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An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
41–50 of 121 posts
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem comes when you cannot afford to pay for it.
That really isn't a problem. So long as you can afford something where your basic needs are met: four walls, clean, safe, sturdy, etc, nobody's entitled to waterfront views. The idea is you create value through your work and utilize the proceeds to upgrade your residence, if that's what you value.
I agree that not everyone's entitled to waterfront views, but I think that in a functioning society everyone would be able to own a decent house (e.g. one that gets sunlight), within a reasonable commute of their work, in desirable part of the country (e.g. in a cosmopolitan city).
The difficulty that I see is that housing prices in America are so high that it's unrealistic for moth people to create enough value to purchase a residence at even that basic level of quality.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
So people rebuild houses just in case for a not-so-frequent natural disaster? Or are there other reasons too?
Yeah there are other reasons, from related insurance concerns to cultural/quasi-spiritual beliefs that old homes acquire the “fortunes” of their previous owners. Also, said lack of building code enforcement, makes new home construction cheaper, faster, and more plentiful. But there are also A LOT of earthquakes, typhoons, and floods in Japan, so it’s not exactly a minor concern either, especially when houses are typi…
On the flip side. I have a friend she is native Japanese, divorced, clerical worker with low income. She got a used house in the suburbs of a small city. (30 minute bus/walk commute) She basically only paid for the price of the land. The house itself is in good shape and the only maintenance issues have been the ones you'd expect from a twenty year old house. Heater replacement, a kitchen vent. I've been inside the house and I see no evidence of shoddy construction. (not that I'm trained to spot it).
My point the housing market like it is makes it much less likely for people to become homeless. Japan's homeless numbers reflect this.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem comes when you cannot afford to pay for it.
And? Go somewhere cheaper?
Often that's not a realistic option due to factors such as where family lives, access to minority cultural/religious institutions, access to good jobs, or access to cultural opportunities.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
That really isn't a problem. So long as you can afford something where your basic needs are met: four walls, clean, safe, sturdy, etc, nobody's entitled to waterfront views. The idea is you create value through your work and utilize the proceeds to upgrade your residence, if that's what you value.
I agree that not everyone's entitled to waterfront views, but I think that in a functioning society everyone would be able to own a decent house (e.g. one that gets sunlight), within a reasonable commute of their work, in desirable part of the country (e.g. in a cosmopolitan city). The difficulty that I see is that housing prices in America are so high that it's unrealistic for moth people to create enough value to p…
I think, unfortunately, the definition of decent in this case is viewed as luxury. Most specifically the concept that everyone should be able to own a house within a reasonable commute of work in a desirable location. This cannot happen while also respecting the idea of properties as investments, the wealthy wanting to be able to purchase disproportionately large places in multiple desirable locations, and the idea that so many people may desire to live in a city that the city cannot possibly take them all.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#46I think this headline is misleading in 2 ways. 1. yes you might get a house at this price but it's either 1-2 hours out of the city center (which is fine, just saying Tokyo is large.) Or alternatively it's in bad neighborhoods. (bad is relative if you are from the US) 2. your house will most likely look like this: https://www.ii-ie2.net/dat/5ba1164d.jpg Sayonara sunlight, hello neighbor. here are listings: https://ww…
Although do note that those factors don't fully cover the differential. Even in Hudson County or Contra Costa County, you're gonna have a hard time finding a 3 bedroom for $300k.
Hm, it could use a bit of work but this 4 bed 3 bath, 2400 sq ft home in Hudson is $249 [1]. It's a little ways from the train station though - a 10 minute drive. There's regular service from there to Penn Station, which takes about 2 hours.
[1] https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/116-Route-9h-Hudson-NY-12...
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#47Japan may not be the ideal economic model. In the 1980s, Japan had an enormous economic bubble. (This was the period when MITI, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, was the ultimate Platonic ideal of how to run a country's economy and the Japanese Fifth Generation computing project was going to eliminate "programming" as a job category.) This bubble burst in 1990-1991. It was bad. " GDP fell from $5.33 t…
This needs to be taken within the context of Japan hosting one of the largest economies in the world, despite being substantially smaller in population than countries with economies of comparable size; and also in that their real wage losses 1) pale in comparison to America's, and 2) mean that their real wages are still much higher than most of the world's.
I've heard it put that Japan's economy makes it relatively easy to live a stable middle class lifestyle, though almost impossible to accrue substantial wealth. I understand why this may seem horrifying to some, but looking at the relative affluence of the average Japanese compared to the average American, I don't see their situation as particularly dire.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
Houses in the U.S. are largely built by profit maximizing developers who know that the typical American homebuyer cares more about total square footage than essentially anything else about the house. Is it big? Does it have a nice facade? I'll take it! Houses are typically built exactly "to code", rarely above it.
Isn't that kinda the point of a uniform code of building? At least here the county code requires larger studs and windload due to the weather we get.
I've worked on homes built in the 90's with stupid stuff like flashing missing around the doors and windows. The ensuing water damage is not pretty. Pretty easy to sneak that past an inspector.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that not everyone's entitled to waterfront views, but I think that in a functioning society everyone would be able to own a decent house (e.g. one that gets sunlight), within a reasonable commute of their work, in desirable part of the country (e.g. in a cosmopolitan city). The difficulty that I see is that housing prices in America are so high that it's unrealistic for moth people to create enough value to p…
I think, unfortunately, the definition of decent in this case is viewed as luxury. Most specifically the concept that everyone should be able to own a house within a reasonable commute of work in a desirable location. This cannot happen while also respecting the idea of properties as investments, the wealthy wanting to be able to purchase disproportionately large places in multiple desirable locations, and the idea t…
>This cannot happen while also respecting the idea of properties as investments, the wealthy wanting to be able to purchase disproportionately large places in multiple desirable locations
I'm not convinced that these are values worth respecting.
Re: An average family in Tokyo can own a new house for $850/month
#50I think this headline is misleading in 2 ways. 1. yes you might get a house at this price but it's either 1-2 hours out of the city center (which is fine, just saying Tokyo is large.) Or alternatively it's in bad neighborhoods. (bad is relative if you are from the US) 2. your house will most likely look like this: https://www.ii-ie2.net/dat/5ba1164d.jpg Sayonara sunlight, hello neighbor. here are listings: https://ww…
> 2. your house will most likely look like this
Not sure what's wrong with that? That looks pretty amazing actually. I live in a unit that looks similar to that near downtown Chicago. My unit is north facing, and even so, there's more than enough sunlight.