Ma Tasse de Thé

We did it, we bought a house in Japan!

Several weeks passed already since we signed the deed. In fact, it is after we missed what we thought was the house of our dreams, that we found this wonderful house:

Our new house

And now, I would say we are happy to have “missed” the previous one, because this one is much better. It is a large house (140m2) on a beautiful parcel (240m2), with a little garden South. The house is already twenty years old, but it is in concrete with light steal structure, and it was built by a famous company (Sekisui House, 積水ハウス). Built during the economic “bubble” in Japan, its owner did not hesitate to pay the price and carefully chose every material. Great, really.

The neighborhood is also perfect: in an old “bunjôchi” (分譲地, that is, a residential area divided in similar parcels, quite spacious, at some point in time). It is very quiet, with woods nearby. What else could we ask for?

And when I think about it, I think it is by taking the time to visit many houses, and to compare them, that little by little, we discovered what we wanted. A house is something very personal: what I like, you may not necessarily like it. In our case, we realized what was important for us: a large house, a residential area (the neighborhood is almost as important as the house itself) and quiet, a strong construction, a house having its own caracter, something unusual. And we also found what was not so important for us: the distance from the station (we have a 15min bus ride to the station), newness (we actually didn’t want of a new house), services (eg: concierge) which you get in big buildings, nor even the distance from the center of Tokyo (although, all in all, it takes no more than 45 min by express train).

Once we found what we wanted, we had to hurry up: place an offer, and kick off loan requests to the banks. It is relatively difficult for a foreigner to get a morgage in Japan without having the permanent residence permit (eijuuken, 永住権) but it is not impossible. Large banks will generally request to fulfill the following conditions: have a rolling contract in a medium-size company, have cash corresponding to at least 20% of the total amount of the transaction, and having initiated the process to obtain the permanent resident permit in Japan (funny detail: it is enough to have submitted the file, but it is not necessary that the request be accepted, which is good because the processing usually takes a long time).

Then, less than two months later, we were in our new house. Everything went well because with the birth of our second daughter, we really started feeling a bit cramped in the appartment we occupied at that time.

To conclude, I’d say what I learned is to be patient and persevere to get what I really want.

Maison japonaise

Damned, we were so close…

Last Sunday, we found a house which we liked very much: a little far away from the station, but on a land of more than 70 tsubo (about 233 sq m) with a two-story building of about 165 sq m, which is really huge for a Japanese house. Nice garden, underground car park, a large terrace, quiet neighborhood, with a park and a school close by. Moreover, the style is very special for a Japanese house: besides the dining room and bedrooms with wooden floor, the living room floor is made of marble! Doors and window frames are made of imported materials, not Japanese at all. There is a washitsu, but even this one doesn’t look very Japanese, more kind of a western-style tatami room. Needless to say we were really excited, but…

Maison japonaise

The real-estate agent told us there was already a potential buyer, and that the contract would be signed on Tuesday, which is… two days later. Not much we can do, they said, except make an offer for the whole price and hope the first buyer was offering less (seen the number of parties involved, it is often difficult to know who offers what). And this is what we did, without much hope. But…

On Tuesday, our real-estate agent calls us to let us know that the contract has not been signed, and asks us when we’d be available in the following days… Well you can imagine how we were: we really thought this was our chance. For two days, at least. Because on Thursday, we get another call telling us the contract has been signed. The house is sold… What happened? We’ll probably never know, but it is likely that the law of supply and demand has been applied. The first buyer probably offered less than the proposed price, and had to revise his offer (which he did because he really wanted the house).

That’s is. I’m sure we’ll never find again a house like this one. But I’m also confident that we will find a nice house for use, when the time comes. But one thing is sure now: we saw a really nice deal, and the way we look at houses from now on will likely never be the same again.

I recently wrote about my research on the real estate market in Japan (here and here).

However, as I read this post on Seth Godin’s blog, I thought it might not be a very good idea. Seth says: “Only borrow money to pay for things that increase in value.”

So if I were to buy a house in Japan, either:

• I’d need to be rich, or
• Japanese houses should increase in value.

Better think some more about it…

A while ago, I wrote about the real estate market in Japan. Discouraging? Maybe so, but I don’t want to give up, I want to see whether a deal is possible.

The two houses we visited last week are quite different, but they do share some common features. We are looking for a rather spacious house (according to Japanese standard at least), that is more than 100m2, while the average is around (max) 80m2 in Tokyo, but not necessarily close to the station.

The first house we saw was a “light steel frame construction” (軽量鉄骨象 keiryô tekkotsu zô), built following “Hebel” (へーベルハウス = “Hebel haus”). It is 104.95m2 (land: 121m2), located at about 19 min on foot from H. station (uphill). The house is not more than 6 years old, with a ten-year warranty, and is said to be “a 60-year housing”. The company who built it (Asahi-Kasei) offers a maintenance program with regular check-up (every 5 or 10 years). The real estate agent told us that the land should be worth not less than 700,000 yen / tsubo (坪) i.e. about 212,121 yen / m2. And the house should be worth around 13,000,000 yen, which gives us 120 m2 x 212,121 yen / m2 + 13,000,000 yen = 38,000,000 yen. According to the agent, this is a really interesting price, given the fact that a new house in the area is about 40,000,000 yen. The house is “high-tech” equipped, with code-locking, whole electric kitchen, halogen lighting, etc. and (except the walls that need to be refreshed) it is available right away.

