Korean for Real Estate: Vocabulary, Honorifics, and Conversations with Korean Clients

Your phone buzzes at eleven at night. A KakaoTalk message from a Korean client: 사장님, 내일 집 볼 수 있어요? You read it and hesitate. A short reply in casual speech feels too blunt; a overly formal sentence sounds like a document. But the client is waiting, and she will immediately see how far your Korean goes.

The Korean community is one of the largest foreign communities in Vietnam, and they look for housing the way they are used to at home: asking on KakaoTalk, converting every area to 평, and comparing every contract to 월세 and 보증금 in Korea. Some clients are also 사장님 running a café, beauty salon, or restaurant and need to rent commercial space.

This article is for sales staff and agents in Vietnam working with Korean clients, and for Korean learners who want to enter the field. It includes a vocabulary table split across five stages, five grammar points, three dialogues with translations, how to practice, and questions you will get asked back.

• What Korean clients expect when renting
• Vocabulary table by five stages
• Five grammar points: honorifics, promises, and units
• Three dialogues: KakaoTalk, café, phone call
• Practice from games to dictation
• Questions you will get asked back
• A small assignment for this week

What Korean clients expect when renting

In Korea there are two common rental types. 월세 is monthly rent plus a 보증금 as a deposit. 전세 is the tenant giving the landlord one very large lump sum, paying no monthly rent, and getting it all back when the contract ends. Korean clients living in Vietnam usually only encounter the first type, but they may still ask about the second, and you should know the word 전세 to answer correctly.

With 전세, do not nod before asking the landlord. Say 「한국의 전세 방식이 이곳에서도 가능한지 집주인께 먼저 여쭤 보겠습니다」 (I will ask the landlord first whether the Korean jeonse system can apply here). For area, official listings use ㎡ but clients still convert to 평 when speaking, so calculate ahead: 80㎡ is about 24평.

One word to watch is 빌라. In Korea, 빌라 is low-rise housing, many units in one building. In Vietnam, villa usually means a high-end detached house. When a Korean client asks about 빌라, ask what kind of home they have in mind so you do not show the wrong place.

Vocabulary table by five stages

The set of 42 words used in the game at the end of the article fits in the five tables below, plus extra terms like 빌라, 평수, 전세, and 원상복구. Korean is written in Hangul so the table has no pronunciation column. Amounts in examples are illustrative, not market prices.

Property types and people involved

공인중개사 is a certified title in Korea. In Vietnam, Korean clients often call you 사장님 or 중개사님, and that is the form of address you should get used to. When talking about the landlord, 집주인 is everyday speech, and the honorific forms 집주인분 or 집주인께서 fit when speaking with clients.

Viewings, area, and amenities

When presenting an apartment, Korean clients often ask three things in a row: whether it is 남향, how the 채광 is, and which 층. For 층, some prefer low floors and some high, so do not judge for them, just give facts: 「3층이고 남향입니다」.

Rent, deposit, and fees

The three words 월세, 보증금, 관리비 are often said together as a set: deposit plus monthly rent, management fee separate. When quoting, give the full trio instead of 월세 alone. For 주택담보대출, foreign borrower conditions depend on the bank and current rules, so only say 「은행에 먼저 문의하셔야 합니다」, do not promise.

Contract and negotiation

When Korean clients say 협상, they usually mean trying to bargain, so 협상하다 lets you ask the landlord without promising anything. 특약 is where you record what is specific to this contract, like pets or fit-out. Take time to read this section with the client before signing.

Handover and after move-in

하자 is a word Korean clients use precisely: pre-existing faults in the unit, not damage they caused. So photograph and record on handover day. 원상복구 is something clients will ask about if they have rented in Korea, point them to the matching clause in this contract.

Five grammar points: honorifics, promises, and units

Korean has a clear politeness hierarchy, and the client is someone you keep on the higher level. The five points below are where Vietnamese learners most often stumble when working with Korean clients.

1. Two politeness levels and addressing clients

You use two levels: 합쇼체 (-ㅂ니다/-습니다) for formal moments like presentations or reading contracts, and 해요체 (-아요/-어요, -(으)세요) for everyday talk on the phone or KakaoTalk. Address clients with title plus 님: 사장님, 부장님, 고객님.

• 안녕하세요, 박 사장님. 오늘 안내를 맡은 응우옌입니다. (Hello, Director Park. I am Nguyen, guiding you today.)
• 이쪽으로 오세요. (Please come this way.)
• 잠시만 기다려 주세요. (Please wait a moment.)

A common mistake is using 당신 or 너 for clients because textbooks translate “you” that way. In real life 당신 sounds accusatory and 너 is intimate. Use title plus 님, or drop the pronoun because Korean omits it. Another mistake is switching to 반말 when you feel closer; with clients keep 존댓말 for the whole visit, even if they use 반말 with you.

2. -(으)시- and honorific mistakes on things

Insert -(으)시- after the verb stem to raise the person you are talking about. With clients, use it for the client’s actions: 보시겠어요?, 오셨어요?, 언제 입주하실 예정이세요?

• 집은 마음에 드세요? (Do you like the place?)
• 사장님께서 직접 보시겠어요? (Would you like to view it yourself?)
• 언제 입주하실 예정이세요? (When do you plan to move in?)

Two mistakes repeat: honoring objects and honoring yourself. Wrong: 월세가 2,000만 동이십니다, because price is not a person. Right: 월세는 2,000만 동입니다. Also wrong: 제가 확인하시겠습니다, because you do not honor your own action. Right: 제가 확인하겠습니다 or 확인해 보겠습니다.

