Anyone have experience with Social Apartment (the company)

22 comments

1. Can’t really add much to what is on the website. Good way to meet people, but the trade off is less privacy (shared bathrooms etc). They are typically more expensive and smaller than a regular apartment, but some have some nice facilities. Some places have private bathrooms and kitchens, but don’t have as many shared facilities etc. Facilities are generally well kept and cleaned regularly.

   The actual company has English speaking staff who you can contact by email if there are issues etc. It is also generally pretty easy to move into one (cheaper initial costs and flexible if you’re not permanently employed).

2. I lived in an SA in Chiba prefecture (so way cheaper than Tokyo) for a few years when I first got here, and ended up meeting my wife there! So I’m pretty biased, but it was a great thing for me lol. Aside from that, utilities were included in the rent, cleaning staff kept the bathrooms and common areas clean, and the shared kitchen was fully stocked with cooking supplies.

   The only thing that wasn’t as I expected was the lack of other foreigners; looking at the website it seemed like there would be a lot of us, and since I couldn’t speak Japanese when I got here I thought it would be easier to make friends in SA, but I was one of 4 foreigners with around 80 Japanese people… but it ended up being the perfect environment to learn the language too, so no complaints!

3. Isn’t it closer to ¥80,000-90,000/ month according to the page you linked?

4. No experience with the particular share house, but in general the rule is, that it’s better to pay a little more. The cheap share houses tend to be really shit and will therefore retain mostly dubious people. So you want to live in a place where the management company actually cares about the place.

   Had a very good experience (3 years) with Couverture (For.C).

5. A sharehouse for 110,000 a month?

   Yuck!

6. I’ve stayed at the Harajuku one for about a year. Well organized and the house was very clean. Organization is good and trustworthy

7. Couldn’t you get a room in the dorm for less?

8. I had several friends who lived Social Apartments (Nakameguro and Kiba Koen). They met loads of friends and they have a great community. Super clean and location was great, plus a rooftop and big shared spaces to party/host people (at least pre-Covid). It’s much nicer than a normal share house but you definitely pay for it. Rooms are small though. I don’t remember there being loads of college students but this may differ location to location. Plus, we were out of school by the time my friends lived there. I’d say average age was 22-29. I think you can tour or visit before committing. Id recommend that.

9. My friend lives in one in Shinjuku. Its expensive, and the shared facilities are very dorm-esk. You’re basically paying a huge premium for their “meeting” services which can help you make friends. My friend said most the people are weird, and its pretty cliquey…I would say youre better off just getting a normal apartment for the same price

10. Lol that’s how much I pay for a 2LDK apartment in Yokohama 😂

11. [deleted]

12. Lived in one for a year. Place had its own tiny little bathroom and shower so you didnt really have to leave the apartment. Difficult to make friends, mostly Japanese and didnt have many interactions.

    Lived in a small sharehouse with 4 to 8 people and had a much better time doing that. Also a lot cheaper. I would rather live in a sharehouse rather than SA. A bit too expensive for what you get.

13. If the price is not an issue, seems like a good deal. If you’re looking for a social experience, there’s plenty of share houses at a fraction of that price.

14. I’m currently living in one of the SA’s properties. I quite like it actually. I think the management is good, plus they have English support.

15. I stayed it that exact sharehouse for about a year a few years back. Pretty good location, is pretty clean and has a cafe in the first floor you can use with credit as part of your rent. But the rooms are ridiculously tiny and so many people are packed in each floor. Shared bathrooms, shower, laundry and kitchen gets really annoying too. Also next to a fire station. It is a good option for a short time but would not recommend for longer than a year. I certainly couldn’t take it anymore. As for Social Apartment, they are pretty good management. I never had any problems with them, and you are able to do most things on their website.

16. I currently live at Gokokuji, so I am probably the best person to give you some information on what it is like to live at the place. For context, I am a language school student from Australia who moved to Tokyo a little over 3 months ago to study Japanese. I had already decided to move to a social apartment at least a year before arriving in Japan (thanks covid) as I didn’t want to feel isolated living in a new country. I’ll give you a quick overview of the pros and cons, specific to my experience living here.

    **Pros:**

    * Huge property with 180 rooms, which means there’s plenty of opportunities to organically meet people from all different backgrounds. I live with other students, videographers, models, real estate salespeople, video game programmers, financial consultants, marketers, teachers, etc.
    * Fairly big international community, probably the largest of any of the Tokyo social apartments. I would estimate the ratio at around 30% international, 70% Japanese. On my floor alone there are people from the USA, France, Switzerland, and Hong Kong.
    * Good facilities – large, fully-equipped kitchen, bar lounge with pool table, rooftop terrace with a great view of the city, working lounge, Amazon locker, bicycle parking.
    * Café on-site with decent food, and every month you get ¥15,000 of credit to spend included in your rent – basically 15 free meals every month.
    * Really good location – six-minute walk to the closest station, one subway stop away from Ikebukuro, can get to Shinjuku in under 30 mins, Shibuya in around 35. Also, there is a bus stop right outside which could be useful depending on where you are going.
    * Full English support is available – I was able to complete the entire application process in English from my home country. Additionally, you are provided with an app when you move in which tracks things like contract information, café credit, news and events.
    * International tenants get a monthly ¥10,000 discount on rent, which when combined with the café credit make it fairly affordable, especially when compared to other social apartments and sharehouses in comparable locations. Also, you can get a furnished room, which saves on the cost and headache of moving, especially from overseas.

