Interesting Properties in Japan

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LeeB
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Interesting Properties in Japan

Post by LeeB »

Very few new posts on the site so I thought I'd start a new topic about interesting properties in Japan. Looking at the possibility of moving to Japan I would look at various Japanese online real estate web sites to research properties. Even though that plan has been cancelled, I still look at what is for sale on a few web sites.

I'll put up some properties that I think are 'interesting' for one reason or another and try and post photos and other details of these properties as they often disappear either being sold or more likely the owner giving up. I once watched a property for around three years and tracked it as the priced was reduced over time and then it completely vanished.

As I have posted on another topic I would never buy an individual condo/apartment/unit/mansion in Japan or whatever term one uses to describe this type of real estate especially outside the big cities because of numerous problems I see with them. I'll still list some of them as other people may not have any qualms about buying or 'investing' in this type of property.

I find it incredible that prices of properties in the smaller cities and rural areas compared to the big cities are so different and so 'cheap'. Even then I still think that the price of many of these properties is still too high given the state of the market and continued fall in the population in many areas.

Compared to Australia, where I live, property in the small cities and rural areas is 'cheap as chips'. For example, the cheapest free standing house currently for sale in my suburb of Melbourne which is one hour by train from the Melbourne CBD (If and when it runs and runs on time which is not very often!) is listed for A$480,000 (40 million yen) and has two bedrooms on about 100 tsubo of land. The cheapest non-retirement village ‘unit’ is listed at A$380,000 and then the next cheapest is A$480,000.

By listing a property I find ‘interesting’ is not an endorsement or any type of recommendation to buy the property.

The next post will have some of these properties.

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Great idea,

Japan Simple Life goes through phases of inactivity then bursts to life again once more as people are busy with their real world lives so it would be nice to have some regular input on attractive homes in the countryside that you may come across.

Thanks for taking the time to look for these.

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

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While looking at a variety of real estate web sites, it seemed to me that Chiba prefecture had a wide variety of houses for sale and many of them were quite reasonable in price. There were also quite a few newer houses along with some 'strange' designs!

Here is the first property I'll put up. It has been taken off the listing web site and I don't if it has been sold or the owner gave up. You can find the original listing by using the 'Internet Wayback machine" (https://web.archive.org/web/20170625192 ... _hongou48/)

I put it on my 'interesting' list for a number of reasons:

1. Price: 2680万円
2. Land area: 2225.00㎡(673.06坪)
3. Improvements: ビニールハウス7棟 (7 Vinyl 'Greenhouses')

The house isn't that large (延べ109.30㎡(32.98坪) by western standards, but it has a balcony and is not very old. From the photos it looks like the house is in good condition. The location isn't that great as far as being located close to a station (JR外房線「茂原駅」約7㎞), but given the nature of the property you'd need a vehicle anyway.

A large property for someone interested in going into the ag business.

k_hongou48-00.jpg

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

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The next interesting property is a 'mansion'. It is still listed for sale.

https://suumo.jp/ms/chuko/shizuoka/sc_a ... _88960852/

As I have posted before, I'd be wary of purchasing one of these as for the following reasons:

1. Ongoing monthly sinking fund and maintenance fees.
2. Routine and unforeseen repairs.
3. Vacant/unclaimed units in the building.

All that being said I put the following property on my list for the following reasons:

1. The building is quite interesting.
2. The location, Atami, is a well known tourist area.
3. The price (1180万円)
4. The size of the unit (専有面積94.28m2、バルコニー面積25.36m2 ルーフバルコニーとライトコート(中庭)- huge by Japanese standards and one that you could actually live in without going 'nuts' ( :D ).
5. The unit has a fireplace - one of those 'floating fireplaces'
6. The huge rooftop balcony.

The unit has an ok view (other units in the building have better views) and the monthly ongoing fees at around 40,000 yen are a little high, but reasonable for a unit like this. Given the age of building and physical construction, the future costs of routine repairs and upkeep might result in additional demands on owners...............

The only thing I am not sure about is how much pressure would be put on you (if any) to join the "club" at the building which is not compulsory:

(ミオクラブ加入後ご利用できます。(任意)入会金54万円。預託金1 500 000円 温泉供給、クアハウス利用料30240円/月)
1.jpg
2.jpg
3.jpg

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Post by Zasso Nouka »

That first property has some great potential to get started farming straight away, currently hydroponic lettuce are selling for around 250 - 290円 a head in Chiba and with that much space you'd be able to churn out a very respectable harvest every day. With heating in the winter and shade netting and cooling in the summer working inside those type of vinyl houses can be quite a pleasant working environment, no you wouldn't want to be working through the hottest part of the day in summer but then most of the farmers I know take a siesta for three or four hours at that time of the year. It's probably large enough you could set up an aquaponics system if you wanted to go fully organic and many vinyl house growers are switching over to predatory insects these days so no need for potentially harmful sprays.

Rig up a nice set of speakers or have a carry round set and two people could have a very nice business indeed.

Love the somewhat sinister shadow of someone hiding behind the glass door in picture #21 :D on the slideshow. The balcony is quite spacious as well, no immediate neighbours to complain about any noise or anything if you like to party in the evenings.

