When it comes to affordability in places like Japan or Germany, where there are strong renter protection laws, one extremely important factor is rent time: How long have people lived in their rented apartments. That's why median statistics often show quite reasonable prices, but you just cannot find any actually available flats for a similar price: The people living in the cheap flats just won't move out but even if they do, most rent protections are lifted and the same place is rented for a huge up-charge to somebody new.
ikr. that's my situation rn. started renting a new build in berlin just a few years ago for 1100€ warm for 70sqm relatively central. in the meantime the same flat would apprently cost 2000€, but still paying the old price. I guess tokyo for 70sqm would be at least 250k yen for 70sqm nowadays too. soooo.... then the question is: if the extra money spent for living in a big city is actually worth it.
In that case one would use the current rental ads to get a sense of the going rents. Also while noting that location makes prices everywhere vary wildly.
@@_momosumomo Although that may not be accurate either. It would be slightly inaccurate in the wrong direction- the landlords factor in the renter protection laws and make it more expensive for new renters. You can expect the current rental ads to reflect what you would be paying in the future, but not what people are paying now.
In Germany, there are statistical terms for this: Angebotsmieten (currently offered rental prices) vs Bestandsmieten (average rents). The latest differences per sqm are 8.00 EUR in Munich and 7.50 EUR in Berlin.
Wow Hannah, this video is amazing. Super in detail and with a super good rythm. I guess this took a considerable amount of time and effort to make, but it was worth it. With an internet full of half-true info or data looking to bait people to engage with the content (usually in negatice ways), having quality content like this is becoming very rare. Thank you for this!
I loved this deep dive Hannah, so insightful!! Your new apartment looks beautiful too 😍✨ I also agree that it doesn’t make any sense to simply compare the cost of living in Japan with your own salary from back home (commonly USD) as a base reference, especially right now with the weak yen and how the exchange rate fluctuates. Been thinking this for a long time, so I’m glad you said it! Side note - had no idea about the origins of key money either 😮
Thanks Sara! Yeah comparison really doesn’t work well between two countries especially when one currency isn’t very strong atm cuz otherwise you could say that we were all getting paid 50% more two years ago haha
Tokyo might not be cheap, but at least there seem to be enough appartments to find something. In a lot of European cities (looking at you Amsterdam) there just don't seem to be any places to rent or buy.... Awesome video, very insightful!
Same here in Boston these days. Tech business explosion sucked up all the inventory. Initial cash outlay is also an issue, first and last month rent, security deposit, broker fee are all due up front. That's 4 months worth of rent!
Honestly, if you're willing to make another video about the house market, I would love it! I'm planning to move out there and looking at my options, it can get confusing..
Okay I’m obsessed with this video. We just moved to Kichijoji in a 3LDK and our landlord made us pay 12 months worth of rent as a deposit for the apartment because we are foreigners. We also paid one month’s worth of rent as key money and one month’s worth of rent to our real estate agent. We are self employed making USD though so we are lucky to have the cash needed to get this rental! Thanks so much for the video though! I learned so much and was living for the spreadsheets tbh haha
Omg TWELVE MONTHS?! I have never heard of that before, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it could get much worse 😖 Landlords just realllly wanna make sure you’ll be okay to pay rent I guess!
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Hannah is my favorite content creator on Topic: Japan. She covers off the beaten path and hidden places in Japan and talks about Japan from a very real perspective without that mindless ✨"place Japan"✨ vibe. She shuts down misinformation about Japan so well, and I admire her as a filmmaker, her filming and editing skills are beyond amazing. We appreciate your presenter skills and life experiences Hannah- from a silent viewer of many years ^_^
Hannaさん, I've been watching your wonderful RUclips Videos ever. The video of this Japanese rental situation left me a deep impression. It is wise that you quote the median rather than the average wage value about the monthly salary! However, if a little supplemental about the monthly wage wage in Japan, the actual condition is slightly different from the statistics value. In Japan, wage calculations are based on the average wage for three months in the short term. It is because it is intended to quote the calculation standard of the unemployment insurance amount. In other words, Japan's unique bonus system which paid 2times in year is not included in payroll calculations. I think employee average monthly salary exceeds 50000 yen. I offer it to your reference.
Love the pin in the wall fact. Renting in Sydney we were so careful not to damage the walls because we knew anything other than reasonable wear and tear was going to cost us later. But in Japan we got a sneak peek of the rental before we moved in. There were pinholes everywhere…. A week later when we moved in, the walls were pristine in preparation for our move in (but the fees did really go towards this).
Because the wallpaper is usually textured and plastic, it is often possible to use the tip of the pin to stretch the plastic a little to cover the pinhole. Someone looking for pinhole damage would be hard pressed to find it. IYKYK
・It is true that Japan has a unique business culture of key money, but it is not the case that exorbitant fees are charged. This is understandable if you are in the position of a real estate investor. It would take too long to explain the reasons, so I will skip it, but try actually purchasing a property and renting it out. From the rental income, there are repair reserve funds, rental management fees, advertising and promotion fees, cleaning fees, repair costs, vacancy risk, real estate commission, property tax, income tax, and it is highly likely that the business will be in the red. ・In Japan, refusing to let someone rent to you because they are a foreigner is considered discrimination and illegal. However, the screening process is kept secret, so it is not known why they were rejected. (It is legal to reject someone because of their low annual income.) The reality is that it is difficult to prove in court, but there have been several cases in the past where landlords have lost by refusing to let foreigners rent to them.
Hannah!! It’s so great to see a video from you again. I can’t wait to come back and watch this when I have time. You’re one of my favorite RUclipsrs!!❤
I feel very enlightened by the the spreadsheets haha 😆 Honestly though this was such an amazing deep dive and I'd also love watching a deep dive on buying houses in Japan!
I’m kinda glad I’m living in Osaka now (80k for 1LDK near Umeda) 😅 those Tokyo prices are scary even coming from Sydney! Great video btw! The quality of the video is super high
*cries in millennial living in Sydney 🥲 Great video Hannah! I would totally rather live in a tiny 1LDK/studio than live with my parents or try to find people to rent with. Every city seems to have their own problems. Why is housing so hard atm!
