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Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

nytimes.com

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Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#41

Post by highwaylights »

0xbadc0de5 wrote: post #28

Important to note that, unlike in many other countries, housing in Japan is a depreciating asset, like a car. Their value goes to zero over time. This is somewhat contrary to what many of us are accustomed to, where houses are appreciating (or at least stable) assets which maintain or grow in value.

When you say “goes to zero”, does this mean they really trend to zero or a way of saying that declining population means the demand keeps decreasing?

I’m trying to figure out if it’s a population thing or a short-lived construction thing.

Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#42

Post by jutrewag »

jeffbee wrote: post #10
system16 wrote: post #7

Let me save you from the momentary daydream and predictable disappointment after reading the clickbait article: > Mr. Thursfield and his Japanese-born wife, Chihiro > The couple have spent about $150,000 on renovations, and there’s more to do

So, 20x less renovation than a $4m house in Palo Alto needs.

In a small Japanese rural buffer. What sort of comparison is that.

Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#44

Post by jutrewag »

0xbadc0de5 wrote: post #28

Important to note that, unlike in many other countries, housing in Japan is a depreciating asset, like a car. Their value goes to zero over time. This is somewhat contrary to what many of us are accustomed to, where houses are appreciating (or at least stable) assets which maintain or grow in value.

This doesn’t make any sense to me. Why wouldn’t a really poor family buy it when it’s really close to zero then, especially if it’s a perfectly habitable house.

Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#45

Post by ShaneMcGowan »

jeffbee wrote: post #10
system16 wrote: post #7

Let me save you from the momentary daydream and predictable disappointment after reading the clickbait article: > Mr. Thursfield and his Japanese-born wife, Chihiro > The couple have spent about $150,000 on renovations, and there’s more to do

So, 20x less renovation than a $4m house in Palo Alto needs.

Or move to Ireland and buy 20 already finished houses for that price

Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#46

Post by jutrewag »

rtpg wrote: post #40
wheresmycraisin wrote: post #8

We'd love to but the immigration policies are very unfriendly.

Do you have a college degree or 10 years professional experience? Congratulations, after finding a job you can move here. And on top of that your visa is not tied to your employer so there’s no visa risk if you find a better job on the spot ([0]) There’s some immigration stuff that’s tougher, but based off everything I’ve heard from dealing with Anglo countries or the EU, most people on this website would have zero p…

Can you become a citizen? Because most people aren’t interested in some perpetual limbo.

Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#47

Post by rtpg »

franciscop wrote: post #38
nibbleshifter wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A while back I looked at how I would score on their "points based" immigration calculator thing. It wasn't good at all. I suspect they will have to have a strong rethink of their immigration policies in the next 10-20 years.

There's many ways to immigrate to Japan, and the point system is one of the hardest because it gives you direct access to Permanent Residency (incidentally I will apply next year to it) instead of the temporary Work Visa. As far as you have a degree and a job offer from a Japanese company (both should be related) it's trivial to fill the paperwork to come here. Engineers in particular have it pretty easy, with many E…

In practice if you’re out of a job you can be put on a special visa to look for work and if done in good faith I’ve heard of people who were on such visas for like 6 months.

Another point about being “on your own”. Basically every service that exists to help people out of work is accessible to foreigners. My locality offers “loans” (partially aid, part loan) for people who experience massive drops in salaries, for example. Any resident. Ive almost never run into a service gated on citizenship (except for some job postings with the govt)

Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#48

Post by jutrewag »

ng12 wrote: post #37
nibbleshifter wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A while back I looked at how I would score on their "points based" immigration calculator thing. It wasn't good at all. I suspect they will have to have a strong rethink of their immigration policies in the next 10-20 years.

It's very intentional. Japan is largely homogenous and there's a lot of support for keeping it that way.

Until they homogenous their way to a country that doesn’t breed and has 75% of the population above 60.

Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#49

Post by lapetitejort »

highwaylights wrote: post #41
0xbadc0de5 wrote: post #28

Important to note that, unlike in many other countries, housing in Japan is a depreciating asset, like a car. Their value goes to zero over time. This is somewhat contrary to what many of us are accustomed to, where houses are appreciating (or at least stable) assets which maintain or grow in value.

When you say “goes to zero”, does this mean they really trend to zero or a way of saying that declining population means the demand keeps decreasing? I’m trying to figure out if it’s a population thing or a short-lived construction thing.

Short-lived construction. The average lifespan of a house in Japan is 20-30 years [0]. Honestly, I like the approach. I'm living in a 100+ year old house. It costs a fortune to heat and cool. Any renovation brings the risk of toxic substances released into the air. But it's got lots of character, right? I guess so, but it's overrated. I dream of living in a new house with good insulation and easy to access electrical conduits.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_Japan

Re: Japan Has Millions of Empty Houses. Want to Buy One for $25,000?

#50

Post by jutrewag »

galaxytachyon wrote: post #33
0max wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would really love to see the LDP decide to open up immigration for folks from ASEAN member states. The JICA's infra projects in the region are a strong soft power play, and are getting delivered faster than anything funded by the Belt and Road initiative (or at least when I look at the different projects in Metro Manila, they are).

Not sure how true it is but an Asian friend told me the race that an Asian hates the most is another Asian... Looking at the immigration policies of China and Japan, I think he might be right.

Yeah but all that can change in the span of a generation. The old die and things change quickly.
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