Heyo, so I’m a Tokyo private school JET, been in contact with GTN re: some apartments that I liked and found out that while the other options were unavailable already, the option that I liked best should be available in August if I wanted to go for it.
The issue is that all my instincts tell me that signing for an apartment I’ve never seen in person isn’t the best idea, *but* I don’t want to arrive in August scrambling to get somewhere, only to land a place that’s worse than I hoped because of a time crunch. And that’s assuming, obvs, that everything goes smoothly which it might not. Realistically, this apartment is probably the best I can get in budget with the features I wanted, but I’m still kinda wary lolol.
So I was just curious what other people’s experiences were; did you wait or have a place ready for your arrival? How did it work out for you?
9 comments
I did this with GTN. I even paid for July because I needed to secure it. It ended up being fine and I liked my apartment. I was in Saitama not Tokyo so it was the only listing in the neighborhood I wanted.
As a private jet in Tokyo, you have 16 days paid for in a hotel after orientation. You could use those 16 days to find accomodation as well.
Moved to a Tokyo apartment sight unseen. Had to arrange it all myself because this was not on JET (and a million years ago). Renting in Tokyo moves quickly, so even if you wait until you’re here, you’ll be fine.
Doing it again, I’d definitely wait until I was here. My apartment wasn’t bad, but I’m sure I could have found something better and cheaper.
Depending where you’re placed in Tokyo, I’d recommend looking at commuter towns in Saitama and Chiba to get more bang for your buck (right now I have a 3LDK 68sqm in Chiba for 1/4 of the rent of my former 22qm 1K Tokyo apartment. It’s nicer and I’m only 11km outside Tokyo).
So I moved prefectures at one point and took an apartment without viewing it. There is a fantastic app for it called Lifull Homes. You can usually tell exactly what you’re getting. And if you can’t, don’t go for it (if you think they’re trying to hide something). Try the app and you’ll see what I mean.
I have had a couple problems in my apartment in the 3 years I’ve been here, but I simply contacted the property manager and they sent someone to fix them.
I wouldn’t stress about seeing it prior too much if I were you.
>The issue is that all my instincts tell me that signing for an apartment I’ve never seen in person isn’t the best idea,
Correct but in this situation sometimes you can’t really avoid that. Though I’d say that were I to do it over again I’d just get one of those weekly or monthly mansion type things, basically a short term apartment designed for people on like month long work assignments or whatever, and live there for a month or two then find an apartment.
It’s a bit more expensive than a regular apartment but cheaper than a hotel.
I had a place before arrival, paid for November’s start up costs till January just in case my bank account took ages to set up, plus I had savings so I was fine. However my circumstances was that I arrived at the end of Nov 2020, when the covid-19 restrictions were at its highest.
Given the schedule after two weeks of hotel quarantine and the extra two week stay at a business hotel (being a private JET) I didn’t want to run the risk of things closing just before Christmas and over new years. I didn’t see my apartment in person either, and it turned out well, seeing it was a newly built complex and I was one of the first few tenants that moved in.
I had no choice but to do this because I needed to find a place that was both pet friendly and big enough for two adults.
The place I found was less than 1 month old so there wasn’t much concern about how it looked or functioned.
This was in Kyoto so quite different from Tokyo but I had many late night calls with the apartment representative and they sent way more photos and video than I ever needed. So I was never unsure about the validity of the place.
If no one is being sketchy then it’s probably fine. You can always ask for more information or photos too.
If it’s a newer apartment I’d be more confident signing without having seen it. The older the apartment is, the more likely that there are some less-than-stellar aspects they aren’t telling you about. At the very least I’d request a video walkthrough.
Hi, dont do it. Come to Japan, go into share house for a month, make new friends and take your time searxhing for an apartment u can afford in a location that u like with good transport and access to shopping and entertainment.