Akiya Property all the rage - anyone buying one?

[captainspoke]

Not an akiya, but we have an old house, probably 55 if not 60yrs old. What you see in the picture below is what I did maybe 20+yrs ago. But over the years, and especially due to the noto earthquake last january (a 5+ here), things have settled and the jacks were not holding up the floor anymore. You can't see it, but a couple had 5-10mm of space, and note in two pics on the far side the blocks with no jack--so loose and probably the quake it had fallen down.

The pics are from about a month ago, and after pricing to have the posts redone (not all that expensive, but they wanted to use wood posts and not adjustable jacks) I steeled myself for the job and readjusted them myself. Took about two hours, not counting cleanup, and I wore a ¥500 つなぎ服 to keep the sand out of my work clothes.

It'd be best to replace the wood posts with similar jacks, they're just hanging without supporting any weight, but I'll try to remember to put that on my job list next year, or the year after...!

It looks the same now, but all the jacks are firmly tightened, and the floor feels solid again.

**
If you get an akiya, this is what you might be in for. Low-crawling around working in a space like this, or paying to have it done.

(The jacks work like a turnbuckle, the bottom end is reverse/lefthand threaded, turn the middle and it expands.)

[RayC]

Hi! Looks like great work in supporting the house foundation.
Have you thought of bracing and bolting the house?
I did it recently with my house in California, with help from a contractor and state funding. While houses in Japan may be built differently than in the US, there can be more done for the house foundation. Here's an example of what is done

[Bubblegun]

This is on the BBC, and the reporter highlights my thoughts, precisely. Some Youtubers basically don't make much money from the property themselves, but seem to get the followers and the clicks, which can bring in the income. And i guess, idea of selling the idea of Akiya is just an income too. I can't help but I wonder if one guy is also nudging someone into buying a akiya property, in Japan as an investment, knowing he is also getting youtuber views, followers and revenue, and fees from the people he is trying to help. (I'm not sure what to think) I don't want to rain on them, but I also have a slight unease as towards their motives. Especially since views,clicks, followers means income!
So for me the only reason to buy an Akiya, has to be a place to LIVE. ( the british guy bought a massive Akiya, but for his family) and i think thats gotta be the best investment ever. As Ben said, on his youtube channel the best thing to inves in is investing in YOURSELF/FAMILY.
We bought a second hand home, well actually it is third hand, a nice location, it's old, and technically an Akiya but only because they moved out a week ago.

I'm glad the BBC picked up on this, cause i thought i was the only one.

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c9wk01d2gvxo

[captainspoke]

This is on the BBC, and the reporter highlights my thoughts, precisely. Some Youtubers basically don't make much money from the property themselves, but seem to get the followers and the clicks, which can bring in the income. And i guess, idea of selling the idea of Akiya is just an income too. I can't help but I wonder if one guy is also nudging someone into buying a akiya property, in Japan as an investment, knowing he is also getting youtuber views, followers and revenue, and fees from the people he is trying to help. (I'm not sure what to think) I don't want to rain on them, but I also have a slight unease as towards their motives. Especially since views,clicks, followers means income! ...

I agree, and this model is similar to many financial articles. Tho not youtube views like these akiya, articles hawking things like the hottest dividend stocks or some angle on retirement planning are headlined and written get clicks/eyeballs, to generate ad revenue.

[Bubblegun]

This is on the BBC, and the reporter highlights my thoughts, precisely. Some Youtubers basically don't make much money from the property themselves, but seem to get the followers and the clicks, which can bring in the income. And I guess, idea of selling "the idea of an Akiya" is just an income stream too. I can't help but I wonder if one guy is also nudging someone into buying a akiya property, in Japan as an investment, knowing he is also getting youtuber views, followers and revenue, and fees from the people he is trying to help. (I'm not sure what to think) I don't want to rain on them, but I also have a slight unease as towards their motives. Especially since views,clicks, followers means income! ...

I agree, and this model is similar to many financial articles. Tho not youtube views like these akiya, articles hawking things like the hottest dividend stocks or some angle on retirement planning are headlined and written get clicks/eyeballs, to generate ad revenue.

Thats a great analogy. The one guy who said he made money by buying property in the U.S, has a financial insentive to encourage and help people from abroad to buy one of these Akiya's. At the end of the day, he gets his clicks, his revenue, and his commision with basically no risk at all.( sorry dodgy salesman comes to mind). Especially when he said the house he showed the reporter, was bought as an INVESTMENT. Great for him as his english and Japanese is great, maybe not so great for the investor who can't navigate Japanese. Not to mention he can ask the investor if he can come back to the house, and make more videos, of the house getting renovated.
The other british guy seems to be doing it for the right reasons, but wow,!100,000 dollars is a lot to put down, on a total wreck. I respect that, and have a lot of respect for his wife. The swedish guy, has been doing this for a while, and the one in Tokyo, looks great but I wonder if that's HIS place? or Air BnB?
But again he seems to be doing video Akiya porn craze thing. It reminds me of all those unboxing vids that were all the rage, and now it" s "UNLOCKING Akiya craze".
But one thing I've noticed is ALL the AKIYA's on Youtube,(atleast my youtube feed), seem to be total wrecks! Empty for decades!
I don't see many NORMAL,AVERAGE used homes, that have been looked after, for sale. Maybe not enough clicks, views,or subsribers in..."just walking around a normal home thats been empty for a few months".No surpise factor.
I am sure some influencer with a million followers on Youtube, Instagram, Tik Tok. can afford to buy a wreck, do it up, and then move on.
I would love to understand the income they get from "all the social media streams" they use.
Maybe people are interested in this, in part due the housing crisis in the west. Two countries with two opposit kinds of a housing crisis. But what's going to happen when the dream of an Akiya becomes an Nightmare for the gullible? or even the influencer? Just jump on a plane, and let the Japanese clean up the mess as they fly off back home. For the genuine. Buyer beware comes to mind! Especially in the sticks!

