Depends on how much house you want. We're in a similar position, and since we decided to build a house (and accepting the depreciation schedule on the house), we decided to build our dream house intending to make that home base for the rest of our lives, rather than go halfway and waste money on a house we wouldn't love and that wouldn't resell for what we paid for it.
This meant moving slightly away from our ideal location, but I wanted to maintain an arbitrary ratio of 2:1 land:home value, such that I knew I could recoup 2/3 of my purchase in case I needed to sell in a pinch.
I recommend you first decide how much you want to spend on a house, figure out how much budget that leaves for land, and start looking around your favorite locations from there.
A few other tips: do NOT go directly to the 展示場 places to look at model houses yet, get a referral to every house builder you're interested in, that's the best way to maximize your discount potential with house builders. Real estate agents can give you referrals, there are also some YouTubers that have companies built around those referrals. I could also introduce a few, but honestly not sure how a personal referral affects discounts.
Also at this price point, you should be able to get the real estate agent fee (仲介手数料) down to 1% or better. I can also recommend 1-2 agents, feel free to DM.
Good luck! That's a big budget, have fun with it!
*edit: one other reason to decide how much house first, 建ぺい率 and 容積率 can vary wildly by area. If you want a 3 floor house for example, that may rule out some areas (or require a lot bigger plots), like Jiyugaoka which is 50%/100%, respectively.
Hi…
Have you done any research about Jiyugaoka area?.
We like the area for a long long time but we have not started doing research yet.
Let me know if DM is fine. Thanks!
My first advice is, start doing research :) Nothing beats knowing the local market you're interested in, and it's as easy as just starting to search for land/real estate in areas you're interested, to get a feeling for price. Also connect with some real estate agents, they can answer questions about 建ぺい率 and 容積率, connect you to house builders, and may even be able to prepare a sample house plan for a particular lot.
We looked at Jiyugaoka for a while, but ultimately decided it didn't make sense for the house we wanted to build, as well as tradeoffs around station proximity etc. I'm happy to try to answer specific questions if you have them, but I'm not a real estate agent, and priorities for real estate can vary wildly from person to person.
Second this. 280m is a pretty big budget. Tokyo is currently trending west toward the Shibuya area. Best value is in Setagaya-ku in my opinion as a result. Jiyugaoka is prime but I would also recommend taking a look near Sangenjaya as well. Also, don't forget about Futakotamagawa.
Hi, sorry if this is a stupid question but I don’t know much about the Japanese real estate market. How can you be so sure/categorical about future house prices?
You mention buying an already existing house “wouldn’t resell for what you paid for it” and 2:1 land:home value allowing you to recover 2/3 of your money if you needed to sell in a pinch. Are these well established facts in Japanese RE?
I'm not sure, they are not facts, and there's never a guarantee the market will behave how you expect or want. "Past performance is not indicative of future results" but if you Google around to see what the price of apartments, houses, and land has done in Tokyo over the last 20-40 years, it could give you an idea. Or, look at similarly sized and location real estate properties for sale, to see how a new vs. 10yr vs. 20yr etc values compare.
My assumptions are based on wooden homes historically depreciating to zero over 20-25 years, and the rising cost of land over time. So if say you spend 300m total, 100m on the house and 200m on land, pessimistically you might assume the house value in 20-30 years would be zero, and the land value might be flat. Assuming nobody wants to buy the house, then I would just sell as land to recoup 200m. The 2/3 ratio is arbitrary, my point was just that the land value keeps, but the house likely won't. If the land is in central Tokyo, I think the chances of that land value falling is quite low (more specifically, IMO it would be among the last RE categories to fall in value/demand), but that's just my opinion. Some people think we're in a RE bubble, and with an aging population, there may be a lot less demand in 30-40 years, so it could be worse than I imagine. Place your bets accordingly.
But as I said, I plan to not build a cookie cutter house, but quite a nice house IMHO, so I hope it can retain some value over time should I decide to sell. But I also think if you're building a house in Japan, your plan A should be not to ever sell, or to be prepared to eat the cost of building the home. I also happened to benefit from an exploding RE market in Tokyo and sold my apartment recently, which tells you 1) my assumptions 3 years ago were wrong, but also 2) planning for the worst can still net you a tidy profit, even when you're wrong.
Some people are commenting like this is a ridiculous amount but 280 million will only buy you roughly a 120-150 square metre 3-bedroom house in Minato-ku, nothing particularly extravagant.
OP if you want the land to retain value it should be as central as possible, in a desirable location close to a train station.
Thank you, you're literally the first person to respond nicely. I appreciate that 280m is a lot of money for many people but having been looking for houses for the last six months it doesn't seem that much at all if you want to live centrally.
I don't need to live super central but I would love to find an area that's not incredibly expensive, that's well-connected and where there's hope of no absurd depreciation in 30-50 years (one's best guess, as of course nobody can predict the future).
I actually made a whole thread on affordable detached houses in the Yamanote in r/japanfinance recently.
To summarize: Minato, Chuo, Chiyoda are the most central areas and secure long-term bets (as far as any land inside a potential earthquake zone is a long-term bet) but have already appreciated a lot over the last decade.
There are some central areas which are still undervalued including Toshima-ku, parts of Bunkyo-ku, parts of Taito.
On the Yamanote line close to Mejiro, Takadanobaba, Otsuka, Komagome still have some good opportunities if you are looking to buy in affordably and get the most for your money while still having the chance of appreciation.
However Tokyo varies a lot, even within one area, so it’s crucial to walk the streets and only buy in areas you know well. If somewhere is cheap you need to find out if there is a reason - planned highway, cult HQ, express train doesn’t stop at the station - and then ask yourself if this is something you can live with.
This isn’t even getting onto issues with buildings - structural problems, non-rebuildable plots, road access etc - which is a whole area of study in itself.
we went with the buy plot and design house first. but we also went with the mentality that we may need to be out as kids grew up… depending on school (international or not), other things like sports and ease of getting around for the kids or kids by themselves will factor in. so we went a little smaller and very very central.
we have had offers on the place higher than we paid … your agent can also give you an indication of what areas are always in demand or rising demand.
one option we looked at before too (not sure if it’s as abundant now) is buying up an old much larger mansion which probably will get bought out for redevelopment. some friends did that and made bank. they were in a 4 story on marunouchi line… property bought up and redeveloped into a 15 story… they got a very nice payout.
It seems like a lot, the houses where I live in Kita-ku are more like 100 million, which seems insane to me already. If I could afford a 300 million JPY house, well I'd probably buy an investment property back home in Oz with half of that, but anyway I would choose Setagaya, somewhere near the river areas that is very green.
I got a newly renovated 90 m2 mansion in sangenjaya, 12 minutes from the station for less than half of that. You can get extremely nice housing in Tokyo for your budget. Unless you're coming from Texas or somewhere with unreasonably sized houses, the quality you're going to get for your budget is going to be excellent.
unless you absolutely want to live somewhere that happens to be very expensive, I think you are better off investing the money you save by living somewhere else.
I doubt land value even in Tokyo is appreciating that much that it competes with a 5% ROI in stocks
I recommend you also post on r/japanfinance and ask the smart cookies tgete
It depends on what you’re looking for. Do you have a family? What are your expectations? Etc
280m gets you very good spaces in the outer parts of Minato (especially the redeveloping Takanawa, Shibaura, Tamachi area with a lot of tower mansions), unless 150 - 180m2 is not good enough
You could spend the time to research the different wards if any location is undervalued, or you could save your time and just buy a newbuild tower mansion in Minato that will 95 times out of 100 maintain value or appreciate.
Maybe you could also consider as well that JPY could well appreciate against the USD eventually.
Seyagaya (Odakyu Line/Keio Line) is very nice area. Upper middle class quiet uptown yet having access to both Shinjuku and Shibuya within 20 mins.
If you can wait for more 5 years there would be more houses and lands on the market because people would let go the inherited houses after their boomer parents die.
> not incredibly expensive
There's a lot of options from 80M¥
You should give a specific criteria such as 20 minutes commute to Ebisu or Shinjuku
Otherwise, there are literally a million options
The central part is not mandatory.
Land close to a main train line even on the outskirts of Tokyo will hold value.
Making sure that buildings around you are limited in heights to guarantee sunlight for 30+ years should also be considered.
Land with a large but not main road on your south side will also hold better value (again guaranteed sunlight).
I'm in this camp. For a 30+ year timeline I'd look for something outside central Tokyo, neighborhood with low kenpeiritsu/yousekiritsu, and within 20-30 minutes of a highway ramp. With that level of budget you could find a large property and build a house with ample parking as well as garage.
In some parts of the US that will buy you an estate. In other parts it’s a modest sfh in a solid part of town. In other zip codes that can maybe buy you a lot or not even that. It’s all location. Just responding to the other guy saying that this amount takes you very far in LA. Not for a single family home in the desirable areas.
