How’s your SHAREHOUSE experience ?

13 comments

1. They’re okay. It really depends on the people. Some are small and most people just keep to themselves and briefly chat when they’re in the common area cooking. Others are large and have active social scenes and engagement. It’s an easy way to make friends from around the world if you’re into that. I prefer the smaller one. It was great to have live with some people that helped me navigate some of the early challenges of living in Japan.

2. Beware of large sharehouses, unless you want to experience a ton of cum-and-hair-covered shower floors. I lived in one for 5 months and people were like animals, never cleaning up after themselves in their shared communal areas, pubes all over the toilet seats, rotten food in the fridges, mold everywhere in the shower stalls, shit going missing constantly.

3. The smaller ones can be great, awesome way to make some pals to do stuff with on the weekends. Be aware it’ll be entirely expats so if you’re looking to connect with Japanese residents it’s definitely not going to be the best way. That said, I found them great to find crews to get out and be social with! Still stay in contact years later with some of the folks I met – have a place to stay in some Italian cities next time I’m over there.

4. It’s a gamble really, lived in one where I had some problems, but mostly a great experience where I made some friends, I loved my time there.

   Also lived in one where clothes went missing, people were constantly angry because washing machines were always full, there would be discussions because of noise, first floor kitchen was unusable from how dirty it was. Even a threat appeared in the white board someday. Oh and different cultures means people making weird (for ya) food that makes the whole house smell like shit.

   I plan on going back someday, this time with a job and not as a student, and even thought about living in a sharehouse to save some money, but IMO it’s not really worth it if you can afford a private place, it’s just way more convenient.

   That said, you can try one depending on the company, some of them have 3 months contracts so if you find out you hate it, just move out. But remember, never houses with shared fridge, choose only the ones with a small fridge in the room.

5. Now I help people buy and sell properties in Japan, but earlier in my real estate career I was a manager for a sharehouse company. I was at one point in charge of over 700 rooms and a staff of 7. Here is what you should look for in a sharehouse.

   1. It is not the size of the sharehouse but the size of the company.

   A small company with about 10 to 20 properties is ideal. Smaller than that, and your landlord is likely a struggling investor near bankruptcy. Larger companies with scores of properties put all their money into web design and remodeling the properties. They have no real ability or interest in managing human relationships among residents. Oakhouse is terrible in terms of customer service.

   Medium sized companies live and die by word of mouth so their customer service is best.

   2. Look for foreigners on the staff.

   Not online marketing people in their twenties. Bilingual people in their thirties are key. Without foreigners in the company who can wield some influence, the Japanese staff will become very passive aggressive in their disciplinary style.
   Or, if there is a problem they will just put up a sign; putting up a sign is considered enough of a response to a complaint. Foreign managers are more patient and understanding, willing to investigate an interpersonal conflict and solve it via compromise. So look for a foreigner on the management team. That is how to identify a sharehouse worth living in.

   3. Also ask about the number of members on the cleaning team and how frequently they come.

   A sharehouse with 100 residents that is cleaned everyday by professionals will be cleaner than a 10 person sharehouse cleaned once a week by the owner.

6. Good experience, 10 people or less is key. More japanese than foreigners. And of course be able to view the room online or in person.

7. I posted this the last time the question was asked (around a month ago):

   I’ve lived in two share houses in my life. Neither were particularly unpleasant. I’m a fairly antisocial person so I spent most of my free time either in my room on my laptop or reading; or going out and wandering around.

   In both share houses the showers were rather grody. There was a single staff member who was meant to keep things clean, which meant things would get a cursory cleaning maybe once a week.

   The laundry machines were okay, but just one for the house so it was constantly running and you’d have to go on stakeout to have your turn. Probably would have been better to go out to a nearby laundromat but the thought never occurred to me at the time.

