In the long run, is purchasing a house or a flat really worth it for these two scenarios?
a. Married, but with no children.
b. Married, with one or a maximum of two children.
We are considering living here for a long time, most likely our lifetime…Purchasing may seem attractive, but the prices are so expensive relative to the space, especially in big cities. Have you had any regrets regarding such investments?
41 comments
I’m not married and no kids, and I don’t regret buying my place at all. It’s a decent sized 4LDK so i’ve got plenty of space. It’ll be paid off before i retire so I won’t have to worry about rent/expenses.
Where are you looking? If you are OK with an older house you can get some smoking deals in areas of Chiba that are very commutable to Tokyo. My wife and I are in the process of buying a few more properties on our street after the owners passed away and it’s cheap as chips. We are approximately 40mins to Tokyo Station if you catch the express train.
We bought a huge place in Tokyo and talked the seller down about 50k. It’s an older place and we had to renovate before moving in but there are definitely deals out there. That being said, I feel like we may eventually sell it, I’ve been here for a few years but I’m starting to want to live back home.
My only regret was not saving up to buy a custom house. Japanese homes have so few outlets. I’d also want better insulation
I only regret not doing it 10 or 15 years earlier.
My regret is not pushing the limit when I bought – no one knows the future so it was the right decision at the time, but the value of well located apartments has doubled in the last say 10 years so I wish I had worried less about it declining in value and gone for something more expensive.
If you think houses are expensive here you aren’t looking in the right places. I bought a house and it took way more than I expected to renovate it. Probably a poor financial decision but a good decision for overall happiness.
I ripped all the floors, ceilings, the whole second floor, the central support column, electrical wires, and plumbing out, so unless you’re a psychopath like me you probably won’t end up with a huge renovation bill.
I wish I knew about this page before buying:
https://instagram.com/cheaphousesjapan?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
honestly, if you want a house do it because it’s cheaper to pay back a loan than renting a place of the same size. however as the population is rapidly dropping and global warming are effecting big cites more than others I strongly recommend you consider it as only a way to gain cheaper rent, but leave all ideas of it being an investment, chances are you will have lost more in the end is proberly close to 100 procent.
however if you look at rent prices for say a 100 m2 apartment you would have to pay around 170000-220000 a month (on average) while with a loan you would most likely be able to get a 35 year deal between 120000-150000 (depending on your initial payment )
FYI Japan big cities real estate is no where as expensive comparing to all other global hub cities. Land is expensive, house is not so.
You will be regret if you petty on the penny and buy a flat 15min+ away from stations or house in the middle of nowhere station area. Price depreciates if you try timing to sale, quality of life is bad too if there is nothing nearby.
Bought a mansion few years ago. We absolutely do not regret buying and love our place. Our mortgage payment is far smaller than the rent we’d have to pay for a same unit.
I bought what was a 3LDK in Kobe, on the market for 22 million yen, but it was in such disgusting condition I offered and got it for 15 million. Spent 7 million gutting the thing and basically rebuilding the interior, in a way I was told only a gaijin could love (goodbye tatami room and bath, hello huge living room, more storage and fancy shower). By the time we had finished I had a 2LDK, and only one wall in the apartment had remained in place. With all the kit set units they throw together to assemble bathrooms and kitchens it is surprisingly cheap to remake a whole apartment, and mine while not in any way luxurious is better than your average rental.
That was 4 years ago and I haven’t regretted it at all – well maybe when the apartment association fees come up monthly, but with a ridiculously low mortgage rate, I am financially better off anyway. I’ve probably destroyed any resale value it ever had, but who is expecting to make money on apartments in Kobe anyway?
What’s the alternative? Renting?
You want to pay a life-long lease to someone else who’s using your rent to pay their mortgages?
If you build your own with proper insulation, solar and good windows it’s a great lifestyle investment and will cost you less to run in energy costs etc.
