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00:00Hey guys, no video for buying a house in Japan playlist.
00:03So what's triggered this video is there seems to be an increase in the clickbait posts on the internet
00:09that you can buy a house in Japan for $30,000, which is true.
00:14But like most clickbait, they just give you the bit of the information that gets them the click
00:19and they don't give you the rest of the information
00:21because they're not about giving you the whole story, they're about getting the click.
00:26So they just give you that little bit of information and don't give you the rest.
00:28So the purpose of this video is to give you the rest.
00:32So if you haven't seen our buying a house in Japan playlist yet
00:35and you're interested in buying a house in Japan, check out the playlist
00:38because there is 16 years of information about buying a house in Japan, lots of videos on the topic.
00:46This video will just give you a bit of an overview to give you a bit more of the whole
00:50story.
00:51So the first thing is people are often surprised that you can buy a house in Japan
00:54even if you're not a Japanese citizen or a permanent resident.
00:57That's true. At the moment, I would not be surprised if this new government changes that rule
01:02because they're toughening up everything to do with foreigners.
01:05So that might change in the future.
01:07But at the moment, yeah, you can turn up in Japan and buy a house.
01:10So what's the real cost?
01:11So in this case, we'll use US dollars because it seems to be easier for people to convert
01:17into whatever currency they use in their country.
01:19But rather than millions of yen, it always gets a bit confusing.
01:24And thousands of man yen is even more confusing.
01:28So we'll do US dollars and we'll just do a $50,000 house, $50,000 US house.
01:34If you come to Japan, buy a $50,000 US house.
01:39So $50,000 for the house and then $2,000 for a judicial scrivener.
01:45So the person that comes along to the sale and stamps and stuff, $2,000 for that person.
01:52Brokerage fee is 3% of the $50,000 plus $400 plus, or times 1.1% because you've got
02:02to buy
02:0210% tax, that's about $2,000 too.
02:06And then the surveying fee, you've got to have the place surveyed before you can settle on
02:10it, and that costs $2,000 as well.
02:12So that's $6,000, that's $56,000.
02:15So $50,000 for the house, $6,000 in fees, then you've bought it.
02:20When we bought this one, those of you who followed those videos, I did a fair bit of renovation,
02:27nothing seriously structural, but still spent $20,000 just on materials to do this house.
02:37So that was just sort of like a bit of a renovation of the kitchen, and then just painting and
02:43repairs
02:43and just all the other stuff.
02:45A new floor, I had to replace one of the floors that was tatami, replace it with wood, and those
02:51of you who saw those videos know what I did.
02:53I did it myself, and I did it before work and after work every day for a year, that's
02:58how much work went into it, and $20,000 in materials and truck rentals and all $20,000.
03:06Used a little bit of outside labour, used an electrician a little bit because I had to
03:10legally, and gas fitters and a few things like that.
03:14The total was about $20,000.
03:17So, you know, one of these old houses in the countryside that you buy, it's going to be
03:20about that.
03:21So, and then the ongoing costs, your land tax is going to be minimum.
03:26Now, we're out in the countryside out here, we pay about $1,000 a year because we're out
03:31in the countryside.
03:33If you're out in the countryside, particularly if you're in a rural area, a farming area,
03:38the land tax is a bit cheaper than it is in town, but you're going to be a minimum of
03:43$1,000 a year.
03:44If you're in one of the big cities, who knows?
03:48Multiples of that, I would imagine, if you're in one of the big cities.
03:51But minimum of $1,000 a year.
03:53Electricity, $100 a month.
03:56Now, one of the things about these old places is they're very hard to cool in summer, and
04:00they're very hard to warm in winter because they're just big and they leak air.
04:05So, we spend about $100 a month in electricity at this time of year.
04:12However, in winter, we spend about $400 a month.
04:16Did I just say, did I say $100 a month?
04:18$100 a month this time of year, but in winter, about $400 a month because we have to use the
04:23kerosene heaters as well as the air conditioners just to get the temperature to 18 degrees.
04:30So, you know, when it's really cold outside, when it's minus outside, when it's below freezing
04:34outside, you know, we need the kerosene heaters.
