A Guide to Housing

1. Housing Process

Arrival -> Temporary Accommodations -> Apartment Hunting -> Housing

Contract -> Moving in

- Teachers arriving from overseas will be offered pickup service from the

airport and taken to temporary accommodations until he/she moves into

suitable permanent accommodations.

2. Temporary accommodations

* Temporary accommodations

- Located in Gangnam area – lodging charge : 50,000 won a day

- Located in Sinchon area: 40,000 won a night

3. Expenses related to the housing process

* Lodging fee

- Employer will provide 5 days temporary accommodation for Employees,

which should provide enough time for Employees to find suitable permanent

accommodations. If the Employer is unable to show apartments to the

Employee or if the authorization of key money is delayed then the Employer

may pay for additional nights in temporary accommodations. However, if

for other reasons the employee is unable to move in or find suitable

permanent accommodations then the employee may be required to pay for

additional nights.

* Realtor’s fee

- Pagoda generally looks for apartments with particular realtors and we pay

for their services up to 150,000 won. However, if employee contacts

different realtors in person he/she may be asked to pay any additional

charges that exceed 150,000 won.

* Moving fees

- Pagoda will move the employees’ luggage, but if employees have other

personal items that require the services of a moving company then the

costs associated will be the responsibility of the employee.

4. Key money, Rental Deposit and Housing allowance

- Key money originally was a year’s rent paid in advance but in this case it’s

more like a deposit to secure the lease. Pagoda provides key money or the

employee can put down the key money initially or after 6 months. If the

employee decides to put down the key money initially or after working for 6

months it would be difficult for Pagoda to replace the key money in the

event that the employee need the key money to be returned before

expiration of the housing lease.

- Rental Deposit is a security deposit that employees using Pagoda’s key

money are subject to. The rental deposit is equal to 2 months rent and can

be paid by the employee in one of 3 ways. A) It can be paid when the

employee moves in B) The total amount can be deducted from the

employee’s first month’s salary. C) It can be deducted from the employee’s

salary over the first 4 months. The rental deposit will be returned at the

end of the housing lease after and inspection and all bills have been paid.

- The housing allowance is Pagoda’s subsidy for rent, which is paid along

with the employee’s first salary. Ex. If John moves in on May 28th and starts

teaching on June 1st then the housing allowance will be paid on July 10 th with

John’s June salary.

- Employees using Pagoda’s key money will be provided with 100,000

won/month as a housing allowance.

Employees you have their own housing or who have provided their own key

money will receive 250,000 won/month may as a housing allowance.

Employees may decide to payback the key money after 6 months of the

current lease term has expired, at which the housing allowance increases

from 100,000 won/month to 250,000 won/month.

These housing allowances can rise to 150,000 won and 300,000 won after

one year, depending on the employee’s teacher evaluation scores.

5. Furniture

- Pagoda provides employees with a bed, wardrobe, refrigerator, washing

machine and gas range in good working order. Any repairs to these items

that are damaged under normal conditions will be covered by Pagoda for the

initial 6 months and after that any repair costs will be split 50:50 between

Pagoda and the employee.

- If employees using Pagoda’s key money decide to put down his/her own

key money then the furniture previously provided by Pagoda will be returned

in the same condition to Pagoda.

* TIP – if two employees are going to live together in the same apartment

it’s better to have one person take Pagoda’s key money so that they will be

able to have one the furniture and the other employee who doesn’t require

key money can take advantage of the higher housing allowance.

6. House hunting

- Housing in Seoul is fairly expensive compared to other areas in Korea.

However, the prices can vary from area, time of year and of course based on

the actual condition of the apartment, so depending on your standards

reasonable prices apartments can be found.

* Shinchon Branch

- This area is ideal for employees who like the college life. There are many

universities here and the nightlife is pretty entertaining. Housing is a bit

pricy but the area makes up for the price. Most of the houses and

apartment buildings are two to three storeys. However, many higher ones,

know as officetels are being built everyday. There are a lot of stores here

and shopping here is one of Shinchon’s greatest features.

* Jongro Branch

- Similar to the Shinchon branch, Jongro is a corporate town filled with a lot

of stores and it also has a big business district mixed with traditional land

marks such as Insadong. Companies like Hyundai, SK Telecom and LG are

located there. Most employees in this branch live in the Shinchon area as

it’s much cheaper and better to live. It is just a short 10 minute commute

by bus from Shinchon to Jongro.