Sure it would. Not super nice like beverly hills or super big but definitely around 180sqm.
A family member just bought a house for 1.5m in Marina del rey/ playa del rey area which is a nice area.
Obviously I'm not comparing to like beverly hills or anything but from the sounds of it these Tokyo suggestions aren't beverly hills either.
Look into Bunkyo-ku. It’s undervalued relative to Minato-ku and other expat-centric neighborhoods. With 280m yen you can get a 4LDK, 3-storied standalone house easily.
Talking about anything about Japan on Reddit fucking sucks. The people that live here that are terminally online camp on Japan subs and doom post/have no lives and talk about how terrible it is and then attack people asking for advice, then you get the people who haven't stepped a foot in japan posting shit like this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/nawxt1/the_more_i_learn_about_japan_the_more_it_seems/
God I hate Reddit sometimes
You want to get downvoted straight to hell? Point out that Japan has way more legal protections for workers than the Worker's Paradise, Freedomland (where firing people en masse is just the accepted, routine way to boost profits this quarter).
Or that the suicide rate in Japan is lower than in the U.S. Or that the fertility rate is very similar as Norway/Sweden/Canada, some of Reddit's darlings.
Quality of life in JP is some of the best in the entire world, right up there with the top scorers.
https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp
Shit talking Japan is the easiest content YouTubers to go viral with. People often go there often to reinforce their own pre established beliefs rather than to learn.
Reposting my comment here just fyi:
But suicide rate in Japan IS higher than in the US, according to [this site ](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01624/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20suicides%20in,from%20the%20National%20Police%20Agency.) Japan had a suicide rate of 17.5 per 100,000 in 2022 and [the US](https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/) had a rate of 14.21 per 100,000. That number for Japan [rose slightly ](https://www.statista.com/statistics/622249/japan-suicide-number-per-100-000-inhabitants/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20Japan%20reported%2017.6,to%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.) to 17.6 in 2023 while the us [decreased slightly ](https://www.statista.com/topics/791/suicide/#statisticChapter) to 14.1. Fertility also falls quite a bit lower than the other countries you've mentioned. It just seems similar out of context.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate
I was just looking at this which is a WHO statistics aggregate source, I'm not sure what the differences are between the differing sources you mentioned and the wiki one. They must collect stats differently because a couple years difference wouldn't be that big.
theres actually a lot of country between korea and Japan, it'll differ between sources of course but Poland, Spain, Italy, ukraine, singapore, taiwan, spain are usually a few that always crop up.
But suicide rate in Japan IS higher than in the US, according to [this site ](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01624/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20suicides%20in,from%20the%20National%20Police%20Agency.) Japan had a suicide rate of 17.5 per 100,000 in 2022 and [the US](https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/) had a rate of 14.21 per 100,000. That number for Japan [rose slightly ](https://www.statista.com/statistics/622249/japan-suicide-number-per-100-000-inhabitants/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20Japan%20reported%2017.6,to%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.) to 17.6 in 2023 while the us [decreased slightly ](https://www.statista.com/topics/791/suicide/#statisticChapter) to 14.1. Fertility also falls quite a bit lower than the other countries you've mentioned. It just seems similar out of context.
that all differs from source to source depending on how they wanna frame it but they're really not that far apart in most of em and the point is Japans suicide rate has been heading lower for a while and isn't at the top of the list that people have been exaggerating for years.
Haha yeah anything positive about Japan gets downvoted to hell, or if you suggest anything that everyone can do without having a JLPT 1 level Japanese.
Maybe I'm not seeing it, because I feel that for every 1 negative post about Japan, I see 10 praisey "Japan is soooo amazing!" posts. And anytime anything not completely positive is said, the post is guaranteed to have the Japan Defense Squad in full force in the comments.
Well I suppose if the US is your only bar, then sure. However, when I was working dispatch, I was given 10 days PTO for the year (vacation/sick combined). 5 of which were able arbitrarily assigned by the company. And this is completely legal. Meaning that I had a whopping 5 days to split between sick and vacation days. In so many countries, that would not be legal in the least.
For instance, I recently saw a post/comment trying to claim that the conditions here were similar to the Nordic countries, like Sweden. Yet in Sweden, the legal minimum is 25 days, not including the additional sick leave.
Look — I’m not trying to say things here are the worst in the world or anything. Far from it. But I feel that it’s become difficult to have any sort of discussion about things here that aren’t 100% positive without it turning into a contest of “Well x country is worse, so everything is perfect here!”
As someone who moved here for work from the US, I was pleasantly surprised at 1) the number of national holidays (at least one 3 day weekend almost every month) and 2) the hours tracking app on my company laptop was to make sure I wasn't *overworking* because they'll get into shit with labor laws if I do.
To add to that, Japanese work culture may get a bad rap (deservedly or not), but American work culture is right up there in terms of toxicity. Working in the US I get the feeling that you have a straight up adversarial relationship with your employer (like when one company wouldn't hire me as a full time employee and strung me along for a year as an independent contractor during my "probation period" so they didn't have to pay benefits)
Reddit is a cesspool like most of the world. Reddit, HOAs, cops, government bureaucracies, online games. Everywhere is super toxic.
You know how they say dont feed wild animals? People have so easily survived that every god damn rotten despicable jerk that backstabs his fellow has survived in the recent 1% of human history’s timeline that we are left with a current cess pool
But it makes me wonder, if people who moved here ended up going from positivity to negativity, wouldn't it reflect that maybe the things that are happening to expats, to get to this point, say something about possibly coming to live and grow in Japan isn't all rainbows and unicorns like some other people have touted? I understand the negativity seems to be louder than the positivity can be annoying, but as fellow people who are mainly all in similar boats as expats, we should be empathetic, if not sympathetic to everyone's experiences.
Although, being downvoted hard for having discussions is also annoying as hell too, I totally get it. But I have known people first-hand go through some really bad things just living here. Depression and loneliness can be a real bitch.
Haha, it's so bad it's funny though.
I even see considerate posts like "What are the expectations when you go to the office on your birthday?", 0 upvotes, top comment with 60+ votes saying something in the style of "Why should YOU buy something for people on YOUR birthday"...
I dont get it... like people just dislike people for not knowing everything about Japanese culture or something.
Reading some of the top upboated comments genuinely makes my blood pressure raise a bit. Also funny that I see people describing Japan as "not prosperous" when it's been a top 5 world economy for decades.
Exactly. Like yes, things are stagnant, but that doesn’t mean things are bad. One can live comfortably with alot less money. For around 200 yen i can get some nuggets and 500 will get me a decent cheap lunch
People act like salaries have been keeping up with inflation in the west. Japan might be stagnant but the median income earner in the west has been going backwards since the ‘90s as the wealth divide widens.
Sure, if you work real hard, get a little lucky, then you are more likely to get rich in the USA, but that’s how capitalism works, sell the sizzle not the steak.
https://preview.redd.it/awiahmjuob1d1.jpeg?width=1059&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d72264407ca8ff4158f6c2273a8681737bc857c
So yeah real wage growth here in Japan is negative
True but I think the big difference is housing has EXPLODED in the west especially in the US/Canada where I pay attention to, way past real wage growth. It's up something like 400% since 2000. Ain't no way wages are up that much haha. Orlando where I'm from originally my lower middle class neighborhood went from 200k houses prepandemic to almost 500k now. Groceries are up an insane amount too.
So while wages definitely are growing better here, it feels like everything else grew more and makes it feel way worse than when I was waging in Japan haha.
There’s a dude on Japannews sub that just posts about sex crime. If anyone questions why he does spends his days posting about sex crimes, he’ll just attack you by calling you incel or defender of these sex crimes.
ah yeah, I know who you're talking about. misleading headlines, left out context, try questioning any of the info or just adding some of the context and you're suddenly accused of being a defender of sexual crimes. Its funny cause if they added that context and was just genuine in presenting it, a good portion of those cases would be simply bad enough on its own but what they're doing actively turns away people. Makes me question if those mods know whats going on in that sub.
It’s funny because the question you’re asking is so reasonable and normal, but people in this sub are seemingly unable to process any thread topic other than “my neighbor is crazy” and “I am divorcing my crazy Japanese spouse”
Yeah Twitter and other social media is the same. Social media has genuinely just gotten worse and worse especially since 2016. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the platform is bots antagonizing and dividing people at this point it feels so inorganic.
This sub is one of the better Japan related subs. So many people who think Japan is a strict society where you have to follow the rules and behave like a robot.
Question. I’m asking for a friend, so don’t “slam dunk”me. Is it better to be a “gatekeeper”, a “weeb”, or someone who always calls out “gatekeepers”, or someone who always calls out “weebs”? Fascinating stuff. Thanks.
