Many of us have had to move to another city and endured the dreaded apartment/house search. We all know the feeling where we wander into a new city and have no idea what neighborhood or even price range you should be going for. Perhaps you thought you found the perfect apartment in the right location, only to be approached by a streetwalker five minutes later who made you seriously question your decision-making skills.

This search certainly doesn’t get any easier when you go to a foreign country with a different language and culture. The biggest struggle I found in Vietnam was where to start. There’s certainly no Craigslist, Zillow, or Redfin, and a quick Google search in English did little to point me in the right direction.

The whole act of apartment searching is complicated enough that we have an entire job dedicated to such an activity. I can’t write such a dedicated guide, but to ease the process, I’ve managed to put together the most effective websites and methods I used to find my apartment.

But first…

 

What to Expect

Apartments and houses here tend to fall into two categories. There’s the standard houses and apartments, empty and most suited for those with long-term living intentions. Then there’s the more expensive, serviced apartment. These accommodations are generally fully furnished, have a full-time doorman and possibly even cleaning services. These are more expensive and better for the short-term rental or if you have a job that’s willing to foot the bill.

Apartments will vary drastically based on location (as the old adage goes). In general, if you’re looking for a studio, monthly rent starts in the middle-class bracket at a very low minimum of 5 million VND ($220) and going upwards, you can expect more western styled accommodations and amenities that are comparable to home. These homes are particularly targeted at the wealthier Vietnamese and foreigners so this means there’s usually a leasing agent on the other end that speaks passable English.

I feel like I made out okay for being in the middle-upper class area of District 3

 

The hard part comes when contacting the home owner or the leasing agent when searching for lower end accommodations. Low end accommodations, like when renting a room in a house or a room in a dormitory styled building, are usually targeted towards Vietnamese and the owner will usually not speak any English whatsoever.

When you’re actually searching for the apartment listings, you don’t actually need a local to comb through these sites for you. Thanks to the magic of technology, the Google Translate feature will automatically translate each page to a functional version of English that you can easily browse.

 

The Hunt

Once you’ve narrowed down your city and district, you’re going to have to figure out how long you want to lease your domicile for. The nice part is that many apartments will happily lease apartments for three, six, nine or twelve months. If the lease is half a year or shorter, you can expect a higher price than average. The longer lease you sign, the more bargaining power you have to lower the rent. And yes, you may be able to bargain down your rent in some places.

If you do settle on a pad, the owner or leasing agent will usually expect a one or two month deposit with a separate security deposit that’s also equal to one month. In many cases, when you sign the paperwork and pay these initial deposits, you’ll receive the keys and be able to move in immediately. This is usually going to be done in cash since most foreigners won’t have a Vietnamese bank account for money transfers.

When you are signing the lease agreement, the landlord may have an English version of the paperwork. If they don’t have an English version and you’re not fluent in Vietnamese, you can meet with the landlord in advance to take a copy home to Google Translate. Alternatively, you can drag a Vietnamese friend to the meeting to help you with the contract and skip all that.

With the small details out of the way, let’s see the websites and methods best used to find accommodations in Saigon.

 

 

Nha.chotot.com

From what I gathered, this is the Craigslist of Vietnam. Chotot is the general website and nha.chotot is the housing focused section. While I haven’t tried to purchase anything on the general website, nha.chotot is consistently filled with listings for apartments and houses for rent. While the website isn’t designed particularly well, it makes up for it with a large user base.

Well this listing makes me feel better about myself

 

Batdongsan.com.vn

This website is geared specifically towards real estate sales and rentals. Like nha.chotot, you’ll have to use Google Translate to get around. The upside to this website is that the search tools are better as well as the website layout. This and chotot were my top two go to’s when I found my current apartment.

I can see what Google is trying to get at

 

Homedy.com

Another reliable and popular site. This site has a modern feel and polish to it though it seems slightly less updated than the other two. It’s still one of the better sites I’ve come across and gives you more housing options to look at.

It’s truly a slick website if Google didn’t one again translate poorly

 

Expat Facebook Groups

Facebook is littered with groups catered to the expat community. Just hop on Facebook, search for phrasing like “Saigon expats”, “Ho Chi Minh Expats” or “Housing in Saigon” and you’ll get dozens of hits for groups. Leasing agents flock to these sites to advertise middle to upper class accommodations, seeking wealthy tenants who can afford the higher prices. There’s also a fair number of other expats looking for roommates on these sites to split some costs.

 

Walking Around

For some odd reason, many proprietors do not advertise their properties online, especially for the cheaper places. If you are already in town and have some time, you may be well served by walking around or slowly driving down the many alleyways and smaller streets in your desired district.

You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for banners or on very professional handwritten postings on A3 paper with the words “Nhà cho thuê” or “Phòng cho thuê” or “Có phòng” which roughly translates to “house/apartment for rent” or “we have rooms.”

This cheap dormitory styled housing can be as cheap as 500,000 VND ($22) a month. Don’t expect much though.

 

Hopefully this makes apartment hunting slightly more fun than pulling teeth.

 

Until next time.