About a month ago I arrived in Tokyo. I am a 25 y/o male grad student from the Netherlands and will soon start my master study here (2 year and 3 months student visa). I’ve mainly stayed on the east side of Ikebukuro station and really have come to like it there. I like the liveliness and convenience of living at walking distance from the station/shopping district in Ikebukuro.
So my search for an apartment began. I started by contacting an real estate agency based on a listing that I saw on “[realestate.co.jp](https://realestate.co.jp)”. The agent that contacted me spoke excellent english, they started recommending me some places outside of Ikebukuro and they suggested some Leopalace properties. I told them since I would be staying about 2 years if possible I would prefer an unfurnished apartment at walking distance from Ikebukuro. They told me this might be a bit more challenging but they were open to help me look. After looking for a while we found a landlord who was open to foreign students and using GTN as a guarantor company, my agent was pretty confident that my application would get accepted based on the contact with the landlord. I was relieved and excited to hear that my search was potentially over and I would get an apartment I really liked. Once I applied and GTN had confirmed everything, the landlord pretty much rejected it instantly. My agent seemed quite pissed about it and I was really disappointed too.
However, we quickly continued looking, 50+ contacted apartments and two weeks later still no luck. There were some apartments that allow male foreign students, but most are in a sad state. At this point my agent is clearly steering me towards a Leopalace or places outside of Ikebukuro. I was really hoping to find something in Ikebukuro eventually, but I don’t want to force the agent in searching an apartment for me if they don’t think it is possible. Not sure if I should contact other real estate agencies at this point to continue looking, I would feel pretty bad about it after all the effort the first agent put in. Furthermore, is it even allowed to work with multiple real estate agencies at the same time?
Or would it be wise just to follow the advice of my agent and start looking outside of Ikebukuro despite my strong preference to live there. Any tips or personal experiences are appreciated!
2 comments
You can work with multiple agencies at the same time. I’d say find a different agent and keep looking. In the end , it’s gonna be you who’s living there so it’s best to find a place you wouldn’t come to regret later.
You should at least consider nearby places on the west side if you’re not doing so already. The east side is mostly ‘nicer’ and more expensive, but the west side, especially close to Kanamecho or Shinamachi Stations is still within walking distance to Ikebukuro whilst typically being more reasonably priced for the quality. Kanamecho will generally be more convenient for travelling around Tokyo.