How many months in advance did you plan when you moved?

15 comments

1. I had a month to look for an apartment and did it within that time frame. Spontaneous indeed, because good properties will not stay on the market for too long and the landlord likely want you to move in within a month as well. I would think starting to look around 1.5 months (at most 2?) earlier should be ok but you have to sign the lease on earlier and have some overlap time between the two places (extra money) if you are worried of not finding one in a month only.

2. When I moved I was only given one month.
   Some landlords if you are lucky will hold it for 2 month, but anything longer than a month you would probably have to sign the contract and start paying the rent.

   Which would suck, having to pay 2 rents a month, but they want someone in the room paying now, not in 4 month.

   Wish you luck in your move!

3. From my experience, it has always been one month or so. Landlords just don’t want to waste time, especially when several people are interested in the property.
   I also come from a country where you have to reserve two to four months ahead but I do think that the Japanese system is more straightforward ; you find a place, you apply, you sign, you move. Easy.

4. I booked a monthly rental for 1 month online, before arriving to Japan. arrived on the 1st of August, did viewings that week (maybe Tuesday or Wed), put in my application the next day, and got confirmation that my application was first in line, within hours. got confirmation my application passed the next week and ended up having a start date of I think 8/30. the management company actually wanted me to start the lease sooner, there were just some unavoidable (by both sides) paperwork delays that pushed it out until then. I did see some properties that had a start date of September or later but most of them wanted “immediate” or “as soon as possible” move in.

   one thing to keep in mind is, here in Japan I don’t think you can usually show apartments before the person has fully moved out. every long-term rental I viewed was completely empty. I think that’s why it’s rare for apartments to be available months in advance of the move in date – in other countries I’ve lived in, such as the US and UK, owners will show apartments as soon as they know the current tenant is leaving (even if their end date is months into the future). you can, and should however, get in touch with a real estate agent online before landing here, talk to them about what you need, and have a list of properties to view ASAP once you land, to speed up the process.

   also, applying for rental properties is very fair here. basically they just do viewings and then take applications for the property, and whoever gets all the paperwork etc. submitted first and fulfills all of the requirements gets the apartment. it’s not like some other cities where you have people showing up to the viewing with an envelope of cash with the security deposit trying to cut the line, or owners will arbitrarily pick whichever tenant they “like” the most even if someone else submitted their application first. one month is really more than enough time to sort out your long term housing situation.

5. Things move comparatively quickly here. I’ve moved a few times and each time it was one month from viewing to moving in.

6. One month before I wanted to move is when I was accepted for searching with agencies. Once the place was secured and signed for, 2 weeks to move in.

7. Searching around 6 weeks in advance is the sweet spot. You can probably try up to 8 weeks in advance. No matter what there is going to be some overlap between the two. Also check your contract as some apartments require two months in advance notice of moving out, which means you have to tell your current place you’re moving before you can find something. That can be a bit nerve wracking.

8. I’ve moved many times, and it’s always been 1-2 months from telling the realtor I want it to moving in.

9. Usually only like 1-1.5, maybe 2 months before I plan to move. That’s generally how it’s done here. It makes me kinda anxious since it seems like something that should be planned months in advance but that’s how it is. Generally they won’t wait for you or hold places for you for many months, they want somebody in as soon as possible so they’ll go with somebody who can move in asap. If it’s somewhere very undesirable which has already been on the market for a very long time maybe you might be able to negotiate a later move-in, but many places get snapped up pretty quickly. Kinda sucks if you see a nice place but it’s still a few months before you plan on moving, you just have to hope it’s still available

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11. One

12. You can “reserve” as far in advance as you want, as long as you don’t mind paying rent for an apartment you are not using. If you expect the owner to hold an apartment for you without being paid rent, that is unlikely to happen in most cases.

13. Yes, I’m moving by the end of this month and they gave me 3 weeks to 1 months. Because if you wait longer, you will be paying two rents and that doesn’t make any sense. Plus both landlords want the apartment to be occupied so…

14. It’s always a last minute mad dash here.

    I ended up paying rent on old and new place for about a month, because I was just too uncomfortable to cancel the old place until I knew I had the new place. But it seems a lot of people just commit to leave Place A by some date, burn their ship behind them, and find a new place on time no matter what.

15. 1-2 months.

    Doing it longer than that would be a bit weird. The new landlord wouldn’t really want to wait for you, especially if there is other interest in the property. They’d surely favour somebody that wants to move in soon than somebody that wants to wait awhile.