Beijing property search

The booming city of Beijing has a vast range on offer when it comes to housing. Since the choice is so wide, it is important to identity your needs in terms of price, size, location, layout and amenities. Consider what you’ll need close by school or office? A cheese shop? Nightlife within stumbling distance? A gym? Also consider what amenities you’ll require? Backyard? ADSL?
Think further on important details like views, exposure to natural light, and floor level. Consider commuting as this will impact your lifestyle in Beijing. The more clearly you have defined what you want, the more likely you are to find it.

The following are the main types of homes available in Beijing – and the people who inhabit them.

• Serviced apartments
  Fully furnished serviced apartments are equipped with all the mod cons (stoves, washing machines, DVD players, cutlery, bed sheets, etc.) and offer access to fitness and business centres. “Real” serviced apartments offer short-term leases (including weekly and monthly), Daily maid service, and hotel style front desks.
  You will need to bring your gold cards, as prices are steep. Check online or contact a real estate or travel agent to enquire about discounts, which are frequently available. Rates start at about USD 120 per night for a one bedroom and go sky high from there.
• Villa lifestyle
  Well-to-do foreign and local families looking to (re)-create the western suburban lifestyle often do stop in the gated villa communities (bieshu), which are modelled after gated communities in the US. Located for the most part near Capital Airport, these compounds feature spacious homes that often come with backyards and private garages.
  Living here it’s possible to momentarily forget the world outside the gates since amenities include anything from swimming pools to playgrounds, from supermarkets to clubhouses and in the bigger compounds, primary schools. English-speaking staff can help residents get settled, and private buses ferry the kids to the nearby international schools. As in suburbs anywhere though long commutes, whether by shuttle bus or car are a fact of life.
• International standard luxury apartments
  These complexes also known as gongyu have popped up all over the city in recent years – mostly in Chaoyang District. They offer an inciting mix of comfort and convenience. They blend proximity to Beijing's clubs, restaurants, shops and cultural attractions with facilities galore, such as gyms, satellite TV and indoor playgrounds. In swish buildings attend to all repairs and help tenants in countless ways such as arranging deliveries or assisting with translation. Some of the larger compounds are self contained mini-cities replete with supermarkets, schools, cinemas dance studios and more – you’ll never have to leave!
• Courtyard houses
  Consisting of four buildings arranged around a central courtyard, these courtyard houses or Siheyuan are located in the cities remaining hutongs. Imagine waking up in your opium bed and then taking a brief ride to Beihai to catch the sunrise. Renting an inexpensive courtyard home will entail boosting your connections, as choice properties are rare and quickly snatched up by friends of previous residents.
• Upper tier local apartments
  If you don’t have the fat expat package but still require many creature comforts, check out middle and upper tier local lou fang. Popular with young(ish) foreign professionals, well-heeled students and middle class Chinese, these buildings range from tiny to comfortable and have been built throughout the city.

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