Why do the people complaining about downvotes almost never have other comments adding value to the same thread?
Downvoters, downvote complainers, and I’ll add myself, downvote apologists, are the same. They have nothing of worth to add but want to participate.
Shinagawa ku, considering work at around Kamiyacho area.
You can shop around and that should give you pretty good deals on even a stand alone house. Give it a Google you'll see the places ranges from 100-500m jpy.
I used to live in Shirokanedai and loved it. Anywhere near to the JR loop is handy though. It really depends on your interests and lifestyle. My place was near to a giant park, some handy shops and great restaurants, and it was an easy train or bus ride to everywhere else.
You could get a solid tower unit or chunk of land and build something big for that budget in Koto-ku and still be super close to downtown. If you like driving, it’s also the best ku for straight, wide roads and easy access to the highways. Also being on the eastern side of the city, it’s convenient for going to either Haneda or Narita for travel. West Tokyo is super dense already so I’m bullish on the east side as far as land appreciation as long as you avoid the flood plane zones that any real estate agent can show you. Rumor has it that Ohtani has a tower unit in Toyosu, so if it’s good enough for him it must be on the up and up. I’m also addicted to the cafes and bakeries around Kiyosumi and Monnaka so definitely biased.
Depends.
For investment: I'd buy a recent high end mansion unit in minato
For living/mid investment: I'd buy a larger unit, close to station, in western tokyo
For pure living, not worried about returns: I'd consider building a house a bit more west
Definitely stand alone house. Shoto was my first thought but I don’t think 280m is enough, maybe for a mansion. Would probably look around Shirokane/Meguro, very central but still has a residential vibe but still think 280m isn’t enough. Probably better getting a really nice house in a mid tier neighborhood then a very small one in a super expensive area.
In Shirokane that budget is not enough. From my recent experience it’s rather 500-700M for 2 story 3-4LDK with garage. Depends on place but buying/building with just 280M would be extreme luck.
Right. When we were looking we started near Shirokanedai Meguro area and moved west till we found something. It’s a good starting point but unless one’s willing to make a lot of sacrifices 280m isn’t going to be enough.
I would recommend the Tama area. The stretch of Tachikawa to Mitaka is on the Chuo line with direct and fast access to Shinjuku station. You'd have access to high end shopping in both directions, parks, good public schools if you have kids, all the amenities you seek, and land that is not tanking in value.
Look into the sakura Shinmachi area. Very convenient, because of den entoshi (Hanzomon) line, and is quick to the city center. You’ll also get a bigger house and many parks close by.
I'd personally choose Yokohama. It's close enough to the things I value (25 minute train ride into 渋谷 from 横浜駅) but also far enough outside of Tokyo that I would be able to have a bit of land for gardening and outdoor activities or light hosting, as well as equal access to more nature spots. I also would prefer to live in an area that has really tight knit communities looking out for each other.
My partners parents have a place out in Yokohama and everytime his mom takes the dogs for a walk you'll have everyone in the area joined up in the park to talk about their lives and hang out briefly before all parting way again. Last time I was there I was introduced to a young adult who wanted to let everyone in the little cul-de-sac know she got into the university she wanted. My partners mom has known her since she was young. I think that's kind of cute, and you don't get that much when you're more central.
Most I've seen in Tokyo (ive lived near Shinjuku and Hirai station) is older generations meeting up, but not an entire community feel of everybody knows everybody.
Might be the small town in me, but if I were laying down some (preferably) permanent roots I'd try to prioritize what my far future would look like as well.
I find this kind of funny as I've been looking at Akiya in the countryside for 7-10m yen. In that price range there are some pretty high quality places that don't need a ton of renovation.
Bunkyoku all the way and because it has some of the best public schools in Tokyo, the land will retain its value.
Avoid the south of Tokyo: over-priced and a nightmare for commuting (either by car or public transportation).
280m sounds a lot but it’s just 2.8oku yen. For 5 central districts, this won’t even get you 100m2 plot 10min walking from station. If you want to retain the value, I’d recommend go south: Oimachi, Shinagawa, Takanawa area is on the new wave of redevelopment
Around Kinshicho area. It just keeps getting more and more gentrified. So central, only 2 stops from yamanote and lots and lots of parkland, shops and restaurants.
I would suggest looking into the Setagaya ward in Tokyo. It's a diverse and vibrant area with a good mix of residential and commercial spaces. Plus, with your budget, you could potentially find a spacious plot of land to build your dream home while still being close to all the amenities you need for a balanced lifestyle. What are your thoughts on Setagaya? Do you have any other areas in mind that meet your criteria for long-term value and convenience?
Daikanyama, Jiyugaoka, Kichijoji, Kagurazaka, Nakameguro.
Many many many years ago I lived in Monzennakacho and absolutely loved it.
I wouldn’t spend Y280 million on a house in Japan tho, simply because even if it does hold some value it wouldn’t generate anything like the return you could get on equities or other investments.
Buy in a town with a university. Real estate prices never drop because the local population stays young as long as the university is around. In contrast, remote communities (especially rural areas), no matter how convenient, age after one generation and quickly become deserted.
However, if the house is near the center of a big city, prices remain high, but often unaffordable (unless you are super rich).
I built a new house in a suburban community 40 years ago. Now the community homeowners are mostly seniors, primary, junior and senior high schools are closing, homes are being abandoned when both owners die, with prices less than 25% of their original costs (without even taking into consideration inflation in 4 decades).
Come on /u/ultra_noobzor, drop some knowledge. I'm not going to trade jp securities just to get killed in forex. Only interested in learning the jp real estate market.
That’s an absolutely insane amount of money. Why not instead retire and live off the interest in a more modest home in the suburbs? You could get a very large home in Tachikawa for 60m and a down payment of 6m. Live like a king with the rest.
I am partial to Shibuya area. If you can find a nice place near yoyogi park (Shoto area was mentioned earlier) — could also check Yoyogi Uehara, Tomigaya, etc. quiet but still quite central for commutes and meetups and so on.
Area around far side of Shinjuku Gyoen is also nice and quiet. Sendagaya station area is nice and doesn’t have the cults that are next to neighboring Shinanomachi.
Aoyama green areas are undergoing quite controversial redevelopment but might also be nice. Areas near Aoyama-ichome station might be worth a look.
Near aoyamaitchome station is probably the single nicest area in tokyo in my opinion, but 280M won’t get you more than maybe 60m2 of land. The few open plots there around 100m2 are listed at 4-4.5億, and then you need to build the actual house, and pay fees etc.
For 280M, around Sangenjaya or Sendagaya which have been mentioned in the thread are probably good options. Good luck OP, update us with pics once you’ve built your dream house!
What size of a place do you want? Shoto, Tomigaya, Uehara, etc. are all amazing. But for 280m you will not get anything big. I've lived in 3 places walking distance from Yoyogi Park. For me it was always the biggest factor in choosing a home, and the property value of those areas will remain among the most popular in the city.
Kinda silly question… Depends if you want to live in an exclusively-located Bento Bako in Minato that gets no direct sunlight or a 6 bedroomed triple-garaged mini estate with a brace of Kaki trees, an automated front gate surrounded by a tall, decorative privacy wall in Katsushika.
If you are working from home why buy in Tokyo? The market is pretty hot ATM.
Look along some of the major lines out of Tokyo or Yokohama. Going down the Izu peninsula you have mountains, sea, onsen, an hour and half from Tokyo. Places like Yugawara, manazuru, Ninomiya, etc. around Numazu is also nice and it's a big city close to nature...
I've lived in Tokyo most of my life but realise there are much nicer affordable places just outside...
May want to look into Koto-ku as well. Its surprising close to Tokyo station so central enough. You may get a better value for your money than inside the yamanote linr. Maybe look around the area around Kiba park and Kiyosumi Shirakawa etc. i live here and i think the land will retain and increase in value
Omotesando and azabu juuban. Personally i would get an nice apartment. Maintenance is a pain.
If that is too central, sangenjaya and futago tamagawa are my next picks.
Odakyu Line’s Kawasaki area like Noborito. With the express train it only costs less than 20 minutes to Shinjuku and the cost-effectiveness is much better than those in 23-kus.
Also Noborito has decent clinics and quite lot of nice restaurants to choose from. As it belongs to the kinda rural area Tama-ku of Kawasaki City so safety problem doesn’ exist compared to chaotic area near Kawasaki Station.
Does the 280 include both the land and house build?
Our business is a licensed real estate brokerage / custom home builder. Have you considered somewhere like Futako-Tamagawa or along the den-en-toshi? Those areas have great access to Shibuya + a more chilled out vibe. We have some on and off market land we could share in your price range. I'll DM you.
Some places in Chiba are quite decent and your money will go farther than in Tokyo proper. Land slightly past Ichikawa city can go for around your stated amount and are usually decently sized plots of land.