04:37So, we spend about $400 a month in winter warming the old house.
04:42Water charges are about $500 a year.
04:45Most of these old houses have septic tanks.
04:47You've got to pay a couple of hundred dollars a year to get them emptied.
04:50And then the maintenance, the ongoing maintenance is constant.
04:54There's always something breaking.
04:55I was changing taps this morning.
04:57There's always something in these old houses, you know.
05:00Some of you remember we had a huge water leak at one stage that was very expensive.
05:04That was costing about $400 a month just in water because we had a water leak.
05:08So, until I found that and fixed it, which I did myself, you know, a plumber would have
05:13cost thousands for that.
05:15That was a huge job.
05:16And then keep in mind, all that money that you spend renovating and doing all the things
05:21that you do to it, at the end, the house will still only be worth what it was worth
05:26when you bought it because Japanese people don't see, don't want the old house.
05:31So, you're still valuing it at the end the same way that you valued it at the beginning.
05:35It's the value of the land minus the cost of demolishing the house.
05:41So, that's how most of these old places are valued.
05:44So, when you see that place that's advertised for $50,000, the land is probably worth $70,000.
05:52So, in the case of this, in the case of this, this place, when we bought it, we paid.
05:56Now, all these conversions are using the current.
06:00The yen's really weak at the moment, right?
06:02Which means these dollar values are actually lower than they would be usually.
06:05So, when the yen is stronger, obviously, everything I've just said to you would be more expensive.
06:11This is the cheapest it will ever be because, at the moment, the yen's the weakest it's ever been.
06:15So, those costs are the minimum costs.
06:17So, when we bought this house, we paid about $120,000 and then $20,000 for the renovation.
06:25But, just stick to the $120,000 for a minute.
06:29Probably it was, they probably valued the land at $140,000.
06:36And then, because of these buildings, they've said it's going to cost $20,000 to remove the buildings.
06:41So, that makes it $120,000.
06:43You with me?
06:44The land's worth $140,000.
06:46It costs $20,000 to remove all the buildings.
06:48That means that they sell a place for $120,000.
06:52Because, their thinking is, nobody wants the old buildings.
06:56Right?
06:56Which means, that's great for you when you buy one of these old places.
06:59But, when you sell it, you're in the same boat again.
07:01Which means, you buy this place for $50,000.
07:06And then, you spend another $10,000 on it.
07:08So, you spent $60,000.
07:10And then, you come to sell it, it's still only worth $50,000.
07:13Because, as far as they're concerned, it's still going to cost the same amount, $10,000 to remove the old
07:18house.
07:19Because, the Japanese people don't want the old house, usually, you see.
07:23So, and that's if you can sell it.
07:24The other worry that I would have, is the reason that it was probably so cheap, and that you could
07:31buy it so cheap, is nobody wanted it.
07:33And, I've seen that before in this town.
07:35We paid $120,000 for this one.
07:37But, I've seen, I saw two houses here once, I mean, it was 20 years ago, but there was two
07:42houses here once that were $10,000.
07:44That the owner just wanted the amount that he owed in tax, in land tax.
07:49So, it was $10,000 for two.
07:51I saw another one, where there was an old house with a new extension that was really nice, that was
07:56built on, it was $20,000.
07:57And, the reason those two were so cheap, is there was no car access.
08:01Both of them were up little walking laneways.
08:04And, nobody would have wanted them.
08:07Japanese people wouldn't have wanted them.
08:09Which would have meant that if we'd bought those, they would have been really cheap.
08:14But, you couldn't resell it.
08:16Nobody would want it, because they couldn't get their car to it.
08:19And, they're not interested in old houses.
08:22And, so, they'd be thinking, well, I buy this, buy this from you, and then I knock it down and
08:26build a new house.
08:27And, they just wouldn't, they wouldn't have been interested.
08:31And, I think most of these that you see on the internet, that are $30,000 or $40,000,
08:35they're usually, there's a reason that they're that cheap.
08:38Is that they're out in the countryside somewhere where nobody wants them.
08:41Rural land, that's actually zoned for farming, is pretty cheap.
08:45It's very cheap.
