Here are some tips to help you get used to Cambodia without burning out in the first month.

Time your arrival

We always advise people not to arrive in Cambodia when it's super hot in April and May. You will have a far more pleasant introduction to the Kingdom of Wonder if you aren't melting into a puddle every time you step outside.

Give yourself space

When you first arrive, try not to be in too much of a rush to get loads of things done. Take it easy and spend time really enjoying the novelty of being here. Apartments won't disappear, and extending your visa can wait a couple of weeks. Don't worry about having your place 100% set up within 48 hours of moving in. Take your time in sourcing what you need.

Be patient

It's true, in Cambodia you can find an apartment and move in either the same day or the next day. While you will find some things to be mind-bogglingly efficient, you will encounter other things that are slower, more laborious, and much more bureaucratic than pretty much anywhere in the west. The driver's license conversion process springs to mind as an example.

We love ABA bank for many reasons including the amazing app, the ability to instantly pay anyone, and the 2FA in-app verification process, to name a few. Another fantastic feature that ABA has is if you lose your card, you can cancel it and order a new card in the app. Then you go to one of their card prinitng ATMs and get your new card straight away - no problem, no waiting!

You can find the requirements to open an account on the ABA website. These are generally the same for all banks because they're set by the government not the individual institution. 

Note 1: you'll need to satisfy the proof of residence requirement and it's important to note that you only need to meet one of the criteria, not all.

Note 2: banks in Cambodia take signatures very seriously. If you provide one that doesn't match your passport, for example, you will be asked to do it over and over until it is deemed a close enough match. Oh, and don't even think about using a black pen! Blue is the ink colour of choice.

Note 3: if you are working in Cambodia, you'll be required to set up a bank account at the bank your employer uses. If this is not ABA, you can still set up an ABA account independently.

The first thing you need to get used to when looking at property when you come from the west is that there is no property scarcity in Cambodia. In Australia, there are over 100 prospective tenants for every available property, whereas here in Cambodia, there are over 100 potential properties for every prospective tenant. This difference matters because it determines how you proceed with your search and how you negotiate with the owner. 

The second thing you need to be aware of when searching for property in Cambodia is that agents do not have exclusivity. This means that there can be ten agents taking prospective tenants to view the same property. This is why it can take time for an agent to find out whether a property is still available - the agent you contact has to contact the owners to see if they have rented the property or not, and they may be in negotiations with someone else. This is also why, when an agent finds out a property is not available, they'll send you details for a different property instead. Some expats refer to this as a bait and switch scam. It is not. It is simply what happens when there are lots of agents attempting to rent the same properties. 

Here are some places where you can look for properties.

IPS Cambodia

This is a real estate agency with listings in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. IPS Cambodia has been established a long time and is highly respected by many expats. IPS is one of the few agencies to have a proper website and it's a great place to begin your search and get an idea of prices.

Facebook groups

Far and away the most common way people find properties in Cambodia is through Facebook groups. Now none of us is happy about having to use Facebook, but it's pretty much a necessity in Cambodia. There are property groups for all of the cities in Cambodia, and a bit of searching will help you find the ones relevant to your preferred location. Agents will post across all groups, so there's little need to join more than one. Once you've been following these groups for a while, you will begin to see the same properties being advertised by several different agents, as I mentioned above.

Siem Reap

• Cheap Rent Siem Reap

• Siem Reap Real Estate

• Apartments & Houses in Siem Reap for Rent or for Sale

Phnom Penh

• Apartment For Rent In Phnom Penh

• Phnom Penh Housing Finder

• Rental Houses & Properties in Phnom Penh

Kampot & Kep

• Property for sale and rent in Kampot & Kep, Cambodia

• Properties for rent Kep, Kampot. Cambodia.

• Kampot Noticeboard Sale and Rent

Khmer 24

If you are absolutely against using Facebook, you can try Khmer 24, but it doesn't have the same number of listings. Khmer 24 is available as both a website and an app.

We use Remitly to transfer funds from our Australian bank account into our ABA account. The process takes about 90 seconds from start to the funds arriving in our ABA account, and the rate is very close to xe.com. The fee is AU $7.99 for transfers of up to AU $3,000. 

The funds come into our ABA account in USD, and as Australians working with AUD, the exchange rate is more important than the fees. So many people get caught up in the fees, but it's the exchange rate that will kill you if it's bad.

We have a video showing the process to use Remitly step by step. 

Sign up for Remitly using our referral link to get $10 off, no fees, and a special exchange rate on your first money transfer of $100 or more.

Note: we are Australian and our home currency is AUD. If you are from the US, you don't need to worry about conversion rates because you are already in USD, and if you can access one of those cards/accounts where international ATM fees are reimbursed, you won't need to worry about any of this.

Electricity

Electricity is expensive in Cambodia and many people are shocked when they receive their first few bills, particularly if they arrive in the hotter months. It's important to understand how electricity is billed in Cambodia because this can impact your decision about whether to go for a house or an apartment.

If you are interested, we made a video about how to keep cool without racking up an enormous electricity bill in the hot season. The video contains practical tips that you can use to keep your bill in the moderate and sensible range.

Apartment

If you live in an apartment, you will pay a set price per kWh that is determined by the owner/landlord. This is usually 1000 Riel or US $0.25 but can be as high as US $0.30.* The owner will receive the bill direct from Electricité du Cambodge (EDC) and will then look at your meter, see how many kWh you have used, and multiply that by the agreed amount. The difference between what they are charged and what you pay can be thought of as an admin fee, covering lighting in common areas and pool filters, etc.