Well done, Hannah. And yes, when you get around to it, I would love to see a "buy a house in Japan" video, especially if you could somehow contrast the urban vs rural situation.
Thank you for sharing very interesting information about renting in Tokyo. I used to stay in Tokyo several times years ago but I never had to worry about renting myself. I value and appreciate the level of detail and interesting topic as well as the interview with the real estate agent Yoh.
Loved this video. My wife and I have thought about moving to Tokyo (Setagaya) for 2-3 years to explore and for work. When we did the math, for a home half the size of ours right now, we would save about $2000 USD per month. Much smaller home, which is fine, but also no car, car insurance etc. Those add up. Thanks for the deep dive!
I pay $6050 a month USD for my townhouse in the San Francisco suburbs. I feel like everywhere is more expensive but you do make the good point that salaries are usually higher in more expensive cities.
Wait this video was surprisingly interesting! Especially as someone not in the market for an apartment in Tokyo I still found myself pulled into the many explanations displayed here. Great job, I’ll definitely come check your channel once in a while now!
Housing costs are definitely a big part of affordability, but different metros have completely different expense breakdowns for "median" households. It's easy to live in Tokyo or New York City without a car and opting out of owning one doesn't significantly limit your housing options. But in the US for example - if you want to live without a car in LA or Atlanta you're paying a significant premium to access the scarcity of apartments with proximity to transit (or local density). I think the perception of rent being "cheap" in Tokyo is grounded in a comparison of apartment prices in Tokyo with proximity to transit / density (large supply) and apartment prices with proximity to transit / density in car centric metros (constrained supply, demand exceeds supply).
thanks Hannah! this was very informative! the rights, the hidden fees especially! I don't really mind the statistics because it can really vary depending on the area, so thank you so much!
Good to learn about the increasing of rent. Living in Nagoya and just thought it was lucky my rent had not been increased the last couple of contract renewals. Will keep it in mind for the renewal in March
Hannah, great stuff! Agree with a ton of your points, even your sentiment of a lot of the misleading Japan housing content that are targeting people living aboard. Yoh is THE BEST! Love sugar's cameo 3:18. LOLL
And yes, a video on why buying real estate in Japan is not a good idea would be interesting. I think I know the reasons usually cited, but I'd be interested to hear your take on it.
My wife and I live in a UR in Chigasaki, and it's worked out very well for us, too. We pay around 130,000 yen/month for a 3LDK apartment with floor heating and 8,000 yen/month for garage parking. Our building is 9 years old, about 10 minutes from the beach on foot, and pets are allowed. And we have an amazing view of Mt. Fuji from nearly all of the rooms. As you say, URs don't charge key money, and our rent has never been raised (we've lived here for 7 years).
I'm always amazed at how much effort you put in each of your videos. Looking forward to the full home tour. p.s Would love a video about "why buy real estate investment is a bad idea in Japan"
Great info...just wanted to comment that Musashino is not in the special 23 wards of Tokyo but it does border it. Which means that you missed out Itabashi ward (on your excel /Google sheet) which is quite a reasonable and comfortable place to live in. So your stats may be slightly wrong. And I though I kept hearing you say 1881 instead of 1981. But yes it must have taken you a long time to do this and I wish I had known all that when I first moved to Tokyo. It might be also worth mentioning info about getting your deposit back too when moving out. If you are renting short term the agents will charge you for slight damages. Best to take photos when you move in.
Thanks for helping to set people straight, there's so much misinformation out there! For me, coming from LA to Tokyo as a software engineer, I am paying a lot more in percentage of my salary for rent now than I used to - and for half the size (~38sqm 1LDK in the central wards, pet OK, it's nice but nothing crazy). I roll my eyes when I see those 'it's amazingly cheap to live in Tokyo!' apartments sensationalized on social media that are prob like
I imagine it's just an outlier to have a software engineering salary in LA, which means you were paid very very well(relatively speaking). Everything else is just regression to the mean. Though I might be wrong, and it might actually be easy enough to be a software engineer in LA and have wages be that high forever.
I think you did a great job on the stats. It’s an area I have an interest in and think there would have been more shock value putting in San Francisco instead of LA. Just like Tokyo metro being massive and wise of you to stick to the 23 wards we know and love, LA too is extremely large area wise (much larger than metro Tokyo size), but a lot lower in population than Metro Tokyo. The Bay Area is a story of two types of people. The cashed up tech bros who can afford housing (just) and the regular bros who live in their car or commute in. I spent two months working in the US and was confronted by the story of the Uber driver who admitted to needing to move his family 3 hours drive outside SF and sleep in his car. But the comparison was 4 colleagues who had to share a small apartment negates their $300,000 USD package a year was not enough to rent solo (their apartment was in Oakland and was USD $7000 per month). Ouch! Sydney though has changed and I suspect your stats might not reflect post Covid. Our 60m2 apartment in Sydney was $500pw for 8 years with 0 increase (odd! But the fact real estate was Japanese and that we were Japanese-Aussie helped too….. b/c Japanese are best tenants :P) But post covid, it immediately increased 30%… and I’d say median was $500 but now you really can’t get much for $500 😢
I’m a student in London and I can’t afford to stay here after graduation, it’s a real crisis here. Only rich people live in apartments, and share houses are generally our only option and tend to be falling apart, my last place had holes in the floor and we had to try to take the landlord to court. The rent for these places is ridiculously high too, to the point people on minimum wage can’t afford even these houses. The median salary for london is ridiculously high because a lot of it includes business people who commute in for work, not people who actually live here and are trying to just survive. It’s really bleak here.
Hi, Hanna. I just wanted to point out that the “key money” to the landlord goes to the broker in the end, which means you are paying the fee to the broker equivalent to two months rent. The landlord is paying the fee to the broker same amount as you pay to them. It may not be always true but go check it out.
love this analytical deep dive! Rent is affordable if one is working remote in the west and live in the east. however, if one plans to move permanently to the east and work there, then i fully agree that its disingenuous to call the rent in the east is low.