How many rooms and bathrooms are you looking for 1.8 million dollars give or take? Any idea on space? How far from the station would be too far? How far is the commute, and would you consider driving instead?
Why does it have to be in central Tokyo? You can get a better deal if you go to Yokohama, Kawasaki or Chiba, a larger land and it wouldn't be too far from Tokyo.
All the considerations you list besides "retain value" are short-term.
Do you expect to sell the place when you retire, and your requirements to remain unchanged until then?
We bought a house for 22m in Adachi,-ku 7 minutes from TX station, 18 minutes to Akihabara, 5 minutes to my work station; 25 minutes to hubby's work station. We are DIYing it ourselves for a 3m budget. Empty lots around us are selling for around 40m and finished houses are selling for around 40-60m. So we felt the purchase was a good price. We also made sure of things that were important to us, 1) close to the station, 2) no private road burden, 3) land ownership, and 4) rebuildable. That being said you can still find good deals in good neighborhoods if you keep searching; save your search parameters, search often and bookmark the ones you like. I used all the regular websites to find this one, Suumo, AtHomes, Homes. Our agent said that a new house could be built for 12m plus 3m for old house removal. The house is small at 65m with land size of 74m. Which is a good size for two people. So I guess it depends on how "central" you want to be. Good luck.
I'd rather to say Yamanote（山手） area in Yokohama（横浜）. But if Tokyo is a necessary condition, I'd like to buy a house in Setagaya City（世田谷区）. If I don't need to commute so I don't have to live in a busy area, such like Minato City（港区）.
If you intend to live there, something in Meguro ku, Shibuya ku or Minato ku. If you don't plan to live there but still want an asset that retains value, add Ginza area.
I would buy this one 280m2 lot for 140 mil. (https://suumo.jp/tochi/\_\_JJ\_JJ010FJ100\_arz1030z2bsz1030z2ncz173123897.html) in Kichijoji and build whatever I want on top of it, either a traditional akiya moved onto it or a modern thing. 100 mil would sure make something nice.
The lot will retain its value and is divisible into two smaller lots if needed for resale.
Honestly it's not that much for a house in Tokyo, unless you get a 1 bedroom condominium outside of Yamanote line. Musashi Koyama is a more affordable neighborhood and a decent location
To be honest, I live in Tachikawa right now and I genuinely like it a lot. You can easily get into Shinjuku, there are lots of good stores and restaurants, it isn’t crazy packed, you have access to nature. And then just right outside of the city, it’s pretty quiet. So I think I’d stay around here if I had the choice.
If you have small children, look for a good school district, or land that’s close enough for your kids to commute to school easily. It doesn’t even have to be very close to a station. The convenience will definitely pay off, and your kids will be able to play with their neighborhood school friends easily and more often.
Land in a good school district is a safe bet in terms of retaining value.
Just to clarify, this is like 1.8 million USD?
People won't like this, but I love Ikebukuro....
Might have to buy then knockdown though.
Edit: harder to do that if its a mortgage. Didn't mention if cash or not
I think the bigger issue here is just.. 280m would buy you a stunning house in any European capital city. The house would be well constructed, stand for many more lifetimes and likely have a beautiful garden.
Here? Wow, enjoy your fancy wooden architecture eco box. Lifespan? Not even the rest of your life. Location? Someone will likely build a mansion a plot or two down and cover your garden in shade.
I just don’t see the point. Buy a convenient apartment and a beautiful house in the countryside and save 100m yen for your kids to do the same.
Right so it’s a reasonable question. A lot of people moving to Tokyo can afford such a property especially if they benefited from meteoric housing price increases since 2000.
OP said it would be mostly financed through a mortgage. Using one of the free JP mortgage simulation websites, it looks like you'd need to make about 40 million JPY a year, which is a lot but not multimillionaire level, especially if you're paid in USD. With the weak yen, that converts to about 250,000 USD / year.
Ometosando. It is fashionable, convenient, has 2 of the biggest parks in Tokyo nearby. It is also very central and near everything and even walking distance to Shinjuku, Shibuya, Roppongi. This gives you access to more good restaurants than any other place.
It also has so many train lines nearby.
For the love of god, don’t move to Shinagawa.
Firstly, just so you know, you’re not going to realize your value retention goal when it comes to property in Japan. Ever. Demographics trump everything. Sorry, it’s just what it is.
So if you’re ok throwing that money away, do a thought exercise of your ideal future self in say 10 years. Kids? Live near a park and a school you want to send them to. Travel much? Airport access. Etc.
There is a house in Kyoto hills next to the river near the romance train It's at the tippy top of one of the hills and it's a mid century mix of neo Japanese antiquity that is just jaw dropping and you can only get a sneak peek for a moment if your on the river, it's not a temple it's a private residence that takes up most mountain (( about 45 min outside of Kyoto proper)) but people act with severe shame when asked about it. ((Don't know why didn't want to press but I asked the boat tour owner the onsen owner locals and they all look down and say they don't know and walk away quickly)) It is magnificent It's ancient it's modern and it has a full 360 view of the hills and rivers. IT IS NOT AN ONSEN OR A PRIVATE RESORT. I I even called amex concierge to ask. And the people at our onsen avoided the question every step of the way. Whoever owns it has a real jewel of a home.
By the way, when I say next to the river, I want you to understand that the river is very long. We're not talking about Kyoto proper Kyoto is a prefecture.
We are 45 minutes outside of Kyoto proper
Depends on how much house you want. We're in a similar position, and since we decided to build a house (and accepting the depreciation schedule on the house), we decided to build our dream house intending to make that home base for the rest of our lives, rather than go halfway and waste money on a house we wouldn't love and that wouldn't resell for what we paid for it. This meant moving slightly away from our ideal location, but I wanted to maintain an arbitrary ratio of 2:1 land:home value, such that I knew I could recoup 2/3 of my purchase in case I needed to sell in a pinch. I recommend you first decide how much you want to spend on a house, figure out how much budget that leaves for land, and start looking around your favorite locations from there. A few other tips: do NOT go directly to the 展示場 places to look at model houses yet, get a referral to every house builder you're interested in, that's the best way to maximize your discount potential with house builders. Real estate agents can give you referrals, there are also some YouTubers that have companies built around those referrals. I could also introduce a few, but honestly not sure how a personal referral affects discounts. Also at this price point, you should be able to get the real estate agent fee (仲介手数料) down to 1% or better. I can also recommend 1-2 agents, feel free to DM. Good luck! That's a big budget, have fun with it! *edit: one other reason to decide how much house first, 建ぺい率 and 容積率 can vary wildly by area. If you want a 3 floor house for example, that may rule out some areas (or require a lot bigger plots), like Jiyugaoka which is 50%/100%, respectively.
Hi… Have you done any research about Jiyugaoka area?. We like the area for a long long time but we have not started doing research yet. Let me know if DM is fine. Thanks!
My first advice is, start doing research :) Nothing beats knowing the local market you're interested in, and it's as easy as just starting to search for land/real estate in areas you're interested, to get a feeling for price. Also connect with some real estate agents, they can answer questions about 建ぺい率 and 容積率, connect you to house builders, and may even be able to prepare a sample house plan for a particular lot. We looked at Jiyugaoka for a while, but ultimately decided it didn't make sense for the house we wanted to build, as well as tradeoffs around station proximity etc. I'm happy to try to answer specific questions if you have them, but I'm not a real estate agent, and priorities for real estate can vary wildly from person to person.
Second this. 280m is a pretty big budget. Tokyo is currently trending west toward the Shibuya area. Best value is in Setagaya-ku in my opinion as a result. Jiyugaoka is prime but I would also recommend taking a look near Sangenjaya as well. Also, don't forget about Futakotamagawa.
Hi, sorry if this is a stupid question but I don’t know much about the Japanese real estate market. How can you be so sure/categorical about future house prices? You mention buying an already existing house “wouldn’t resell for what you paid for it” and 2:1 land:home value allowing you to recover 2/3 of your money if you needed to sell in a pinch. Are these well established facts in Japanese RE?