Something that could be a positive or a negative is the land classification, on the bright side you wouldn't need to be a registered farmer to buy it but the downside could be a largish tax liability, although it is mentioned in the description that there may be a way around it.

The second property is quite curious, is it a mansion built on the side of a hill ? Quite an interesting concept.

Thank you for sharing and looking forward to see what other interesting properties come to light.

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

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Onjuku (御宿) in Chiba Prefecture is one area that is on my to visit list if and when we ever visit Japan again. I'd like to go during the fall and drop in during the 'ise ebi festival' (おんじゅく伊勢えび祭り), but the last two times we visited Japan we just happened to get hit with not one, two typhoons.

http://onjuku-kankou.com/event/iseebi/

Maybe that is telling us not to visit during fall!

So maybe a visit in spring is next, but we'd miss the festival.

Has anyone been to the festival or Onjuku? Is the beach there any good? The photos look nice, but reality can be different!

Onjuku has a wide variety of houses and units for sale. Some really cheap units and houses that vary quite a bit in price. There is also a sort of 'planned community' (http://resort.seibupros.jp/onjuku/) up in the 'hills' away from the beach.

The following house has been for sale for a while and IIRC the original price was 4,500万円. It has been reduced to 4,250万円.

https://realestate.yahoo.co.jp/used/hou ... 005311781/

IMO the price is still way to high. The house is a two story property with a living area of about 160 square meters and a block of land just under 750 square meters at 742.84 square meters. It is located in the planned community and as a result there is a one-time fee of 300,000 yen upon change of owners and a 5000 yen or so monthly fee.

The house appears to be in good condition and while I really can't be sure from the photos, the land appears to be reasonably flat. The location of the house would probably be safe from any tsunami, but is still reasonably close to the beach. The train station is quite close as well, but 御宿 is quite a bit away from 'civilization' as the better half would say!!

Onjuku 1.jpg

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

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The next property is one that I've actually walked by. The unit is located in Sapporo right next to to or on Nakajima Park. A beautiful part of Sapporo.

https://www.athome.co.jp/mansion/103289 ... ist_simple

As such public transport is quite good with the choice of two subway stations and the Sapporo shiden all close by. The size is a little small at about 85 square meters, but it quite new. The fees are still very reasonable at a total of 16,000 yen per month. (IMO the monthly maintenance fee has been set way too low.)

Of course with the location and 'newness' you are going to pay through the nose for the unit. At 4,400万円, it isn't any bargain and as with all of these types of properties in Japan over time you'll most likely see the value decline over time.

mN7Rnqwo6r0QUU3ZIjGAJw==.jpg

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

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Here is an interesting house in in the planned community at Onjukudai so the house is reasonably close to both the station and beach, but probably in an area safe from any tsunami.

http://bousou.net/k_onjukudai6-2/

The house has been listed for a few months and had an original asking price of 3480万円. The price was reduced by over 10% this week to 3080万円.

The house is a single level house (no stairs is nice) with an area of just under 120 square meters so it it isn't that big, but would probably be ok for a retired couple.

The house sits on a big lot of 1171 square meters, but the lot has an irregular shape. Part of the lot has been covered with artificial turf. There is also a big space for a vegetable garden. As the lot is quite big there is more than ample area to expand the the house, if needed. It has the usual carport and no garage. What is nice about the house is that it is situated in the middle of the lot and away from the road in front of the house. Many houses in Japan even on big lots are often built right next to or close to the road. The LDK is a huge open area with a nice exposed wood ceiling. A fireplace would probably be needed in winter to keep the house warm. (How much does one of those cost in Japan?) The orientation of the house is also good for adding solar panels.

Overall it appears to be a really nice house on a big lot with lots of potential and a price that seems to be reasonable. If in Japan I'd be interested in this one after checking it out.
k_onjukudai6-2-00.jpg

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Post by LeeB »

This property is condo/unit/'mansion' in Kamogawa.

http://www.nb-home.jp/bukken/c_kamogawa/km0466.html

The price is 2,480万円 only 600 万円 or so more than the house in the previous post.

What is unusual about this property is that it is a メゾネットタイプ. It has two floors. You can often find properties like this for rent, but I haven't really seen many of these for sale recently.

The property is quite big for a unit with an area of 125 square meters. This is bigger than the house in the previous post. The unit has two balconies and one of them is big enough for you to actually sit outside and enjoy the views.

What is unfortunate is that the fees for the unit are huge:

管理費 54,600円/月
修繕積立金 8,800円/月

The 管理費 is way too much and the 修繕積立金 is way too low. Just those two will set you back over 63,000 yen a month. Add in tax, water, and insurance and no doubt the carrying cost of the property would be well over 100,000 yen a month and that is even before any interest on a mortgage.

Then you have to factor in the decline in the value of the property over the years as well. At least with a house in a decent area you can probably get some residual value for the land.

Here are some photos:
km0466_32.jpg
km0466_47.jpg
km0466_45.jpg

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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Post by Zasso Nouka »

The monthly fees there seem extortionate but I must confess I've never owned an apartment in Japan

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