These days, the reality is that in order to earn a salary, one must come to the metropolitan area.
Otherwise, you either have to work for a public enterprise, run a business, or do casual or part-time jobs.
So, people like me have no choice but to come to the metropolitan area to survive. However, I have no connections here at all.
Ultimately, if I want to live, I need to establish myself in the metropolitan area, but that’s when I have to constantly grapple with housing issues.
To Survive
Have you thought about your monthly fixed expenses?
Among these, the largest cost is housing, which is money that goes out just for breathing.
In fact, what is the reason we earn money?
I believe we earn money to seek a better quality of life.
To improve the quality of life, I need to save a lump sum, but in this place, just breathing incurs expenses.
Making money is not easy, but spending it is all too simple.
The Reason I Took Out the LH Jeonse Loan
Back in 2021, when I was studying development, I often wondered how I could buy a better and cheaper house in the future, so I browsed various sites.
Among them, I first applied for the Happy Housing in Mapo and then for the LH 3rd priority.
I assumed that the Happy Housing in Mapo would be competing against people from the metropolitan area and the same district, so I applied for a shared unit.
Fortunately, LH had a lucky 3rd priority selection process, allowing me to apply as a young person or job seeker since my income hadn’t been assessed.
After that, there was no news for several months.
By that time, I had already secured employment and was anxiously moving between different goshiwons (one-room accommodations).
The really frustrating thing is that just because it’s a goshiwon doesn’t mean the rent is cheap.
How Did I Search for a House?
Currently, my workplace is located in Bundang, and while I was considering whether I could still go for the Happy Housing I applied for in Mapo, I ended up getting an income during the review process, which disqualified me from the Happy Housing list.
The only options left were the LH Jeonse loan, general youth jeonse loan, or the Didiimdol jeonse loan.
In fact, the only places that provide 100% of the jeonse loan are the LH Jeonse loan and the small business youth loan.
Ironically, finding a room where 100% of the loan is available is harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
All the houses that seemed decent were not eligible.
So, while working, I made time to ride my motorcycle and checked out almost all the houses in southern Gyeonggi Province.
I wanted to find a house as close to Bundang as possible, but there was so much demand for LH or small business loans in Bundang that almost all of them were not available.
Furthermore, with interest rates continuing to rise, I was worried about managing the interest if I took out a different loan, and I was also afraid of falling victim to rental scams.
So, I had very few options: either a low deposit with monthly rent or using the LH Jeonse loan.
Advantages of LH Jeonse Loan
There’s no risk of rental scams.
This is because the loan is not based on a contract between me and the landlord but rather a contract between LH Corporation and the landlord.
This allows for a high level of trust when signing the contract.
Once the rights analysis is approved, the attorney will handle everything on the contract date.
100% Jeonse Loan
These days, house prices are incredibly high, so even if you get an 80% loan for a house worth 100 million KRW, you’ll still need 20 million KRW.
But the funny thing is that a house with a 100 million KRW jeonse that’s available for loan is unlikely to be a good one.
In fact, considering the interest, there’s hardly any difference from monthly rent.
In some cases, renting might actually be more beneficial since you won’t fall victim to rental scams.
The LH Jeonse loan provides a 100% loan with a fixed interest rate of 2%. Depending on the individual, a preferential interest rate of 0.5% can also be applied.
Disadvantages of LH Jeonse Loan
You have to live in houses that people generally don’t want to stay in.
Since my primary goal was to minimize my rent, I had to rely on LH as much as possible.
So, when I went to see rooms, I thought I could just settle for any decent place. But to my shock, there were so many houses in terrible condition.
However, it was really hard to find something decent, which was disappointing enough to make me consider giving up on LH altogether.
How I Ended Up Finding a Room
While exploring various neighborhoods, I tried to find a place as close to the Shinbundang Line as possible.
If I could take the Shinbundang Line, I could easily access Gangnam, Pangyo, Jeongja (where my company is), and Gwanggyo, and the line is expected to expand further.
Of course, the prices are higher in that area, but when I use the Shinbundang Line, the quality of life improves.
So while looking at rooms accessible by bus, I discovered a building undergoing a full renovation.
Although the building was old, the two-room unit was clean inside, so I judged that it was the best option given my situation and signed the contract immediately.
I ended up choosing a semi-jeonse option, which requires paying a bit more in rent, but I felt it was better than not finding a place at all.
The downside is that there are no options included, so I have to purchase everything myself.
Now I am waiting for the move-in date. My commuting time will increase, but in the future, I plan to work from home occasionally to try to minimize my commuting time.
Reflections
Since I have mostly lived in apartments, I haven’t experienced the inconveniences of living in villas, but I expect to feel that as I continue living here.
Still, I feel proud that I was able to find a home on my own.
With so much money taken from CodeXXXX, my priority was to minimize my monthly expenses.
With more space, my quality of life will naturally improve, and I expect to have more activities I can do at home.