Japanese house

The second house we saw (see picture) is located about 17 min walk from T. station (next to H. station), with a living surface of 115.82m2 on a 132m2 land (somewhat bigger than the previous one). The big difference: it is a wooden construction (木造) and it’s 17 years old. The real estate agent says the land is worth about 800,000 yen / tsubo, i.e. 242,424 yen / m2 and the house worth 0! In Japan, a wooden house is completely looses its value in about one generation. This gives us 132 m2 x 242,424 yen / m2 + 0 = 32,000,000 yen. The house is sold at 31,000,000 yen with a possible 1,000,000 yen discount. The inside is however in bad shape: everything needs to be refreshed: walls, floor, plumbing, etc. … all this would cost about 4,000,000 yen. Also note that T. station is a bit more valued than H., because of the facilities and shops nearby. And the way to the house is flat.

My first impression: both houses cost about the same price, 35,000,000 yen (if you include renovation fees for the 2nd one). The big difference is that the T. house is considered as 0 yen worth, and the deal is therefore mainly about the land. The real estate agent also told us that a wooden house costs more in maintenance than a concrete building (about 10,000 yen a month for a wooden house). I am however tempted to think that the wooden house is more interesting, based on the fact that the land will (probably) not loose much of its value, and that the house can be inhabited although it is considered worth nothing.

Later, we went to see the second house again, and we met a neighbour, who told us the land was probably not worth more than 700,000 yen / tsubo (rather than 800,000 yen / tsubo). He also told us: “Many people came to see the house but it is still not sold yet; (I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but) this house is not worth much… Take your time to choose.” –1st lesson: don’t believe everything real-estate agents tell you!

The agent told us the house was now the property of a bank (it was taken away because the owner couldn’t pay back the mortgage), and if this house wasn’t sold 2 weeks later, they would sell it on auction (much less than the current price), most likely to a real estate agent who would renew it and sell it for a better price… (I told you: Japanese like stuff that look new)

Since I haven’t seen many houses yet, I can’t tell you whether this one would have been a good pick, but I still think if I had to choose, I’d opt for the wooden house. And you, based on these data, what’d be your take?

On dit que “les Belges ont une brique dans le ventre”, car ils ont tendance à investir dans l’immobilier en pensant que louer c’est jeter l’argent par les fenêtres. Et en Belgique, c’est sans doute justifié car l’immobilier a tendance à gagner de la valeur avec le temps.

Au Japon par contre, ce n’est pas évident. Au contraire. (C’est la raison du point d’interrogation dans le titre de cet article: est-il possible de bien acheter au Japon?) Il y a plusieurs raisons à cela:

1. Les maisons au Japon sont soumises à rude épreuve: climat très humide, tremblements de terre, “fourmis blanches” (シロアリ shiro-ari) et j’en passe. Leur durée de vie s’en trouve donc réduite, et il n’y a pas de système fiable d’inspection des maisons remises en vente.

2. Les maisons neuves “clé-sur-porte” construites à la chaine (建売 taté-uri) ne sont pas faites pour durer: construites “à la va-vite” avec des matériaux bon marché. On dit qu’une maison de 30 ans ne vaut plus rien au Japon: on ne peut compter que le prix du terrain. (Il y a bien sûr des exceptions: j’ai visité ces derniers-temps une maison traditionnelle japonaise, faite de bois de qualité qui malgré ses 25 ans était comme neuve et pourrait encore être habitée pendant plus de cent ans).

3. La maintenance des maisons ne fait pas partie de la culture au Japon: les gens habitent la maison, mais “oublient” qu’il faut parfois l’entretenir, la repeindre, réparer les murs ou la toiture, etc. Lorsqu’une maison est rénovée (les japonais utilise le terme “réforme” リフォーム), c’est presque toujours via une société spécialisée, rarement par les particuliers, ce qui allourdit les couts.

4. Les japonais aiment ce qui est neuf. Ca peut paraitre idiot, mais c’est vrai: les gens sont moins sensible au fait que le bâtiment a une histoire, et bien sûr, à cause des raisons énoncées au point 1, il est risqué d’acheter une maison ancienne (qui pourrait avoir des vices cachés). Et c’est accentué par les agents immobiliers, qui privilégient les constructions neuves.

5. Le “trou noir de l’immobilier” (merci à Alban pour le lien!). En gros: il y a une baisse de la demande (faible démographie) et une augmentation de l’offre de logements (neufs), conduisant à une chute des prix des biens immobiliers anciens.

Alors, dans cette situation, est-il possible d’acheter un bien immobilier sans qu’il perde de sa valeur? Cela n’a pas l’air gagné. (D’ailleurs ici, au Japon, les banques refusent de considérer la maison comme gage du prêt: il faut soit travailler pour une grosse entreprise, soit avoir une solide assurance-vie…)

La valeur d’un bien immobilier aux yeux des japonais est très liée aux facteurs suivants:

• Accessibilité: distance de la gare la plus proche
• Superficie: l’espace est apprécié (quoique beaucoup de japonais sont résolus à vivre dans un espace beaucoup plus étroit qu’en Europe)
• Nouveauté: comme expliqué plus haut, le neuf est très apprécié

Or comme la superficie ne change pas, et la nouveauté se perd au fil des années, il reste l’accessibilité. Celle-ci ne change pas non plus me direz vous, à moins que… le quartier se développe, une nouvelle gare se construise (ou bien une petite gare existante prenne de l’importance), des écoles, des supermarchés se construisent. Mon idée est donc que la seule issue au problème de la perte de valeur de l’immobilier au Japon est de trouver les quartiers qui vont se développer. Acheter un bien à prix raisonable et l’entretenir au mieux, en misant sur l’expansion de la ville.

Notez que je ne suis qu’au début de mes recherches, donc si vous avez des info ou conseils, je suis preneur!