The common ways of apartment hunting in Tokyo are rather tedious and not very welcoming to foreigners, in my opinion. Not that I mean to gripe about everything I'm not used to, but the process I'm going through is just inefficient. Of course somehow it has worked for gazillions of people.
In general, one comes up with a location depending on, say, commute time from the office, or a particular district. Then a realtor is contacted--usually there are several conveniently located around each train station. Don't bother searching online for the moment as good apartments come and go so fast that realtors don't have time to enter them into a computer. Plus under the impression that only affluent foreigners go online to look for apartments, the places one finds via a realtor's website tend to be more expensive.
My criteria:
- at least 10 minutes' walk from the nearest train station (for exercise--will probably regret it once the rains and the scorching summer heat sets in)
- at least 2nd floor and above. Just don't relish the thought of every Tomi, Dickeshi and Hariko walking past my front door.
- in-room washer facilities. Most apartments are unfurnished...
- room for at least 1 guest. For all you guys who are coming to visit :)
Fees:
- Monthly:
- rent(賃料): expect to cough up ~USD1000 for a decent place 30 minutes from downtown Tokyo.
- maintenance fee(管理費) which ranges from 0-10% depending on the landlord's whims.
- One-time (typically):
- deposit/security money(敷金) equal to 1-2 mths' rent.
Supposedly refundable at the end of one's lease if the apartment remains in good condition, but one should not expect to see this sum again.
- key money(礼金) to the tune of 1-2 mths' rent again.
This is a total scam concocted by some greedy arse on the pretext of showing one's appreciation to the landlord for the to-die-for privilege of renting the premises.
At the realtor's office, the tedious task of sifting through sheets of apartment datasheets to find a suitable one begins. The agents can only help narrow down to a particular folder. If one is lucky, a similar recent transaction triggers some memory and the agent manages a "Have I got the perfect place for you!"
Generally they're nice, but do be careful of being steered towards something that they deliberately planned for you, based on whatever decision process they might have done through. (Or am I too cynical?)
After shortlisting a few dozen possiblities, they'll call the landlords to verify if the apartments (or 物件) are available. Expect some to be snatched up already. If one is a foreigner, don't be surprised if many landlords immediately reject one outright. "Sorry, I don't want to deal with foreigners." That's right, no matter how many years one has lived in Japan, or if one is the Prince of Kalimantan. People aren't xenophobic, just scared.
Haha by now you can tell that I am not too thrilled nevertheless...
Finally after some time, an agent escorts one to the apartment of interest to have a look. That's usually the deciding factor, but it's not over yet! That's when the _real_ application starts. Fill out a few forms, request proof of employment and of course, the mysterious guarantor (保証人) which every renter requires in case the tenant skips town and the landlord is bereft of that month's rent and damages. Problem is, only Japanese citizens can be guarantors so what is a foreigner to do? Answer: Find a good Japanese friend or hire a guarantor company for the princely sum of 1 mth's rent.
After going to all that trouble, there's still the possibility that the landlord might nit-pick at something and reject one's application.
Dang.... renting an apartment in Japan is neither the cheapest nor simplest of tasks.
I'm seriously considering starting a rental business without all these requirements.
Wish me luck! Hopefully I can get a suitable apartment this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment