What should I check before signing a share house contract in Korea?
I am moving to Seoul for a one-year contract and a share house looks more affordable than renting a studio alone. The listing mentions a monthly fee plus a small deposit, but nothing about house rules or how the deposit is returned. What should I ask the operator before signing, and how do I confirm who is responsible for repairs and shared bills?
Note: This is an editorial persona question created from common experiences of foreign residents in Korea.
1 Answer
The first thing to pin down is what the monthly fee actually covers. Most share houses include utilities and wifi up to a cap and then split anything above it between residents, so ask what the cap is and how often it has been exceeded recently. Ask whether there is a separate 관리비 on top of the monthly fee, because a listing that looks cheaper sometimes is not once that appears.
On the deposit, get three things in writing: the exact amount, how long after move-out it is returned, and what can be deducted. Share house deposits are much smaller than a normal lease, often a few hundred thousand won, and are usually returned within about two weeks. Deductions for damage are normal, deductions for ordinary wear are not. Also ask about the minimum stay and what happens if you leave early, since most operators require one to three months minimum and a month of written notice, and some keep the deposit if you break that.
House rules matter more than people expect when you are sharing a kitchen and bathroom. Ask about overnight guests, quiet hours, whether cleaning is done by a service or rotated between residents, whether the kitchen is shared or each person cooks separately, and how many people are actually in the house right now versus how many beds there are.
Two things are genuinely important and easy to miss. First, find out whether the operator owns the building or is subletting it, because if they are subletting and the real owner has a dispute with them, your position is weak. Ask to see the contract a few days before signing and run it through translation properly rather than reading it at the table. Second, confirm you can register the address. You must report your residence to immigration within fifteen days of moving, and some share house operators quietly discourage this. If they do, walk away, because you need a registered address for immigration, banking and almost everything else. Finally, photograph your room and the shared areas on the day you move in and keep the photos. It is the single easiest way to protect a deposit.