I have been checking around the net to get a feel for apartment rental prices in Seoul. But most places require a "key depoist" of $5000 - $10,000. Is this the norm in South Korea? How possible is it to find apartments with a smaller deposit (1 months rent for example)?
Thanks for any input!
Yes, that's normal. You won't find anything with less of a deposit than that. Apartments either have a small key money fee ($5000) and then you pay rent, or they have a massive one (ours for example was $40,000) and then you pay no rent. In either case you get it all back at the end, but it can be a pain in the arse to find it at the beginning. That's just the system here.
I am surprised that anyone would give $40,000 to a stranger to rent their apartment. What's keeping them from not giving it back to you? When your visa is up, and you have no choice but to leave the country, they could delay the return of your key money, or they could claim that the apartment was in better shape when you moved in. Maybe I'm just not very trusting, but these large key money deposits seem to put one in a position to where they could too easily get ripped off.
I've seen a few ads online that stated "low key money" ($2000 usually), or "no key money", but these ads don't seem common. I'm thinking of winging it by staying in a hostel in the beginning, and checking for apartments with low key money while I'm there. How possible is it to find apartment ads in english while there?
Depends where you are. About the only area of Seoul you'll find that is Itaewon/Haebangcheon etc, where there are estate agents that are used to dealing with foreigners. Elsewhere, very unlikely. Is youe employer not helping with your accomodation at all?
WIth regard to the key money, there are certain protection systems in place as far as the return of the key money is concerned, but how they would apply to a foreigner I don't know.