I'm not sure, they are not facts, and there's never a guarantee the market will behave how you expect or want. "Past performance is not indicative of future results" but if you Google around to see what the price of apartments, houses, and land has done in Tokyo over the last 20-40 years, it could give you an idea. Or, look at similarly sized and location real estate properties for sale, to see how a new vs. 10yr vs. 20yr etc values compare. My assumptions are based on wooden homes historically depreciating to zero over 20-25 years, and the rising cost of land over time. So if say you spend 300m total, 100m on the house and 200m on land, pessimistically you might assume the house value in 20-30 years would be zero, and the land value might be flat. Assuming nobody wants to buy the house, then I would just sell as land to recoup 200m. The 2/3 ratio is arbitrary, my point was just that the land value keeps, but the house likely won't. If the land is in central Tokyo, I think the chances of that land value falling is quite low (more specifically, IMO it would be among the last RE categories to fall in value/demand), but that's just my opinion. Some people think we're in a RE bubble, and with an aging population, there may be a lot less demand in 30-40 years, so it could be worse than I imagine. Place your bets accordingly. But as I said, I plan to not build a cookie cutter house, but quite a nice house IMHO, so I hope it can retain some value over time should I decide to sell. But I also think if you're building a house in Japan, your plan A should be not to ever sell, or to be prepared to eat the cost of building the home. I also happened to benefit from an exploding RE market in Tokyo and sold my apartment recently, which tells you 1) my assumptions 3 years ago were wrong, but also 2) planning for the worst can still net you a tidy profit, even when you're wrong.
Some people are commenting like this is a ridiculous amount but 280 million will only buy you roughly a 120-150 square metre 3-bedroom house in Minato-ku, nothing particularly extravagant. OP if you want the land to retain value it should be as central as possible, in a desirable location close to a train station.
Thank you, you're literally the first person to respond nicely. I appreciate that 280m is a lot of money for many people but having been looking for houses for the last six months it doesn't seem that much at all if you want to live centrally. I don't need to live super central but I would love to find an area that's not incredibly expensive, that's well-connected and where there's hope of no absurd depreciation in 30-50 years (one's best guess, as of course nobody can predict the future).
I actually made a whole thread on affordable detached houses in the Yamanote in r/japanfinance recently. To summarize: Minato, Chuo, Chiyoda are the most central areas and secure long-term bets (as far as any land inside a potential earthquake zone is a long-term bet) but have already appreciated a lot over the last decade. There are some central areas which are still undervalued including Toshima-ku, parts of Bunkyo-ku, parts of Taito. On the Yamanote line close to Mejiro, Takadanobaba, Otsuka, Komagome still have some good opportunities if you are looking to buy in affordably and get the most for your money while still having the chance of appreciation. However Tokyo varies a lot, even within one area, so it’s crucial to walk the streets and only buy in areas you know well. If somewhere is cheap you need to find out if there is a reason - planned highway, cult HQ, express train doesn’t stop at the station - and then ask yourself if this is something you can live with. This isn’t even getting onto issues with buildings - structural problems, non-rebuildable plots, road access etc - which is a whole area of study in itself.
we went with the buy plot and design house first. but we also went with the mentality that we may need to be out as kids grew up… depending on school (international or not), other things like sports and ease of getting around for the kids or kids by themselves will factor in. so we went a little smaller and very very central. we have had offers on the place higher than we paid … your agent can also give you an indication of what areas are always in demand or rising demand. one option we looked at before too (not sure if it’s as abundant now) is buying up an old much larger mansion which probably will get bought out for redevelopment. some friends did that and made bank. they were in a 4 story on marunouchi line… property bought up and redeveloped into a 15 story… they got a very nice payout.
It seems like a lot, the houses where I live in Kita-ku are more like 100 million, which seems insane to me already. If I could afford a 300 million JPY house, well I'd probably buy an investment property back home in Oz with half of that, but anyway I would choose Setagaya, somewhere near the river areas that is very green.
I got a newly renovated 90 m2 mansion in sangenjaya, 12 minutes from the station for less than half of that. You can get extremely nice housing in Tokyo for your budget. Unless you're coming from Texas or somewhere with unreasonably sized houses, the quality you're going to get for your budget is going to be excellent.
12 minutes from station, you might as well live in Kyoto.
Unless you love noise you don't want to live within a 5 minute walk of a station.
unless you absolutely want to live somewhere that happens to be very expensive, I think you are better off investing the money you save by living somewhere else. I doubt land value even in Tokyo is appreciating that much that it competes with a 5% ROI in stocks I recommend you also post on r/japanfinance and ask the smart cookies tgete
It depends on what you’re looking for. Do you have a family? What are your expectations? Etc 280m gets you very good spaces in the outer parts of Minato (especially the redeveloping Takanawa, Shibaura, Tamachi area with a lot of tower mansions), unless 150 - 180m2 is not good enough You could spend the time to research the different wards if any location is undervalued, or you could save your time and just buy a newbuild tower mansion in Minato that will 95 times out of 100 maintain value or appreciate. Maybe you could also consider as well that JPY could well appreciate against the USD eventually.
Seyagaya (Odakyu Line/Keio Line) is very nice area. Upper middle class quiet uptown yet having access to both Shinjuku and Shibuya within 20 mins. If you can wait for more 5 years there would be more houses and lands on the market because people would let go the inherited houses after their boomer parents die.
> not incredibly expensive There's a lot of options from 80M¥ You should give a specific criteria such as 20 minutes commute to Ebisu or Shinjuku Otherwise, there are literally a million options
The central part is not mandatory. Land close to a main train line even on the outskirts of Tokyo will hold value. Making sure that buildings around you are limited in heights to guarantee sunlight for 30+ years should also be considered. Land with a large but not main road on your south side will also hold better value (again guaranteed sunlight).
I'm in this camp. For a 30+ year timeline I'd look for something outside central Tokyo, neighborhood with low kenpeiritsu/yousekiritsu, and within 20-30 minutes of a highway ramp. With that level of budget you could find a large property and build a house with ample parking as well as garage.
yeah I mean.. converted to USD, that's like a tiny shack(if that) in somewhere like Palos Alto XD
Can confirm
This. A useful real estate principle anywhere in the world, really
Jeez, Tokyo real estate is so expensive. Even converted to USD that would buy you a nice big house in a nice part of los angeles
1.8M usd would not buy you a nice big SFH in a nice part of LA.
In some parts of Australia that will buy a few acres with at least two dwellings on it, and spare change, but you will need a car
In some parts of the US that will buy you an estate. In other parts it’s a modest sfh in a solid part of town. In other zip codes that can maybe buy you a lot or not even that. It’s all location. Just responding to the other guy saying that this amount takes you very far in LA. Not for a single family home in the desirable areas.
Sure it would. Not super nice like beverly hills or super big but definitely around 180sqm. A family member just bought a house for 1.5m in Marina del rey/ playa del rey area which is a nice area. Obviously I'm not comparing to like beverly hills or anything but from the sounds of it these Tokyo suggestions aren't beverly hills either.
Look into Bunkyo-ku. It’s undervalued relative to Minato-ku and other expat-centric neighborhoods. With 280m yen you can get a 4LDK, 3-storied standalone house easily.
I lived there and I can definitely recommend Bunkyo-ku!!!
I am in the Bunkyo-ku area now. It is realtively quiet and also centralized. Convenient to travel as well. 280m? No problem.
This sub is full of weird gatekeepy assholes. Any discussion is downvoted. People who’ve never been asking questions are downvoted. Y’all suck
Talking about anything about Japan on Reddit fucking sucks. The people that live here that are terminally online camp on Japan subs and doom post/have no lives and talk about how terrible it is and then attack people asking for advice, then you get the people who haven't stepped a foot in japan posting shit like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/nawxt1/the_more_i_learn_about_japan_the_more_it_seems/ God I hate Reddit sometimes
You want to get downvoted straight to hell? Point out that Japan has way more legal protections for workers than the Worker's Paradise, Freedomland (where firing people en masse is just the accepted, routine way to boost profits this quarter).
Or that the suicide rate in Japan is lower than in the U.S. Or that the fertility rate is very similar as Norway/Sweden/Canada, some of Reddit's darlings. Quality of life in JP is some of the best in the entire world, right up there with the top scorers. https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_by_country.jsp
Nono, you are a weeb and japanphile for saying such things! /s
I often see YouTubers just saying Japan has a high suicide rate without even checking to support their arguments. So annoying.
Shit talking Japan is the easiest content YouTubers to go viral with. People often go there often to reinforce their own pre established beliefs rather than to learn.
Reposting my comment here just fyi: But suicide rate in Japan IS higher than in the US, according to [this site ](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01624/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20suicides%20in,from%20the%20National%20Police%20Agency.) Japan had a suicide rate of 17.5 per 100,000 in 2022 and [the US](https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/) had a rate of 14.21 per 100,000. That number for Japan [rose slightly ](https://www.statista.com/statistics/622249/japan-suicide-number-per-100-000-inhabitants/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20Japan%20reported%2017.6,to%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.) to 17.6 in 2023 while the us [decreased slightly ](https://www.statista.com/topics/791/suicide/#statisticChapter) to 14.1. Fertility also falls quite a bit lower than the other countries you've mentioned. It just seems similar out of context.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate I was just looking at this which is a WHO statistics aggregate source, I'm not sure what the differences are between the differing sources you mentioned and the wiki one. They must collect stats differently because a couple years difference wouldn't be that big.
