RetireJapan

howdi y'all

I have a few things to add based upon the following knowledge base
1 we bought our apartment 13 years ago
2 we lived in a house prior to that time and still maintain it to this day

I much prefer the apartment but I'm from an urban place so naturally feel more at ease there. Some of the critical points for me before agreeing to buy the place were
1 sufficient number of tenants to offset repair and maint expenses
2 elevator (see point 1)
3 Top floor with no upstairs neighbors, although I did settle for a lego block style with our place on the 3rd floor and our upstairs neighbor sitting atop ours by about 10 or 15%, which is essentially nobody but birds and sky above
4 No neighbors on 3 sides, so we are on the end of the building facing away from the street
5 Located in a neighborhood with top 5 city ranked elementary and junior high schools, thus in theory should be easy to find a tenant
6 Parking was available on site, but not included in the purchase price. Its cheaper to rent a spot nearby
7 3 minute walk to the bus stop, 20-30 minute ride downtown
8 Wonderful view of Mt Fuji from the bedroom window

Some issues that have arisen
the maint company increased prices and lowered their service contract, so we changed companies
the quarterly tenant meetings are a waste of time as they just read from the report which is put in everyones mailbox, so we do not attend most meetings
taxes have increased
overall bulding debt load has not abated for the most part
some tenants wanting permission to renovate in common areas such as putting a A/C unit in the hall
tenants ignoring the stupid no pet rule, including the building president

Some issues that have NOT arisen
noisy neighbors (knock on wood)
overly expensive repairs

..........
The house on the other hand is a minimal expense as the tax has not increased and I do the vast majority of the repairs myself. Its about 40 years old and is showing her age, but she was well built and I have no plans to replace her, despite her issues. The house is in an even better area of the city than the apt is so it has "retained" most of its land value.

If I had to choose, I'd keep the house. Fortunately I am in a position to be able to keep both.

donpaulo wrote: ↑Mon May 09, 2022 1:48 pm 5 Located in a neighborhood with top 5 city ranked elementary and junior high schools, thus in theory should be easy to find a tenant

Is this information publicly available for all cities and neighborhood? I was hoping to find elementary school rankings.

Many good points have already been made, and also I am a bit late to the game, but still would like to contribute (as a Newbie) a few - though not very organized - thoughts:

We bought a used Manshon here at a very reasonable price (due to it‘s bad access to train stations plus relatively bad access to other infrastructure, as it sits on a hill), after living in rented places for years, always in the city.

This is the best sound and heat insulated place we have lived in so far. (Regarding heat insulation it also probably helps, that we have neighbors on all sides except above us). The ceilings are about 30-40 cm higher than average which is nice and the windows have very solid frames; no cheap drafty Aluminium frames, which let in plenty of water during every Taifun/strong rain anymore.

We also enjoy a nice view, that cannot be blocked, have no power cables (s.o. Mentioned those in regards to houses), no noisy streets either.

There is no elevator, no janitor and concierge, no shared facilities, e. g. Guest rooms, meeting rooms, gym etc., unlike in a 31 year old manshon near-by, that charges 45,000 for both. (maintenance plus repair fund). But we do have Haitatsu Boxes, which is very convenient if you order online a lot.

Our fees are around Yen 26,000 (the repair fund was raised once, (probably for the first time.) in return it not only saves us from having to deal with/organize major repairs and necessary maintenance for a house, but also there is no danger to have to face sudden and large but necessary expenses.

Car space of course is a different matter, the fees can be quite high, depending where you live and in some cases there are not enough parking lots. (we don’t own a car.)

In case you spent longer periods away a Manshon is safer.

Usually the area around manshons is much greener and well maintained (paid from the Kanrihi of course), than in the case of houses which mostly have zero green these days (one of my pet peeves), true especially for new 3-story houses near popular train stations.

Many of the newer manshons have quite spacious balconies. I come from a country with a “balcony culture”, where people (who don’t own houses) like to use them as an extension of their living space (weather permitted) and with lots of plants, but for many here they just serve as an extended storage space or smoker’s corner ….

Whereas The above mentioned 3-Story houses (in the city) mostly have neither anything resembling a garden, nor a reasonably big balcony or veranda. Which for me would be (apart from the advantage of owning the land) the major reason to want to own a house.

I have seen some new houses with depressingly small floor space, where the living room is not much bigger than a small bedroom. While the allover living space may often be bigger, than that of the average sized apartment (around 74 square meters?) It does not feel that way. The steep staircases maybe a problem in old age.

Both types have their pro and cons of course and it largely depends on what is import to you and your family, how old you are and where you live, in combination with your available budget.

Are you a non-smoker? If so, imagine the nightmare: You move in only to find your neighbor is a chain smoker (very likely here). He often smokes on his balcony so you can never go outside or open your windows. He also smokes in his mansion and in the hallways and elevators and the stench seeps into your house through the vents, walls and doors. Now you’re stuck in hell.