Comments on: UR in a nutshell

By: Mashu

Mashu — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:22:44 +0000

I’m living in Kyoto studying at Ryukoku University. I’m studying and researching a lot of things, but largely focusing on an economics degree there.

The market in Osaka (where I lived before coming here) was equally diverse, but I found the general quality of the places to be quite a bit lower, considering the prices.

By: Egg Child

Egg Child — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:11:37 +0000

Has no-one managed to secure 都営住宅？
A girlfriend of mine (not a sex girlfriend, just an amie)
managed to get a 2LDK mansion in Minami Aoyama.

waiting list is pretty horrendous though

By: Roy Berman

Roy Berman — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:06:31 +0000

Of course, we are both in Kyoto. I really can’t say how it compares with the market in other parts of Japan since I’ve never lived anyplace else. So what are you doing in Kyoto?

By: Mashu

Mashu — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:58:48 +0000

In my moving experience, it had been just about the same as Roy’s. The online listings look fantastic, and the aggregation of various agents’ listings is handy, however every time I pursued an appealing spot, it turned out to be long gone. I’m not living in Tokyo, and I can’t say I really know what it’s like there, but in Kyoto, even in older neighbourhoods (such as where I am) there are real estate agents everywhere, and the tried and true method of door-to-door comparisons (going to a bunch of different agents’ offices) by foot proved extremely fruitful in the end, albeit torturous in the summer heat.

By: TKYCraig

TKYCraig — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:40:10 +0000

... in a nutshelll! Now I know why my place is so small!

By: Wataru

Wataru — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:06:20 +0000

How useful the Web real estate sites are would seem to depend somewhat on the price and quality level you are looking for, and also how broadly you are looking geographically. Suppose you are willing to live, say, anywhere from Nakano to Kunitachi if you can find the right place. That situation makes it less practical to use Roy’s approach.
As we get ready to move for the 10th time in the past 25 years, though, I really hope this will be the last time for quite a while.

By: Roy Berman

Roy Berman — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:45:02 +0000

I found yahoo real estate somewhat useful for seeing what’s out there, but pretty much useless in practical terms. As said above, many of the good units were no longer listed, or the information wasn’t entirely accurate. It was far more productive to just walk or bike around the desired neighborhood and see what’s in the windows of real estate agents, or go inside and ask for some information.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:41:36 +0000

Joe,
I live in an 11-story UR apartment on a small reclaimed island. In the event of liquefaction, I don’t have high hopes for survival, and so I may just buy a couple of kayaks for the veranda.

By: Curzon

Curzon — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:23:53 +0000

I think Yahoo is the best online source for researching real estate, but because it’s so easy to post properties on the site, you have to be careful which agent you work—not hard if you look carefully because brokers typically work on a non-exclusive basis for finding customers for properties, so the same landlord will have multiple brokers. I know two people who found properties on yahoo and got with shady brokers. One of the tricks that shady brokers use to get people in the door is to post the same property as other brokers, but lower the price a bit, so potential renters think the shady broker has a better deal.

By: Joe Jones

Joe Jones — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:17:20 +0000

I personally love the waterfront UR developments in Tokyo—they’re spacious, modern and quite convenient to the center city area. The only problem is that the future Mrs. Joe is convinced that the land beneath them will liquefy in an earthquake and dump everything into the bay. I maintain that so long as you’re near the top of the building there should be nothing to worry about…