What area is best for a young(ish!) male to rent?

[x9200]

I wouldn't suggest Toa Payoh for your first expat stay in SG. Whilst it is cheaper as people have advised, it's a lot more built up & older in style, so less expats & more locals. Nothing wrong with locals (I'm related to many of them!) but as your first expat "adventure" it may be difficult for you.. too much of a culture shock. After a few years in SG, then you can easily settle into a place like TP if you like..

What a culture shock?

[Rb85]

Ok, it seems the office is actually in sembawang, which is not too far from woodlands. If I decided to rent up north, will I still find a bit of life during the day/evenings, or will I constantly be heading south to find a decent bar/club/restaurant? It sounds perfect with regards to the "nature", proximity to malaysia and other facilities. It might even persuade me to see if I can hit a golf ball this time instead of the grass!

If I looked towards staying near the centre of singapore like in toa payoh as mentioned, am I right in thinking it would basically take around 15 mins to get close to the office, and similar time to get towards the busy parts in the south?

I've spent a lot of time in Asia and so feel I wont really feel the culture shock too much, so I'm not too bothered whether I live in an expat area or not. In fact I quite like mingling with the locals as it actually feels like I'm living in Asia rather than a more multicultural city in the UK! But on the other hand I don't want to be too far away from all the expats as I will need to find myself some drinking buddies/wingmen!

I've been having a look at the property websites in singapore to get a rough idea of what's available at what prices. From what I've seen it's very difficult to make any judgment what so ever as majority of listings only have a picture of the outside, if they do have internal pictures normally its just of 1 room or what appear to be "show room" pictures, which I'm sure will look nothing like the actual unit for rent. The text description might as well not be there as well!

I know I will need to get an agent when I'm out there, so is it best to just scrap the websites and give my requirements to the agent and let them produce the goods?

Sorry for so many questions, I'd like to say this will be the last but then I'd be lying..

[JR8]

If I looked towards staying near the centre of singapore like in toa payoh as mentioned, am I right in thinking it would basically take around 15 mins to get close to the office, and similar time to get towards the busy parts in the south?

There is a version of the MRT map that shows travel times from stop to stop perhaps you can find it.

I've spent a lot of time in Asia and so feel I wont really feel the culture shock too much, so I'm not too bothered whether I live in an expat area or not. In fact I quite like mingling with the locals as it actually feels like I'm living in Asia rather than a more multicultural city in the UK! But on the other hand I don't want to be too far away from all the expats as I will need to find myself some drinking buddies/wingmen!

There is a difference between culture shock and feeling isolated. Hence my suggestion. Most days out in TP I would not see another whitey. There were maybe 3-4 in the multi-hundred unit condo but not ones we routinely saw or mixed with. Go out further and people will stop and stare, and babies start crying.

I've been having a look at the property websites in singapore to get a rough idea of what's available at what prices. From what I've seen it's very difficult to make any judgment what so ever as majority of listings only have a picture of the outside, if they do have internal pictures normally its just of 1 room or what appear to be "show room" pictures, which I'm sure will look nothing like the actual unit for rent. The text description might as well not be there as well!

Yep. Post your floaters here and if you're lucky you'll get feedback. Like London space is tight, so I'd work off a floorplan. (But then I latterly work in property so I realise the consequences of say a 10*6.5' bedroom vs one that is 10*8'

I know I will need to get an agent when I'm out there, so is it best to just scrap the websites and give my requirements to the agent and let them produce the goods?

Can you get your employer to pay the agent? That would seem pretty common on an expat package to me...

Sorry for so many questions, I'd like to say this will be the last but then I'd be lying..

[Rb85]

Thanks for the hint about the interactive MRT map JR8! Really helps with getting an idea on locations and size having not been to SG before.

[JR8]

Thanks for the hint about the interactive MRT map JR8! Really helps with getting an idea on locations and size having not been to SG before.

Great, and thanks for the thanks!