    **Cons:**

    * Shared showers and toilets. This is probably my biggest gripe with the place – you will be sharing these facilities with the other residents on your floor. Cleaning staff do come every second day, but people will still be pretty gross sometimes, especially with the toilets. Plus, sometimes they are occupied when you need them so you’ll have to go to another floor. It’s worth nothing though that you do get a wash basin with a vanity in your room to brush your teeth, do your hair etc.
    * Laundry facilities – there are 2-3 washer/dryer machines on every floor but sometimes it doesn’t feel like enough, especially if it’s a weekend. Again, you will probably have to go to another floor to do you laundry sometimes. Also, if you don’t like machine drying your clothes (like me) you’ll have to hang them in your room as the room balconies are too small to fit even a tiny airer.
    * The property was originally a university dorm which was purchased by Global Agents and converted to a social apartment sometime in 2013. Whilst the fit-out is nice, it is starting to show its age in some areas, especially with the common rooms. Some furniture is stained and worn-down, pool table could do with a cloth replacement, a few of the pots and pans need replacing, etc.
    * This next point is entirely dependent on your Japanese level, but if you are a beginner (like me) it may be somewhat difficult to make Japanese friends in the house. Because it is such a large property, there are definitely existing groups and cliques within the house – e.g., if there are 8 Japanese people talking in the living room you don’t want to go up and force them to speak English. If your Japanese is excellent and you are a very outgoing person, you can disregard this point entirely. People on the whole though are generally quite friendly and the Japanese that live here are mostly interested in foreigners and would appreciate the effort to speak to them in their own language. There are also many Japanese people who have lived abroad and speak really good English that live here.
    * It’s a little noisy – there’s a fire station located very close to the place so you hear sirens pretty frequently. There’s also a bit of noise from nearby construction and the main road that the property looks out on (if your room is south-facing). This doesn’t bother me very often but I do have noise-cancelling headphones I use all the time, so ymmv.

    That’s about everything I can think of off the top of my head, but feel free to DM me if you want some more specific information. Social apartment living is definitely not for everyone, but it’s a great way to make friends and have some unique experiences. If you’re unsure of how you’ll like it, you can always do a short-term 3-month lease and then find another place after if it’s not for you.

    Cheers!

    ​

    Edit: Not sure where the ¥110,000 figure is coming from, but I pay about ¥93,000 per month for a furnished room on a 2-year lease, which is inclusive of utilities (incl. internet), cleaning/management fee, guarantor fee, etc. It’s worth nothing though that 1-year and short-term leases are more expensive, and the prices may have changed since I moved in 3 months ago so again ymmv.

17. I paid less for my 1K in Yotsuya when I was going to Sophia lol, that is such a horrible price.

18. I’m currently living in one, it’s more expensive than an apartment of the same size but it’s quite a bit more upscale than your typical share house. Then again I also have access to a huge kitchen and common room plus a dedicated working lounge so if you consider that, it’s not as small as it appears.

    All utilities also go through them so that’s kinda nice that I don’t have to deal with that.

    Mine is one of the few that includes a private toilet and shower in each apartment, so functionally it’s the same as a small Japanese apt.

    Pre-covid, there were tons of parties. The neighbors were constantly making noise complaints. Since covid it’s quieted down a bit.

    How many Japanese vs foreign people will be living there depends upon the particular time you move in. Some of the Japanese in mine speak English but everyone typically just uses Japanese.

    Feel free to ask any questions

    Edit: actually I think a friend of mine is currently living at that gokukuji SA. I can ask him any questions about it if you want.

19. People have left some great reviews here, and overall a good quality post! I only wanted to add that it’s quite expensive for a sharehouse, considering they charge cleaning fees, deposit, and utilities on top of being an expensive room. Most sharehouses won’t charge you these fees, but sharehouses are a gamble. You never know what you’re getting yourself into. Also, it’s pretty big and it may be easier to make friends and connections in a smaller place. Lastly think of what you’ll do when you bring people over…you’ll have no privacy, hehe. Just my two cents. I lived in a chill dorm-turned-into-sharehouse for a while and it was great but got old fast on the convenience/privacy aspects. Made great friends though so all good.

20. I lived in Neighbors Meguro (also by Social Apartment). It’s absolutely expensive for the space you get, but you’re paying for the atmosphere (lavish common areas) and social aspect. I made a few good foreigner friends, but the Japanese folks had their own cliques. I think your experience will be largely based on who you meet and the friends you keep, so you won’t really know until you start living there. I was moving to Tokyo alone, so the support group was helpful.

    That said, you’re going to a university, so there’s really no reason to splurge for a Social Apartment. The friends you make at university will probably be better. FWIW, the age range at my social apartment was roughly 25 to 35, with the average at around 30.

21. did you try applying to sophia arrupe international dorm in shinanomachi?

22. I mean, it’s really not that hard to make friends in real life is it? If you don’t speak Japanese, the majority of the tenants will ignore you while they enjoy their shared dinner taking Instagram food shots with cheap red wine and you’ll be on your own or with Tod the American language student who will ask you if you want to go to Hub to find English speaking Japanese girls.