Great video! I would say to make your calculations more accurate you need to calculate the "take home" salary (salary after tax) instead of just the salary on paper
Living in Zürich, a comparable apartment would cost 438’085.00 Yen per month, which is approximately 37% of the average monthly income. Parking is not icluded and can cost up to 43808.50 Yen. Electricity, Water and Trash fees come on top :-)
I'd love to hear your take on real estate investment in Japan being a bad idea. It's become a growing topic with the tourism boom and the increased exposure on akiya being preached as great low-cost investments for foreigners with good potential on returns. I assume there is a whole slew of hidden titling, repair, and maintenance costs waiting after purchase.
I'm not sure how an akiya -- or any house in Japan -- could be considered an investment. The market is the opposite of the real-estate market in the U.S., where people assume a house will increase in value. Houses in Japan actually decline in value over time. Buying a Japanese house as an investment would be like buying a car as an investment.
@@randyevermore9323From what I have seen, I believe most Akiya buyers plan to rent out the premises, thereby generating income. Some might live in the property for short time periods as well. From that perspective, it can be viewed as an investment. Plus, I believe it makes the buyer eligible for the Business/Entrepreneur Visa (rather than the 90-day Tourist Visa). Correct me if I've misunderstood something.
This videos is amazing! And with how you going with the details, I'm considering to contact Yo as one of my prospective agnets in the near future. 👍 Tokyo, and greater Tokyo (including Yokohama, etc). Is by no means /affordable/. As a South East Asian working jn Tokyo, it's really frustrating to see short videos portraying the /cheapness/ of Tokyo from Americans perspective. With that out of the way, my 30% upper limit is around 130k a month and since apartment is subsidized by my office, i can bump it up to 180k and im currently living in an overpriced, newly built, apartment in Kita-ku area for 120k. And I can't wait too move out to Yokohama next year. I still miss Osaka though.
I used to live there from October 2023 to May 2024. I didn't get a job there until the end of March unfortunately but even without that it was still cheaper to live in Tokyo then it was my city in the USA. I lived in a small city and the rent is high. The only downfall was that the apartments are smaller than the USA but I was okay with that. I do want a better bathroom and kitchen area next time though.
Having lived on the Seattle Eastside and having retired (early) from a good paying job there, it still sounds like Tokyo is pretty reasonably priced given living costs in where I'm from. With that said, I probably wouldn't need a place anywhere near downtown, so I'm guessing I could probably rent (or buy) a place farther from downtown that would work for me for less than I was paying in Seattle. My bigger problem is probably the difficulty in obtaining a long-term visa. I have no desire to find a job or start a business in Japan. And while I'm single (long since divorced) and I find Japanese women attractive, I don't really want to visit with the idea of trying to find a woman to marry. (Yes, I was kind of burned by my first marriage.) But perhaps you could do an episode on obtaining a visa in Japan and discuss what is required to obtain each type and how long you can stay under each visa? For instance I have significant savings. If I could show that I have means of support, could I get a longer-term tourist visa? A review of healthcare and health insurance available in Japan would also be interesting. There are probably other similar topics that might be interesting - basically short discussions/videos of how to get along in Japan as an expat? Yes, I know this is basically asking you to turn your channel into an expat channel...
one problem is if you don't ask for key money because don't want to rent your place. Too be fair renting in LA can be very cheap if you don't mind beat down building in a bad area with alot of crimes. Or very expensive as well.
Deep dive time, it's deep dive time! 🎶 I feel intrigued by your google spreadsheet 😊. And I would be interested in a video about why buying a house in Japan might be bad idea! not because I have any skin in the game, but because I'm curious how you see it 🙂. Also wow, those poor people in Hong Kong...
I can only vouch for London and depending on your salary and location/reasonable flat size. It can be between 50-over 100% of your salary. As the example my salary was say 2300 per month after tax and my apartment I let out now for 2250 per month (no bills included). So I can’t afford to rent out “my own” place.
While it i true that putting exactly the same apartment in many cities with be less affordable in Tokyo then one may feel, When placed in New York or London, they will be priced higher, and probably overpriced, because of housing crisis. And when speaking of places like Belgrade(Sebia) or similar, the price will also be off, just because average quality is so much lower. For example it is virtually impossible to find a 2 bedroom apartment here in Belgrade, that is not overly giant. (And most of them are 3-4+ room ones) And while size may seems to matter to some people, huge amount of people will prefer cheaper and smaller place, If it exists!!!
watching from latin america, interesting indeed!!! Here THAT monthly rent would get you a: two story house even. Of course, I know I'm comparing absolut different economies. $675usd is the miminum wage in Costa Rica, for example.
super helpful info thank you. i know the tiktoks you're talking about lol they all leave out key money and other stuff. i think for a lot of people, especially ones that can earn money in other currency, it's a great way to do some geo-arbitrage.
In NYC, the Real Estate Board of NY determines housing affordability. Period. Any of the published affordability indexes you read are skewed by a market exchange system that artificially inflates rents by manipulating housing stock. A city comptrollers audit uncovered thousands of individual apt vacancies along with empty buildings ready for rental with minimal investment. And that was using data that barely scratched the surface. REBNY isn’t publicly accountable yet does contribute a significant amount of money to government lobbying for favorable tax breaks and development deals as well as political candidates that will support their policy objectives.
Excellent report, btw. Had an eye-opening experience helping a friend sell her father’s apt in Osaka. But that’s a whole other area of real estate transactions that make Japan unique. Turned out his parking space was as valuable as the apt. 🤷🏼♂️😂
i am paying about 10€ per square metre here in germany, and that is quite typical for most of the more crowded areas to be somewhere between 8-13€ per square metre. So comparing my 360€ Rent (without heating and electricity) or 510€ (with heating and electricity) per month with a ~900€ Rent in Japan, i think i would need a much smaller room over there if i want to make the move.
10€ is acceptable but when you live in a bigger city you end up paying more like 15€ per square meter. I live in Köln and prices are pretty expensive here, mainly because of the housing crisis we suffer from for the past two decades and not so much because of greedy landlords. If you rent from a housing company you might pay less than 15€ per square meter, though.
@@ThePanacon yes some places are really fucked up with their prices, i don't know how people can pay that if their payment isn't pushed by the same amount.
Yo I can't imagine going through the stress of moving in Japan and then parsing through it all w/ screenshots and editing and everything for a video. If I were you and this didn't get hella views in return I'd prob have an aneurism idk.
