In every city, there are different ways to find a home. All you have to know is what you are looking for. Do you want to have an apartment located near the city centre, size, price.. there so much to consider. But make sure, you really have a place to stay – not like me.

When I applied for the University via AsiaExchange, they organized an online meeting to provide the most important information before going to South Korea. One topic was about how to find a housing.
Do you know this kind of people who understand yes, when someone says no, and no when someone says yes? I know that type of people, it is me – nice to meet you. So, I somehow understood that it is recommended to start looking for a place when in Seoul. Which sounded perfect to me, one less thing to do prior to departure. I booked myself an Airbnb for the first week and told all friends and family that everyone does the same and it will be easy to find an apartment. In my defense, you can never know if you get scammed or not. So it made sense to me to first see what you get, other than pay for something you will not have at the end.

Never mind, after the first day in Korea I checked housings via Airbnb and texted into a group chat with all exchange students for the fall 2022 semester, to ask which platforms they use in terms of finding a stay. What I received as responds in return was obviously not what I have expected. Mostly like questiomarks, people telling me that everyone was looking for a place months ago already and that I will quite for sure not find anything. Because people are nice, a website was recommended to me anyway and I was wished luck :). Good that I am a positive person, I felt that I will find my place, so there is nothing to panic about. And luckily, via Come&Stay I found a lot of options – I wrote a text about me and my duration, asked a random nice guy at Starbucks to reread my text and sent it to 10 different come&stay homes. I imagined myself living in one of the apartments and how it would feel like. And the day after, a new message appeard (#happydance). After a short back and forth writing, it was confirmed. Fun fact, the room was free from the moment I had to leave the Airbnb. I knew this will be a great place – like it waited for me!

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My new home was located a five minutes walk from Seoul station. When I walked out of the home, I could see the Namsan Tower. Seoul station is the main station in Seoul where all the trains depart to other cities in Korea. My room was very small, but at least I had it for my own. The bathroom I shared with one other girl. In the whole house, six girls lived there. We shared a common room with a kitchen, there was hot and cold water provided and most important I felt totally safe.

Come&Stay

a website where you find rooms in shared homes

Through Come&Stay you can find a room in a shared house. You can eighter share your room with a room mate, or choose a single room.

Things you should know about finding a home:

• Create your login
• Look for as many options as possible
• mostly only girls are allowed in the houses – but don’t give up boys, still there are some houses to find for you too
• Contact them in Korean
• respond fast
• make a good first impression
• you can pay monthly or all at once
• everywhere a caution is requested – price information is provided
• every room informs about price per month, size and interior including pictures