Many real estate offices exist in Korea and you’ll frequently see them clumped together. Each office will have their own listings and also have access to the same network of available residences throughout the city. They’ll prefer to show you their office’s listings first but if they don’t have what you are looking for they will contact other agents and show their offerings. The Korean term for these offices is 부동산 (不動産, budongsan) and this will be written very prominently on their storefront.

As of 1984, all new real estate agents needed to be licensed and so the term 공인증개사 (公認仲介士, gongin jeunggaesa ) started to appear to mean a licensed agent. To mean a licensed agent’s office you will see the word 사무실 (事務室, samusil) or 사무소 (事務所, samuso) added to the end of the term.

While not as prominent as 부동산, the term 공인증개사 will appear here and there and sometimes used interchangeably with the same real estate office, as seen below in big white letters. You’ll notice there are large empty patches on the advertisements as we had to remove the name and phone number for legal reasons.

They frequently also have a double front door with the outer serving as a sign and the inner can stay closed for sound and temperature reasons.

Another easy way to spot real estate offices is by the postings in their window. They frequently show a number of listings with just enough information to get you interested enough to come inside.

To avoid communication issues, it would be beneficial to visit a real estate agent who can speak another language and have experience with international clients. Some cities have a list of agents which can communicate in a language other than Korean. The names differ city to city and can include Global Real Estate Agencies (글로벌 부동산중개소, 글로벌 不動産仲介所, geullobeol budongsan junggaeso). The best way to find these is to click one of the links below or go to the city hall website of the city you wish to live in, see if they have an English version of their site, and then see if they have a special listing of real estate agents. The names each city uses are written beside each as it might help in searches for cities not on this list. It is also worth noting that Suwon’s site only has listings for one county; Paldal-gu.

Seoul - Real Estate Agencies for Foreigners

Suwon - 글로벌중개사무소 현황 (Note: 영어 = English, 중국어 = Chinese)

Ulsan - Global Real Estate Agency

Busan - Real Estate Agencies for Foreigners

The Institute for Basic Science (IBS) also has research centers in the cities of Daejeon, Gwangju, Daegu, and Pohang, but these cities don't currently have official lists of bilingual real estate agents. We have asked the Global Help Desk to assemble a list of English speaking realtors in Daejeon. The list has shifted as some offices have merged and others closed.

English Speaking Real Estate Agencies in Daejeon

If you are thinking of living in Seoul and want to live close to an expat community, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has put together a guide for the districts (dong) and neighborhoods (gu) that have the largest international resident populations. The map below is their copyrighted image from their website linked above. If you go to their page you can get more details as to what is in each area. One of the benefits of living in a community that has more international residents is people are more used to speaking in English, including stores and real estate agents.

Image copyright Seoul Metropolitan Government, source. Slightly edited.

The public transportation system in Seoul is substantial. That being said, if you are conducting research at the IBS Center for Molecular Spectroscopy and Dynamics in Korea University, IBS Center for Nanomedicine in Yonsei University, or at the IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience (Wikipedia) in Ewha Womans University, then the areas north of the Han River would be more convenient. If you are at the IBS Center for Correlated Electron Systems, IBS Center for Nanoparticle Research, IBS Center for RNA Research, or IBS Center for Genome Engineering at Seoul National University, then south of the Han River and preferably to the west would make transport easier for you.

As the number of overseas passport holders living in Korea in somewhere between 1% and 2%, most ways to find real estate agents will be written exclusively in Korean. If you want to go this route you will have more options. The search portals Naver and Daum both have a lot of information. Some apps include 다방 and 직방. If there are other websites or apps you know of and wish to add to this list, please feel free to let us know. Some real estate agents like to show they are posting on smartphone apps and will therefore post which apps in their window.

Also worth noting is the large map in the background left. Inside of their offices is normally one or more very large maps that they and you can look at to see the areas that are offered, along with how close are shopping centers, public transit, distance to your office, etc. It is also very common to see a mini couch so that customers can wait more comfortably as paperwork can take awhile.

As languages change, terminology used today is not what was used in the past. If you are a history buff or wish to achieve a high level in Korean, you might want to learn the word 복덕방 (福德房, bokdeokbang) as that is the term that preceded 부동산. While it is rare to see 복덕방 outside of historical TV or movie dramas and the rare real estate office wishing to stand out from the competition, it could be a fun way to impress people that you know a very traditional term.