[Moneymatters]

The swedish guy, has been doing this for a while, and the one in Tokyo, looks great but I wonder if that's HIS place? or Air BnB?
…
I would love to understand the income they get from "all the social media streams" they use.
…
But what's going to happen when the dream of an Akiya becomes a Nightmare for the gullible? or even the influencer?

1. AirBNB. But exclusively for his fans hoping he’ll pop round with his shirt off.

2. “Thankfully” they all have a 10 minute video entitled “how much YouTube paid me for 1 million views. Then later. “How much YouTube paid me for my how much YouTube paid me video..”

3. “Akiya 2. Bessou Boogaloo.”

[zeroshiki]

This is on the BBC, and the reporter highlights my thoughts, precisely. Some Youtubers basically don't make much money from the property themselves, but seem to get the followers and the clicks, which can bring in the income. And I guess, idea of selling "the idea of an Akiya" is just an income stream too. I can't help but I wonder if one guy is also nudging someone into buying a akiya property, in Japan as an investment, knowing he is also getting youtuber views, followers and revenue, and fees from the people he is trying to help. (I'm not sure what to think) I don't want to rain on them, but I also have a slight unease as towards their motives. Especially since views,clicks, followers means income! ...

I agree, and this model is similar to many financial articles. Tho not youtube views like these akiya, articles hawking things like the hottest dividend stocks or some angle on retirement planning are headlined and written get clicks/eyeballs, to generate ad revenue.

Thats a great analogy. The one guy who said he made money by buying property in the U.S, has a financial insentive to encourage and help people from abroad to buy one of these Akiya's. At the end of the day, he gets his clicks, his revenue, and his commision with basically no risk at all.( sorry dodgy salesman comes to mind). Especially when he said the house he showed the reporter, was bought as an INVESTMENT. Great for him as his english and Japanese is great, maybe not so great for the investor who can't navigate Japanese. Not to mention he can ask the investor if he can come back to the house, and make more videos, of the house getting renovated.
The other british guy seems to be doing it for the right reasons, but wow,!100,000 dollars is a lot to put down, on a total wreck. I respect that, and have a lot of respect for his wife. The swedish guy, has been doing this for a while, and the one in Tokyo, looks great but I wonder if that's HIS place? or Air BnB?
But again he seems to be doing video Akiya porn craze thing. It reminds me of all those unboxing vids that were all the rage, and now it" s "UNLOCKING Akiya craze".
But one thing I've noticed is ALL the AKIYA's on Youtube,(atleast my youtube feed), seem to be total wrecks! Empty for decades!
I don't see many NORMAL,AVERAGE used homes, that have been looked after, for sale. Maybe not enough clicks, views,or subsribers in..."just walking around a normal home thats been empty for a few months".No surpise factor.
I am sure some influencer with a million followers on Youtube, Instagram, Tik Tok. can afford to buy a wreck, do it up, and then move on.
I would love to understand the income they get from "all the social media streams" they use.
Maybe people are interested in this, in part due the housing crisis in the west. Two countries with two opposit kinds of a housing crisis. But what's going to happen when the dream of an Akiya becomes an Nightmare for the gullible? or even the influencer? Just jump on a plane, and let the Japanese clean up the mess as they fly off back home. For the genuine. Buyer beware comes to mind! Especially in the sticks!

I saw a documentary on NHK about this. It seems like the nicer akiyas in ok locations get snapped up pretty quickly and are sometimes actually fought over in auctions. It makes sense. The 1 JPY Akiya that is common in foreign YouTube is priced that way because it IS old dilapidated and in the countryside.

[RetireJapan]

2. “Thankfully” they all have a 10 minute video entitled “how much YouTube paid me for 1 million views. Then later. “How much YouTube paid me for my how much YouTube paid me video..”

The RetireJapan version of that is "How much YouTube paid me for 657 views..."

[Nancy]

Also, I have a feeling that the houses that are shown in downtown Tokyo are built on land where the house cannot be torn down and rebuilt, only remodeled. The videos show very little access, and I think that the entrance has to be like 4 meters to allow a house to actually be rebuilt on it.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

Also, I have a feeling that the houses that are shown in downtown Tokyo are built on land where the house cannot be torn down and rebuilt, only remodeled. The videos show very little access, and I think that the entrance has to be like 4 meters to allow a house to actually be rebuilt on it.

It really depends, 2 meters when facing an road is usually required. However, lots of flagpole properties have a history of not meeting this requirement, but their owners have pensioned for exceptions, and been granted the right to rebuild.

These edge cases can often net you a very nice piece of land at a fraction of the price. Good luck with parking though!