I’m really sorry if it sounds lazy for me to post on here it’s just that I have no experience in the house market in Japan and would like to learn from other people who do.
Me and my wife (she is Japanese) are going to buy a house in Kasugai (Aichi Prefecture) – we have the deposit and are going to clear the rest in monthly payments.
Basically, my question is, if there was anything you wish you knew prior to buying a house in Japan, what would it be? During the process of buying, which parts came as a surprise? Should I be haggling with price?
Thanks so much in advance!
14 comments
Not part of the buying process, but when considering a location, I would try to look up the [various hazard maps for the area](http://disaportal.gsi.go.jp/). There are usually [a couple of different maps](https://www.quake-learning.pref.aichi.jp/?page_id=177).
Some people I know also take into consideration [proximity to nuclear power plants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_Japan), if applicable.
This thread is a treasure trove of good advice more focused on what to do regarding designing and building a home. There might be some overlap in what you are looking for.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/lv6te4/things_i_wish_i_knew_when_building_a_house/
If you are buying secondhand, really think about the age of the house and what will happen in 20, 30 or 40 years when it needs to be torn down and rebuilt. Also a second hand house may be significantly more expensive for heating and cooling. These two were important for us so that we will not have to teardown and rebuild when we are old and retired and we are already saving significantly on our electricity bill over our old house.
You can ask for a bit off of the price and it doesn’t hurt. When we bought our new house, we asked but the company said no, but we’ll give you 300,000 yen worth of upgrades. Got 3 Aircon units and curtain rods installed, all of which were things we were going to have to pay for ourself so it worked out.
If you don’t have it already get your hanko made and registered.
A couple interesting bits. First, because of the way taxes and mortgages work, it was better for me as a foreigner to be the only person responsible for the mortgage since my wife does not work. If she was on it, I could only claim half the tax benefits and her half would be wasted with her zero income. Also, life insurance is included to cover what is owed on the mortgage in case I die. If I do, then my wife gets the house without a mortgage payment.
My recommendation: add as much as electric outlets as possible in every room, even if you think it’s going to be useless.
Invest in a good insulation.
Do not buy plastic gutters, but opt for metal and wider ones.
Don’t buy aluminum window frames.
Don’t buy 化粧スレート for your roof. Opt for tiles, it will last much longer.
I was thinking about buying in japan also with my wife however my wife’s father has his home, his fathers home, his cousins home which he got given, and his wife’s home and combined they are worth $0.
He can’t sell them. He can’t get rid of them. He can’t live in them. He offered one to use but we got an inspection and one of them would cost around $50,000 to get renovated just for it to be livable. From what I understand people but homes in japan for their future. If you’re thinking about buying and selling and moving somewhere else in the future chances are you won’t be able to sell it for anything. So unless you want to live in the same place for the rest of your life then I don’t see the point of buying in japan.
My wife and I will move to Australia for a few years just to get into the housing market there and then move back to Japan and rent out our place and pay the difference in mortgage and come back here and rent probably. That way we get our house to hopefully go up in price and the mortgage eventually pays for itself.
Electrical outlets: Should confirm that the rooms have enough outlets. Note that the number of electrical outlets has an impact on the property tax, although the increase is small. Standard outlets in Japan are two prong and do not have a ground. This is almost impossible to add afterwards, so you might want to think about specifying them while the house is being built.
Hot water heater: The hot water heater has a capacity rating that describes how much hot water it can supply. If the capacity is too low, you might get cold water in the shower if someone uses hot water in the kitchen at the same time. Another thing to understand is that the hot water pipes need to be matched to the hot water heater capacity. Some home builders will save money by using smaller diameter hot water pipes that send less hot water regardless of how powerful the heater is.
Floor heating: Floor heating is very comfortable in the winter. It is very difficult to add afterwards. Make sure to find a heating system that is reliable. Our electrical floor heating system broke down and the mfg went out of business so we do not have any way of repairing it.