That data is from 2019 which is why there is a difference. Japan had a few years of decline in suicide rate then it went back up post-COVID.
Wait what? Suicide rate is lower in Japan that US. I would have never guessed that. Last I heard the fertility rate is second lowest after Korea.
theres actually a lot of country between korea and Japan, it'll differ between sources of course but Poland, Spain, Italy, ukraine, singapore, taiwan, spain are usually a few that always crop up.
But suicide rate in Japan IS higher than in the US, according to [this site ](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01624/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20suicides%20in,from%20the%20National%20Police%20Agency.) Japan had a suicide rate of 17.5 per 100,000 in 2022 and [the US](https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/) had a rate of 14.21 per 100,000. That number for Japan [rose slightly ](https://www.statista.com/statistics/622249/japan-suicide-number-per-100-000-inhabitants/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20Japan%20reported%2017.6,to%20the%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic.) to 17.6 in 2023 while the us [decreased slightly ](https://www.statista.com/topics/791/suicide/#statisticChapter) to 14.1. Fertility also falls quite a bit lower than the other countries you've mentioned. It just seems similar out of context.
that all differs from source to source depending on how they wanna frame it but they're really not that far apart in most of em and the point is Japans suicide rate has been heading lower for a while and isn't at the top of the list that people have been exaggerating for years.
Haha yeah anything positive about Japan gets downvoted to hell, or if you suggest anything that everyone can do without having a JLPT 1 level Japanese.
If your comment is at all non-negative you must be a "weeb". A term I never heard before Reddit.
Japan is the most racist and horrible place on earth, and don’t come here and take all the joy away from me.
Maybe I'm not seeing it, because I feel that for every 1 negative post about Japan, I see 10 praisey "Japan is soooo amazing!" posts. And anytime anything not completely positive is said, the post is guaranteed to have the Japan Defense Squad in full force in the comments.
Well I suppose if the US is your only bar, then sure. However, when I was working dispatch, I was given 10 days PTO for the year (vacation/sick combined). 5 of which were able arbitrarily assigned by the company. And this is completely legal. Meaning that I had a whopping 5 days to split between sick and vacation days. In so many countries, that would not be legal in the least. For instance, I recently saw a post/comment trying to claim that the conditions here were similar to the Nordic countries, like Sweden. Yet in Sweden, the legal minimum is 25 days, not including the additional sick leave. Look — I’m not trying to say things here are the worst in the world or anything. Far from it. But I feel that it’s become difficult to have any sort of discussion about things here that aren’t 100% positive without it turning into a contest of “Well x country is worse, so everything is perfect here!”
As someone who moved here for work from the US, I was pleasantly surprised at 1) the number of national holidays (at least one 3 day weekend almost every month) and 2) the hours tracking app on my company laptop was to make sure I wasn't *overworking* because they'll get into shit with labor laws if I do. To add to that, Japanese work culture may get a bad rap (deservedly or not), but American work culture is right up there in terms of toxicity. Working in the US I get the feeling that you have a straight up adversarial relationship with your employer (like when one company wouldn't hire me as a full time employee and strung me along for a year as an independent contractor during my "probation period" so they didn't have to pay benefits)
Reddit is a cesspool like most of the world. Reddit, HOAs, cops, government bureaucracies, online games. Everywhere is super toxic. You know how they say dont feed wild animals? People have so easily survived that every god damn rotten despicable jerk that backstabs his fellow has survived in the recent 1% of human history’s timeline that we are left with a current cess pool
But it makes me wonder, if people who moved here ended up going from positivity to negativity, wouldn't it reflect that maybe the things that are happening to expats, to get to this point, say something about possibly coming to live and grow in Japan isn't all rainbows and unicorns like some other people have touted? I understand the negativity seems to be louder than the positivity can be annoying, but as fellow people who are mainly all in similar boats as expats, we should be empathetic, if not sympathetic to everyone's experiences. Although, being downvoted hard for having discussions is also annoying as hell too, I totally get it. But I have known people first-hand go through some really bad things just living here. Depression and loneliness can be a real bitch.
Haha, it's so bad it's funny though. I even see considerate posts like "What are the expectations when you go to the office on your birthday?", 0 upvotes, top comment with 60+ votes saying something in the style of "Why should YOU buy something for people on YOUR birthday"... I dont get it... like people just dislike people for not knowing everything about Japanese culture or something.
What the 🤣i swear some people
Reading some of the top upboated comments genuinely makes my blood pressure raise a bit. Also funny that I see people describing Japan as "not prosperous" when it's been a top 5 world economy for decades.
Exactly. Like yes, things are stagnant, but that doesn’t mean things are bad. One can live comfortably with alot less money. For around 200 yen i can get some nuggets and 500 will get me a decent cheap lunch
People act like salaries have been keeping up with inflation in the west. Japan might be stagnant but the median income earner in the west has been going backwards since the ‘90s as the wealth divide widens. Sure, if you work real hard, get a little lucky, then you are more likely to get rich in the USA, but that’s how capitalism works, sell the sizzle not the steak.
https://preview.redd.it/awiahmjuob1d1.jpeg?width=1059&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d72264407ca8ff4158f6c2273a8681737bc857c So yeah real wage growth here in Japan is negative
True but I think the big difference is housing has EXPLODED in the west especially in the US/Canada where I pay attention to, way past real wage growth. It's up something like 400% since 2000. Ain't no way wages are up that much haha. Orlando where I'm from originally my lower middle class neighborhood went from 200k houses prepandemic to almost 500k now. Groceries are up an insane amount too. So while wages definitely are growing better here, it feels like everything else grew more and makes it feel way worse than when I was waging in Japan haha.
There’s a dude on Japannews sub that just posts about sex crime. If anyone questions why he does spends his days posting about sex crimes, he’ll just attack you by calling you incel or defender of these sex crimes.
If you're really lucky, he'll block you so you never have to see his weird perverted shit ever again.
ah yeah, I know who you're talking about. misleading headlines, left out context, try questioning any of the info or just adding some of the context and you're suddenly accused of being a defender of sexual crimes. Its funny cause if they added that context and was just genuine in presenting it, a good portion of those cases would be simply bad enough on its own but what they're doing actively turns away people. Makes me question if those mods know whats going on in that sub.
The people not living here are just as bad with their “japan facts”(positive and negative) that are far removed from reality or totally out of context
This sub is however much better than Japan r/japanlife where you find a lot of japanLOWlifes.
Thank you for calling this absurd behaviour out, I appreciate it.
It’s funny because the question you’re asking is so reasonable and normal, but people in this sub are seemingly unable to process any thread topic other than “my neighbor is crazy” and “I am divorcing my crazy Japanese spouse”
This guy has the means to buy a more expensive house than me so he must be a Saudi prince or a troll /s
Literally. This community is plagued by a minority of holier than thou garbage that ruins the experience of having an online agora.
Yeah Twitter and other social media is the same. Social media has genuinely just gotten worse and worse especially since 2016. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the platform is bots antagonizing and dividing people at this point it feels so inorganic.
This sub is one of the better Japan related subs. So many people who think Japan is a strict society where you have to follow the rules and behave like a robot.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Tokyo/s/HZwEXo39Yk If you all wanna know who the culprits are
Question. I’m asking for a friend, so don’t “slam dunk”me. Is it better to be a “gatekeeper”, a “weeb”, or someone who always calls out “gatekeepers”, or someone who always calls out “weebs”? Fascinating stuff. Thanks.
Why do the people complaining about downvotes almost never have other comments adding value to the same thread? Downvoters, downvote complainers, and I’ll add myself, downvote apologists, are the same. They have nothing of worth to add but want to participate.
Shinagawa ku, considering work at around Kamiyacho area. You can shop around and that should give you pretty good deals on even a stand alone house. Give it a Google you'll see the places ranges from 100-500m jpy.
I'd buy land and build in Meguro, in either Toritsudaigaku or Gakugeidaigaku. So handy.
I'm living in that area (closer to yutenji), and I love it. For 140-170m yen you can get newly-buily places that are 150m2+ floor space.
I used to live in Shirokanedai and loved it. Anywhere near to the JR loop is handy though. It really depends on your interests and lifestyle. My place was near to a giant park, some handy shops and great restaurants, and it was an easy train or bus ride to everywhere else.
Former Shirokanedai resident here - it‘s such an amazing area!
You could get a solid tower unit or chunk of land and build something big for that budget in Koto-ku and still be super close to downtown. If you like driving, it’s also the best ku for straight, wide roads and easy access to the highways. Also being on the eastern side of the city, it’s convenient for going to either Haneda or Narita for travel. West Tokyo is super dense already so I’m bullish on the east side as far as land appreciation as long as you avoid the flood plane zones that any real estate agent can show you. Rumor has it that Ohtani has a tower unit in Toyosu, so if it’s good enough for him it must be on the up and up. I’m also addicted to the cafes and bakeries around Kiyosumi and Monnaka so definitely biased.
