Older house/Renovation/purchase

[Roger Van Zant]

Just remember, don’t even think of buying a house here unless you intend to die in it, because you will probably not be able to sell it again, unless to another foreigner. Also, the house isn’t worthless. You’re paying what you deem it to be worth. It is already hooked up to gas, water, electricity….all that stuff costs money if you were building from scratch.

[Beaglehound]

I like the kitchen work. If we get a house clearly that's gotta be priority one.

I was wondering if you would think if the house was 8 million would it be cheeky to offer 6 million? and then end up around the 7 million mark.
Never done this before in Japan.

One thing to bear in mind if you haven’t already is that with that age of house the actual property will have no value, you are paying for the land, with a house that the market would likely view as a burden, i.e. you would have to pay for it to be demolished before building back. So there may well be scope to offer a lower price (sellers don’t know that you intend to renovate). Have you got an agent working with you? Worth talking it through with one I think.

Thanks beagle hound.
Well we just emailed the companies advertising the properties and I assume they are working for the seller and themselves.
What should I look for in a an agent? any specific key words or Japanese words I should be looking out for.?
Normally in the UK id just get a solicitor, but somehow Im sure Japan has a different system. This is when I realize how much of a fish out of water we can be as we just take things from granted back home.

I believe you can use the seller’s agent to broker the deal in its entirety, for which they would take a (roughly) 3% cut from both buyer and seller. Personally I would not be comfortable doing that, seems a conflict of interest. You are going to be on the hook for that estate agent fee whichever way, so I would suggest employing one of your own. We did that and they basically listened to what we wanted, made suggestions, arranged accompanied viewings of any property on the market, and were able to advise as to any obvious issues with the property. They would be able to advise on pricing/negotiation as well.

Once you have bought the property you will need to register it using the services of a notary, but that’s for further down the line.

Decent summary of the process here:

https://www.juwai.asia/main/news/2583

[Beaglehound]

Just remember, don’t even think of buying a house here unless you intend to die in it, because you will probably not be able to sell it again, unless to another foreigner. Also, the house isn’t worthless. You’re paying what you deem it to be worth. It is already hooked up to gas, water, electricity….all that stuff costs money if you were building from scratch.

Hopefully in Bubblegun’s case he will be paying less than he deems it to be worth; I agree it is not worthless to him, as he intends to renovate. However, in the eyes of the market, a forty year old house, unless it has been renovated, is probably viewed as a burden rather than an asset. The empty plot of land would likely be priced higher than the property as is.

[Roger Van Zant]

Just remember, don’t even think of buying a house here unless you intend to die in it, because you will probably not be able to sell it again, unless to another foreigner. Also, the house isn’t worthless. You’re paying what you deem it to be worth. It is already hooked up to gas, water, electricity….all that stuff costs money if you were building from scratch.

Hopefully in Bubblegun’s case he will be paying less than he deems it to be worth; I agree it is not worthless to him, as he intends to renovate. However, in the eyes of the market, a forty year old house, unless it has been renovated, is probably viewed as a burden rather than an asset. The empty plot of land would likely be priced higher than the property as is.

But in Japan, even a brand new house is a burden as opposed to an asset, no? It starts depreciating the minute you move in. One reason why I think it is nuts to buy a brand new house here.

[RetireJapan]

But in Japan, even a brand new house is a burden as opposed to an asset, no? It starts depreciating the minute you move in. One reason why I think it is nuts to buy a brand new house here.

Assuming you are going to stay in the house permanently, the two main reasons I can think of to buy new are that you get to design it completely, and you can choose to have modern insulation/ventilation. Retrofitting those last two is pretty expensive (we paid 27m to renovate our in-laws' place).

Each person will decide how important those are to them, and how much they are willing to pay for them.

I can't see much reason to buy a pre-built new house though, as you neither get to design it and usually won't get decent insulation either.

[Beaglehound]

Just remember, don’t even think of buying a house here unless you intend to die in it, because you will probably not be able to sell it again, unless to another foreigner. Also, the house isn’t worthless. You’re paying what you deem it to be worth. It is already hooked up to gas, water, electricity….all that stuff costs money if you were building from scratch.

Hopefully in Bubblegun’s case he will be paying less than he deems it to be worth; I agree it is not worthless to him, as he intends to renovate. However, in the eyes of the market, a forty year old house, unless it has been renovated, is probably viewed as a burden rather than an asset. The empty plot of land would likely be priced higher than the property as is.

But in Japan, even a brand new house is a burden as opposed to an asset, no? It starts depreciating the minute you move in. One reason why I think it is nuts to buy a brand new house here.

I think we are at cross purposes here. What I am saying is that at that age of house and given the low price, he is probably paying for the land only. Which happens to have a house on it. When I was in a similar situation an agent explained to me that sellers in this situation may be willing to negotiate on the basis that the buyer wants to demolish the house, which obviously costs money. Even though Bubblegun plans to renovate, it may be advantageous to use the likely cost of demolition as a negotiating tactic. An estate agent with knowledge of the local market would certainly be able to advise on that basis, as well as on likely renovation costs. Since he will need to pay something to an agent anyway, may as well get one working for him at this stage.

[Bubblegun]

Just remember, don’t even think of buying a house here unless you intend to die in it, because you will probably not be able to sell it again, unless to another foreigner. Also, the house isn’t worthless. You’re paying what you deem it to be worth. It is already hooked up to gas, water, electricity….all that stuff costs money if you were building from scratch.

Well. I've been here long enough, I dont see myself moving back unless WW3 kicks off over here.
I'll probably pop my clogs, due to the worry and strife.(Wife). Or heat stroke. If she doesn't give me one first

[Bubblegun]

But in Japan, even a brand new house is a burden as opposed to an asset, no? It starts depreciating the minute you move in. One reason why I think it is nuts to buy a brand new house here.

Assuming you are going to stay in the house permanently, the two main reasons I can think of to buy new are that you get to design it completely, and you can choose to have modern insulation/ventilation. Retrofitting those last two is pretty expensive (we paid 27m to renovate our in-laws' place).

Each person will decide how important those are to them, and how much they are willing to pay for them.

I can't see much reason to buy a pre-built new house though, as you neither get to design it and usually won't get decent insulation either.

That's totally true. a new pre-built house to me is just the same as an old refurbished house. Sometimes the older houses have some nice little areas or features. I think for the wife, kids and myself the area is important, so a second hand house is ok. Maybe if we were younger, with a young family, and 40 odd years ahead we could build that new dream house. I'm not too worried about insulation in the winter, as its much easier to stay warm in the winter than it is to be cool in the summer. but of course we can improve that too.
But if each family is happy, that's the important thing .

[Bubblegun]

I think we are at cross purposes here. What I am saying is that at that age of house and given the low price, he is probably paying for the land only. Which happens to have a house on it. When I was in a similar situation an agent explained to me that sellers in this situation may be willing to negotiate on the basis that the buyer wants to demolish the house, which obviously costs money. Even though Bubblegun plans to renovate, it may be advantageous to use the likely cost of demolition as a negotiating tactic. An estate agent with knowledge of the local market would certainly be able to advise on that basis, as well as on likely renovation costs. Since he will need to pay something to an agent anyway, may as well get one working for him at this stage.

Thanks for that advice. Its something to to consider.