08:46And, so, you know, the only person who's going to be interested in that, when you come to resell it,
08:52is, it might be the farmer next door, maybe.
08:55And, if he's not interested, you know, the chances of getting your money back might be limited.
09:01I know someone that's bought a place in this town that was, he paid $50,000 for it, foreigner.
09:06And, he paid $50,000 for it.
09:08And, it's up, just that same story, it's up a little laneway.
09:11And, I just can't see him reselling it.
09:13I just can't see any Japanese person wanting it.
09:16They can't get a car in there.
09:17They could get a small K truck in there, and that would be it.
09:20And, I just can't see, I can't even see how they'd tear it down and rebuild it,
09:24because they can't get machinery in there.
09:26So, I just don't think he could resell it.
09:28Which, you know, if he's going to live there forever, that's okay.
09:30But, if he decides he wants to sell it and leave, you know, so, and so, it might be really
09:38difficult for you to sell it when you decide that you want to go home or, you know, you want
09:42to move somewhere else.
09:47And, you know, that could be $1,000, $2,000 a year until you sell it, and if you don't
09:53pay the tax, the city will just take it off you, and then, you know, you'll get nothing for your
09:58$50,000, $60,000.
10:01Right?
10:02So, it is a gamble.
10:04It is a gamble.
10:08Yeah.
10:08So, oh, yeah, and if you do sell it, the selling costs are the same as the buying costs.
10:14So, if you buy it for $50,000 and then spend $6,000 on your cost, that's $56,000, and
10:20then spend $10,000 renovating it, or $14,000, say, we'll take it up to $70,000, just for a
10:24nice, even number.
10:25When you sell it, you've got to pay $6,000.
10:27You've got to pay those same costs to the brokerage and the Shrivina and the survey fee.
10:33Oh, don't pay the survey fee, that's true.
10:35So, it would be $4,000, $4,000 to sell it.
10:38Although, they do have another strange thing that they make you pay for sometimes is this drilling thing that they
10:43do,
10:43where you've got to pay for someone to come and drill holes in it and show what's under the ground.
10:51So, the owner of this place had to do that.
10:54That's a strange one.
10:55So, to show you what's under the ground, if it's soft or if it's rock or whatever it is,
10:59and the owner, when they sell, has to pay for that, which is a strange one.
11:02That is a couple of thousand dollars.
11:04So, we're back to six again.
11:06So, I saw a story recently.
11:08One of the things that triggered this video, there was one of those clickbaiters on the internet,
11:12was doing a story about, here's a couple who bought a house in Japan on their first visit to Japan.
11:18And it sort of made me cringe, because over the years, I've heard lots of people say,
11:24I want to move to Japan.
11:26And then, someone will say to them, you know, how many times have you been there?
11:30Oh, I've never been there.
11:31And it's quite common for people to say that.
11:33I want to move to Japan.
11:34And they've never actually been here before.
11:36And when I've had people say that to me before, I've always said to them, come spend some time here
11:40first.
11:40You know, come spend a year here first, because the statistics are that of the people that come to Japan
11:46on a one-year visa
11:48with the intention of staying for a year, there's a high percentage of them that go home after six months.
11:55Because coming here for a holiday for a couple of weeks or a month or something is fabulous.
12:00But living here is also fabulous, but it's a totally different experience.
12:04And what often happens is people come here with the intention of staying for a year,
12:08and then after six months of working for a Japanese boss and paying their rents
12:12and living next door to navies that complain about how they deal with their rubbish
12:15and all the day-to-day stuff about living in Japan, it comes too much for them and they leave.
12:20And so when I heard this story about these people that had come to Japan for the first time and
12:26bought a house,
12:27I was like, oh, no.
12:29Because statistically, you know, they're not going to be here long term.
12:33Statistically, they're going to get to a point where they get frustrated because they can't earn enough money.
12:39Which is a common thing.
12:41All the difficult things.
12:42Look, living in Japan is fabulous.
12:44We've posted thousands of videos already over the last 16 years about how fabulous it is to live in Japan.
12:52But we've also posted videos showing the reality of living in Japan, which for some people is very, very difficult.
