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Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

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Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#261

Post by laurieg »

jameslk wrote: post #218
iandanforth wrote: post #180

The more interesting thing about this is that it is part of a new type of economics, contraction economics. The global trend toward birth rates below replenishment means that first-world countries are maintaining their population growth through immigration. As some countries embrace restrictions on immigration, and ultimately all countries plateau in their population growth (projected to be around 2100) it means that…

Japan is not a very good proxy due to their strict immigration policies and preference to be an "ethnically homogeneous nation." As you mentioned, other countries can just replenish their head count through relaxed immigration. I'd wager, for example, that the US will remain highly multicultural with looser immigration long term since it's baked into its identity[0], despite some recent policy changes. 0. https://en.…

"Japan has strict immigration policies" is often repeated, but I don't think this is tells the whole story. Some of the policies are very permissive:

* If you graduated university and have a 'skilled' job in Japan, you are likely to get a visa. There is no cap on the number of these. There is no language requirement.

* If you live in Japan for over 5 years continuously you can apply for citizenship, though you must renounce any other citizenships.

* If you live in Japan for over 10 years you are eligible for permanent residency.

* If you are married to a Japanese national you can do any kind of work and get permanent residency in 3 years.

* If you have enough points on the highly skilled professional visa you can get permanent residency in 1 year. This is retroactive as long as you lived in Japan during that time, you don't even need to have had the highly skilled professional visa.

So, is it really an issue of policy? I think the causes may lie elsewhere.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#262

Post by nihonde »

neic wrote: post #182
mikekchar wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not easy to asset flip in Japan. I have no idea about this program. I live in Japan and I haven't heard about it, so I'm not sure what the deal is. However, people in Japan don't buy used houses. Due to the large number of earthquakes, etc, older houses are felt to be unsafe. A house on a property is actually a liability because the new owner will have to knock down the house in order to build a new one. I'm abs…

What reasons do people have for not wanting a perfectly good 20-30 year old house for half the price of a new one?

The price is for the land, which can be quite expensive and can go up. The cost of demolition and building a new home is about USD200-300k for a very nice three bedroom home in a typical urban area. Credit is very cheap too. Also, people prefer new things in Japan. If you see a car that is more than a few years old, it will most likely be a mint-condition collectors item.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#263

Post by ska »

refurb wrote: post #212
ska wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I live in a 120 year old house. I would agree they are well built if you’re only measure is “they are still standing”. If it comes down to materials or build quality, no i would not say that 100+ year old homes are better built than newer homes.

“they are still standing”.

Will you be able to say that of a lot of the new builds in 100 years?

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#264

Post by eloff »

colechristensen wrote: post #219
eloff wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're assuming the current decline in birth rates is due to scarcity of resources. But I don't think that's true. In the developed world food and energy are not scarce, and even land outside of major metro areas is not scarce. Population might just stabilize at some point, and then there's not much of a driver to expand off of our planet (apart from some resource mining, and other activities.)

Food and energy are not what defines scarcity any more. If you want to pay the mortgage, have a fulfilling job, have time to spend with your family, and give your child a good start in life, you can't have 8 kids in a middle class family. Sometimes 1 is the right number if you want your child to be successful and have enough free time to enjoy life yourself. That IS resource constraint, the resource just isn't food.…

What's the resource constraint then if it's not food, energy, or shelter?

People want to buy more stuff? Hardly a requirement of years gone by.

People want more free time? Doubtful, otherwise people would work less and buy less stuff - which we don't see. People keep getting more productive, but they just funnel that into a more expensive lifestyle rather than cutting back on work.

I don't think the reasons are simple (or even the same between people) but I don't think it's dominated by resource constraints.

I know software engineers with no children and school teachers with four. Very different lifestyles, but all middle class. And I don't think resource constraints factored heavily into their decision making.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#265

Post by laurieg »

techaddict009 wrote: post #222

The title says "Japan Is Giving Away 8 Million Abandoned Houses — Here's How to Get One (Video)" there is nothing explained in the article nor in the video how to get one!

The article title is misleading. A better title would be:

"Japan has 8 million abandoned houses. A small fraction are being given away"

The article then links to a blog which occasionally links to empty houses for sale for very low prices. The blog gets its information from local government "empty house banks". Many local governments have these, but lots of them are not web based, you would have to go to the government offices in person to ask about empty houses.