Buying a place locks you into that location, and in most of the country you cannot easily sell without taking a big loss. So be very careful choosing your location. Apart from that, buying is much better than renting if you are planning to stay long term.
i do not belive it will be an investment, but perhaps depending on how long you live there, it´ll be cheaper than rent. where that break even is i dont know. depending on when you sell and how much you loose, you might not gain anything compared to having rented. its also mendokusai with the whole process of buying and owning a house.
You sacrifice the flexibility though, and you dont need to deal with any problems that can occur related to a house. So what you should compare is cheaper monthly price vs not having to deal with any problems and the freedom of moving whenever you want. in my case im not convinced of a certain place that i want to live for decades to come, so i prefer paying extra and have the freedom of moving whenever i want instead. its also nice to move around and try living in different places of the city/country if your job allows for it.
Also if you assume that your finances i.e income will change in the coming decades, for the better or worse, with rent you can easily adapt your living to your new salary. If you buy, youre setting that living standard for the coming decades whether that is above, below or in perfect alignment with your personal finances over the coming years.
Basically if you can afford it, renting cost more, but has more benefits. Buying is cheaper, but you pay with inflexibility and your time and effort dealing with this responsibility.
Bought land, and built. Didn’t even think that would be something I could do (I thought only rich could) but this country is totally set up for it. You only pay the loan interest while you build, and pay full mortgage payments after you move in. Very nice. So a house we designed, with insulation we wanted. In the end, it was the best thing ever – I spend less a month than I did renting, for more space. We rented for 11 years, but that was more because we had to get PR, to get a loan.
Of course, we then knew for sure where we wanted to live (Shibuya) since we’d lived there already. No regrets, best thing ever.
But, just because it worked out for me, is no guarantee it will for you I suppose.
I would say don’t buy until you have been in japan at least a few years. Get some perspective. You are certainly right that land is way too expensive in Japan and the quality of most typical homes is meh. You also have to know what kind of neighborhood you are getting into. All that takes time, and if everything works out the bottom will fall out of the housing market before you make your move…
I live in Yokohama and my home/land loans combined are less than my rent was.
To me it made sense as I plan to be here long term/permanently and, while the house may be worth little/nothing in the end, the property values are increasing and my expenditures are less than they were when I rented. Also, it is almost impossible to get a housing loan after you reach a certain age if you already don’t have a home.
Got a flat, only regret is that it was too small for my liking in the long run.
I bought a brand-new flat in 2018. It was originally a 4LDK but I knocked it down to a 3LDK for a larger living room. I believe it cost me 5,600,000 yen, give or take, which I am currently paying for with a 35-year adjustable rate loan. I currently pay .49% interest. Once I’m past the 10-year mark I will begin making additional payments in order to pay it off sooner.
It is close to a major station in Osaka and also close to my wife’s folks’ home.
Honestly, I don’t really regret anything. For my circumstances it was the perfect purchase. I think if I regret one thing, it was my decision to make it a 3LDK instead of a 4LDK. The bigger living room is nice and all but now that I have two sons my computer room is eventually going to be turned into a bedroom for one of them.
The reason I went this route was because I thought I may one day want to sell it. If you want to buy a home in the middle of nowhere due to you and your family’s circumstances, and fully believe those circumstances will remain the same, I say go for it.
If the alternative is renting in the same place for ten years, yeah it’s worth it.
My advice is to make sure the land or location is high quality and perfect for you. Don’t buy somewhere if you’re going to want to move location in three years time. If you don’t mind getting stuck somewhere it’s a good buy.
My regret is not getting a house that can fit two cars or at least a car and a motorcycle side to side.
House is in not in tokyo 23 wards but next to setagaya ku.
Not covering the garden with concrete or something before we moved in.
Bought my house for 45 million yen before COVID hit. Gonna put it up on the market since I’m going home and Real estate told me we could get 50 million no problem because hardly any new houses have been built during COVID so it’s a buyers market right now. Didn’t think I’d actually make money so pretty happy.
I live in a small city, scored a big 8DK house in extremely good condition near a station (although, small city so the train doesn’t come so often). For now I’m single so I rent out 2 rooms to some chill people and have that money towards property taxes. I did some initial renovations, but it honestly didn’t need that much and some of them are just for my preference rather than necessary. I’m thinking I could live here for the next several decades with some minor renovations. The foundations are very good quality and the location is good for the area. Anyway, no regrets.
