Dear Real Estate Agent:

If you are going to show me an apartment, please take a minute to make sure it has not been rented already. Especially if it is a really nice, affordable apartment that is going to make my wife all happy.

Sincerely,

– Mark

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On a related note — wow, have rental prices ever climbed in Korea since I last lived here. If you wonder why the Korean real estate market seems so crazy, these two recent stories from the Korea JoongAng Daily may help clear things up:

– Deposits, monthly rental prices soaring

– Gov’t trims apartment supply to spur real estate market

Yes, these two articles appeared on the same day. Story A: The government should do something about rising housing prices. Story B: The government cuts supply to raise housing prices. I’m guessing that one policy or the other could work, but not both.