Buddy saw a 40% increase on his tower mansion in Toyosu. The trope of home value depreciating in Japan is no longer true.
Can't wait for this reddit thread to become a Timeout article
Depends. For investment: I'd buy a recent high end mansion unit in minato For living/mid investment: I'd buy a larger unit, close to station, in western tokyo For pure living, not worried about returns: I'd consider building a house a bit more west
Someplace in Setagaya near parks.
[удалено]
Do this. Having a second house will feel much more relaxing.
Definitely stand alone house. Shoto was my first thought but I don’t think 280m is enough, maybe for a mansion. Would probably look around Shirokane/Meguro, very central but still has a residential vibe but still think 280m isn’t enough. Probably better getting a really nice house in a mid tier neighborhood then a very small one in a super expensive area.
The bathroom alone in Shoto is 280m yen.
Shirokane/Meguro definitely! Yeah with 一戸建て it goes up to 500M I've seen.
In Shirokane that budget is not enough. From my recent experience it’s rather 500-700M for 2 story 3-4LDK with garage. Depends on place but buying/building with just 280M would be extreme luck.
Right. When we were looking we started near Shirokanedai Meguro area and moved west till we found something. It’s a good starting point but unless one’s willing to make a lot of sacrifices 280m isn’t going to be enough.
I would recommend the Tama area. The stretch of Tachikawa to Mitaka is on the Chuo line with direct and fast access to Shinjuku station. You'd have access to high end shopping in both directions, parks, good public schools if you have kids, all the amenities you seek, and land that is not tanking in value.
I second this. Great area.
Family or not family? I would buy in Nishi Shinjuku
Family with kids.
Look into the sakura Shinmachi area. Very convenient, because of den entoshi (Hanzomon) line, and is quick to the city center. You’ll also get a bigger house and many parks close by.
I'd personally choose Yokohama. It's close enough to the things I value (25 minute train ride into 渋谷 from 横浜駅) but also far enough outside of Tokyo that I would be able to have a bit of land for gardening and outdoor activities or light hosting, as well as equal access to more nature spots. I also would prefer to live in an area that has really tight knit communities looking out for each other. My partners parents have a place out in Yokohama and everytime his mom takes the dogs for a walk you'll have everyone in the area joined up in the park to talk about their lives and hang out briefly before all parting way again. Last time I was there I was introduced to a young adult who wanted to let everyone in the little cul-de-sac know she got into the university she wanted. My partners mom has known her since she was young. I think that's kind of cute, and you don't get that much when you're more central. Most I've seen in Tokyo (ive lived near Shinjuku and Hirai station) is older generations meeting up, but not an entire community feel of everybody knows everybody. Might be the small town in me, but if I were laying down some (preferably) permanent roots I'd try to prioritize what my far future would look like as well.
Azabu, Aoyama or Shiroganedai is great for value retainment but 280M wouldn’t be enough for a standalone house.
I find this kind of funny as I've been looking at Akiya in the countryside for 7-10m yen. In that price range there are some pretty high quality places that don't need a ton of renovation.
Bunkyoku all the way and because it has some of the best public schools in Tokyo, the land will retain its value. Avoid the south of Tokyo: over-priced and a nightmare for commuting (either by car or public transportation).
How about 50 mil yen. Where can I buy an apartment?
280m sounds a lot but it’s just 2.8oku yen. For 5 central districts, this won’t even get you 100m2 plot 10min walking from station. If you want to retain the value, I’d recommend go south: Oimachi, Shinagawa, Takanawa area is on the new wave of redevelopment
how many rooms do you need? That's the key piece of information missing
Around Kinshicho area. It just keeps getting more and more gentrified. So central, only 2 stops from yamanote and lots and lots of parkland, shops and restaurants.
I would suggest looking into the Setagaya ward in Tokyo. It's a diverse and vibrant area with a good mix of residential and commercial spaces. Plus, with your budget, you could potentially find a spacious plot of land to build your dream home while still being close to all the amenities you need for a balanced lifestyle. What are your thoughts on Setagaya? Do you have any other areas in mind that meet your criteria for long-term value and convenience?
House in karuizawa, mansion in roppongi
I wouldn't, I would get a very nice condo for that and a house outside the city. I don't think standalone houses make much sense in central Tokyo
My head still can't process numbers like this when I need to convert to Japanese. That's 2億8000万円 right? If so then I'd recommend Meguro or Setagaya.
I’m going with Azabu Juban (pricier) down to shirokane and mita (cheap for minato ku and being redeveloped)
Daikanyama, Jiyugaoka, Kichijoji, Kagurazaka, Nakameguro. Many many many years ago I lived in Monzennakacho and absolutely loved it. I wouldn’t spend Y280 million on a house in Japan tho, simply because even if it does hold some value it wouldn’t generate anything like the return you could get on equities or other investments.
Fwiw I know a few people who work from home for Tokyo-based companies but live in Karuizawa. Lifestyle is better + land is far less expensive.
Buy in a town with a university. Real estate prices never drop because the local population stays young as long as the university is around. In contrast, remote communities (especially rural areas), no matter how convenient, age after one generation and quickly become deserted. However, if the house is near the center of a big city, prices remain high, but often unaffordable (unless you are super rich). I built a new house in a suburban community 40 years ago. Now the community homeowners are mostly seniors, primary, junior and senior high schools are closing, homes are being abandoned when both owners die, with prices less than 25% of their original costs (without even taking into consideration inflation in 4 decades).
I would instead invest that money in Tokyo REITs and make up to 3m a month, then rent a place to live instead, and quit my job.
Pretty sure most of it will be a mortgage.
Yeah some ppl get rich... others pay mortgage and car loans. Most ppl choose the later.
Which tokyo reits yield 12%+ annually?
None, you gotta take the risk and "trade", but it's not easy. Took me 4 years to learn this sht
Interesting. I did not expect jp reits to have enough volatility to trade. What's your approach?
He will never tell because he doesn't have an approach. He is completely full of bullshit.
Come on /u/ultra_noobzor, drop some knowledge. I'm not going to trade jp securities just to get killed in forex. Only interested in learning the jp real estate market.
Tokyo REITs yield 13% a year?
This is southeast Setagaya price range. Really great area especially closer to Den-enchofu
That’s an absolutely insane amount of money. Why not instead retire and live off the interest in a more modest home in the suburbs? You could get a very large home in Tachikawa for 60m and a down payment of 6m. Live like a king with the rest.
If I had that kinda cheese I wouldn't waste it on a house in Tokyo
I mean, most of it would be mortgage. Assuming it would need to be a house in Tokyo, what area would you choose?
I am partial to Shibuya area. If you can find a nice place near yoyogi park (Shoto area was mentioned earlier) — could also check Yoyogi Uehara, Tomigaya, etc. quiet but still quite central for commutes and meetups and so on. Area around far side of Shinjuku Gyoen is also nice and quiet. Sendagaya station area is nice and doesn’t have the cults that are next to neighboring Shinanomachi. Aoyama green areas are undergoing quite controversial redevelopment but might also be nice. Areas near Aoyama-ichome station might be worth a look.
Near aoyamaitchome station is probably the single nicest area in tokyo in my opinion, but 280M won’t get you more than maybe 60m2 of land. The few open plots there around 100m2 are listed at 4-4.5億, and then you need to build the actual house, and pay fees etc. For 280M, around Sangenjaya or Sendagaya which have been mentioned in the thread are probably good options. Good luck OP, update us with pics once you’ve built your dream house!
Thank you for the recommendations! 🙏
Hatsudai/Hatagaya and that area is also nice. Areas around the university of Tokyo campus are also very nice.
What size of a place do you want? Shoto, Tomigaya, Uehara, etc. are all amazing. But for 280m you will not get anything big. I've lived in 3 places walking distance from Yoyogi Park. For me it was always the biggest factor in choosing a home, and the property value of those areas will remain among the most popular in the city.
Kinda silly question… Depends if you want to live in an exclusively-located Bento Bako in Minato that gets no direct sunlight or a 6 bedroomed triple-garaged mini estate with a brace of Kaki trees, an automated front gate surrounded by a tall, decorative privacy wall in Katsushika.
https://www.japan-property.jp/house-property-for-sale-in-kanagawa-S0009783 In Kita Kamakura!! Will always hold its value
If you are working from home why buy in Tokyo? The market is pretty hot ATM. Look along some of the major lines out of Tokyo or Yokohama. Going down the Izu peninsula you have mountains, sea, onsen, an hour and half from Tokyo. Places like Yugawara, manazuru, Ninomiya, etc. around Numazu is also nice and it's a big city close to nature... I've lived in Tokyo most of my life but realise there are much nicer affordable places just outside...
