Advice on finding a share-house

Hi Kate,

Welcome to Expat.com

Please note that i have created a new thread with your post on the Hanoi forum, since you were off topic in the New members thread.

To find an share-house, i would actually advise you to post an advert in the Housing in Hanoi section under the category shared accommodation, your search will be more visible and you may find an accommodation quickly.

Good luck,

Priscilla

Expat.com Team

Hi all,
I'm Kate and will be moving from Australia to Hanoi in July to work in climate change mitigation for 12 months. I'm wondering if anyone has advice on finding a share-house? I'd prefer this rather than renting my own apartment, but there doesn't seem to be much of a forum for this?

Cheers!
-@KateMelRea

Hi Kate,

One of the reasons there isn't much of a forum for it is, every individual must be registered with the local police EVERY night while you are in Vietnam, no exceptions.

So, even if you find a foreigner who has signed a lease on a place and wants to share it with you, the landlord must become involved, usually by adding you to the lease and then reporting your temporary residence to the police.

And that's not really so hard, but people who have been traveling the world and setting up shared residences very often want something that's off the books and simply between the residents of the apartment or the house, so the type of situation that's available here is not something that the average nomad or temporary resident wants to get involved with.

I'd be really happy if all of a sudden we got a lot of replies that said I'm very wrong, but I'm the administrator of a Face.book group in this country and we just don't see very many people asking about that in social media.

Good luck though with finding something that might be listed under HOMESTAY as that's very often the type of living arrangement that will offer three or four people to all have their individual rooms and share a kitchen, everyone renting from the same landlord.

I know there are definitely a lot of listings for those type of arrangements on Airbnb in Hanoi.

I recommend that with caution, as I am not a big fan of Airbnb in Vietnam in general, but people looking for a shared living in the past I've had success with them.

But as always I recommend that someone come to Vietnam first (spending a few days to a week and an affordable hotel or motel) and search for a place face to face and not commit yourself to something long distance, avoiding a common headache that foreigners tend to experience when booking before arriving.

Good luck!

@KateMelRea Hi Kate, for a 12-month work visa you must be sponsored. Talk to your sponsor to arrange accommodation, they will be an NGO working with the Vietnam Government and will have plenty of contacts in Hanoi.