By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Seoul City will introduce ``certified real estate agents for foreigners'' to help them buy and rent homes more easily.
It has already issued the certification to 20 agencies that have operated for more than three years and have employees who can provide services in foreign languages.
Ten agencies are concentrated in Yongsan-gu, a popular foreigner district in central Seoul, while the other 10 are scattered around the city in areas including Seocho-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, Songpa-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu, recommended by the Korea Association of Realtors. The city plans to issue more certificates to real estate agents that can provide foreign language services.
Alan Timblick, head of Seoul Global Center (SGC), said the system comes from understanding the accommodation needs of people of every class.
``For example, students need more economic level of accommodations, particularly for the increasing number of graduate students in Korea,'' Timblick said. ``Understanding how to secure your deposit in jeonse system (key money deposit) and how to negotiate between jeonse and wolse (monthly rent with or without key money deposit) is important, especially when you have just arrived in the country.''
At these agencies, foreign clients can learn about rental systems here, such as jeonse and wolse, and have real estate lease agreement forms in English. The agents provide legal services and general services regarding the purchase and rent of homes or offices as well.
All the agencies listed are English-speaking and French, Arabic, Japanese and Chinese services are available at some agencies. ``We have three realtors who can speak English, French and Spanish,'' said Yun Tae-sop of Yongsan Certified Real Estate Agency.
The city plans to increase the number of certified agents all over Seoul and provide guidebooks for real estate and other contract forms in various foreign languages to enhance the residential environment for expatriates living in Korea. SGC also offers real estate consulting service for foreigners regarding residential and business accommodations.
Gavin Farrell, 37, a Canadian living in Seoul, found his house through a real estate agency in central Seoul two years ago. Since the agent could not speak English, he needed aid from his company for translation and other legal matters. ``It would be helpful to have more realty dealers (who can) speak English.'' Farrell said.
The list of certified agencies is available from Seoul Global Center (global.seoul.go.kr), Korea Land Information System (KLIS, klis.seoul.go.kr), Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA, www.investkorea.org) and the Web sites of each district.