Q1. Do you need to pay for agent fee?
A1. In Cambodia, at least for now, you do not need to pay agent fee. It is generally paid by landlord once the property is rented.
Q2. Where do expats live in Phnom Penh?
A2. Below are the most popular expatriate area in Phnom Penh:
- BKK1 (Beong Keng Kang District)
- BKK2 and BKK3 ( Beong Keng Kang District)
- TONLE BASSAC ( Chamkamorn District)
- DAUN PENH (Daun Penh District)
- RUSSIAN MARKET (Local name : Tuol Tumpuong , in Chamkamorn District )
- PRAPI MAKARA (7 Makara District, especially surrounding Olympia city area)
- TUOL KORK
- CHROY CHANGVAR
- SEN SOK CITY
- HUN SEN BLVD. (STREET 60M)
- WAT PHNOM
Q3. Which is the most affordable and accessible area/ location in Phnom Penh?
A3. If you are looking for a place that is accessible to everything from restaurants, supermarkets, markets to clothes stores within 5 minutes walking distance and with affordable rental fee, Russian Market area would be the first option recommended by rental property agents. Apartments/ townhouses ranges from 300$ to 800$ per month for a single bedroom unit.
Q4. Which area are most expensive apartments located in Phnom Penh? How much is the lowest and highest price?
A4. BKK1 is known as the center business district in the capital and where most business transaction take place, so that most of luxurious apartments center around here. The accommodation price ranges from 500$ to 1500$ per month for a single bedroom.
Q5. Why is rent in BKK1 area so high-priced?
A5. Below are the reasons:
- It is where the most professional expats populated in Phnom Penh
- It is the liveliest commercial district where most business transactions take place.
- Safest area in Phnom Penh
- Its convenience and accessibility that you can find everything from qualified international schools, international/ local best known cuisine restaurants, mini marts, supermarkets, local market, coffee shops, non-profit NGO offices, diplomatic administrative offices and embassies in line within a walkable distance.
- Its quality, modernity and luxury
Q6. What is the lowest price and highest price of apartment for rent in Phnom Penh?
A6. The price for a fully furnished apartment in Phnom Penh rages from 250$ to 15,000$ per month, based on its location, dimension, condition, furniture and services provided.
Q7. What is the ranking price of house or villa in gated community in central Phnom Penh?
A7. Regularly, link house cost from 1000$/month and between 2000$-7000$ per month for a single villa depends on dimension, condition and furniture.
Q8. Which area are most renovated houses located in Phnom Penh?
A8. If you are looking for a renovated house, Daun Penh section should be the first area on your list to consider. But how is the environment around the house?
Since most of the renovated houses are situated on 2nd or 3rd floor of old buildings/ shop-front houses which sometimes were built since French colonization era, that they often have a small alley access, shared entrance, narrow staircase which most of the time not as clean as serviced apartments or condominiums and surrounded by local neighbors. What you should come to your awareness if you are seeking a renovated house is that it doesn’t have elevator, back-up generator, fire-alarm system, parking lot, services but only maintenance provided. Those living in renovated houses tend to have more privacy, less expatriate interactions and quiet neighborhood. Its another advantage is that it has lower electricity and water usage rate, compared to apartments and condominiums.
Q9. Please detail what is the different town-house, serviced apartment and condominium?
A9. Let we explain one by one:
Town-house:
- Individual ownership for whole house or by floor in the building (hhighest up to 4 or 5 floors)
- Lower rental price (most of them)
- Semi-furnished/basic furniture (depend on landlord)
- No security guards
- No any facilities
- No serviced provided
- Need to find cleaner/house mate or other things by yourself
- No maintenance or poor maintenances
- Only motorbike or bicycle parking lots
+ Condominium:
- Individual ownership per unit in complex of building
- Basic furniture provided by landlord (most of them)
- If has any problem occurred you need to handle directly to owner (Ex. AC or
- Washing machine not work or water leaking etc.)
- Rental price is similar to Serviced Apartments (depend on landlord and level of floor)
- Not provided services (if provide only management fee & home speed internet) , more additional extra charges
- Security guard’s standby
- Car or motor parking (extra charges)
- Elevator and backup generator running only lift.