Commenting again because WHAT DO YOU MEAN I COULD'VE HAD THINGS ON MY WALL THIS WHOLE TIME? As a fellow Australian in Japan I can confirm the fact that landlords will try to swipe your whole $2k deposit for a pinhole in the wall.
Wha?... Google Sheets instead of Excel??... That's it, *unsubscribed* ! 😋 I absolutely love concrete finishes in architecture, so super jealous² Thanks for the tutorial, it might come handy at some point 🤞🏼 😸
Yessss we are obsessed with the concrete features 😍 There’s quite a few concrete “designers” apartments in Japan so it seems that Japanese ppl like it too!
I don't think median wage is a good measure, really, especially since many jobs are remote or online. (But I suppose it's hard to find a better measure) It's much easier to earn above the median if the median is low, and you'd struggle to earn the median if it's high.
Related. I think absolute costs are almost a better measure because it is much closer to an apples to apples comparison. Absolute costs divided by median wage(or median divided by costs) is apples to oranges. Especially in a relatively global economy. (if you could not trade or interact between countries, then maybe median wages is a much bigger factor)
I just moved to Tokyo as well, and went really indepth with about 5 different real estate agents. 10% was mentioned in the video, but my agents told me 40-50% of landlords are anti-foreigner right off the bat. The percentages may be higher for 1K single person apts, and less so for more expensive/wealthy tenants. There were also a lot of properties where foreigners WERE allowed, but had to pay about 1.5x-2x any and all guarantor fees. The part that broke me the most was the phone calls with the landlords, and the agents who were persuading the landlords by using phrases like "he's one of the GOOD ones" or "he has AMERICAN citizenship". I managed to find a decent first Tokyo apartment, but the process was soul crushing. Really great and informative video, and I'll definitely be forwarding it to all my friends who are interested in moving to Tokyo as well.
As a landlord I would be most likely too to be frank depending on where they are from. Had enough experiences over the years although given it’s in London locals are very hit and miss too.
Man, that really sucks 😔 It can be so so frustrating to look at countless apartments only to find that half of them wouldn’t even accept you anyway. It’s such a draining experience. I hope you found a nice place in the end!
So... if our rent in X big city (i.e. NYC / LDN) is less than your benchmark, then we're probably doing alright relatively speaking :) only half kidding, thanks for the informative video, absolutely loved it!
I don't understand why you are calculating the ratio of the difference between median salary and salary required, divided by the mean of the median salary and salary required. Wouldn't it be more meaningful to just compare the ratio of the salary required divided by the median salary? That would give you a ratio of how many median salaries you would need to earn to rent the median apartment. In Hong Kong's case that would be 333.33%, meaning you would need more than 3 median jobs to rent the median apartment. Im not even sure what your numbers represent in a written description. Like, what does the 107.69% even mean? 107.69% of what? The shortfall divided by the average of the required salary and the median salary? What does the average of the reuired salary and median salary even mean?
Calling the worlds 4th economy cheap is just overly privilege blind, however some things are more affordable coming from North Europe, other things, less so. Agreed Key money should be illegal along with tipping in the West... Also Australia is wildly overpriced along with Canada for what you get, so yea... Also how dare you say only the center is Tokyo lol. But I do agree that the average def makes it more affordable if you take all the wards into account, and the center def is not a good price representation of the affordability overall.
It’s really crazy, I just read an article in English, towards foreigners that are landlords and it said “You could choose to not have key money, but everyone is so used to paying it so you may as well charge it!” 🙃
The usual stuff everybody tells you about. moving fees, key money, caution (you won't get this one back lol), cleaning fee (they clean the place when you move out... seems they didn't do that for the last guy that left before me. :I ) You moved in? great! Pay the fire insurance now too. If you want pets, pay another month's worth rent. If a real estate agent was involved, there will be even more fees. ... Surprise Residence Tax! :D
If you do the math of $ per square foot its stupendously expensive. Apartments in my area downtown are like 1400-1500$ a month but are 2x or 3x the size. Houses are like 2000$-2500$ a month and are like 2000sqft.
When it comes to affordability in places like Japan or Germany, where there are strong renter protection laws, one extremely important factor is rent time: How long have people lived in their rented apartments. That's why median statistics often show quite reasonable prices, but you just cannot find any actually available flats for a similar price: The people living in the cheap flats just won't move out but even if they do, most rent protections are lifted and the same place is rented for a huge up-charge to somebody new.
Ooooh that’s actually a super interesting point that I never considered! Another factor to throw into the equation!
ikr. that's my situation rn.
started renting a new build in berlin just a few years ago for 1100€ warm for 70sqm relatively central. in the meantime the same flat would apprently cost 2000€, but still paying the old price.
I guess tokyo for 70sqm would be at least 250k yen for 70sqm nowadays too.
soooo.... then the question is: if the extra money spent for living in a big city is actually worth it.
In that case one would use the current rental ads to get a sense of the going rents. Also while noting that location makes prices everywhere vary wildly.
@@_momosumomo Although that may not be accurate either. It would be slightly inaccurate in the wrong direction- the landlords factor in the renter protection laws and make it more expensive for new renters. You can expect the current rental ads to reflect what you would be paying in the future, but not what people are paying now.
In Germany, there are statistical terms for this: Angebotsmieten (currently offered rental prices) vs Bestandsmieten (average rents). The latest differences per sqm are 8.00 EUR in Munich and 7.50 EUR in Berlin.
Wow Hannah, this video is amazing. Super in detail and with a super good rythm. I guess this took a considerable amount of time and effort to make, but it was worth it. With an internet full of half-true info or data looking to bait people to engage with the content (usually in negatice ways), having quality content like this is becoming very rare. Thank you for this!
Thank you so much Jon! I’m doing my best (though I admit that maybe I bit off more than I can chew with this one) 😂
I loved this deep dive Hannah, so insightful!! Your new apartment looks beautiful too 😍✨
I also agree that it doesn’t make any sense to simply compare the cost of living in Japan with your own salary from back home (commonly USD) as a base reference, especially right now with the weak yen and how the exchange rate fluctuates. Been thinking this for a long time, so I’m glad you said it!