Be aware that you will be charged the predetermined rate even if there is an individual meter for your apartment. The individual meters are only there to work out how much of the entire bill belongs to each apartment.

The way electricity is charged in apartments is not a scam, since you know the terms and choose to agree to them when you sign a lease. If you don't agree, you are free to not sign the lease. When we hear people describing this as a scam, it seems very unfair to us.

*In your apartment search, if you come across anything above US $0.25 per kWh, question it and be prepared to move on. 

House

If you live in a house on its own block of land (not a "compound villa" where there are several villas on one parcel of land) you should receive the electricity bill direct from EDC. Once you know the account number, you can pay via ABA without waiting for the bill to arrive.  The billing from EDC is on a sliding scale where the more you use, the higher the amount per kWh. This is good because very low income houses with few appliances pay very little. When we are away travelling with just the fridge left on, our rate will drop to the first or second tier. If you're paying apartment rates, you don't receive this benefit as all kWhs are treated equally.

House electricity rates direct from EDC

• 1–10 kWh per month: 380 KHR/kWh - US $0.09

• 11–50 kWh per month: 480 KHR/kWh - US $0.12

• 51–200 kWh per month: 610 KHR/kWh - US $0.15

• 201+ kWh per month: 730 KHR/kWh - US $0.18

Water

Apartments

The way water is charged in apartments varies. Sometimes it is a flat fee, say US $10 a month, and sometimes it is charged per person, say US $5. Owners can charge what they like, it's up to you as the prospective tenant to decide whether you are happy with the amount. It is rare to find an apartment where the water is billed by usage.

Houses

As with electricity, if you live in a house on its own block, you should receive the water bill direct from the provider (Siem Reap Water Supply Authority, Kampot Water Utility, Phnom Penh Water Supply). The pricing from Siem Reap Water Supply Authority is as follows. It's tiered in the same way as electricity. Once you know your account number, you can pay direct via ABA.

• Tier 1 : 900 KHR /cubic metre - US $0.22

• Tier 2: 1,000 KHR /cubic metre - US $0.25

• Tier 3: 1,500 KHR /cubic metre - US $0.37

• Tier 4: 1,800 KHR /cubic metre - US $0.44

• Meter maintenance: 750 KHR - US $0.18

Our water bill for our house is always below US $5 per month.

Rubbish collection

Rubbish collection should be included in the rent of an apartment. Sometimes owners will list it as an additional expense that's not included in the rent. Negotiate to have it included as having to pay for it on top is not standard.

We pay US $4 per month for a dedicated rubbish collection for our house. It's easiest if you ask the landlord/owner to set this up for you. We pay it via ABA, same as the other utilities.

Deposits

Owners of some apartments will let you stay without paying a deposit. This is more likely if you are staying in a hotel room on a monthly rate, or in a low cost apartment. The more expensive the property, the less likely the owner would be to allow you to rent it without paying a deposit. We have always paid deposits, and a couple of times we moved prior to the end of our lease and forfeited the deposit. 

We have never had a landlord try to keep our deposit at the end of a tenancy - this does happen sometimes, but has not happened to us. If you used an agent to find the property, they should be able to help at the end of the tenancy if there is an issue with the deposit.

The standard deposit is one month's rent, so when you move in, you pay the first month's rent and the equivalent of another month's rent as the deposit, so two months total. If you view a property and the owner is asking for a deposit of more than one month's rent, that is a red flag. I would suggest that it points to a landlord who is more likely to be fussy and annoying. The more expensive the property, the more likely you are to come across requests for bigger deposits.

Ultimately, as with most things, it's up to you how much deposit you're comfortable paying. There are many, many properties available in every price range and if you are unhappy with the terms an owner is offering, you can easily opt for a different property. You know that one month is standard, and if you choose to pay more because you have been seduced by a fancy apartment, tread carefully. Our rule of thumb is to never pay more for a deposit than we'd be ok walking away from.

Leases

Some property owners will allow you to rent a room or apartment without a lease. This might sound great at the time - less paperwork and seems more friendly and informal - but there are reasons that having a lease is important. For example, we have one-year Cambodian driving licences and part of the annual renewal process involves taking our current lease to the immigration police to generate a letter that we then take to the sangkat. Without a lease, the licence renewal is impossible.

Leases protect both parties and it's good to have a document you can refer to if things go wrong. Like insurance, it can seem unnecessary until you need it.

All foreigners who rent property in Cambodia must be registered via the Foreigners Present in Cambodia System (FPCS) app. It is the responsibility of the owner of the apartment or house you are renting to register you in the system. It is a requirement to provide a screenshot of your registration in the app when you submit your passport for visa extension. 

Be sure to ask to be registered in the app when you move into a new property. The owner should put the date your lease ends as the 'leaving date.' If you don't have a lease, you will have to negotiate this date with the owner. Check your visa extension end date and make sure you'll be registered with a few months buffer around the time you will need to submit your visa extension.

Owners of some apartment blocks, particularly the ones at the very inexpensive end of the spectrum, choose not to accept foreign tenants. One reason for this can be because they don't want to be bothered with the foreigner registration process. It's not personal, so just move on and find a different apartment where the owner is happy to register you.