RetireJapan

mighty58 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 6:11 am I did a similar thing to what you’re considering. I bought a 20 year old, 3-storey, 180m2 house, and had the following done prior to moving in:

Exterior

• Roof central pillar replacement
• Roof tile replacement/repair where necessary
• New roof paint
• Siding replacement/repair where necessary
• New caulking for all windows
• New coat of paint for third floor + any other exposed siding
• New waterproofinging coats for four balconies
• Pressure wash

Interior

• new kitchen (straight, just under 3m)
• new bath unit (1620 size)
• new wood floorboards (1st and 2nd floors)
• underfloor heating for 2nd floor living room
• new underfloor insulation for entire first floor
• new main bathroom sink unit w/shelving (180cm long)
• new secondary sink unit
• two small toilet-side sink units
• complete replacement of wallpaper
• new genkan shelf unit for shoes
• lighting – new LED units throughout
• conversion (removal) of one large closet into floor space

Cost: 11m yen, rolled into the mortgage. btw, the shop that did our renos put some pics up on their website, if you’re interested: https://www.actyhome.com/reform/allreform-0.html. As you can see, we tried to keep it clean and simple, more of a spruce-up than a full re-design.


Tips? I have many, but here’s a couple important ones:

• Get at least three estimates. I got one from a big name place, a regional mid-size player, and a small local shop. I went with the local shop, and not just because their estimate was the lowest. Being a big customer for a small shop has its benefits. In order to properly assess and ensure estimate comparisons are apples to apples, you need a solid understanding of what you want to do. So make up a list, and give the same conditions to each shop. Don’t just give them the list though, walk through the house with the person and describe to them what you want to do. Observe how well they listen, and how closely they actually examine the state of what needs to be done, that will all be part of your assessment. Of course, leave leeway to see how creative/helpful they can be as well. You will need to talk to these people over several meetings lasting 1-2 hours each, so make sure you like them.
• The devil is in the details. Request catalogues, pore over them, go to showrooms, and just really get into the weeds of sorting through the different options and configurations. Generally, a base grade of a higher-end line will be far superior to a high-spec version of a mid-line range, without much difference in costs. Understand which options are worth shelling out for (like a solid stone floor for your bathroom) and which are just expensive fluff/vanity options.

As for the inspection, there was a previous thread on this here, but definitely do it. It will help you better understand the house and to prioritize what you need done. It will also likely serve as excellent material to aid you in price negotiations, because they will find several things. I ended up negotiating about 10% off the price of the house.

yakushika wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 3:18 am Our place is second hand, and is about 30 years old, wooden construction, in the country. We've had it painted and the roof re-sealed and some internal changes made. That apart, very little expenditure beyond normal wear and tear - in fact less than on our new apartment in Tokyo. There are well built second hand places out there so it is worth looking. It is worth sounding out vendors - some just want to sell and will consider any bid. You can also find vendors who will sell you the house and its furniture/ contents.

JA have a good ant protection plan and do a thorough survey, and we found cheaper than Duskin and others, but the 5 year plan was a couple of hundred thousand yen if I remember correctly. They did do a full check and survey of our foundations which was reassuring.

I would spend some time finding a good builder. It sounds like you have some immediate plans and will then do more as time goes on. Getting a good relationship with a reliable builder who is on your wavelength is priceless. They can also manage all the other contractors for you - electricians, plumbers etc. If possible, they should be involved in the purchase - a builder might find things that a survey won't and will also be a reality check on your plans if for example you are considering an extension. They should know the building regulations.

yakushika wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 9:58 am... It was a complete refit of part of the property, new bathroom and toilet and a lot of barrier free facilities.

yakushika wrote: ↑Mon Feb 28, 2022 1:45 pm Thanks, yes, we got some financial support. I might post elsewhere on the issues around caring for an elderly relative in the Japanese system, which offers quite a lot of support but is still onerous on the family I think. In our case money is not the problem, since he has a good pension (former teacher) and we got all the powers of attorney done early in the process. It is more about what we have to do to look after him and how it impacts on our life.

I don't want to sidetrack this excellent thread on the issues of older houses and renovation. I just mentioned this to give some idea of what projects can cost.

Bubblegun wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 3:40 am An update on pre-mortgage applications.

The first place said yes. They'll give us a 25 year mortgage, flexible rate, and we can borrow 9 million yen+ We add out deposit on top. This offer is good for 6 months.

The second place and I quote "we can't give a pre-mortgage to a foreigner", but the wife says they'll consider it afterwards. (which is their euphemism for "NO". But since they just weren't polite enough to say "NO" we might just apply again, when we find a place and see what happens.

The third place just gave us an outright. Naaaaaaah.

So its just look for something, now that we have a concrete figure to work with.