hi everyone! I have not heard anything from my BOE yet, but I know my CO generally has JETs stay in teachers apartments where their preds lived. I’d really rather rent a private apartment so I know I’ll have a clean place to stay when I get there (I’ve heard wayyy too many horror stories about teacher housing). Does anyone have any advice on how I might go about that? thanks!!
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You just need to tell them that you want a private apartment. You will probably have to sort all of it out yourself, though.
do you know for sure that your apartment isn’t clean? just so you know, if you choose to arrange your own place to live, it will probably be much more expensive, and you’ll most likely have to pay key money. teachers’ housing is far from glamorous but the rent is very reasonable in comparison.
My CO requires JETs to still rent through them even if they find their own housing. So make sure that’s not a condition in your CO too.
(Not a JET but a direct hired)
I heard from a friend (former JET) that she declined her housing with her CO only to find out how hard it is to find a landlord or real estate company approving her application (took her 2 months, she said she was jumping into hotels and had a hard time finding some to vouch for her)
Assuming you have contact with your predecessor, why don’t you just get photos/a video of the apartment and make your judgement based on that as opposed to internet horror stories?
I’m in SHS teacher housing, it’s a full on house too not just an apartment btw. It was spotless when I got here so I don’t think the horror stories you’ve read are representative of all residential housing. I’d much prefer to live here than anywhere else
You can probably do it, just be aware:
– it may be tough to find housing.
– it may put your employer offside from the get go, which could impact your job enjoyment and they might be unwilling to assist you to find hosing.
– it may end up dicking over your successors in the long run too. My pred gave up their teacher housing, which then wasn’t available for me, and I ended up having to pay a lot more per month (and pay key money etc) to rent privately.
If I were you I’d keep the teacher housing. I love my apartment. All my friends with teacher apartments have lucked out and never even thought about changing. Yeah, it’s old, but it’s spacious, I don’t really struggle with pests too often, and it’s cheap as hell. I have a living room, a bedroom, and an extra room for guests so it’s perfect when I host. I have a huge balcony so I could start a container garden. My kitchen has a lot of space. I have good insulation so I never hear my neighbors. I feel very fortunate, and don’t mind the older appliances.
My one friend who has a non-BOE apartment pays like 40000 yen more than me and has way less space. His appliances aren’t even that much newer either. And he has basically no insulation- we got the cops called on us once when we were just chatting at normal volume. Apparently, his neighbors are a bit scared of him since he’s a tall foreigner, so they called the police. At teacher apartments, your neighbors know why you’re there, so that’s way less likely to happen.
I know a few people who live in BOE HOUSES. A whole HOUSE! And pay like 10000 yen for rent.
Also, a bit of a cautionary tale, I know a guy who is working for a local ALT company. We live in a small/medium-sized city. They were trying to find him a place to live since they don’t have BOE housing, and they literally could not find an apartment that would rent to a foreigner. The owner of the company and my Japanese friend who works for them went to so many places with no luck because everyone is nervous to rent to a foreigner. Dorsn;t matter how good your Japanese ability is. The owner had to buy an entire building that had an apartment on the top just so this ALT could have somewhere to live. And he still hasn’t been able to move in because the apartment has so many issues.
So, in conclusion, I’m team BOE apartments lol. Maybe it would go really smoothly for you to find somewhere else to live, but I wouldn’t risk it!
Good luck finding a sponsor if your CO declines lol. After JET my apartment hunting was hell thanks to some old ass landlords insisting a full on Japanese background investigation that could take months to complete and they would send pinkertons to scrutinize every last bit of your private life.
Renting a private apartment sounds challenging, so maybe wait until you see your housing situation first.
If worst comes to worst and it is a POS, I’d argue that the start up costs for getting a private apartment would be the same as gutting the apartment, sending everything to the recycling center/dump, and getting a professional cleaning done.
If you want to find your own apartment you should expect it to be expensive. I made a post about apartment costs in another thread a few weeks back so here is the copy pasta:
You should really reach out about the hidden costs of renting a private apartment before locking down your decision.
[This is a good write-up](https://matcha-jp.com/en/4418) on it but to summarize:
> While the initial cost of your apartment will depend on the area, it typically takes four to six months’ worth of rent for your security deposit, key money, and real estate brokerage fees as upfront costs. For example, if your rent is 70,000 yen, then upfront costs will range from 280,000 yen to 420,000 yen.
– Key Money is typically **one to two months’ worth of rent**. It is separate from your security deposit and is **non-refundable**.
– A security deposit is one to two months’ worth of rent in Japan. The deposit is partially returned after deducting cleaning expenses
– Real Estate Brokerage Fees One months’ worth of rent is paid in brokerage fees when hiring a real estate firm
– Guarantor Fees, hopefully your school will take this responsibility and you can avoid this monthly fee
Oh and don’t forget that to ask if your school will supply you with things to furnish your apartment. A standard apartment comes with the following. A bathroom and cabinets in the kitchen. You will need to supply all light fixtures, a fridge, a stove, a washing machine, etc.