In reality, the best way to find an empty house in Japan is to go driving around the countryside and talk to some locals. They know who owns what and who might be interested in selling.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#266

Post by phyller »

mettamage wrote: post #52

So wait, there are places where there are houses being given away (e.g. US, Japan and Italy as far as I know) and I'm a person that has the ability to work remotely. Am I missing something? Is this my ticket to cheap housing and a more stress free life? At what point am I going to be scammed and/or disappointed?

If you can keep a high salary and work wherever you want, and you want a quiet life, then just throw a dart on a map of the USA or the world. Basically everywhere except a few metropolitan areas is very cheap to live. If this is something you want, yes you are missing something, you should look around a bit.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#267

Post by quickthrower2 »

ska wrote: post #206
ska wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Houses are depreciating assets. It's the land that has value most places.

I seem to have been unclear, when I said "houses are depreciating assets" I meant the structure itself. This is almost always true. However, the land it is on may well be rising in value enough to counteract the depreciation - so your house + land may well be worth more in 10 years, even though the house itself is probably worth less. Make more sense?

There are three things at play:

1. Value of land 2. Value of building in perfect order 3. Lost of value of building due to wear/tear etc.

If building/trades costs are rising #2 can rise too while #3 will counteract it, and it depends how much money is put into maintenance and renovations.

Notwithstanding cultural issues with old houses.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#268

Post by hudibras »

samstave wrote: post #178
innocentoldguy wrote: post #152

I went to Japan in March to buy one of these houses for a vacation home (I go to Japan once or twice a year). I could have bought a decent sized house in rural Japan for about $20,000 at the time, but most of them I looked at needed a ton of work and there weren't many shopping areas and other amenities nearby. I ended up buying an older condo just outside of Tokyo and fixing that up instead. It cost more, but it wor…

Mind sharing what you had to spend? This would be fascinating to do, but would be great to know the actual costs involved. Also, would you share, more in depth, the experience as a whole: Do you speak Japanese, married to a Japanese citizen/are one? What was the biggest unexpected etc... Basically, a blog post about such an endeavor would be great reading... THanks

Here's a blog from somebody who built a new house in Tokyo; you might find it interesting.[0]

[0]http://lundman.net/wiki/index.php/Tokyo_house

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#269

Post by swombat »

laurieg wrote: post #261
jameslk wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan is not a very good proxy due to their strict immigration policies and preference to be an "ethnically homogeneous nation." As you mentioned, other countries can just replenish their head count through relaxed immigration. I'd wager, for example, that the US will remain highly multicultural with looser immigration long term since it's baked into its identity[0], despite some recent policy changes. 0. https://en.…

"Japan has strict immigration policies" is often repeated, but I don't think this is tells the whole story. Some of the policies are very permissive: * If you graduated university and have a 'skilled' job in Japan, you are likely to get a visa. There is no cap on the number of these. There is no language requirement. * If you live in Japan for over 5 years continuously you can apply for citizenship, though you must r…

Based on my experience visiting Japan and talking to both expats and expat-friendly locals there, I think the issue is more cultural than political. If you live in Japan but don't look Japanese you never really feel welcomed as a Japanese.

Contrast that to countries like most of the West, where at least a solid proportion of people consider it socially unacceptable to discriminate socially based on someone's looks or origins...

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#270

Post by mirimir »

colechristensen wrote: post #219
eloff wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're assuming the current decline in birth rates is due to scarcity of resources. But I don't think that's true. In the developed world food and energy are not scarce, and even land outside of major metro areas is not scarce. Population might just stabilize at some point, and then there's not much of a driver to expand off of our planet (apart from some resource mining, and other activities.)

Food and energy are not what defines scarcity any more. If you want to pay the mortgage, have a fulfilling job, have time to spend with your family, and give your child a good start in life, you can't have 8 kids in a middle class family. Sometimes 1 is the right number if you want your child to be successful and have enough free time to enjoy life yourself. That IS resource constraint, the resource just isn't food.…

It's pretty clear that the major driver is education and freedom of career choice for women. The UN has lots of data supporting that. Industrialization and changing attitudes toward children have also played a role.

My paternal grandfather was a farmer. He had 20 children who survived to adulthood. By two wives, the second having been the nursemaid. As I understand it, all of the children worked. Basically as soon as they could walk. Girls focused on childcare and housework, and boys on farm work. If they'd been living in a city, the boys would have had factory jobs.

So anyway, that's how you raise many children. That or be wealthy, of course. But current expectations, social norms, and laws make that impossible. Except perhaps for farm families, where substantial child labor remains legal.

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