12:59So statistically, most people that come to Japan will go home in a short period of time.
13:06And statistically, very, very few people stay long term.
13:10Out of the number of people that come here, there's very, very few that stay long term.
13:14Which means putting $60,000 into a house here that you might not be able to sell later is a
13:20bit of a gamble.
13:21So in our case, we're pretty confident because it's in a good position.
13:25It doesn't have any of those negative things that I've talked about, like access or, you know, too isolated or
13:32anything like that.
13:32We're not far from a train station, which is a big thing for Japanese people.
13:36And it's a good sized piece of land.
13:38So even if we only sell it for what we paid for it at the end, which we should be
13:44able to do fairly easily because it is a big piece of land.
13:46Some of you will remember the old house next door to us was sold for about $200,000 a couple
13:52of years ago.
13:53And then they divided it up into four and put four new houses on it, which is what they do
13:57here.
13:58So what they do here, this house that we've taken so much care of for the last 15 years, if
14:04we sell this, when we sell it eventually, they'll just demolish it.
14:09All those trees that we planted and all these buildings that we've renovated, they'll just remove all of it.
14:13And it'll be one big flat area and they'll divide it up.
14:16They can get five blocks out of this.
14:18So they'll divide it up into four or five blocks and build new houses on it.
14:23So for that reason, we're reasonably confident because of where it is.
14:26The location's really good.
14:28So because of that, we're pretty confident that if we decided to sell it, we could.
14:31But it could take a long time.
14:33You know, it's only going to be a developer or someone like that that's going to buy it.
14:37Nobody else is interested.
14:38No one's going to want to live in this.
14:40They're just not interested in living in old houses, you know.
14:44So that's the reality, you know.
14:45It could go really well for you.
14:47It's a math, isn't it?
14:48It's like our friend here that's bought his $50,000 house.
14:51I don't reckon he's going to be able to sell that house.
14:53But he's lived in it for 10 years or so.
14:56Which means, you know, when you do all that math, it's sort of cheaper than renting an
15:01apartment or something, probably.
15:03So at the end, I don't know how he's going to get rid of it.
15:06This is going to be the problem.
15:08He's responsible for the tax on that every year.
15:12And if he can't sell it, he's going to remain responsible for the tax every year.
15:16Unless he just forfeits it and lets the city take it, which is possible.
15:20But that's not going to be good on his record, is it?
15:23On his history.
15:24Unpaid taxes is not a good situation that you want to be in if you want to spend any time
15:29in Japan.
15:30You know, they've made new laws about that recently.
15:32New policies about foreigners in Japan paying their taxes.
15:35If you don't pay your taxes, you're not going to stay here.
15:38So, yeah.
15:40So, yeah.
15:41I would recommend thinking long and hard about buying a $50,000 house in Japan.
15:47Have a very close look at where it is and be sure that you're going to be here.
15:52Someone turning up and doing it soon, I would really recommend against doing that.
15:57It's, you know, you really need to be sure that you're going to spend a really long time
16:01here first before committing to something like that because, you know, most, most, it's
16:06just, it's statistics, it's statistics.
16:09Most people, most people who come from another country and live in Japan don't, don't last
16:14long term because for all sorts of reasons they want to go back to their own country.
16:19So until you're absolutely confident you're going to be here long term, really long term,
16:24it's a big gamble, it's a big gamble.
16:29So, anyway, hopefully that information helps somebody.
16:33A little bit more than a bit of clickbait about buying a house in Japan.
16:37Anyway, that was that.
16:39If you haven't checked out the buying a house in Japan playlist yet, check that out.
16:43That's got all the things.
16:44It'll show you how we renovated this house and a lot of videos on there about renovating
16:49this house and a lot of other things about buying a house as well.
16:52Well, even before that, there's videos where we're looking to buy a house.
16:56And fortunately, I think we made a good decision here because some of the ones that we looked
17:00at while we're looking, I look, I drive past now and again, I think, boy, lucky we didn't
17:04buy that one for different reasons, you know.
17:07So, anyway, hopefully that helps somebody.
17:11Like we always say, if any of these videos help just one person, they're worth making.
17:16More videos, coming soon.
17:24You
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