Natural gas outlets: Natural gas heaters don’t smell like kerosene heaters, heat up rooms very quickly, and tend to be less dehumidifying than AC. This is also something that is very difficult to add after the house is built.
Also look at r/JapanFinance wiki’s real estate page, I put a ton of useful link and past discussion there.
One thing to remember is that a lot of expensive house items are made to break after 10-15 years, so it’s good to keep that in mind when buying the house and haggling on price (always essential to haggle – say we’ll pay X and the deal is done, reason is we’ll have to repaint the house, etc. etc.),
So when I bought my house in Kanagawa, it was 10 years old. Which meant the following:
– It was time to repaint the house (that’s a good 150-200万 right there)
– They left the air conditioners in, but I knew they’d die in a couple of years (2 out of 3 have died and been replaced, one soldiers on)
– The water heater would start dying soon (mine died at 13 years old) and that’s another expense
So knowing the above in advance, I was able to negotiate the price down, which was quite useful.
Also we humans are terrible at absolute values and prefer to think in terms of percentages. When buying a house, it’s easy to say “oh that’s just 100万円 more!”. One trick I used was to express prices in how many brand new cars I could buy for that price. It puts things in perspective.
And as others mentioned, hazard maps are quite important.
Other than the mountain of paperwork you have to fill out, by hand, it wasn’t significantly different than the homes we’ve purchased in other countries.
I would second the recommendation on outlets, especially specifying three prong if you have a set up like a gaming rig. Basically, the more the better. Also, check into whether your builder will put a 200 v outlet outside (either with a inside switch or lockbox switch) in case you ever want an a PHEV or EV. My house builder put one in at no cost.
Other considerations include:- Solar panels–I actually make a profit of my electric bill right now. But keep in mind this will count against your property tax if you install as a new build rather than after market.
– Insulation–My house maker had rock wool as standard which is a great step up from glass wool in terms of insultation and sounds proofing
– Ethernet ports–If you want an internet set up you often can specify ethernet ports to be set up around the house with a central networking box. However make sure you check the cabling they use as most cheap out with 5 or 5e cables.
– Gas outlets (for dryer) and/or drying room– I am allergic to almost everything in Japan except for the dead of winter which makes hanging clothes outside a pain. Think if you want gas outlets for a dryer or a sun room/off set room for drying. I have an offset room with two hanging racks (removable) to use with a compressor type dehumidifier
– Type of kitchen– I recommend a “full flat” open kitchen set up unless you enjoy scrubbing oil out of the walls. Also, I am personally a fan of gas ranges over IH. Also make sure its paired with a good cooking range fan hood, preferably one of the low maintenance side-venting types
Look at the neighborhood and the evolution of the population in the city.
Is the population decreasing? Then your house will most likely be worthless if you want to try to sell it in the future.
Is the neighborhood full of young people or only retirees? If it’s only retirees, in 10-20 years you will be the only one in the area, your house will be worthless and services will also gradually degrade.
You might find something like 2-3 years old that is a nice discount off of new but doesn’t have all the problems of the older houses mentioned in other posts. The drop in price for non new is steep.
Some companies will let you roll a renovation loan in with the purchase loan. I think 21st Century offers this.
I bought a Kominka and it’s been very difficult renovating it myself, but aside from that they’re amazing homes. They last for 100s of years if taken care of. When I say kominka I mean a house built with sturdy beams and joinery like a temple, not sticks nailed together with rooftiles thrown on top.
Here’s what it looks like now, and I bought it for 900万円 only about 35 minutes from Umeda.
https://imgur.com/a/ET4bxWV/
Also check out cheaphousesjapan on Instagram to get an idea of how low you can potentially buy. My friend bought a beautiful ocean front house for 70万円!!!
Make certain that the purchase of the house includes the land it’s on. Just, you know, to be safe. I knew someone who bought a place to open a restaurant. He didn’t know that the owner of the land, for uncertain reasons probably originally involved with nearby housing, had it in the contract that there was to be no live music. Also he had something particularly against pianos. This cut my friend off from his likely most profitable revenue stream. He had to sell it on.