Comments on: Question Regarding LQA in Korea

By: Leon LaPorte

Leon LaPorte — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:20:19 +0000

Oh no. They have realized the error in their ways. They'll never pull anything like that again. I'm certain they are honest as the day is long! They've truly learned their lesson and seen the light.

Besides, they were only off limits in Area II so they couldn't have done anything THAT bad, right?

Julie Baek is pure as the driven snow. It was all just a misunderstanding.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:45:56 +0000

Didn't they JUST get unbanned from Area II for fraud? I want to work NOT go to jail.

By: Leon LaPorte

Leon LaPorte — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:49:40 +0000

Julies Realty will hook you up. You might even get a reach around.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:05:11 +0000

I recently agreed to serve in Korea and was informed that I would get $43,500 a year in LQA. So I can't keep ANY of it? I'll be based in Seoul/Yongsan. Where should I look to move for a REASONABLE rent? New Jersey?????

By: someotherguy

someotherguy — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:27:55 +0000

Its best not to let the landlord pay any of your major utilities (healing / electricity / management fee). You want to see the bills yourself and manage them on your own. Also if you live in an older apartment building, or a villa, check your electricity box at least once a week to see if the land lord put in an "extra" line to their house. Those bastards will do that so they can you to pay for part of their electricity.

And the biggest piece of advice I can give is to get a Korean (coworker or Wife) to assist you in finding a place to live. Get a place away from the base that is rented to Koreans and make sure you check the local prices before you let them "set" a price for you.

This is how I ended up getting a 42 pyong apartment for 1.15 mil won a month, when the guys near the base are paying 1.3 mil for a 33 pyong, and 2mil+ if their a GS. This is in Daegu.

By: John

John — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:22:50 +0000

What happens if you pay too much on utilities and at the end of your contract have a 1mil won SURPLUS balance (beause you are thrifty or sleep over at the gf's apt,etc)

Do GI's get utilitites back if they overpay?

I see no statements to prohibit this common sense logic. If your over on your utitlies, you can be dam sure your Korean landlord is going to collect it.

By: Bones

Bones — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:56:14 +0000

One thing you could do, is to pay your utilities out of pocket, don't let the landlord pay the utilities. When you do your reconciliation that money comes back to youPay the landlord the rent money, in dollars, not won.

By: NC47

NC47 — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:49:27 +0000

If you are a DAC and you received housing money before OCT 08 it would be in your best interest to ask CPAC, and in area II there is only one lady to ask, if you are over the allowable amount. This LQA rate drop may effect anyone over the new amount set in Oct 08. CPAC isn’t going to notify you or give you any info without you asking and you may find that at the end of your lease you get an IOU from Uncle Sam.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:36:45 +0000

I’m an O4 with dependents and currently am only getting $928/month including utilities for Uijeongbu, so I have no sympathy either.

By: Guitard

Guitard — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:54:13 +0000

#9: There is no where in the greater Yongsan area where you can get an apartment with only $65K key money – even for Koreans. If you can read Korean, you can read it on the windows of any real estate office in town. Key money for a decent sized apartment will easily go over 400,000,000 won.