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Hi sis Anh,

1. I have observed some ads about renting houses here. The price for renting a nice house is <=$400  only. If you are a Vietnamese and can read Vietnamese, I'd like to introduce a site for you to check

2. I dont know about what area is flooded. I guess since Hoi An locates in the Middle of VN, it can be flooded everywhere. The question should be which area isn't flooded much.

3. I think there are some expats living there as they love they way Hoi An is.. About buying cheese or any western products, I am afraid that they don;t have.

4. Music and instruments are sth that Hoi An tourism area always has to attract tourists.

htxa wrote:

Hello everyone!

I came to Hoi An for a very short visit a couple years ago and really like this town. I'm planning to move and live there for 2 years. I have a couple questions about living in Hoi An and hope some of you can help out by replying.

1. I would be looking for a small house (1 or 2 bedrooms) with garden, 2-3km out of town, somewhere quiet and something simple. I'm not looking for a big fancy house for foreigners. Around how much in VND should I expect the rent/month to be (price for locals as I'm a viet kieu)?

2.I heard some parts of Hoi An get badly flooded during rainy season, which areas should I avoid to live in if I don't want water in my house?!

3. How big is the expat community in town? Are there places where you guys like to hang out and meet up? Is there a place where western products (eg cheese...) are available or do I have to go to Da Nang for that?

4. How is the music scene? Concerts? Do people bring their instruments to cafés to improvise and jam together?

If you have other comments/insights about living in Hoi An, feel free to share. Thanks!

Anh

1. Foreigner rental units have to be approved by the local Cong An - they can also evict you if not approved. Houses are pricey both in the town (did you know they charge you for going downtown now, unless you have a resident permit) and they are cheaper inland (north) and to the west. They call houses with grass a 'villa'.

Some parts of Hoi An get flooded? The whole damn place is under water at the worst times - up to 5 or so feet. You need hip waders to get around and a boat for other parts. Google for pictures of flooding in Hoi An.

The flooding extends along the river in both directions, right out to the beach, and north (inland) for 5-7 kilometres. The locals might tell you NEVER the real estate agents or rental home owners.

The good news is it only happens August thro' November. Gets windy, too.

Most of the Foreigners in town make a living leeching off tourists. There are no Freigner schools there.

The best place to shop for many reasons is Da Nang - they have a Metro discount store (has New Zealand cheese) there which services as far away as Hue. Da Nang has quite decent facilities.

Concerts are more prevalent in Da Nang - they have a large sports complex where they also hold concerts.

Hi Anh,

Houses. Price can start as low as 3 million vnd / month all the way up to 10-12 million vnd / month for comfort.
There is no such thing as a local or foreigner price. Some of the houses are designed to rented out to foreigners and they attempt to design them 'western style' . These houses must apply for a licence to rent to foreigners, as a Viet kieu (holding a VN passport) you can rent a house without a licence.

Flooding: October - November. Districts affected - Cam Nam, Cam Pho, Parts of Cam Thanh and Cam Chau

Expat community - Around 600 usd. Around 400 currently renting houses with us.
Expat places: Dive bar, 3 dragons, Banyan, Soul Kitchen, Mia Coffee, Dingo Deli etc...
Western goods: Metro supermarket in Da Nang, Some shops in Hoi An sell cheese. Dingo Deli. Annam supplier of wine and food. You can find anything here, not a problem.

Concerts: Soul kitchen 3 nights a week, banyan - Dj's, Guitar hawai - VN bands. Dive bar on some occasions.

Alex - 6 years in Hoi An owner of Nha Toi Real Estate - Hoi An

Thanks for your replies guys.

Apart from ´ó¿§¸£ÀûÓ°Ôº, is there a specific website through which the expat community and english speaking Vietnamese from Hoi An communicate and share tips? Something similar to tnhvietnam.xemzi.com for the people in Hanoi. Or perhaps a facebook community page?

The big move is for next year, but I plan to fly to Vietnam end of October to slowly start the moving process by checking locations, houses and making new friends. I will arrive at the pick of the rainy season. Not the best time for a visit, I guess... Would you guys recommend to postpone the trip or do you think it would be fun house hunting under the rain ?!

A.

Dear htxa,
I am Hoi An resident. There are some houses for rent near my house ay Cam Chau which is not effect so much of flood.

pipo-hoian wrote:

Cam Chau which is not effect so much of flood.

How deep is "is not effect so much of flood"?

If you can escape the water, there is always the wind to contend with!

Jaitch wrote:

pipo-hoian wrote:

Cam Chau which is not effect so much of flood.

How deep is "is not effect so much of flood"?

If you can escape the water, there is always the wind to contend with!

May I ask you a question: have you been in Hoi An while a flood?
Cam Chau is large area. Maybe i can say: a part of Cam Chau is effect of flood, and the rest is no water at all.
Water is on the street and it's up to knee/thigh.