Side note - had no idea about the origins of key money either 😮
Thanks Sara!
Yeah comparison really doesn’t work well between two countries especially when one currency isn’t very strong atm cuz otherwise you could say that we were all getting paid 50% more two years ago haha
Thankyou for all the effort you put into your videos.
I love the actual honesty, not the "clickbatey" stuff that is around.
I’m doing my best 😅 Thank you!
Tokyo might not be cheap, but at least there seem to be enough appartments to find something. In a lot of European cities (looking at you Amsterdam) there just don't seem to be any places to rent or buy.... Awesome video, very insightful!
Yes, that’s a very good point. Plenty of vacancies here!
Same here in Boston these days. Tech business explosion sucked up all the inventory. Initial cash outlay is also an issue, first and last month rent, security deposit, broker fee are all due up front. That's 4 months worth of rent!
There are vacancies but half won't rent to foreigners.
Honestly, if you're willing to make another video about the house market, I would love it! I'm planning to move out there and looking at my options, it can get confusing..
Okay I’m obsessed with this video. We just moved to Kichijoji in a 3LDK and our landlord made us pay 12 months worth of rent as a deposit for the apartment because we are foreigners. We also paid one month’s worth of rent as key money and one month’s worth of rent to our real estate agent. We are self employed making USD though so we are lucky to have the cash needed to get this rental! Thanks so much for the video though! I learned so much and was living for the spreadsheets tbh haha
Omg TWELVE MONTHS?! I have never heard of that before, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it could get much worse 😖 Landlords just realllly wanna make sure you’ll be okay to pay rent I guess!
Ummm Kichijoji is rated as one of the most popular suburbs to live in Tokyo. Demand will be crazy plus Gaijin tax 😂🤣
@@CurrentlyHannahyes I was not stoked about it. Hopefully we see that money again one day at the end of the lease term 🙏🏼
You won't see that deposit again.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Hannah is my favorite content creator on Topic: Japan. She covers off the beaten path and hidden places in Japan and talks about Japan from a very real perspective without that mindless ✨"place Japan"✨ vibe. She shuts down misinformation about Japan so well, and I admire her as a filmmaker, her filming and editing skills are beyond amazing.
We appreciate your presenter skills and life experiences Hannah- from a silent viewer of many years ^_^
This is such a lovely comment! Thank you so much ☺️ It’s everything I strive to be!
Hannaさん, I've been watching your wonderful RUclips Videos ever. The video of this Japanese rental situation left me a deep impression.
It is wise that you quote the median rather than the average wage value about the monthly salary!
However, if a little supplemental about the monthly wage wage in Japan, the actual condition is slightly different from the statistics value. In Japan, wage calculations are based on the average wage for three months in the short term. It is because it is intended to quote the calculation standard of the unemployment insurance amount.
In other words, Japan's unique bonus system which paid 2times in year is not included in payroll calculations. I think employee average monthly salary exceeds 50000 yen. I offer it to your reference.
SO. HELPFUL. I wanna see this Japan home investment video pls.
Good timing for your move 😄
Loved the editing, and so much info packed in just the first couple minutes wow! Greatly appreciated!
It would be great to know how different Tokyo and Osaka are from each other based on your experience living in both places
Love the pin in the wall fact. Renting in Sydney we were so careful not to damage the walls because we knew anything other than reasonable wear and tear was going to cost us later.
But in Japan we got a sneak peek of the rental before we moved in. There were pinholes everywhere…. A week later when we moved in, the walls were pristine in preparation for our move in (but the fees did really go towards this).
Because the wallpaper is usually textured and plastic, it is often possible to use the tip of the pin to stretch the plastic a little to cover the pinhole. Someone looking for pinhole damage would be hard pressed to find it. IYKYK
so the real issue is that other cities should actually have small single appartments instead of forcuing people to have roommates
That would be ideal, yeah 😅
・It is true that Japan has a unique business culture of key money, but it is not the case that exorbitant fees are charged.
This is understandable if you are in the position of a real estate investor. It would take too long to explain the reasons, so I will skip it, but try actually purchasing a property and renting it out.
From the rental income, there are repair reserve funds, rental management fees, advertising and promotion fees, cleaning fees, repair costs, vacancy risk, real estate commission, property tax, income tax, and it is highly likely that the business will be in the red.
・In Japan, refusing to let someone rent to you because they are a foreigner is considered discrimination and illegal.
However, the screening process is kept secret, so it is not known why they were rejected. (It is legal to reject someone because of their low annual income.)
The reality is that it is difficult to prove in court, but there have been several cases in the past where landlords have lost by refusing to let foreigners rent to them.
Hannah!! It’s so great to see a video from you again. I can’t wait to come back and watch this when I have time. You’re one of my favorite RUclipsrs!!❤
Loved the deep dive!
It has been forever since I have seen anything from you. Great job!
Great video - very informative for someone thinking about living in Japan. Thank you!
I feel very enlightened by the the spreadsheets haha 😆 Honestly though this was such an amazing deep dive and I'd also love watching a deep dive on buying houses in Japan!
I’m kinda glad I’m living in Osaka now (80k for 1LDK near Umeda) 😅 those Tokyo prices are scary even coming from Sydney!
Great video btw! The quality of the video is super high
Yes Osaka was much more affordable 😅
*cries in millennial living in Sydney 🥲
Great video Hannah! I would totally rather live in a tiny 1LDK/studio than live with my parents or try to find people to rent with. Every city seems to have their own problems. Why is housing so hard atm!
It’s so rough out there these days 🥲
Because people treat housing as a commodity which should never be the case in a normal and healthy society.
Well done, Hannah. And yes, when you get around to it, I would love to see a "buy a house in Japan" video, especially if you could somehow contrast the urban vs rural situation.
Thank you for sharing very interesting information about renting in Tokyo. I used to stay in Tokyo several times years ago but I never had to worry about renting myself. I value and appreciate the level of detail and interesting topic as well as the interview with the real estate agent Yoh.
Loved this video. My wife and I have thought about moving to Tokyo (Setagaya) for 2-3 years to explore and for work.
When we did the math, for a home half the size of ours right now, we would save about $2000 USD per month.
