8 Korean phrases you need to rent an apartment
Renting in Korea starts with walking into a real estate office, not scrolling a website, and the vocabulary is the first wall: a deposit system with no equivalent abroad, fees quoted separately, and listings written in abbreviations. The agent will be patient if you have the words, and most of the process is the same eight questions asked in order.
Everything here is in polite 요 speech, which is the right register with an agent and a landlord however friendly they get.
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원룸 보러 왔어요.
wollum boreo wasseoyo.
I've come to look at studios.
Literally: (I) came to see a one-room.
원룸 is the studio apartment most newcomers start in. You say this walking into a 부동산 (budongsan, real estate office); there is one on every block and no appointment is needed. For a one-bedroom say 투룸 (turum).
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보증금이 얼마예요?
bojeunggeumi eolmayeyo?
How much is the deposit?
보증금 is the refundable deposit, and in Korea it is large: several million won even on a monthly-rent studio. It comes back when you leave, which is why the agent will shrug at the number. Spelled 얼마예요, not 얼마에요.
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전세예요, 월세예요?
jeonseyeyo, wolseyeyo?
Is it jeonse or monthly rent?
전세 is the Korean system with no rent at all: a very large lump sum held for two years and returned in full. 월세 is a smaller deposit plus rent every month, and it is what most foreigners can actually do. Ads list them as 전세 or 월세 followed by the figures.
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월세는 관리비 포함이에요?
wolseneun gwallibi pohamieyo?
Does the monthly rent include maintenance fees?
관리비 covers the building: cleaning, lift, sometimes internet and water, and it is often quoted separately. Ask which utilities are in and which are 별도 (byeoldo, separate), because the gap can be the price of a nicer flat.
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옵션에 뭐가 있어요?
opsyeone mwoga isseoyo?
What comes with the place?
Literally: What is in the options?
옵션 means the appliances included: washing machine, fridge, air conditioner, sometimes a bed. 풀옵션 (pul opsyeon, full option) is the word to look for in listings if you are arriving with two suitcases.
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계약 기간은 얼마나 돼요?
gyeyak giganeun eolmana dwaeyo?
How long is the lease?
Standard is 2년 (two years), though studios often go for 1년. Leaving early means finding the next tenant yourself and usually paying the agent's fee again, so this question matters more than it sounds.
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입주는 언제 가능해요?
ipjuneun eonje ganeunghaeyo?
When can I move in?
입주 is moving into a property; 이사 (isa) is the physical move with the truck. 바로 가능해요 (right away) is the answer you want to hear, and 즉시 입주 in a listing means the same thing.
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좀 더 생각해 볼게요.
jom deo saenggakae bolgeyo.
Let me think about it a bit more.
The polite way to leave a 부동산 without signing. Agents push, because the fee is theirs only when you sign, and this sentence closes the conversation without offending anyone. Visit two or three offices; they do not share listings.
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Before you sign, two words to recognise on the contract: 임대인 (imdaein) is the landlord and 임차인 (imchain) is you, the tenant. Everything that follows, including the deposit, is a promise between those two names.