cheap housing between 300-500usd

Anywhere within walking distance of a beach.

Bhavna (moderator), you are doing a disservice to expat.com members by referring them/us to the housing section. I just checked there, for the first time, and to say that the prices are a bit over the top would be an understatement.
My advice, echoed by previous comments from others, is to find a cheap hotel before arriving and scout from there. Decent (enough) hotels in HCMC can be found for $20/night.

Aidan

Aidan in HCMC wrote:

Bhavna (moderator), you are doing a disservice to expat.com members by referring them/us to the housing section.

Actually, no, she isn't.
The site has a strict no advertising policy on this section because of the number of agents swamping  threads with advertising.
The problem was getting silly so no ads are allowed at all.

Sorry to disagree O wooly one...

People seeking relevant advice are getting it from advanced thinkers
(like senwl?)   Is it really such a hard stretch to offer previous (proven)
posts to help those who are lost-in-the-woods..?   

  Been there meself...     

Fred, I didn't mean to say (which I didn't) that it was a disservice to defend the forum from commercial interests. What I meant is that by referring expat.com members to peruse the "Housing" section, members are exposed to (mostly) exorbinant property rental rates. The "Housing" section seems to be populated by advertisers/investment-rentors/property management companies with an eye to squeezing as much from an expat as is possible, and in my (and others?) experience the rates charged <strong>far exceed</strong> what the market has to offer.

Best,
Aidan

First you need to choose where you want to live. Housing costs vary by location. Near the beach, well that leaves a lot of choices open. I live in Hoi An. A less congested area of the beach in Vietnam. But yet as Vietnamese people would tell you, Hoi An is great place to be. I have a beautiful house in the countryside, not the city.  I am 2km from the  beach. Cost for my  fully furnished home is 350usd per month. I have lived here for 5 years. HCMC sucks...... its dirty, crowded, noisy and no room to breathe. If thats your life then that's the place for you. Nha Trang, beautiful beach, very crowded and noisy. Pick someplace and visit it.

AMEN...................................