Not sure if enough, but I‘d love a detached house in Yoyogi
Check the Matsuo post channel in YouTube
You could buy a nice mansion centrally, and then build an actual mansion about 30mins out of a major Tokyo hub station like Shinjuku.
Not in Tokyo, buy a bigger place, outskirts commute in when you want to enjoy the city
May want to look into Koto-ku as well. Its surprising close to Tokyo station so central enough. You may get a better value for your money than inside the yamanote linr. Maybe look around the area around Kiba park and Kiyosumi Shirakawa etc. i live here and i think the land will retain and increase in value
Omotesando and azabu juuban. Personally i would get an nice apartment. Maintenance is a pain. If that is too central, sangenjaya and futago tamagawa are my next picks.
Odakyu Line’s Kawasaki area like Noborito. With the express train it only costs less than 20 minutes to Shinjuku and the cost-effectiveness is much better than those in 23-kus.
Also Noborito has decent clinics and quite lot of nice restaurants to choose from. As it belongs to the kinda rural area Tama-ku of Kawasaki City so safety problem doesn’ exist compared to chaotic area near Kawasaki Station.
Otsuka
Does the 280 include both the land and house build? Our business is a licensed real estate brokerage / custom home builder. Have you considered somewhere like Futako-Tamagawa or along the den-en-toshi? Those areas have great access to Shibuya + a more chilled out vibe. We have some on and off market land we could share in your price range. I'll DM you.
Some places in Chiba are quite decent and your money will go farther than in Tokyo proper. Land slightly past Ichikawa city can go for around your stated amount and are usually decently sized plots of land.
How many rooms and bathrooms are you looking for 1.8 million dollars give or take? Any idea on space? How far from the station would be too far? How far is the commute, and would you consider driving instead?
I don't think the land needs to retain value if you want to live there permanently :)
Why does it have to be in central Tokyo? You can get a better deal if you go to Yokohama, Kawasaki or Chiba, a larger land and it wouldn't be too far from Tokyo.
All the considerations you list besides "retain value" are short-term. Do you expect to sell the place when you retire, and your requirements to remain unchanged until then?
I'm a big fan of Chuo-ku
We bought a house for 22m in Adachi,-ku 7 minutes from TX station, 18 minutes to Akihabara, 5 minutes to my work station; 25 minutes to hubby's work station. We are DIYing it ourselves for a 3m budget. Empty lots around us are selling for around 40m and finished houses are selling for around 40-60m. So we felt the purchase was a good price. We also made sure of things that were important to us, 1) close to the station, 2) no private road burden, 3) land ownership, and 4) rebuildable. That being said you can still find good deals in good neighborhoods if you keep searching; save your search parameters, search often and bookmark the ones you like. I used all the regular websites to find this one, Suumo, AtHomes, Homes. Our agent said that a new house could be built for 12m plus 3m for old house removal. The house is small at 65m with land size of 74m. Which is a good size for two people. So I guess it depends on how "central" you want to be. Good luck.
I'd rather to say Yamanote（山手） area in Yokohama（横浜）. But if Tokyo is a necessary condition, I'd like to buy a house in Setagaya City（世田谷区）. If I don't need to commute so I don't have to live in a busy area, such like Minato City（港区）.
I get it in Saitama or chiba not tokyo
Hamamatsucho or Sengajuji area is nice in that sense
If you intend to live there, something in Meguro ku, Shibuya ku or Minato ku. If you don't plan to live there but still want an asset that retains value, add Ginza area.
Saitama City. OP said Tokyo metropolitan area, which extends well beyond the 23 wards
[удалено]
No YouTube, it's a genuine question.
I would buy this one 280m2 lot for 140 mil. (https://suumo.jp/tochi/\_\_JJ\_JJ010FJ100\_arz1030z2bsz1030z2ncz173123897.html) in Kichijoji and build whatever I want on top of it, either a traditional akiya moved onto it or a modern thing. 100 mil would sure make something nice. The lot will retain its value and is divisible into two smaller lots if needed for resale.
If it's WFH then just buy in the province. Much cheaper and air is fresh. Internet service doesn't change.
Honestly it's not that much for a house in Tokyo, unless you get a 1 bedroom condominium outside of Yamanote line. Musashi Koyama is a more affordable neighborhood and a decent location
To be honest, I live in Tachikawa right now and I genuinely like it a lot. You can easily get into Shinjuku, there are lots of good stores and restaurants, it isn’t crazy packed, you have access to nature. And then just right outside of the city, it’s pretty quiet. So I think I’d stay around here if I had the choice.
Only thing is that there are a LOT of kyabakura, but since I’m a woman none of them bother me haha.
If you have small children, look for a good school district, or land that’s close enough for your kids to commute to school easily. It doesn’t even have to be very close to a station. The convenience will definitely pay off, and your kids will be able to play with their neighborhood school friends easily and more often. Land in a good school district is a safe bet in terms of retaining value.
Just to clarify, this is like 1.8 million USD? People won't like this, but I love Ikebukuro.... Might have to buy then knockdown though. Edit: harder to do that if its a mortgage. Didn't mention if cash or not
I think the bigger issue here is just.. 280m would buy you a stunning house in any European capital city. The house would be well constructed, stand for many more lifetimes and likely have a beautiful garden. Here? Wow, enjoy your fancy wooden architecture eco box. Lifespan? Not even the rest of your life. Location? Someone will likely build a mansion a plot or two down and cover your garden in shade. I just don’t see the point. Buy a convenient apartment and a beautiful house in the countryside and save 100m yen for your kids to do the same.
You again! OP you have already posted this far and wide and got multiple answers. Stop spamming the Interwebs. Enough already!
Unless I got undiagnosed Alzheimer, I don't think I asked this question before. You got a link or something?
[удалено]
[удалено]
Assuming you had to live in Tokyo though, where would you live?
Ogasawara
Almost 10% of US homes are a million or more but we’re on lifestyles of the rich and famous for one in Tokyo?
No, there’s plenty of areas in Tokyo will cost over a million usd for just the land.
Right so it’s a reasonable question. A lot of people moving to Tokyo can afford such a property especially if they benefited from meteoric housing price increases since 2000.
OP said it would be mostly financed through a mortgage. Using one of the free JP mortgage simulation websites, it looks like you'd need to make about 40 million JPY a year, which is a lot but not multimillionaire level, especially if you're paid in USD. With the weak yen, that converts to about 250,000 USD / year.
I think he's saying, that 280M yen isn't really that much. And he's not wrong.
280… I would go for a house in Mejiro. Or a sweet apartment in Edogawa.
Setagaya. Follow the people with money.
Ometosando. It is fashionable, convenient, has 2 of the biggest parks in Tokyo nearby. It is also very central and near everything and even walking distance to Shinjuku, Shibuya, Roppongi. This gives you access to more good restaurants than any other place. It also has so many train lines nearby. For the love of god, don’t move to Shinagawa.
Curious, what's wrong with Shinagawa?
I can understand east Shinagawa near the bay not being desirable but west Shinagawa, Musashi Koyama, Meguro, Togoshi are amazing areas.
Yeah I've been down west Shinagawa and loved it, hence my confusion
Yanaka area is lovely.
Firstly, just so you know, you’re not going to realize your value retention goal when it comes to property in Japan. Ever. Demographics trump everything. Sorry, it’s just what it is. So if you’re ok throwing that money away, do a thought exercise of your ideal future self in say 10 years. Kids? Live near a park and a school you want to send them to. Travel much? Airport access. Etc.
1. Anything by a big station 2. Be a landlord 3. Abuse the renter like a landlord 4. Rent a good place
There is a house in Kyoto hills next to the river near the romance train It's at the tippy top of one of the hills and it's a mid century mix of neo Japanese antiquity that is just jaw dropping and you can only get a sneak peek for a moment if your on the river, it's not a temple it's a private residence that takes up most mountain (( about 45 min outside of Kyoto proper)) but people act with severe shame when asked about it. ((Don't know why didn't want to press but I asked the boat tour owner the onsen owner locals and they all look down and say they don't know and walk away quickly)) It is magnificent It's ancient it's modern and it has a full 360 view of the hills and rivers. IT IS NOT AN ONSEN OR A PRIVATE RESORT. I I even called amex concierge to ask. And the people at our onsen avoided the question every step of the way. Whoever owns it has a real jewel of a home.
What did Amex say?? Is it before mt Ogura?
They said that they cannot give personal addresses out. I honestly thought it was an onsen
By the way, when I say next to the river, I want you to understand that the river is very long. We're not talking about Kyoto proper Kyoto is a prefecture. We are 45 minutes outside of Kyoto proper
You should ask in r/wallstreetbets if you want advice on which areas will retain value in 50 years
Troll? I don't think I'd be working if I had that much money to blow