Renting a place in Shenzhen can be physically and mentally exhausting, especially for university students like us who have only just entered the working world...
I found an agent on Xianyu. Usually, someone chats with you online and sends attractive videos to draw you in, but once you arrive, they hand you over to another local agent who handles in-person viewings. The worst part is that the online and offline information is not shared. In other words, you will probably never see the apartments you were shown on WeChat. Many of the offline agents I met were men in their thirties or forties. This is not meant as a judgment of that age group; I am only describing my own experience. Some of them treated us dismissively because we were young, showed us poor apartments, or simply had a bad attitude.
I went apartment hunting with a friend on Sunday. We met four agents over the afternoon and evening, and every one of them used the same online-plus-offline setup. Some online agents will even call you directly to ask whether you need a rental. Fortunately, once I clearly said no, they stopped contacting me.
After comparing notes with my friend, these are the approaches that seem more practical to me:
- Visit neighborhoods and apartments in person whenever possible. This reduces the communication gap between you and an agent.
- Look for direct rental listings from agents on Xiaohongshu.
- Look for personal sublet listings on Xiaohongshu.
- Ask people you know for referrals.
Overall, renting is a process that requires dealing with many people. You need to look at several options, ask questions, and think carefully before deciding.