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Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

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Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#91

Post by dvtrn »

pj_mukh wrote: post #77
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?

Is it just me or is the prospect of working from home in the middle of nowhere terrifying? When you work from home, you wanna leave home often, where do you go if you're in the middle of nowhere? I work from home in the middle of a dense city, pay a premium for it! You leave home and there are about 100 places (cafes, theatres, museums, parks etc.) I can go to that are walking distance. Is that possible in say rural…

Is it just me or is the prospect of working from home in the middle of nowhere terrifying?

It's (probably) not just you, but at the same time working from home for me, a full-time worker who has a boss that takes the "as long as you get your work done" approach to remote work, which results in me in the office one day, but the very next deciding "yeah I'm not dealing with the blue line's crap today"...rarely comes with the urge to get up and go anywhere and usually don't unless it's to walk the dog or take a smoke break on my porch.

And I live and work in the middle of Chicago, where there's no shortage of places favorable to remote workers or walkable spots for lunch very close by.

But at the same time I've also found myself in Hawaii getting paged for an all hands "oh shit" emergency and been just as productive despite the time difference, so I think it's very much a YMMV type of thing.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#93

Post by delinka »

ransom1538 wrote: post #42
bobthepanda wrote: post #27

The US saw similar efforts in Detroit and other Rust Belt cities. That mostly just resulted in asset flippers hoarding houses and letting them fall into further disrepair. I wonder what steps Japan is taking to mitigate that possibility.

Detroit: If you have a credit card and a want to own an apartment building, it is the place to be. Just needs some elbow grease. There MUST BE opportunity at $5 USD per square foot -- but it is hard to visualize. https://www.point2homes.com/US/Multi-Family-For-Sale/MI/Detr... [I think you can talk this guy down to $10k].

In what looks like a terrible neighborhood, right across the street from a funeral home. I think gaining tenants will be a challenge.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#94

Post by Max_aaa »

pj_mukh wrote: post #77
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?

Is it just me or is the prospect of working from home in the middle of nowhere terrifying? When you work from home, you wanna leave home often, where do you go if you're in the middle of nowhere? I work from home in the middle of a dense city, pay a premium for it! You leave home and there are about 100 places (cafes, theatres, museums, parks etc.) I can go to that are walking distance. Is that possible in say rural…

Actually it is wonderful. I work from home and live in a small village minutes from the ocean in New Zealand.

Groceries are can be delivered. The only reason to drive to town is the odd meetup.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#95

Post by 0x8BADF00D »

blocked_again wrote: post #73
titanix2 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, you're missing that foreigners are not the target of these deals. Also it's not terribly complicated to get a visa to come here: you basically need at least a bachelor degree and to find a job. Given how the job market is starving for employees, it is not really hard. I know a half-dozen people of my country and my age that did it.

Aren't software engineers treated badly in Japan?

All workers are. It’s practically indentured servitude, based on what I’ve read. It is also exceedingly difficult to be an entrepreneur there. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s a beautiful country to visit.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#96

Post by mrnobody_67 »

megaman8 wrote: post #65
mrnobody_67 wrote: post #33

Solution to SF homelessness problem.

i don't know why this is being downvoted. the core idea is a good one. Start moving people away from expensive areas and have them populate areas like the rust belt where housing is much cheaper. Detroit is pretty cost effective as others have mentioned.

Yep. Dollar for dollar (taxpayer dollars, mind you), you get a lot more bang for the buck.

Solving homeless crisis doesn't necessarily have to mean that everybody has a right to live in one of the most expensive cities in the world at taxpayers expense...

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#97

Post by komali2 »

pj_mukh wrote: post #77
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?

Is it just me or is the prospect of working from home in the middle of nowhere terrifying? When you work from home, you wanna leave home often, where do you go if you're in the middle of nowhere? I work from home in the middle of a dense city, pay a premium for it! You leave home and there are about 100 places (cafes, theatres, museums, parks etc.) I can go to that are walking distance. Is that possible in say rural…

No, you're right, for a person like you or me it could be terrifying. But huge swaths of the population enjoy this lifestyle - in the USA they mostly depend on cars, ATVs, or horses to get around (speaking from my Texas experience).

It's not city life, but it's life. It's just a little bit "slower" sometimes. It can be relaxing in its own way.

I mean, I live in the core of SF, but how often do I go to the theater or museum anyway? No more than I did when I lived in the suburbs.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#98

Post by fromthestart »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #76
coldtea wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only a property in Detroit in the deserted areas could mean frequent meetings with muggings, violence, etc. In Japan it will just be a regular house.

I have lived in crappy neighborhoods[1][2]. Violence is not likely to be an issue as long as you don't inject yourselves into your neighbors' business it's really not the big deal the upper classes make it out to be with all their hand wringing. Violent crime doesn't really happen that often per capita (i.e. odds are it will never happen to you). Not getting involved with drugs is like 90% of the battle. If you do ge…

You've clearly never lived in a shitty neighborhood.

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#99

Post by rmason »

ransom1538 wrote: post #42
bobthepanda wrote: post #27

The US saw similar efforts in Detroit and other Rust Belt cities. That mostly just resulted in asset flippers hoarding houses and letting them fall into further disrepair. I wonder what steps Japan is taking to mitigate that possibility.

Detroit: If you have a credit card and a want to own an apartment building, it is the place to be. Just needs some elbow grease. There MUST BE opportunity at $5 USD per square foot -- but it is hard to visualize. https://www.point2homes.com/US/Multi-Family-For-Sale/MI/Detr... [I think you can talk this guy down to $10k].

Sometimes one guy can rehab an entire neighborhood one house at a time. Opportunities are still there in Detroit and the risks are a lot smaller than ten years ago. You could even be a determined BMW mechanic who backed into a new career supported by his neighbors capital. An only in Detroit story:

https://www.freep.com/story/money/real-estate/2018/04/14/vir...

Re: Japan Is Giving Away 8M Abandoned Houses

#100

Post by beachy »

Max_aaa wrote: post #94
pj_mukh wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it just me or is the prospect of working from home in the middle of nowhere terrifying? When you work from home, you wanna leave home often, where do you go if you're in the middle of nowhere? I work from home in the middle of a dense city, pay a premium for it! You leave home and there are about 100 places (cafes, theatres, museums, parks etc.) I can go to that are walking distance. Is that possible in say rural…

Actually it is wonderful. I work from home and live in a small village minutes from the ocean in New Zealand. Groceries are can be delivered. The only reason to drive to town is the odd meetup.

Ha snap, I live in Northland and do the same. My day breaks are running around a track through the bush, body surfing when the surf is up and checking my traps. Small world.
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