Renting in Linkou: How Elias, a Mandarin Student From Switzerland, Found His Apartment in Three Days

Renting in Linkou wasn't on Elias's list when he first wrote to us. He was coming from Switzerland to study Mandarin at National Taipei University of Education (NTUE), and like most students he assumed he should live close to class. Three days after we sent him his first shortlist, he was standing in a new building in Linkou, deciding this was the one. He signed, gave us a thumbs up, and told us he loved the neighborhood.

This is how it went, step by step, including the parts we'd do differently. If you're planning a move to Taipei on a working holiday visa or a student visa, most of his situation will sound familiar.

Elias in his new Linkou apartment on the day he signed.

The situation: a hard brief on paper

Elias's request looked simple, but it had every detail that makes Taipei landlords hesitate:

• Eight months, not twelve. He's in Taiwan for about eight months of Mandarin study. Most landlords want a one-year lease.
• No ARC and no Taiwanese guarantor. He came on a working holiday visa, so he had no Alien Resident Certificate yet and no local person to vouch for him. Our guide to renting without an ARC explains why this worries landlords.
• Room for two. His partner was joining him in December, so he needed a 1+1 (bedroom plus living room) or a two-bedroom place, furnished.
• A budget of under NT$30,000 a month, including the building management fee.
• One non-negotiable: a bathroom with a separate shower area (乾濕分離, "dry and wet separation"), so the whole floor doesn't get soaked every time you shower. He also wanted to be able to cook.

He wrote to us in mid-September, a little over two weeks before his flight.

Before he landed: contract, call, deposit

We don't ask anyone to sign a lease for an apartment they haven't seen. What you can do from abroad is get the search ready, which is what we did (the full reasoning is in our guide to renting in Taipei from abroad).

1. Service contract first. Elias asked for our contract and payment details so everything would be in place before he flew. He signed and sent it back by email.

2. A video call to pin down the brief. On the call we went through the lease-length problem. There were two realistic routes: ask landlords for an eight-month lease and offer to prepay the rent, or sign a standard one-year lease and pay the early-termination penalty when he leaves, which is usually one month's rent. He was comfortable with either, which made the search much easier.

3. Deposit by PayPal. He paid our deposit online, booked a short-term stay for his first days, and we agreed to start viewings once he arrived.

He landed on October 1. That evening we were connected on LINE, the messaging app almost every landlord in Taiwan uses.

Days one to three: from "close to school" to Linkou

The first shortlist. On October 2 we sent seven listings, all close to his school. He liked only one. His reply changed the whole search: he'd rather commute longer and live somewhere newer and more modern than live next to campus in an older building.

That's a common trade-off in Taipei. The neighborhoods near the central universities are full of older walk-up buildings, and modern elevator buildings inside his budget are rare there. Our guide to finding a modern apartment in Taipei explains the price gap.

Widening the map. The next morning we sent a second batch mixing Taipei City and New Taipei, focused on newer buildings. On October 4 the third batch went all-in on New Taipei, because at his budget a similar modern apartment inside Taipei City would have cost more than he wanted to spend. One of those listings was in Linkou.

Moving fast, because the good ones go. Early October is not a busy rental season, so there are fewer listings, and the good modern ones go within days. Several places Elias wanted to see were rented before we could book a viewing, including the one he liked from the first batch. So we booked the Linkou apartment for the next evening, and since we'd be in Linkou anyway, we lined up more Linkou listings so he could compare on the spot.

The viewing. On October 5 at 6 p.m. we met him in front of the building. The building was new, the flat was bright and clean, and it had a real kitchen. He liked the neighborhood as much as the apartment. He decided, and the lease was signed with the landlord.

From first shortlist to his new home took about three days. In total we sent him 24 listings in four batches.

Why Elias chose Linkou

Linkou (林口) is a district of New Taipei on a plateau west of the city. Much of it was built as a planned new town over the last couple of decades, so it looks and feels different from central Taipei:

• Newer buildings. Lots of elevator buildings with management staff, which is exactly what he was after.
• More space for the money. Rent at his budget gets a larger, newer place than it would in central Taipei.
• A calmer environment. Wide roads, parks and less of the dense street-level bustle of the city. This is the part he kept mentioning.
• Easy airport access. The Airport MRT runs through Linkou, which is handy if friends and family visit, or when you fly home.

The trade-off is the commute. He's looking at roughly an hour door to door to class by MRT or bus, depending on where in Linkou you live and on traffic. He'd already told us on our call that an hour was fine. Linkou can also feel windier and damper than the city in winter, because it sits higher up. For someone who studies part of the day and wants a comfortable home the rest of the time, it's a good deal. If you need to be in central Taipei every morning at 8 a.m., think harder. Our best area to live in Taipei guide compares commutes across districts.

What we learned (and what you can use)

We review every case after it closes. Three lessons from this one apply to anyone searching:

1. Rank your priorities before the search starts. "New and modern" and "close to school" pull in opposite directions in Taipei. Elias had actually hinted in his first email that he'd commute for a better place, and we still started near campus. Now we ask clients to rank these two up front.

2. Tell us exactly where you need to be. Name the school, office or MRT station on day one. It decides which districts are realistic.

3. Be ready to view within a day or two. In slower months the supply is thin, and the best listings disappear fast. Clients who can view the same day or the next day get the good ones.

The shortcut: let TRA run the search for you

Elias did very little of the hard work himself. Here's what we handle for clients like him:

• Shortlists from the local market. We search 591 and other Chinese-language sources, the same listings Taiwanese tenants see, not only the agency apartments marketed to foreigners.
• Talking to landlords in Chinese. We introduce you, explain your visa and length of stay, and ask the questions about lease length, deposit and prepaying rent before anyone wastes a trip.
• Booking and attending viewings. We set up the times, group viewings in the same area into one trip, and come with you.
• Checking the contract. We go through the lease with you line by line before you sign. Our list of questions to ask a landlord before you sign covers what we look for.

We quote each search individually. See [Link to /services] for what's included, or tell us your dates, budget and where you'll study or work through [Link to /contact], and we'll start your shortlist before you land.

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