* Gangnam Branch

- Gangnam is the center of it all and the location of Pagoda’s headquarters.

As Gangnam is the center of education and commerce in Seoul rent is

naturally high, but the standard of living is in step with expenses. However,

there are a few reasonably priced apartments to be had.

* Rent

(1) Sinchon Area – approximately 450,000 won

(2) Gangnam Area – approximately 580,000 won

* Sample #1

- Type : Officetel – one room studio

- Size : 11 pyong (1 pyong = 36 sq.ft)

- Key money : 5,000,000 won

- Monthly Rent : 550,000 won

- Maintenance fee : 9,000 won a pyong

* Sample #2

- Tpye : Officetel – one room studio

- Size : 14 pyong (1 pyong = 36 sq.ft)

- Key money : 5,000,000 won

- Monthly Rent : 600,000 won

- Maintenance fee : 50,000 won

* Sample #3

- Tpye : Officetell – one room studio

- Size : 16 pyong (1 pyong = 36 sq.ft)

- Key money : 5,000,000 won

- Monthly Rent : 650,000 won

- Maintenance fee : 7,000 won a pyong

7. General information after moving in apartments

* Rent

- It is conveniently deducted from employee’s salary on the 10th of each

month unless he/she doesn’t use Pagoda’s key money.

- There are two payment options to pay for your first month’s rent.

A. The first rent can be paid by the tenant when he/she moves in the

apartment.

B. The first rent can be deducted from his/her first salary including the

second one. (when the second one is deducted)

* Maintenance fee

- There are two types of the maintenance fee. The fixed one doesn’t include

any regular utilities. It can be included in the monthly rent or it can also be

automatically deducted from the employee’s salary with the monthly rent.

The other maintenance fee is made up of a basic maintenance fee and

utilities. In this case, it depends on how much the tenant uses utilities and

this should be paid by the tenant directly to the bank or a convenience store

that offers that service.

- The bill comes in the mail or specified area, generally at the end of each

month.

* Garbage

- Employees buy a few types of bags from a local convenience store in order

to dispose of trash. Sizes generally range from 5 – 50 liters.

- There are several types of way to dispose of garbage.

(1) The white one is for regular garbage.

(2) The yellow one is for food waste.

(3) Any bags can be used for recycling garbage.

(4) Furniture – Employee needs to buy particular stickers at each local office

and put them on the garbage after positioning the garbage in a specified

area. People in charge will take them out after checking the stickers.

* Cable TV, Internet Service

- There are companies in each district. The managers in each branch will

help employees sign up for these services.

* Caution in winter

- Due to the cold weather, water pipes and boilers freeze very easily. So,

employees need to be prepared. In order to prevent pipes from freezing the

faucet should be being run a little bit and the water temperature should be

set between 15℃ and 20℃. If the boiler is in the veranda and exposed to

cold temperatures, the areas where wind can get through should be covered

up using newspaper or vinyl.

8. Expiration of housing contract

* 2 Month Notice

- An employee who wants to terminate their housing contract must give the

SLE/PIP Manager and Housing Manager 45 ~ 60 days notice and 1~2 weeks

before moving out he/she has to give inform the SLE/PIP Manager and

Housing Manager of the exact day he/she will be vacating the apartment.

- An employee who wants to stay longer at the same apartment must also

give the SLE/PIP Manager and Housing Manager 45 ~ 60 days notice and

has to sign a new housing agreement.

* Settling accounts

- Before an employee moves out of the apartment Pagoda settles accounts

for all utilities and rent with the rental deposit. 1~2 weeks before moving

out an employee has to give inform the SLE/PIP Manager and Housing

Manager of the exact day he/she will be vacating the apartment. After all

accounts have been settled in full any monies owed minus all deductions and fees, if

any, will be paid in cash or wired to an account designated by the employee with any

wiring fee paid by Pagoda.

9. Terminating the Housing Agreement

- Termination of the housing contract before the date of expiration can

happen for two reasons. An employee may be terminated or terminate their

employment. In either case, there will be some financial obligations that the

employee must be prepared for. The employee will be also asked to pay for

other expenses that were previously paid by Pagoda, like temporary

accommodations, the realtor’s fee and airfare. So, in order to secure

enough funds for it Pagoda will withhold the employee’s payment and rental

deposit. This is a precautionary measure in case we or the employee are

unable to find a tenant to assume the employee’s lease.

- If employee is transferred to another branch by Pagoda or the branch in

which the employee currently works is closed it is regarded as normal

expiration of housing contract.