+ Serviced Apartments:
- Whole building is only one owner/landlord (managed by one landlord or one management company)
- Basic furniture (some properties also provided kitchenware)
- Provided services similar to hotel (Ex. room cleaning services,using of facilities(swimming pool/fitness center/sauna/steam if have), internet and maintenance services)
- Rental price more expensive than town-house or condominium
- Security guard’s standby
- Front desk/receptionist standby
- Provided car/motor parking lots (some properties tenant need to pay extra charge)
- Elevators and backup generator running for whole building (need to double check)
Q10. How much does it cost for a monthly car parking space in Phnom Penh?
A10. A standard car parking space in Phnom Penh usually cost between 30$ to 100$ per month depends on the location and area.
Q11. What is the local rate for electricity? What is the regular electricity rate from apartments/ condominiums?
A11. Electricity in Cambodia is high, compared to neighboring countries: Thailand, Vietnam and Laos due to short of domestic electricity supply. The original electricity rate from Electricite du Cambodge (EDC) costs 0.18$/kWh. However, electricity fee from apartments/ condominiums systematically cost between 0.25$ to 0.35$/kWh as a make up for management fee/ public area/ facility usage and back-up generator petroleum refill.
Q12. What is the water usage rate in Phnom Penh?
A12. In general, water usage rate in Phnom Penh costs between 0.25$/ m³ to 0.75$/ m³ or 5$ per month (fixed) per person.
Q13. Do apartments in Phnom Penh accept credit card?
A13. In term of payment methods, most of the apartments in Phnom Penh prefer mobile bank transfer or cash over credit cards. There are not over 10 apartments that accept credit card.
Q14. What are the terms and conditions of property lease in Phnom Penh/ Cambodia? How short is a short-term lease?
A14. In Phnom Penh, just like anywhere else, systematically have long term lease policy starts from at least 6 months, so it is tough if you will only be here temporarily or looking for a next home but does not plan to stay long. Plus, shorter the lease is, higher the rental fee is.
+ Terms and conditions of apartments/ condominiums/ villas lease in Phnom Penh:
- Generally 1 years lease
- 1 – 2 months security deposit or 1- 3 months for villas/ gated community houses
- 1 month advanced rental fee
- In case of early contract termination, security deposit will not be refunded.
- Pet condition (If tenant has a pet)
- A single bedroom unit, maximum 2 persons allowed/
- 2 bedrooms unit, maximum 4 persons allowed.
- Shortest term lease is 3 months minimum. (Only around 30% of the apartments accept it and the price is often higher and non-negotiable)
Q15. What are the documents required to process the lease agreement?
Just like anywhere else, documents required by apartments/ condominiums management/ landlord to process agreement lease are:
- Original copy of valid passport and visa
- Work permits
- Working address
- Professional occupation
- Email address or oversea address
- Oversea phone number and local phone number.
- Emergency contact number
- Company patent (if sign agreement under company name)
- VAT certificate (if sign agreement under company name)
Q16. Are apartments/ condominiums in Phnom Penh pet friendly?
A16. Pets are not quite common amongst Cambodian, they’re considered to be unclean and tend to cause damages to the furniture/ unit. That, not more than 20% of the apartments/ condominiums in Phnom Penh are pet friendly.
If you are a future tenant, you should be aware that apartments/ condominiums that accept pets are rare and likely to be more high-priced. In case, you have more than 1 pet (especially dog), link houses/ gated community villas are recommended since it offer more open space like garden, public area and most of the landlords do not mind it, however you are still held accountable for any damages caused.
Q17. Do apartments in Phnom Penh have fire/ building insurance?
To be short, there is no fire/ building insurance for apartments/ condominiums in Phnom Penh.
Q18. Are every properties on our website available? And if not, why is it not updated?
A18. It is quite common that some properties on the website, not just ours, are not available if you have experience using real estate service before. Since there are over 3,500 properties listed, it is impossible to check with every landlord/ apartments owners and update our website daily. On the other hand, there could be many same/ similar lay-out apartments in one building, once one is rented, another one could be still available or would be available in an upcoming week/ month by matured contract/ any unexpected contract termination. THAT is why you are required to check to availability with our property sale team first.
Updated: 22nd July, 2022