Teacher housing is being closed all over Japan, it seems. However, it’s probably the best deal you can get. In my area, teacher housing was less than half the rent of even the cheapest apartments, with more space.
Wasn’t perfect by any means, but for the price, it was very worth it. I’d suggest inspecting the apartment yourself, and if it’s really not for you, then go to Village House or Leo Palace. They’re not super awesome either, but they will accept foreigners without the massive headaches that most other places cause. Leo Palace especially will be much too pricey for what it is, but it’ll be newer and furnished (washing machine, stove, lights, TV, microwave).
Reiterating what everyone else has been saying re: cost. Keep in mind that on top of the fees associated with renting an apartment, you most likely will have to furnish the apartment yourself. Even in a rural area buying second hand, furnishing his apartment left my friend in really hard financial straights. He ended up only staying a year and by the time he financially recouped from furnishing costs, it was already mid-winter and he didn’t have time to enjoy his newfound financial freedom because he had to turn around and start saving for departure (when you leave you often have to front the cost of your plane ticket and wait to be reimbursed).
If you’re going to try to get your own place, make sure you’re in a very good position financially and make sure that you’re planning to be here for a multiple years
Keep in mind that while there may be horror stories about teacher’s housing, there are also *tons* of horror stories about finding a place to rent privately. Housing discrimination is super common in Japan and it’s very common to to submit your application to a place, get pretty far into the process, only to be told you’ve been rejected because the owner doesn’t want to rent to a foreigner.
If it’s dirty upon arrival, you can also hire professional cleaning beforehand. I think the one time payment of 30,000-40,000 yen could be worth it rather than forking over whatever initial costs and additional monthly payments are for a new place. I don’t know how common this is, but professional cleaning is an option for most people upon moving out, so I’m sure it’s just as viable an option for people moving in!
You should do it,Don’t let anyone tell you what to do!
You can pick where you want to live, buy things you like.
Just because its teacher housing doesn’t mean its not a proper apartment.
Teachers move from school to school, so in Rural areas they usually have some section with a few apartments that the town manages with this in mind. My town has 15 apartments specifically for teachers coming through at low rates (like $50 to $100 cheaper than otherwise would be for the size). Before teachers arrive, a cleaning company usually goes through and double checks things here, including replacing the tatami between rentals and repairing or replacing the paper screens on doors.
The rooms for ALTs are usually kept the same here, so if any furniture is good and donated, it can stay, but old things here are disposed of by the BoE. By disposed of I mean moved into an unused apartment until it is packed with junk and then they can save money by throwing out 5-10 years worth of stuff at once.
I would strongly recommend against this. Just go with the house you are given and if it’s really that bad look am for something after your first year?
There are a lot of costs to renting your own place as well as some blatant racism (do you plan on joining the local Chonaikai and giving up a weekend each month for their local area cleaning)?
Strongly recommend you just relax and go with the flow. If the place isn’t clean – clean it or ask the BOE to ?
The reality is you hear “too many horror stories” because those are the only ones posting about it. If everyone that had a great house, cheap rent and support for furniture posted about it you would hardly hear of any “horror stories”
Before you decide look at the apartment. Reach out to your supervisor and/or predecessor to see what it looks like. Ask for pictures, video and a floor plan if possible.
If you don’t mind the extra cost and hassle of looking for an apartment that’s okay too. At the end of the day, you are the person who will be living there. Not the people in this thread. Just make sure you make an informed decision because you might end up renting privately and then seeing the teacher accommodation was just as good or even better and regret that.
If you don’t like it you also have the option of asking for transfer
It’s entirely up to you, but it seems like you are pre-judging the situation based on a few anecdotes. On the whole, those with this type of housing is superior to what you’ll get elsewhere. And I don’t think it will be dirty when you get there. But the cost of a cleaner will be a fraction of what it costs to secure an apartment elsewhere.
Also, where were you thinking of staying while searching for an apartment?
I can say that I was tempted to do so when I arrived to my assigned place in Western Hyogo. My apartment was not in the best shape and it was pretty rough in some areas. I was not happy at all but I decided to work with it. Today I can say that I’m comfortable with it and looking for ways to make it better.
Then again, if you would rather not deal with that sort of situation, contact your BOE or your assigned school and what they can do.
I declined my senior high school housing because it was disgusting and Cockroach infested the previous Alt clearly was not a clean person. I’m functionally fluent in Japanese so I was able to contact real estate agents by myself and secure all the necessary steps to get my own housing. As long as you have enough Japanese ability you’ll be able to do everything on your own.