Much smaller home, which is fine, but also no car, car insurance etc. Those add up. Thanks for the deep dive!
Wow saving that much is incredible!
I pay $6050 a month USD for my townhouse in the San Francisco suburbs. I feel like everywhere is more expensive but you do make the good point that salaries are usually higher in more expensive cities.
Wow that’s wild 😣 Yeah in hindsight I wish I chose San Francisco over LA but since my brother just moved to LA I think that’s why I chose it haha
Wait this video was surprisingly interesting! Especially as someone not in the market for an apartment in Tokyo I still found myself pulled into the many explanations displayed here.
Great job, I’ll definitely come check your channel once in a while now!
Housing costs are definitely a big part of affordability, but different metros have completely different expense breakdowns for "median" households. It's easy to live in Tokyo or New York City without a car and opting out of owning one doesn't significantly limit your housing options. But in the US for example - if you want to live without a car in LA or Atlanta you're paying a significant premium to access the scarcity of apartments with proximity to transit (or local density). I think the perception of rent being "cheap" in Tokyo is grounded in a comparison of apartment prices in Tokyo with proximity to transit / density (large supply) and apartment prices with proximity to transit / density in car centric metros (constrained supply, demand exceeds supply).
You’re right, the affordable transportation in Tokyo really makes spreading out from the city centre possible!
thanks Hannah! this was very informative! the rights, the hidden fees especially! I don't really mind the statistics because it can really vary depending on the area, so thank you so much!
Good to learn about the increasing of rent. Living in Nagoya and just thought it was lucky my rent had not been increased the last couple of contract renewals. Will keep it in mind for the renewal in March
Hannah, great stuff! Agree with a ton of your points, even your sentiment of a lot of the misleading Japan housing content that are targeting people living aboard.
Yoh is THE BEST! Love sugar's cameo 3:18. LOLL
Yeah there’s a lot of Japan rental content atm and I’d hit my limit 😅
Looove Sugar and Spice ❤️
And yes, a video on why buying real estate in Japan is not a good idea would be interesting. I think I know the reasons usually cited, but I'd be interested to hear your take on it.
My husband and I live in UR Housing. Setagaya, newish building completed in 2006. UR has been amazing for us no key money or other hidden fees.
My wife and I live in a UR in Chigasaki, and it's worked out very well for us, too. We pay around 130,000 yen/month for a 3LDK apartment with floor heating and 8,000 yen/month for garage parking. Our building is 9 years old, about 10 minutes from the beach on foot, and pets are allowed. And we have an amazing view of Mt. Fuji from nearly all of the rooms. As you say, URs don't charge key money, and our rent has never been raised (we've lived here for 7 years).
I'm always amazed at how much effort you put in each of your videos.
Looking forward to the full home tour.
p.s Would love a video about "why buy real estate investment is a bad idea in Japan"
I really enjoy "Hannah Explains" videos. Hannah explains sunscreen. Hannah explains rent in Japan.
Great info...just wanted to comment that Musashino is not in the special 23 wards of Tokyo but it does border it. Which means that you missed out Itabashi ward (on your excel /Google sheet) which is quite a reasonable and comfortable place to live in. So your stats may be slightly wrong. And I though I kept hearing you say 1881 instead of 1981. But yes it must have taken you a long time to do this and I wish I had known all that when I first moved to Tokyo. It might be also worth mentioning info about getting your deposit back too when moving out. If you are renting short term the agents will charge you for slight damages. Best to take photos when you move in.
This is such a great video!
I think this is the best video I've seen on Tokyo apartment renting. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Yay! Thank you!
There’s a tiny black line from the green screen cutout that had me freak out for a bit that there was a crack in my screen 😅
Hahaha I thought the same while editing the video 😂
Thanks for helping to set people straight, there's so much misinformation out there! For me, coming from LA to Tokyo as a software engineer, I am paying a lot more in percentage of my salary for rent now than I used to - and for half the size (~38sqm 1LDK in the central wards, pet OK, it's nice but nothing crazy). I roll my eyes when I see those 'it's amazingly cheap to live in Tokyo!' apartments sensationalized on social media that are prob like
I imagine it's just an outlier to have a software engineering salary in LA, which means you were paid very very well(relatively speaking). Everything else is just regression to the mean.
Though I might be wrong, and it might actually be easy enough to be a software engineer in LA and have wages be that high forever.
Very interesting to hear your perspective 🤔
Great video! Would love to learn about why buying property in Japan is not a good investment (especially involving your deep dive analysis). 🤓
I think you did a great job on the stats. It’s an area I have an interest in and think there would have been more shock value putting in San Francisco instead of LA. Just like Tokyo metro being massive and wise of you to stick to the 23 wards we know and love, LA too is extremely large area wise (much larger than metro Tokyo size), but a lot lower in population than Metro Tokyo.
The Bay Area is a story of two types of people. The cashed up tech bros who can afford housing (just) and the regular bros who live in their car or commute in.
I spent two months working in the US and was confronted by the story of the Uber driver who admitted to needing to move his family 3 hours drive outside SF and sleep in his car.
But the comparison was 4 colleagues who had to share a small apartment negates their $300,000 USD package a year was not enough to rent solo (their apartment was in Oakland and was USD $7000 per month).
Ouch!
Sydney though has changed and I suspect your stats might not reflect post Covid.
Our 60m2 apartment in Sydney was $500pw for 8 years with 0 increase (odd! But the fact real estate was Japanese and that we were Japanese-Aussie helped too….. b/c Japanese are best tenants :P)
But post covid, it immediately increased 30%… and I’d say median was $500 but now you really can’t get much for $500 😢
I’m a student in London and I can’t afford to stay here after graduation, it’s a real crisis here. Only rich people live in apartments, and share houses are generally our only option and tend to be falling apart, my last place had holes in the floor and we had to try to take the landlord to court. The rent for these places is ridiculously high too, to the point people on minimum wage can’t afford even these houses. The median salary for london is ridiculously high because a lot of it includes business people who commute in for work, not people who actually live here and are trying to just survive. It’s really bleak here.
