Flood areas in Nha Trang

I'm a recent transplant myself so I know very little. But there is an English-speaking real estate agent, Ms. Trang, whom you can find online if you google apartment for rent Nha Trang. About three different web sites will come up and they're all her. She seems to control the expat rental market where you don't know anyone local. Ask her any questions and she will respond quickly. But don't get hung up on any of the apartments or houses on her sites as most will have been rented already. Good luck!

Jane

Thanks so much Jane.  Appreciate the info!

Hello again - Please take what I'm about to say with a very large grain of salt, because much of it is based upon what I read or heard, not what I witnessed. I am as likely to be wrong as right, and willingly stand corrected if so. But since you have dogs and I'm a dog person, I was feeling guilty about not sharing my thoughts.

Apparently there are good reasons why most expats who are not living with a Vietnamese national with family here choose apartments instead of houses. (Note: many foreigners do live with a Vietnamese national or a Vietnamese-speaker with a nearby extended family who can watch over things.)

You must have a tall locked gate in front of the house to help prevent break-ins and dog kidnapping. Your first and maybe second floor windows have to be kept shut for the same reasons, and to prevent mosquitoes from entering. (There are no window screens here.) You cannot leave the house unattended/unoccupied. Don't bring anything of value with you.

As a dog person, it's the dog kidnapping part that worries me the most. Stuff is stuff.

Rather than villainize Nha Trang or even Vietnam over these possibilities, remember, as has been pointed out many times on this site, that the Vietnamese make far, far less money than you do and have far, far fewer things. There is almost zero violent crime here, but property theft keeps some families fed and sheltered.

If it's possible, what I might do were I you, is rent an apartment with the dogs and learn the city and its neighbourhoods and the subtleties of life in each neighbourhood. A three month lease with one month security deposit is easy to do. The bigger the landlord, the more likely you are to get your security deposit returned. There are thousands of apartments being built just north of the city proper which means you should have no problem renting on your own terms. Then you wouldn't have to give a thought to flooding either.

Again, I may be completely wrong or fear-mongering for no reason. If so, my sincere apologies. But these are lessons I took in by reading this site and spending a month in a home stay hotel (house). I share them with you only because when it comes to dogs, I'd much rather be safe than sorry.

Jane

Thank you so much Jane.  I sincerely appreciate your concern.  I will take your advice into consideration when we do move there.  I was having second thoughts about renting a house and started looking into apartments instead.  I do worry about a high rise apartment though as I don't know if they are built with fire extinguishers, sprinklers, alarms etc. so I was looking for a lower building instead.  I was wondering why the houses always look locked up with such high gates and fencing in the front.  Again, thank you for the info.

I've only ever rented serviced apartments with 24 hour security. I don't think anybody even apartments would have an issue with your dogs. My guess is houses are ok you just have to find one that has good security (bars on the windows and doors) and you bring your motorbikes inside the house at night when you lock up.

Thanks for the reply Panda7.  I am really hoping they are pet friendly.

Hi Kokomo, I'm vietnamese grew up in Nha Trang so I would say I know a thing or two about the place.
Houses here in VN HAS to look locked up because there are thieves going around and they are always looking to visit your house. Always lock up all the doors and windows when you sleep or go away from home, even a short trip.
However, there is no violent crime so you don't have to worry much about your personal well being.
For the flooding area, I think better you should find a local real estate agent that can speak both vietnamese and english. They will be able to provide you with many options. However, anything within 3km away from the city center would be good enough. I like the landed house more than apartment building since it will be more convenience, more space and less noise (from you neighbor above and below ). Those on Youtube are a bit extreme as the flooding only happen in rural area.
Also Nha Trang is the city belong to Khanh Hoa province. Tuy Hoa is city belong to Phu Yen province. Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen are neighbor provinces but they are not the same.
Great choice to choose Khanh Hoa. The city sole industry is tourism so the air is very fresh and relaxing (not polluted as Sai Gon/Ha Noi), the pace is slow and people at least can speak a little English here.
Cheers.

Thanks for the info vdtuan!  My sister-in-law lives in Tuy Hoa which is how we ended up choosing Vietnam to retire at in the first place.  My brother won't be able to retire for a few more years but once he does he'll also be moving.  We chose Nha Trang because of the International Hospital there. The beach actually reminds me of Waikiki, Hawaii!  I think we will start with an apartment then once we're more familiar with the areas we may find a house in a good neighborhood.  Aloha!  Cheryl

kokomo5759 wrote:

Thanks for the info vdtuan!  My sister-in-law lives in Tuy Hoa which is how we ended up choosing Vietnam to retire at in the first place.  My brother won't be able to retire for a few more years but once he does he'll also be moving.  We chose Nha Trang because of the International Hospital there. The beach actually reminds me of Waikiki, Hawaii!  I think we will start with an apartment then once we're more familiar with the areas we may find a house in a good neighborhood.  Aloha!  Cheryl

Yea! I took a look at the housing section in this forum and found quite a lot of nice apartment to rent. The one with 450 usd per month is good enough but I think that is quite expensive, you can bargain it down to 350-400 usd which is a better price for what it is worth.
God, I has been living in Singapore for over 8 years and always thinking about going back to Nha Trang everyday. I miss the local food, the seafood, the relaxed lifestyle, the beach and the people there so much.

If you were to go back to Nha Trang, where would you live?
We are a family of 4 (2yo & 4yo) from Australia, planning to stay in Nha Trang for 4.5 mths next year, and keen to narrow down to neighbourhoods/streets where we can live, that is near a good kindergarten, beach, with relaxed environment (ie not busy touristy area). Would appreciate your insights! TIA!

Oz2VN wrote:

If you were to go back to Nha Trang, where would you live?
We are a family of 4 (2yo & 4yo) from Australia, planning to stay in Nha Trang for 4.5 mths next year, and keen to narrow down to neighbourhoods/streets where we can live, that is near a good kindergarten, beach, with relaxed environment (ie not busy touristy area). Would appreciate your insights! TIA!

Hi everyone, Tia, have you found a good place to stay with your family, near the beach with relaxed environment ...?
Your feedcack will be very appreciated, Tks, J.

kokomo5759 wrote:

Thanks for the info vdtuan!  My sister-in-law lives in Tuy Hoa which is how we ended up choosing Vietnam to retire at in the first place.  My brother won't be able to retire for a few more years but once he does he'll also be moving.  We chose Nha Trang because of the International Hospital there. The beach actually reminds me of Waikiki, Hawaii!  I think we will start with an apartment then once we're more familiar with the areas we may find a house in a good neighborhood.  Aloha!  Cheryl

Hi everyone, Kokomo5759 (my favorite song from the beach boys!), have you found a good place in NT to live? We aslo plan to move there in 3 months, your feedback will be very appreciated, Tks, J.