I’m in Kaihin Makuhari, Chiba. Married with one kid. Great location, new 3LDK 15F Condo. Very pleased, no regrets.
If you really think you’ll be here for the long-haul, a house/condo is worth it. Just take your time and shop around and make sure it speaks to you.
Bought a custom made house out in the inaka, with the same price my house would be half the size out in the city. I don’t see the benefits of buying a house in the city, if i had to work in an urban area i would def buy outer suburbs / suburban whatever it’s called just on the outskirts of the city.
If you are thinking really long term, then land and house would make more sense as you can hand it off to your kids.
If it’s just for you and spouse, then a flat would hold value better in the short term.
My regret was when I started looking for houses I was looking at it as an investment, with a very western view towards it. Unless you’re in Tokyo, housing should be viewed as security, not investment, as the changes you will grow that value are pretty slim.
No regrets. Wish I did so earlier. No kids but a lovely garden.
GAS
GAS
GAS.
Make sure u choose the cheap gas. The one that ive got fucking sucks and is mega pricey in winter.
I have a condo near Roppongi and even though I own it, I have to pay $400 per month as utility charges, excluding water, gas and electricity…
Thred title:
What are your
#Regrets?
－－－－－－
People in the thread:
I hAvE nO rEgReTs!!!111
If you buy a place to preserve the value of your asset, get it downtown and close to transit. It will be expensive but it will hold its value.
But the new real estate price already skyrocketed since last year (30% YoY in downtown Tokyo) so you might have missed your chance already
I’m in group b. We have a big, renovated farmhouse, with a baby and maybe another child in the future. It is plenty of space for our family, hobbies/side gigs, and homesteading projects. The cost was less than a couple years of rent in my home city. I think it was a good investment because we have a happy life here, and a nice community with lots of my husband’s family within walking distance. We have plots of land that came with the house, and are within walking distance to a great swimming beach and a surf beach.
My biggest regret is underestimating how much I can do after having a baby. I overshot my expectations. I envisioned a lot more trees planted, more spaces renovated, and such. We can take care of our dog, chickens, rice, and goats, but the garden has been pretty neglected this year.
As a millennial who is not amazing at capitalism, I’m amazed that I could pay cash for a house, especially one in this good of shape that is big enough to hold my studio, etc. Our yearly homeowner tax is less than a month’s rent back home and a fraction of what homeowner’s tax would be there. Even if my earning potential is less here, I am still in better shape than many of my peers back home who work extremely hard to pay for less house and be in huge debt, or to rent forever.
Used to live in a large suburban house and sold it after 30 years. The land went up slightly in value over time but the house – superbly built by experienced Japanese carpenters – had lost all of its value despite being in great condition. Our main regret was accumulating too much stuff – all too easy in a big place.
Now we live in a tiny condo near Shinjuku. Its value keeps rising but we have no interest in ever selling it. It’s just so incredibly convenient for travel, shopping, eating out, doctors, etc. Our only regret is not getting into a condo as soon as we had an empty nest.
…Where are you from that Japanese houses are expensive? They’re super cheap.
My only regret is not having easier access to a nice big main road. Gotta creep out of a tiny access road, onto a tiny main road with constant traffic where nobody pays enough attention to give way to me, THEN I’m onto some sensibly sized roads.
I have no regret buying the place aside from this.
Regrets? That we didn’t do it sooner.
I dunno about the city but as far as I’m aware property prices are dirt cheap compared to other countries comparable areas. I live in Ibaraki, but I can get a 4-5 room home with a lawn for around 2500万 and home loan interest rates are also ridiculously low here. A comparable sized home in my home state in US would easily be 500k dollars or more before interest and other closing fees. Shit my parents shitty 3 bedroom house they built 25 years ago for 180k is worth 400k now even after damage and the foundation sinking.
Resell to another gaijin, gaijin flip!