{"id":2645,"date":"2020-03-23T21:58:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T12:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=2645"},"modified":"2025-09-08T08:50:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T23:50:45","slug":"things-that-anyone-apartment-hunting-needs-to-know-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/moving-tips\/things-that-anyone-apartment-hunting-needs-to-know-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Even More Things That Anyone Apartment Hunting Needs to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Depending\non where you live, you can have a very different experience when looking for\nhousing. It could be as simple as looking at pictures and getting a detailed\nrundown of the apartment before putting money on it. These things usually come\nwith their own little quirks, and Japan in no different. There are certain\nthings that you will need to know before you start looking, or while you are\nlooking, at new places to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always\nRequest a Walkthrough<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even\nthough most people in Japan are trustworthy and generally nice people, there\nare still those who don\u2019t follow the straight and narrow. Most landlords who\npost listing of their vacancies keep it with up to date photos and information.\nSome don\u2019t do this and use old photos or lie about the condition of the places\nbeing rented. The only way to get past this is request a walkthrough, or to be\nshown the room. If they refuse or deny you the ability to do so, it is best to\nlook elsewhere. You will need to do your due diligence in this area and be firm\nwith the landlords. There have been times where people had been shown pictures\nand videos of places, only to show up to less than stellar housing. Most realty\ncompanies that have an English department will have this service available to\npotential renters. Make sure you take advantage of it and get the best place\nfor you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Use\nMultiple Sources When Apartment Hunting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\nare a few very popular sites to use when looking for housing, and the one that\nis recommended the most is the website GaijinPots. Even though it may be the\nbiggest forum to use when looking, you should try to see if there are any local\nplaces you can use. Because the site is so big, it may not have all the best\nlistings possible in the area you are looking for. The thing that it does is\nguarantee that you will have English assistance of some kind when you go to\nlook and rent a place. If you have a little Japanese ability you can go find\neven cheaper and better housing options. Always have different sources when\nlooking for your potential new home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Be\nReady for Extra Charges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\nare quite a few small to large charges you will come across when looking at\nrenting an apartment. The first being key money, which is an extra month rent\nthat goes directly to the landlord. It is viewed more as a thank you to the\nlandlord for allowing you to rent the apartment. There are a lot of places that\ndon\u2019t do it, but there are far more that do it. It has become a cultural thing,\nso it won\u2019t be going anywhere. There is also a fire insurance fee for any place\nthat you go to rent. It is a requirement for any new occupancy and is enforced\nthroughout the country. There can be maintenance costs for different things\nthat can come with an apartment. If you have a furnished apartment there will\nbe a maintenance fee for all the items, you will be using. There can be other\ncharges as well so make sure to check the contract for anything other than the\nbase rent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check\nthe Distance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Distance\nfrom the train station will drastically affect the pricing of any apartment. It\ncan even impact the kind of housing that would be available to you. The amount\nof time from your house to the station will change the price of an apartment\nfrom 30,000 to 90,000 yen. It will be advantageous to you to look for places\nthat are from 10 to 20 minutes from the station. It keeps the commute\nreasonable and reduces the price of the apartment to a more manageable level.\nThe surrounding conveniences will impact price as well. If there are a lot of\ndepartment stores, malls, and convenience stores, it will increase the price of\nthe apartment. Trying to keep a well-rounded distance from all the amenities\nwill give you the place for a good price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check\nthe Surroundings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\nkind of city will impact the kind of apartments that will meet your standards.\nThere are a lot of cities you can choose from to find that perfect apartment.\nThe closer to the center of the city will tend to be more expensive. The cities\nthat make up center tend to be high income areas, or very popular tourist\nattractions. Places like Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Meguro can all end up being\nvery expensive. If you are looking for something that is still in Tokyo, but\nnot in the expensive parts, you can look at the cities at the outer edges of\nTokyo. Places like Machida, Tama ward, and Aoba ward. You can still have access\nto all the popular areas of Tokyo, but the cost of living can be much more\nmanageable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guarantor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 In\nJapan, to get into an apartment you will need a guarantor. If you are a\nforeigner looking for an apartment you will need a native resident, or your\nemployer to be a guarantor on the contract. The landlords do this to avoid\npeople from signing a contract and breaking it early to go back to their home\ncountry. It has happened so much that it is a requirement for foreigners to\nhave this done. If you don\u2019t have a company that can do this, or Japanese\nfriends or family that is willing to sign, you hire a guarantor company to sign\nfor you. These businesses act as guarantors for a fee, which is usually the\nequivalent of a month rent. They are necessary if you don\u2019t have anyone to turn\nto for help. There are usually guarantors attached to listings for foreigners\nso make sure to read through them thoroughly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It can\nbe a shock to find all these extra charges and cultural differences. They can\nsneak up on you if you don\u2019t look carefully at the contract. Take your time\nwhen looking, and don\u2019t move to quickly on an apartment. It would be best to\ncheck out online forums and try to connect with people who are already living\nin the country. It will benefit you in the long run, and make your stay in\nJapan much more enjoyable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Depending on where you live, you can have a very different experience when looking for housing. It could be as simple as looking at pictures and getting a detailed rundown of the apartment before putting money on it. These things usually come with their own little quirks, and Japan in no different. There are certain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moving-tips"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}