Most leases in Hong Kong run for 2 years. When we moved here, we were aware that the boys’ school was moving from the city to the New Territories – off Hong Kong Island and over to the mainland, past Kowloon.  We fully expected we would enjoy a year in the city and then move ourselves out to Clearwater Bay or Sai Kung.  It didn’t happen. We like being in the city too much. We arrived at the last month of our lease and dove back into the HK rental market.

If you are an expat living in Hong Kong, you know there is nothing quite so demoralizing as looking at 1500 square foot apartments that cost upwards of US$10,000 a month and are most accurately described as decrepit, rundown, moldy, or filthy.  If you are not an expat living in Hong Kong, I am sure you can’t imagine how on earth something that costs so much could be so bad. The Hong Kong property market is like an industrial-strength bubble. Even when it is “soft” there is no budging many landlords on price. They are much more willing to let an apartment sit empty than negotiate a lower price on a lease. Less money would be losing face.

When searching for apartments, I encountered dead cockroaches, mold-spattered kitchens and closets, warped parquet floors, peeling laminate, naked wiring, creative plumbing, and in one memorable apartment, elaborate swooping maple and frosted glass built-ins that seemed to have dropped in the middle of the floor. We finally asked if we could renovate that kitchen ourselves in one apartment – to be met with the sage advice that it couldn’t be changed because it was “too old”.

After fruitlessly negotiating on two “finalists”, we decided to stay put. Although we did feel lucky – our building had been renovating and ousting residents by raising the rent to ridiculous levels (even for Hong Kong), we were lucky enough to get a flat extension of our lease. We fell back on the real estate adage “location, location, location”. From our current apartment, the commute is a dream for Tommy, the boys don’t mind the relatively direct 50 minute bus ride to school, and we all like being able to walk into the city.  So, we are staying put.

Sometimes, this is the view. But at other times, it’s pretty spectacular!

And when the fog lifts, you get this – just a few hours later.