Customised rental properties provide answer to vacancy rate problem
An increasing number of landlords are offering to renovate their properties in accordance with their tenants' wishes in order to attract and retain long-term occupants.
Typical renovations can amount to two year's rent, but in an effort to retain the tenants in the long term, the landlord of one building spent approximately three year's rent on renovating an apartment to the client's specifications. The rent on this particular apartment is 160,000 Yen a month, approximately 10,000 Yen higher than it was prior to the renovation.Read more
How much will distance from the station affect rent?
The walking distance from the nearest train station is a major factor when searching for an apartment or house in Japan. The closer to the station, the higher the rent. So, how much does rent change as you look at places that are 5, 10 and 15 minutes away?
The following is a translation of an interview between a writer and real estate agent that appeared on the MyNavi news site on January 3, 2013:
-- Where I live the difference in rent is approximately 10,000 Yen/month between a property 5 minutes from the station and one that is 10 minutes away. Are other areas the same?
Although it will depend on the area, that would be the approximate difference in rent that you will see. For properties over a 10 minute walk, the rent will be even lower. As for one-room studio apartments, there is almost a 30% difference in rent between properties that are 5 minutes and 10 minutes away.Read more
Studio apartment sale listings reach all-time high
The number of secondhand 'one-room' or studio apartments listed for sale in greater Tokyo has reached an all-time high. According to Tokyo Kantei, as many as 70,000 units were listed in 2012, an increase of almost 10% from 2011.
Many of the studios were built during the bubble period from the late 1980s to 1990 and are hitting the market as investors show a trend towards reducing their asset holding time.Read more
Able to offer improved rental apartment service for foreign students
Japanese rental agency, Able, have introduced a new service for foreign students that will assist them in finding an apartment to move into as soon as they arrive in the country.
Up until now, foreign students have had to stay in temporary accommodation, such as student dormitories, until they receive their alien registration card. It was only when they had received the card that they could rent an apartment privately. This resulted in the student waiting several weeks before moving into more permanent accommodation.Read more
47-yr old ryokan converted to sharehouse in Tokyo
Real estate company R Bank have converted an old Japanese inn (ryokan) into a character-filled female-only sharehouse in Tokyo's Katsushika ward. Called 'Tokyo Kita Wave', the property was renovated from a 47 year old post-war inn, and is their 30th sharehouse.Read more