3. 드리다, 말씀드리다, and -(으)ㄹ게요

When you do something for the client, use humble verbs: 드리다 instead of 주다, 말씀드리다 instead of 말하다, 여쭙다 instead of 묻다 (asking someone above you). Endings -(으)ㄹ게요 and -겠습니다 mark promises.

• 확인하고 바로 연락드리겠습니다. (I will confirm and contact you right away.)
• 계약 조건을 말씀드리겠습니다. (I will explain the contract terms.)
• 평면도는 이메일로 보내 드릴게요. (I will email you the floor plan.)

A common mistake is 줄게요 or 말할게요 with clients, it sounds like talking to a friend: 전화 줄게요 is wrong here; it must be 전화드릴게요. Another mistake is promising too early: 연락드릴게요 is a promise, so only use it when you are sure you will call; if not sure, say 확인해 보겠습니다.

4. -(으)면 and -(으)려면 in contract conditions

-(으)면 is “if,” for general conditions. -(으)려면 is “if you want to…,” for what you must do to reach a goal.

• 하자를 발견하시면 바로 말씀해 주세요. (If you find a defect, please tell us right away.)
• 계약을 갱신하시려면 한 달 전에 알려 주셔야 합니다. (If you want to renew the contract, you must notify us one month ahead.)
• 입주하시려면 보증금을 먼저 입금하셔야 합니다. (If you want to move in, you must transfer the deposit first.)

Learners often mix these two patterns. 계약하시면 서류가 필요합니다 means paperwork is needed after signing; 계약하시려면 서류가 필요합니다 means paperwork is needed in order to sign. When talking about prerequisites, remember -(으)려면, usually followed by -아/어야 합니다.

5. Counting, units, and 평

Korean has two number systems. Floors, years, area, and money use Sino-Korean (일, 이, 삼, 사). Counting objects with 개 uses native Korean (하나, 둘, 셋). Months have two ways: 1개월, 2개월 Sino-Korean, or 한 달, 두 달 native Korean.

• 침실이 두 개 있고 화장실이 하나 있습니다. (There are two bedrooms and one bathroom.)
• 3층이고 전용면적은 80㎡입니다. (Third floor; exclusive use area 80㎡.)
• 한국식 평수로는 24평 정도입니다. (In Korean-style pyeong, about 24 pyeong.)

Vietnamese speakers often say 세 층 or 두 층 because they pair numbers with nouns like Vietnamese, but Korean needs 삼 층, 이 층. Reading 평 also usually uses Sino-Korean numbers, e.g. 이십사 평. Remember the quick conversion: 1평 is about 3.3㎡, so 80㎡ divided by 3.3 is about 24평. Korean clients are pleased when you convert without being asked.

Three dialogues: KakaoTalk, café, phone call

The three dialogues below use the patterns from the grammar section. The first is messaging so it uses 해요체; the next two are in person and use more 합쇼체. Read aloud, cover the right column, then translate back yourself. Amounts are illustrative.

Evening KakaoTalk messages

Showing a director commercial space for a café

The sales rep’s last line is the one to learn. When a client asks about permits and you do not know, do not guess, say 확인한 뒤에 정확하게 말씀드리겠습니다. Korean clients ask a lot about regulations, and a wrong answer on permits is worse than a slow one.

Phone call on area, management fee, and termination

Practice from games to dictation

Start by playing the real-estate word set in Falling Stars or Pop It. Korean in this deck is all Hangul so you can play and read aloud immediately. Play until you see a word and say the meaning.

Next step is listening. Pick an episode from the Korean podcast, dictate sentence by sentence, then compare to the original. Sentence-by-sentence dictation shows where you mishear, especially batchim (final consonants) and endings like -ㅂ니다, -(으)세요. For a path, see courses, and use the vocabulary test to see where you stand.

Outside WELE: Sejong Korean textbooks and classes at Sejong Hakdang (King Sejong Institute) give a strong base; Naver Dictionary is a fast lookup for field terms. To learn industry words you can read listings on Korean real-estate apps, where 전용면적, 관리비, 풀옵션 appear in every post. Remember content and prices there are the Korean market, not Vietnam. When you want to test yourself, TOPIK mock tests on WELE show where you stand.

If your work also touches contracts or running a company, see Korean for legal and contracts and Korean for business owners. Other professions are at Korean by profession, and this field’s page is Korean for real estate.

Questions you will get asked back

What TOPIK level do you need to broker for Korean clients?

There is no universal bar; each company states its own requirement in job posts and requirements can change. Speaking with clients face to face, listening and speaking matter more than certificates. Read the job description where you apply carefully and ask the recruiter directly.

Can you speak casually with Korean clients you know well?

Keep 존댓말 with clients for the whole working relationship, even after many conversations. Clients may switch to casual speech with you, but you should not follow. If you want something lighter, use 해요체, do not switch to 반말.

Can foreigners buy property in Vietnam?

Rules on foreign ownership of real estate change over time and by property type, so check current regulations before answering clients. You can say 「최신 규정을 확인한 뒤에 정확하게 말씀드리겠습니다」 and have legal or in-house counsel confirm. Do not answer from memory or rumor.

Does 전세 apply in Vietnam?

It is a characteristically Korean rental type, and you should not assume it exists here. If a client asks, answer by asking the landlord whether they accept a large lump sum instead of monthly rent, then put the terms in writing for both sides.

How do you quickly convert square meters to pyeong?

Divide square meters by 3.3 for an approximate pyeong figure. For example 60㎡ is about 18평, 80㎡ about 24평, 100㎡ about 30평. When speaking to clients, say 「약 24평」 so they know it is approximate.

A small assignment for this week

Write on paper the three sentences you say to clients most often, then fix each on three checks: is 님 in the right place, is -(으)시- on the client’s actions, is 드리다 on what you do for them. Then play one round of Pop It to lock in the core vocabulary.