Hi, Hanna. I just wanted to point out that the “key money” to the landlord goes to the broker in the end, which means you are paying the fee to the broker equivalent to two months rent. The landlord is paying the fee to the broker same amount as you pay to them. It may not be always true but go check it out.
love this analytical deep dive! Rent is affordable if one is working remote in the west and live in the east. however, if one plans to move permanently to the east and work there, then i fully agree that its disingenuous to call the rent in the east is low.
Great video! I would say to make your calculations more accurate you need to calculate the "take home" salary (salary after tax) instead of just the salary on paper
Living in Zürich, a comparable apartment would cost 438’085.00 Yen per month, which is approximately 37% of the average monthly income. Parking is not icluded and can cost up to 43808.50 Yen. Electricity, Water and Trash fees come on top :-)
I'd love to hear your take on real estate investment in Japan being a bad idea. It's become a growing topic with the tourism boom and the increased exposure on akiya being preached as great low-cost investments for foreigners with good potential on returns. I assume there is a whole slew of hidden titling, repair, and maintenance costs waiting after purchase.
I'm not sure how an akiya -- or any house in Japan -- could be considered an investment. The market is the opposite of the real-estate market in the U.S., where people assume a house will increase in value. Houses in Japan actually decline in value over time. Buying a Japanese house as an investment would be like buying a car as an investment.
@@randyevermore9323From what I have seen, I believe most Akiya buyers plan to rent out the premises, thereby generating income. Some might live in the property for short time periods as well. From that perspective, it can be viewed as an investment. Plus, I believe it makes the buyer eligible for the Business/Entrepreneur Visa (rather than the 90-day Tourist Visa). Correct me if I've misunderstood something.
This videos is amazing! And with how you going with the details, I'm considering to contact Yo as one of my prospective agnets in the near future. 👍
Tokyo, and greater Tokyo (including Yokohama, etc). Is by no means /affordable/. As a South East Asian working jn Tokyo, it's really frustrating to see short videos portraying the /cheapness/ of Tokyo from Americans perspective. With that out of the way, my 30% upper limit is around 130k a month and since apartment is subsidized by my office, i can bump it up to 180k and im currently living in an overpriced, newly built, apartment in Kita-ku area for 120k. And I can't wait too move out to Yokohama next year. I still miss Osaka though.
I used to live there from October 2023 to May 2024. I didn't get a job there until the end of March unfortunately but even without that it was still cheaper to live in Tokyo then it was my city in the USA. I lived in a small city and the rent is high. The only downfall was that the apartments are smaller than the USA but I was okay with that. I do want a better bathroom and kitchen area next time though.
I’m no planing to move to Japan but wow! What a fun video. ☺️
Meanwhile in Lisbon average apartment rent is 1800€ and average montly salary is 1200€ 😭
Great Video Hannah.
Having lived on the Seattle Eastside and having retired (early) from a good paying job there, it still sounds like Tokyo is pretty reasonably priced given living costs in where I'm from. With that said, I probably wouldn't need a place anywhere near downtown, so I'm guessing I could probably rent (or buy) a place farther from downtown that would work for me for less than I was paying in Seattle.
My bigger problem is probably the difficulty in obtaining a long-term visa. I have no desire to find a job or start a business in Japan. And while I'm single (long since divorced) and I find Japanese women attractive, I don't really want to visit with the idea of trying to find a woman to marry. (Yes, I was kind of burned by my first marriage.)
But perhaps you could do an episode on obtaining a visa in Japan and discuss what is required to obtain each type and how long you can stay under each visa? For instance I have significant savings. If I could show that I have means of support, could I get a longer-term tourist visa?
A review of healthcare and health insurance available in Japan would also be interesting. There are probably other similar topics that might be interesting - basically short discussions/videos of how to get along in Japan as an expat?
Yes, I know this is basically asking you to turn your channel into an expat channel...
Nice how you looked at LA/NY/Tokyo/Sydney/Hong Kong costs of rent.
I’d love to see your takes on housing.
one problem is if you don't ask for key money because don't want to rent your place. Too be fair renting in LA can be very cheap if you don't mind beat down building in a bad area with alot of crimes. Or very expensive as well.
Deep dive time, it's deep dive time! 🎶 I feel intrigued by your google spreadsheet 😊. And I would be interested in a video about why buying a house in Japan might be bad idea! not because I have any skin in the game, but because I'm curious how you see it 🙂. Also wow, those poor people in Hong Kong...
You kept my attention the whole time. I couldn't agree more about the kitchen space. I think my dream home would be 33% kitchen. It's never enough! 🤣
33% kitchen is such a dream! One day 😍
Cries in Munich rental prices 😭 Finding a 1LDK or studio is difficult by itself, and then it's also expensive af
I can only vouch for London and depending on your salary and location/reasonable flat size. It can be between 50-over 100% of your salary. As the example my salary was say 2300 per month after tax and my apartment I let out now for 2250 per month (no bills included). So I can’t afford to rent out “my own” place.
Phenomenal video
While it i true that putting exactly the same apartment in many cities with be less affordable in Tokyo then one may feel,
When placed in New York or London, they will be priced higher, and probably overpriced, because of housing crisis.
And when speaking of places like Belgrade(Sebia) or similar, the price will also be off, just because average quality is so much lower.
For example it is virtually impossible to find a 2 bedroom apartment here in Belgrade, that is not overly giant. (And most of them are 3-4+ room ones)
And while size may seems to matter to some people, huge amount of people will prefer cheaper and smaller place, If it exists!!!
watching from latin america, interesting indeed!!! Here THAT monthly rent would get you a: two story house even. Of course, I know I'm comparing absolut different economies. $675usd is the miminum wage in Costa Rica, for example.
Really good work.
super helpful info thank you. i know the tiktoks you're talking about lol they all leave out key money and other stuff. i think for a lot of people, especially ones that can earn money in other currency, it's a great way to do some geo-arbitrage.
In NYC, the Real Estate Board of NY determines housing affordability. Period. Any of the published affordability indexes you read are skewed by a market exchange system that artificially inflates rents by manipulating housing stock. A city comptrollers audit uncovered thousands of individual apt vacancies along with empty buildings ready for rental with minimal investment. And that was using data that barely scratched the surface.
