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Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

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Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#11

Post by _iyig »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #3
ArtWomb wrote: post #2

This is cool. Would not know where to begin with gut renovation in Japan, though. And some of these look quite weathered. In US for example, you can typically sub-contract parts of the renovation to get decent pricing. One team for the basement flooring. One for waterproofing / sump pump installation. And then perhaps install drywall / paint DIY. Of course this is aided by close availability to Home Depot, Lowes, and…

Japan doesn't renovate. It's probably the only country in the world where "used homes" are considered something to be ashamed of. People buy homes only to knock them down and start over, even if they're only a year or two old. EDIT: You can read about it here: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/w...

How does that work for apartment buildings? Surely they don't casually demolish and rebuild massive structures made of reinforced concrete?

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#13

Post by onetimemanytime »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #3
ArtWomb wrote: post #2

This is cool. Would not know where to begin with gut renovation in Japan, though. And some of these look quite weathered. In US for example, you can typically sub-contract parts of the renovation to get decent pricing. One team for the basement flooring. One for waterproofing / sump pump installation. And then perhaps install drywall / paint DIY. Of course this is aided by close availability to Home Depot, Lowes, and…

Japan doesn't renovate. It's probably the only country in the world where "used homes" are considered something to be ashamed of. People buy homes only to knock them down and start over, even if they're only a year or two old. EDIT: You can read about it here: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/w...

Insane, every 22 years house goes to zero value. Probably adding relatively little money can extend the life to 40-50 or so. If I'm 30 and buy a house, makes no sense to need to tear it down when I'm 52.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#14

Post by masklinn »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #3
ArtWomb wrote: post #2

This is cool. Would not know where to begin with gut renovation in Japan, though. And some of these look quite weathered. In US for example, you can typically sub-contract parts of the renovation to get decent pricing. One team for the basement flooring. One for waterproofing / sump pump installation. And then perhaps install drywall / paint DIY. Of course this is aided by close availability to Home Depot, Lowes, and…

Japan doesn't renovate. It's probably the only country in the world where "used homes" are considered something to be ashamed of. People buy homes only to knock them down and start over, even if they're only a year or two old. EDIT: You can read about it here: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/w...

> It's probably the only country in the world where "used homes" are considered something to be ashamed of.

That's generally true though it depends on the specifics e.g. they would renovate and maintain things like temples, ryokan or major multi-generational homes.

It's the "personal" homes which are considered disposable (pretty much anything you'd have in a suburbs in the US for instance).

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#15

Post by masklinn »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #13
ComputerGuru wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan doesn't renovate. It's probably the only country in the world where "used homes" are considered something to be ashamed of. People buy homes only to knock them down and start over, even if they're only a year or two old. EDIT: You can read about it here: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/w...

Insane, every 22 years house goes to zero value. Probably adding relatively little money can extend the life to 40-50 or so. If I'm 30 and buy a house, makes no sense to need to tear it down when I'm 52.

People don't tear down their own homes (though the home may get torn down for them by e.g. an earthquake), they tear down the house on the land they buy when they move, and get their own house built on it.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#16

Post by neaden »

arkitaip wrote: post #9

This sounds great but you have to factor in that up to very recently, houses have been fairly poorly built in Japan as they prefer to demolish and build anew. Average lifespan of a house in Japan is 20-30 years. Which means that it doesn't always make sense to renovate these abandoned houses. Some reading: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/16/japan-reusabl... https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/…

I believe a lot has to do with advances in Earthquake safety making it preferable to have a new house.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#17

Post by masklinn »

_iyig wrote: post #11
ComputerGuru wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan doesn't renovate. It's probably the only country in the world where "used homes" are considered something to be ashamed of. People buy homes only to knock them down and start over, even if they're only a year or two old. EDIT: You can read about it here: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/w...

How does that work for apartment buildings? Surely they don't casually demolish and rebuild massive structures made of reinforced concrete?

No, apartment buildings don't get town down as much, although the japanese tendency of buildings having limited value means as urban centers "grow out" first suburbian plots get torn down and merged to build a low-rise (2~3 floors), then that might get squared away for a mid-rise (half dozen floors or so), and if the city center grows enough that would ultimately get replaced by a high-rise.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#18

Post by ska »

masklinn wrote: post #14
ComputerGuru wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan doesn't renovate. It's probably the only country in the world where "used homes" are considered something to be ashamed of. People buy homes only to knock them down and start over, even if they're only a year or two old. EDIT: You can read about it here: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/03/15/w...

> It's probably the only country in the world where "used homes" are considered something to be ashamed of. That's generally true though it depends on the specifics e.g. they would renovate and maintain things like temples, ryokan or major multi-generational homes. It's the "personal" homes which are considered disposable (pretty much anything you'd have in a suburbs in the US for instance).

US is becoming more like that over time too, if you look at a lot of the new builds in subdivisions it's hard to imagine them lasting that long.

I wonder if at some point the cultural attitude to "old houses" will become more like Japan's.

[edit]: I find the downvotes curious - I know plenty of people living in ~120 year old houses, and plenty living in 5-15 year old new builds in subdivisions. None of us can really see the new ones being in service in another 110 years. So what I am curious about is - will this (apparent) fact change attitudes towards houses over time? It may just be selection bias. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things about newer builds that are improvements; longevity doesn't seem to be one of them. Of course the older houses have their own set of problems.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#19

Post by lostgame »

hinkley wrote: post #8
onetimemanytime wrote: post #5

as soon as I sell my $5 Detroit homes :). There's a reason they're being given for free...

I always felt like The Walking Dead was missing an opportunity to do some good. Years ago I read about a movie production crew that got permission to demolish a rundown public building as part of filming in exchange for rebuilding it afterward. For TWD you could use several of those abandoned Detroit neighborhoods for a sequence and then bulldoze the neighborhood to the foundations afterward, reducing the health and…

Ha. The idea of using Detroit for TWD, or even perhaps it's own spinoff series, is pretty gold, tbh.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#20

Post by jimkri »

LrnByTeach wrote: post #12
onetimemanytime wrote: post #5

as soon as I sell my $5 Detroit homes :). There's a reason they're being given for free...

Seriously, Can you give some addresses ( or Zillow web url links) of Detroit home addresses where the home prices are so cheap

Here are some below $10k https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Detroit-MI/17762_rid/0...
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