Psychology of buying a house

[RetireJapan]

Yes, you have to be especially careful in Japan to buy the right place I think, as any further move is going to cost you in terms of the usual moving costs plus depreciation. I still prefer owning to renting though, assuming it’s reasonably long term; the insecurity of knowing you can be evicted without much notice preys on the mind as you get older in my experience.

Don't mean to nitpick but I believe renters in Japan have fairly robust rights and it can be difficult for landlords to terminate or non-renew leases. It seems somewhat common to have to bribe people to leave when landlords want to tear down a building, for example.

[Beaglehound]

Fair enough, my views on the insecurity of renting are likely coloured by a UK perspective. My only experience of renting in Japan was 20 years ago and the main thing I remember was having to shell out for key money and to renew the lease, which didn’t leave a good impression.

[RetireJapan]

My only experience of renting in Japan was 20 years ago and the main thing I remember was having to shell out for key money and to renew the lease, which didn’t leave a good impression.

Paying to renew a lease has to be the most irritating thing about renting. The landlord should be paying you to continue living there and pay rent every month

[mule96]

Or more and more paying for shady Hoshogaishas...

[Utachiyo]

Yes, you have to be especially careful in Japan to buy the right place I think, as any further move is going to cost you in terms of the usual moving costs plus depreciation. I still prefer owning to renting though, assuming it’s reasonably long term; the insecurity of knowing you can be evicted without much notice preys on the mind as you get older in my experience.

That very thing happened to me last year, which is one reason I'm working on buying a house now. We were given several months and quite a bit of money, which helped, but it wasn't a fun experience. I liked where we lived and the place we moved to (where we are now) feels like a terrible downgrade.

[eagleyes]

Hi everybody,

just a follow up of my post. A long time since August. So in the end what happened is that i finally found a convenient home to both me and my partner around september. It is not near the area I like but it is not in a bad location. There are supermarkets nearby and other convenient facilities. Access is good as well. It will never be as in my previous area but for the superficy and the cost I think it was a good deal so I went with it. I applied for Flat 35 loan which I obtained with a further reduction rate for 5 years. There are some criteria to be met to obtain such rate. So for the first 5 years it is 0.86% and then 1.11%. These are the rates as of end of October but I do not think it changed a lot since then. Peace of mind for the next 35 years.
I moved in beginning of January because i had to refresh the wallpapers and do some minor reparations.

Anyway now i have to prepare for filing final tax declaration and loan special deduction. It is very important to do it in the first year so I am entitled to the refund for the next 13 years.

Anyway thank you for your feedback and for your support. I ll try to share my experience and knowledge obtained during this journey with other people willing to know more about buying a home in Japan.

[RetireJapan]

Congratulations! I am jealous of that sweet sweet 13-year tax break