How can solo find a room in Korea

Visit a real estate agency in your desired area

The easiest way is to find a real estate agent in the area where you want to live.

In fact, you should understand that if you are a foreigner, you will have limited places to live compared to Koreans (difficulty communicating, uncertainty about paying rent, etc.). Nevertheless, areas near universities or areas with many one-room apartments will be more friendly to foreigners.

Learn about the terms used when trading/renting real estate in Korea.

• Monthly rent (월세): a fee paid each month
• Deposit (보증금): A sum of money paid at the time of signing a contract in preparation for the tenant’s failure to pay the monthly rent or to increase the landlord’s financial income to lower the monthly rent.
• Management fee (관리비): In the case of multi-family housing, commonly called villas, this is the money that residents pay to the management company for management costs of 50,000-100,000 won per household per month, such as stair cleaning and recycling waste disposal management. In the case of officetels with hundreds of households, this management fee is also charged every month along with items such as water/electricity
• Jeonse (전세): In theory, it refers to a lump sum of money that can generate interest income equivalent to monthly rent when deposited in a bank. However, in Korea, jeonse money has been a loan for landlords to cover the shortfall when purchasing additional houses for several decades. However, since interest is not paid to tenants who pay jeonse money, it is essentially the same as receiving implicit rental income.

Find a room using a real estate information website/app

If you can speak Korean, you may be able to first call the landlord or real estate agent who listed the room/house on a real estate information website or app.

Alternatively, it can be a great tool to first check the geographical distribution and information about specific rooms/houses (e.g. rent/maintenance fee/security deposit and dimensions/photos, etc.) to get an idea of ​​which areas you should focus your search around.