is not.

Each listing shows a phone number and usually a LINE button. You don't need a 591 account to see them. Saving searches and favorites does need an account, and the login page asks for a mobile phone number and a text-message code (there is also a Facebook login option).

Our advice:

• Use LINE, not a phone call. Most Taipei landlords and agents use LINE, and a written message lets you paste in Chinese and lets them reply in text you can translate. Calling an owner in English usually ends in a polite "sorry" and a hang-up.
• Lead with the listing number. Every listing has an ID that starts with R. Put it in the first line so they know which unit you mean.
• Answer their questions before they ask. Owners want to know who you are, when you'll move in and how long you'll stay.

A short message that works, which you can copy and edit:

您好，我在591看到您的物件（編號R________），請問還可以看房嗎？我是在台灣工作的外國人，預計__月入住，租期一年。請問可以登記居留證地址嗎？中文不太好，可以用LINE文字聯絡嗎？謝謝！

(In English: "Hello, I saw your listing on 591 (ID R____). Is it still available to view? I'm a foreigner working in Taiwan, planning to move in in [month], for a one-year lease. Can I register my ARC address there? My Chinese isn't great, can we message in text on LINE? Thank you!")

Expect some owners not to answer or to say no once they realize you're a foreigner. That isn't personal, and it isn't the end of the road. Our guide on what to do when a landlord won't rent to foreigners explains why it happens and what changes their mind. Before you go to a viewing, check our list of what to bring to your first apartment viewing.

Don't want to do the 591 research yourself? Hand it to TRA

591 is the biggest pool of listings in Taiwan, and it's still built for people who read and speak Chinese. The searching is the easy part. The hard part is calling twenty owners, getting past the "no foreigners" replies, spotting the fine print, and negotiating on the spot. That's what TRA does.

• We start with a consultation about your budget, your workplace or campus and how you want to live.
• We search 591 and other sources for you, contact owners in Chinese, and screen out units that won't accept a foreign tenant or won't let you register your address.
• We view every unit with you in person, handling the conversation and the negotiation with the landlord in Chinese.
• We go through the contract clause by clause before you sign, then help you finalize the deposit and the lease.

Once the in-person search starts, finding the right place typically takes anywhere from 3 to 5 days up to about 1 to 2 weeks. You pay a deposit when we start and the balance once you've found your home; we quote individually. See how our service works or tell us your dates and budget.

FAQ

Is there an English version of 591.com.tw?

No. As of October 2026 the site and its listings are Chinese only, with no language switch. Use your browser's translate feature for searching, and type "English" in the search box to find agents who list in English.

Can foreigners rent through 591?

Yes. Nothing on 591 stops a foreigner from contacting a landlord. Some individual owners prefer Taiwanese tenants, so expect a few refusals, and agent listings are usually more open to foreigners but charge a fee.

Do I need a Taiwanese phone number to use 591?

Not to browse or to see a landlord's phone number and LINE button. Logging in to save searches asks for a mobile number and a text-message code, or you can use the Facebook login option.

How much is the agent fee on 591 listings?

Agent listings marked 仲介 (收服務費) usually charge the tenant half a month's rent. The legal cap for landlord and tenant combined is 1.5 months' rent. Listings from 屋主 (owners) don't carry an agent fee.

Is 591 safe?

Most listings are genuine, but the platform does not verify every poster. Never pay anything before viewing the unit in person, and treat prices far below the area average as a warning sign.

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