Renting an apartment independently

If you want to stay in Ulaanbaatar and the company you work for won’t find you a place then it’s quite easy to rent an apartment yourself…providing you have made friends with a Mongolian speaker. If not then you can look on the notice boards of expat pubs and bars, hostels and in the two English language newspapers, The UB Post and Mongol Messenger which have listings every week. These are normally apartments that are built and furnished at the Westerner in mind – obviously at western prices.

As always, make sure that you check the contract and be aware of little intricacies like what time of year the heating is turned on/off and if there is a curfew. Expat apartments can range from $300-$800 a month . Also be aware that even though it may look nice on the surface, probe deeper and you might find a few problems.

To get a good cheap apartment, then turn to the classified papers such as Zar Medee (every Friday Tg400) and Shuurkhai Zar (every Thursday and Friday Tg400) which lists 1, 2, 3, 4 room apartment places and so on. Some notices specifically notes ‘renting to foreigner’. Same rules apply as anywhere else – check what is included / excluded in the price and ALWAYS look at the property before signing on the dotted line. Normally a deposit is required and sometimes it’s asked for in US dollars. A good guide price is $230 for a one room, furnished with washing machine and cooker. Obviously apartments towards the outskirts of the city are cheaper but sometimes a few extra dollars a month will make all the difference.