Race For Housing Is On
Who knew a place to sleep would be so expensive this season? It’s true —where you lay your head at night is likely to be the single biggest item in your budget. It’s worth taking a long, hard look at whether you’re spending your rent wisely.
You need to save money, lots of it, so think strategically. “It’s best to rent a flat in the off-season, like at the end of the year. It’s the cheapest period for rentals as many people leave big cities to go home, ” says Liu Ke, a marketing director at Midland
Realty, a real estate agency in Shenzhen. “During graduation season, you should begin flat hunting early so that you don’t compete with thousands of graduates, ” says Liu. Here is some advice for flat hunting in China’s metropolises.
Flats near the end of a subway line should be the first choice. During rush hour, it’s hard to squeeze on a subway in the middle section of a line, but it’s easy to get on near the terminus and sometimes you can even get a seat.
Most people like to live in East Beijing, such as in the Tongzhou and Sihui areas, as they think it’s near the Central Business District. But in the west, you can find two-bedroom flats for about 4, 000 yuan a month and it only takes 40 to 50 minutes to reach
the CBD area by subway without changing lines. To find a suitable neighborhood, you can either look for residential areas with many seniors, as they usually live in comfortable and convenient blocks, or if you want to share an apartment with younger people,
check for classified adverts on Douban.com.
Some popular areas in the city have become overcrowded, pushing up rents, but districts far away from the city center offer affordable alternatives. For instance, a two-bedroom flat in Baishizhou costs 3, 000 yuan a month, but a similar sized one in Henggang
only costs 600 yuan.
From Henggang it takes only 20 minutes to get to Luohu by subway, or 40 minutes to the business district. Living costs are also cheaper than downtown and you can get meals for 8 to 12 yuan.
To find a flat in the suburbs you need to go there yourself and find a landlord with flats for rent.
Try to negotiate the rent, especially if it’s an unfurnished flat. There are usually second-hand furniture shops nearby where you can get everything you need.
University areas are popular places for graduates as most of them like to live near a campus. In the area around Wuhan University, Central China Normal University and Wuhan University of Technology, life is convenient and there are restaurants, cinemas and
shopping malls nearby.
In this area you can rent a shared flat with two bedrooms for 1, 500 yuan. There are many bus routes here and most of the tenants are students, so you can go back to enjoying campus life.
The most useful information always appears on advertising boards in local stores and universities. Landlords with the most affordable housing often target college students and graduates, so check online BBS for information.
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http://blog.csdn.net/happy08god/article/details/9836299
谁曾想到现在睡觉的地方会这么贵呢？这是真的——你晚上躺下（睡觉）的地方
很可能是你预算中单项最大的一笔开销。值得仔细看看你是否在明智的花钱租房。
你需要省钱，省很多，所以要有策略的思考。“最好是在淡季租房，比如年底。
这是租金最便宜的时期，因为很多人离开大城市回家了”，一个真实的房地产中介
——美联物业的市场总监刘珂说道。“在毕业季，你要早点开始找房，这样你就不会
成千上万的毕业生竞争了”，刘说。在此有一些中国大城市租房的建议。
靠近地铁站终点站的房子当属首选。高峰时段很难再地铁线的中间站挤上去，
但在终点站就很容易上去，有时候你甚至还有座位可坐。
大多数人喜欢住在北京东边，例如通州和四惠地区，因为他们认为那里距离
中心商业区近。但在西边，你可以找到月租4000元左右的2房住所。只需要乘坐
地铁40-50分钟就可到达中心商业区，还不需要转乘地铁。为了找到合适的邻居，
你可以找老年人多的居住地，因为他们往往住在舒适和便利的地方。你也可以
看下豆瓣上的分类广告，如果你想跟年轻人合租的话。
城市里面一些热门的区域已经过于拥挤，推高了租房价格，但是距离城市中心
较远的地区就很便宜。例如，在白石洲月租3000的两房，在横岗只需要600元。
横岗到罗湖，乘地铁只需要20分钟；到商业区也只要40分钟。生活成本也比
市中心便宜得多，吃一顿饭只要8-12元。
到郊区找房，你需要自己去那里并且找到要出租房屋的房东。
大学周边很受毕业生的欢迎，因为他们中的大多数喜欢住在离校园近的地方。
在武汉大学，华中师范大学和武汉科技大学周边，生活非常便利，那附近有餐厅，
电影院和购物中心。
在这里你可以花1500元跟别人合租一个两室的房子。这里有很多公交路线，
并且很多在这里租房的都是学生，因此你可以（回到过去）重新享受校园生活。
最有用的信息经常出现在当地商店和大学的布告栏上。有便宜租房的房东
经常瞄准学生和毕业生，因此可以在在线BBS上找租房信息。
budget ['bʌdʒit]
n. 预算，预算费vt.安排，预定；把…编入预算vi.编预算，做预算adj.廉价的
tenant ['tenənt]
n. 承租人；房客；佃户；居住者vt.租借（常用于被动语态）
suburb ['sʌbə:b]
n. 郊区；边缘
landlord ['lændlɔ:d]
n. 房东，老板；地主
advert [əd'və:t]
vi. 注意；谈到n.广告
residential [,rezi'denʃəl]
adj. 住宅的；与居住有关的
biggest [bigist]
adj. 最大的（big的最高级）
squeeze [skwi:z]
vt. 挤；紧握；勒索vi.压榨n.压榨；紧握；拥挤；佣金
overcrowd [,əuvə'kraud]
vt. 使过度拥挤；把…塞得过满vi.过度拥挤；塞得太满
negotiate [ni'ɡəuʃieit, -si-]
vt. 谈判，商议；转让；越过vi.谈判，交涉