I’m tired of rentals and my wife and I have decided to take the plunge and buy a depreciating asset to have some space. Hurrah!
She won’t let me buy my idyllic countryside kominka (complete with vegetable patch) quite yet.. so somewhere convenient will have to do. We are looking along the Kanagawa section of the Toyoko line and I’d appreciate some input from people who have faced this before.
There seems to be 2 paths. Newish 3LDK mansions (proud, city mansion and the like) or a new identikit house. Back home it would be a no brainer to go for the house considering the similar price range (50-70 million yen) but these houses are all on tiny lots with no garden and usually a hefty walk to the station.. hardly living the dream.
Which would be easier to sell in the future? I’m hoping it would only be for 5-10 years before I’m allowed to leave the city. Priority for me is noise and a pet friendly space. A house seems quieter but I’d basically be living shoulder to shoulder with the neighbours in a wooden box. Perhaps a double floored / glazed mansion would be better..
What would you go for and why? Did anyone buy a fancy apartment in the 90s and now regret it?
12 comments
Which city?
If the timeframe until you’re free to leave the city is closer to the 5-year mark, then I wouldn’t bother at all with buying and then selling at a loss plus all the fees and taxes. I’d stay where you are and save up for a better dream villa, which ticks all your boxes.
Toyoko line sounds absolutely terrible if you ever commute. There’s much more up north and north east. Even Katsushika-ki has standalone houses that are close to the station and also decently wide.
However, your timeline needs review. If you sell in 5-10, probably losing money. If you buy an apartment unit it’s much easier to rent out than a detached house imo. A new house will halve in value the moment you sleep in it so if youre not looking at a forever home i’d say either buy or rent an apartment unit.
Why don’t you buy an older house so that you don’t end up with a lot of debt/have to sell at a loss. Saw on the news that there’s a lot of people lately who bought new houses 10-20-30 years ago who cannot pay for them anymore, forcing them to sell. Huge loan left behind. A true nightmare.
How about out Chiba way? Might get a bit of yard too in the right place.
I would go custom instead of buying a packaged house (it’s about 20% price difference and you can make it exactly how you want). With the right housemaker you can get an energy efficient house with triple glazed windows too, shutting out a lot of noise and helping control the temperature in summer and winter.
Mansion to me feels no difference than renting a shoebox with building rules etc you can’t control.
Treating a home like an asset in Japan is the wrong mindset to start. The depreciating value doesn’t matter because that’s where you’re going to die.
Besso. Found a 10 million yen log house just outside Nikko online. A fraction of anything near Tokyo, much nicer environment, space for a garden, cooler in summer.
For a living, I help foreigners sell or rent out their houses and apartments when they return to their country of origin or move onto something better in Japan. Your comparison is a bit unbalanced because your characterization of detached houses is not quite right.
There are actually many spacious houses for sale with gardens in the greater Tokyo area (I am selling an excellent one in the north part of Kawasaki right now). Yes, they tend to be far from the station if you are looking for more land, but there are many busses passing through these areas. And if you choose something unique, with a distinctive garden or view, it is much easier to resell than a windowless box on a tiny piece of land.
No 3LDK on the Toyoko line in Kanagawa is worth 50-70 million yen.
If it’s in any of the 23 wards it’s easier to flip a condo/mansion.
Period.
Outside of the 23 wards no idea. But maybe a house becomes easier to flip.
Anyone telling you otherwise is just giving personal opinions.
Well if you’re going to buy something and you’re thinking about selling it in 5 to 10 years, you’d have a better chance of getting more money back if you bought a newish 3LDK very close to the station. I have no idea about the Toyoko line but you can get something on the Marunouchi line west of Shinjuku which is really booming these days. Commute to Shibuya by switching from the Marunouchi to the Fukutoshin line
Definitely go with the kominka. Best decision I’ve made in my adult life probably.
Worst financial decision, but best happiness decision if that makes sense.
If you ever want to know where the money pits are DM me and I’ll help you out.
I have a big house with a yard and a Kura, only about 35 minute to Umeda by motorcycle.
I live on a hiking trail and have a fishing lake like 10 minutes walk away.
Close to the city and this is where I get to walk my dog every day:
https://imgur.com/a/ML9qLj0/
There are options available but you need to talk to multiple realestate agents and have ears on the ground.