   I remember in the second guest house where I was living with my girlfriend she told me she really wanted to eat some grilled fish but the fish broilers in the kitchen were all far too disgusting. There were like 4 of them and it looked like they had never been cleaned. So one Saturday I bought a bag of steel wool and scrubbed them all down. One of the other people in the house asked me why I was bothering. After I finished I showed them to my girlfriend and suggested that we have some grilled fish that night. She told me that while she appreciated my effort, the mental image of how disgusting they were had completely ruined her ability to enjoy anything that may be cooked in them. Oh well.

8. I stayed in one of Oakhouse’s sharehouse for 5 months and it was great! There wasn’t that much people (the house had 12 rooms yet only 5 is occupied) but everyone was very welcoming and cooperative- also balanced amount of Japanese and foreigners (3:3). House manager is a Japanese guy in his 30s who speaks fluent English, cleaner comes once every week and toilets/kitchen/shared area is always clean.

   YMMV though as with what other comments said. One of my friend who stayed in GG sharehouse moved out only after 2 months because his neighbor next door can’t stand normal living noises and complains to the manager. (Friend sneezes more often compared to a normal person)

9. Very good experience with Oakhouse for over a year, which usually get good reviews around these subs.
   I was in a women- only house with 4 other people. The size and single- gender understandably made everything very pleasant. Staffs are nice and helpful as well.
   If I’m gonna use sharehouse again I’d look for small houses with ~5-6 people, though those houses are kinda rare.

10. Better choose a share house where bathroom and toilet are inside your apartment and a share house that has weekly cleaning services, more expensive but it is worth. If you don’t have the budget than be ready for the dirty gang bang.

11. Pretty good experience. Lived in one when I was a student. We were “only” ten, a good balance between Japanese and foreigners. There was no cleaning stuff as keeping the house clean was everybody’s chore and each one of us had a specific chore (sweeping; taking the trash out; etc) that we ourselves would pick out of the bunch every week or so. The house wasn’t that big so it was easy to keep spotless.
    Also, the internet connection in that house was one of the best I’ve ever had. We never run out of hot water. The washing and drying machines worked perfectly. The company stuff was always kind and available when I needed’em.

    Damn, I miss my time there…

12. I know some friends that have live in sharehouses and my husband briefly lived in one. It really depends on the sharehouse. Some are more social, while others are more quiet. My husband was social with some of the people in the sharehouse, but some wouldn’t talk to him at all even though he’s bi-lingual. His sharehouse was kept clean and he didn’t have any issues with bathrooms, laundry or cooking(maybe someone cooked something unpleasant smelling once). However others have had experiences with people stealing food, not cleaning up after themselves or being too noisy. When I’ve stayed in hostels/guest houses sometimes toilets and showers can be busy, so make sure there are enough. My husband is still friends with some of his housemates and a friend also had some great housemates. If you need to save money and you’re looking for a social place then look for a sharehouse that is social. You can ask management about how friendly and social the sharehouse is. If you’re not very social then you can try to find one where people keep to themselves, but probably better finding a place for you to live by yourself.

    Also, it’s better if you can actually take a look at the sharehouse. Some were much further from the station than they said they were. Some didn’t look as nice as they did online. Some might have good things you didn’t notice in the listing. Visiting can also help give you a vibe of the place. However you might not have a choice if you can’t afford/don’t want to deal with the hassle of staying somewhere temporarily while you look for a permanent place.

13. I’ve been living at multiple share houses in Japan (Tokyo, specifically) for the past year— here are my takes:

    Make sure to live in a share house where you can make your own meals. Sounds bizarre, but I lived in one with a severely limited kitchen but also came with an “optional” meal plan. The limited kitchen essentially forced the heavy majority of people to opt for the meal plan, hence the quotation marks.

    Dormy is a good company to find sharehouses from, in my opinion. It’s a big enough company and pretty accommodating for English speakers. My experience is really only limited to Dormy, but I don’t think it should be drastically different from others.

    Recently renovated ones are a huge plus— as some others have said, communal spaces can get pretty grimy and gross, especially if they’re dated. So, I definitely agree with the others about seeing them IRL. Some have YouTube tours as well.

    I hope the search goes smoothly!