REBNY isn’t publicly accountable yet does contribute a significant amount of money to government lobbying for favorable tax breaks and development deals as well as political candidates that will support their policy objectives.
Excellent report, btw. Had an eye-opening experience helping a friend sell her father’s apt in Osaka. But that’s a whole other area of real estate transactions that make Japan unique. Turned out his parking space was as valuable as the apt. 🤷🏼♂️😂
So much cheaper than the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s like double here than what you pay there in Japan
Key money...gotta love Japan and the way they do things.
i am paying about 10€ per square metre here in germany, and that is quite typical for most of the more crowded areas to be somewhere between 8-13€ per square metre. So comparing my 360€ Rent (without heating and electricity) or 510€ (with heating and electricity) per month with a ~900€ Rent in Japan, i think i would need a much smaller room over there if i want to make the move.
10€ is acceptable but when you live in a bigger city you end up paying more like 15€ per square meter. I live in Köln and prices are pretty expensive here, mainly because of the housing crisis we suffer from for the past two decades and not so much because of greedy landlords. If you rent from a housing company you might pay less than 15€ per square meter, though.
@@ThePanacon yes some places are really fucked up with their prices, i don't know how people can pay that if their payment isn't pushed by the same amount.
Yo I can't imagine going through the stress of moving in Japan and then parsing through it all w/ screenshots and editing and everything for a video. If I were you and this didn't get hella views in return I'd prob have an aneurism idk.
Haha yeah I admit, I spent way too long on this one and it probably won’t do thaaaat well lol
Commenting again because WHAT DO YOU MEAN I COULD'VE HAD THINGS ON MY WALL THIS WHOLE TIME? As a fellow Australian in Japan I can confirm the fact that landlords will try to swipe your whole $2k deposit for a pinhole in the wall.
Wha?... Google Sheets instead of Excel??... That's it, *unsubscribed* ! 😋
I absolutely love concrete finishes in architecture, so super jealous²
Thanks for the tutorial, it might come handy at some point 🤞🏼
😸
Yessss we are obsessed with the concrete features 😍 There’s quite a few concrete “designers” apartments in Japan so it seems that Japanese ppl like it too!
oh dang, I have no idea about all those hidden fees. Guess I will continue to suffer in my overpriced NYC apartment lol
I don't think median wage is a good measure, really, especially since many jobs are remote or online. (But I suppose it's hard to find a better measure)
It's much easier to earn above the median if the median is low, and you'd struggle to earn the median if it's high.
Related. I think absolute costs are almost a better measure because it is much closer to an apples to apples comparison. Absolute costs divided by median wage(or median divided by costs) is apples to oranges. Especially in a relatively global economy. (if you could not trade or interact between countries, then maybe median wages is a much bigger factor)
The work (aka maths) put into this video….👏🏼
I just moved to Tokyo as well, and went really indepth with about 5 different real estate agents. 10% was mentioned in the video, but my agents told me 40-50% of landlords are anti-foreigner right off the bat. The percentages may be higher for 1K single person apts, and less so for more expensive/wealthy tenants. There were also a lot of properties where foreigners WERE allowed, but had to pay about 1.5x-2x any and all guarantor fees. The part that broke me the most was the phone calls with the landlords, and the agents who were persuading the landlords by using phrases like "he's one of the GOOD ones" or "he has AMERICAN citizenship". I managed to find a decent first Tokyo apartment, but the process was soul crushing. Really great and informative video, and I'll definitely be forwarding it to all my friends who are interested in moving to Tokyo as well.
As a landlord I would be most likely too to be frank depending on where they are from. Had enough experiences over the years although given it’s in London locals are very hit and miss too.
Man, that really sucks 😔 It can be so so frustrating to look at countless apartments only to find that half of them wouldn’t even accept you anyway. It’s such a draining experience. I hope you found a nice place in the end!
So... if our rent in X big city (i.e. NYC / LDN) is less than your benchmark, then we're probably doing alright relatively speaking :) only half kidding, thanks for the informative video, absolutely loved it!
I don't understand why you are calculating the ratio of the difference between median salary and salary required, divided by the mean of the median salary and salary required. Wouldn't it be more meaningful to just compare the ratio of the salary required divided by the median salary? That would give you a ratio of how many median salaries you would need to earn to rent the median apartment. In Hong Kong's case that would be 333.33%, meaning you would need more than 3 median jobs to rent the median apartment. Im not even sure what your numbers represent in a written description. Like, what does the 107.69% even mean? 107.69% of what? The shortfall divided by the average of the required salary and the median salary? What does the average of the reuired salary and median salary even mean?
The government of Japan could do way more for their Japanese people, including getting rid of the gift money
How on earth did you make that entertaining!?!?
8:42 BRAZIL MENTIONED!!!!!! 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
Calling the worlds 4th economy cheap is just overly privilege blind, however some things are more affordable coming from North Europe, other things, less so. Agreed Key money should be illegal along with tipping in the West... Also Australia is wildly overpriced along with Canada for what you get, so yea... Also how dare you say only the center is Tokyo lol. But I do agree that the average def makes it more affordable if you take all the wards into account, and the center def is not a good price representation of the affordability overall.
Reikin/key money sounds like straight-up legitimised extortion. Landlords must laught their arses off at getting away with that.
It’s really crazy, I just read an article in English, towards foreigners that are landlords and it said “You could choose to not have key money, but everyone is so used to paying it so you may as well charge it!” 🙃
Why not buy a house in Japan?
The usual stuff everybody tells you about. moving fees, key money, caution (you won't get this one back lol), cleaning fee (they clean the place when you move out... seems they didn't do that for the last guy that left before me. :I )
You moved in? great! Pay the fire insurance now too. If you want pets, pay another month's worth rent.
If a real estate agent was involved, there will be even more fees.
... Surprise Residence Tax! :D
I feel like everyday I get a letter in the mail with another shockingly high bill to pay 🙃
Finance education hannah > travel hannah lol
Hahahaha oh no
If you do the math of $ per square foot its stupendously expensive.
Apartments in my area downtown are like 1400-1500$ a month but are 2x or 3x the size.
Houses are like 2000$-2500$ a month and are like 2000sqft.
I love your contents, can I get a comment heart?❤