They left the USA and bought an abandoned Japanese house (ft.
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- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- I've heard about abandoned homes in Japan (or "akiya") being given away for free or nearly free. Is this for real? And if so, what does the process look like to buy one?
Luckily I've met some former homesteaders from the USA who have done just that.
So I packed up my family in a tiny rental car, drove across Japan, and camped out on the beach down the street from them.
Just so I could learn what it's ACTUALLY like to buy and renovate a cheap Japanese house in the countryside.
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
00:28 - Welcome to Omishima
01:49 - Meet Evan and Dani Benton
02:30 - How old is the house?
03:21 - The kitchen and bath
03:59 - Why Japan?
04:21 - Living rooms and engawa
05:35 - How do you legally stay in Japan?
06:53 - Upstairs bedroom
08:23 - How much does a house like this ACTUALLY cost? (Cost breakdown)
10:32 - Advice for those who want to buy an old Japanese house
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ABOUT SLOWSTEADING:
We are Slowsteading, a formerly homesteading family of four embarking on a journey to explore alternative ways of living. We are challenging conventions about what a family needs to thrive, exploring ideas of minimalism, slow living, and location independence. We're currently travelling the world and learning from passionate creative entrepreneurs in unexpected places.
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Instagram: / slowsteading
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WHERE I GET MY MUSIC:
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What do you think, would you buy a house like this?
I have building experience, I would
@@MosaicHomestead You could pick up at least a few places at these prices!
Yes! We have just bought an akiya in Shimane :) Lots of DIY in our future. Evan and Dani are lovely people and we enjoy watching their progress.
@@NekoAshiJapan very cool, congratulations on your purchase! I'd love to see some pictures, where can I look?
@Slowsteading Thank you! We think it's cool too 😎 we have a video of our inspection of the house on our channel. Just about to launch into documenting our purchasing and restoration journey.
This is really cool to watch, but I’d like to suggest that the volume of the background music be reduced quite substantially next time, as it made it quite a challenge to hear the dialogue.
Really cool content, though. 😊
When I saw the Airbnb listing, I absolutely loved that they included the vintage CRT TV and the Famicom (NES). A really nice touch. It's almost like getting to stay in a 90's Japanese time capsule.
Yeah they've really retained a lot of the vintage pieces that give the house its charm and character. I see so many Air Bnbs loaded up with the cheapest items possible from Ikea, but I much prefer this style.
Your videos are so well done. Keep them coming!
Thanks so much for watching!
Keep up the great work & transition! So grateful to be in touch with you, Dani!
Thanks for watching! It's very exciting to see the progress they've made with house 😁
Americans moving to a cheaper country, inspiring others to follow suit, and soon raising the local housing market price, and makes it even more unobtainable for locals too. Yay!! 😂
That is literally going on all-over the world - hush your racist ass up.
No locals want to live in these areas 😂
America could have affordable housing like Japan if they didn’t have their cities designated to mostly only large single family homes.
@@elimarshall1497 zoning is a big issue for sure, but also other factors like the fact that real estate is used as a speculative asset for investment purposes. In Japan most real estate decreases in value over time.
@@Slowsteading yeah but then again it goes back to zoning because most real estate wouldn’t be able to increase as much in value if zoning wasnt so restrictive here.
I love watching your videos, your storytelling and editing. I’ve been checking everyday for new ones. Hope all is good with you guys. My son lived inJapan for over a year, he moved back to US this week with his new wife from Japan.
Thanks so much, that means a lot! We took a bit of a break but hope to share more soon, all is well :)
The quality of the videos you produce are amazing! Content and visuals. 10/10 subscribed instantly!
Hey guys, it was a great video. Moving to Japan & settling down is one of my biggest dreams & am happy when I see other people doing it. Hopefully one day I'll be able to do it. For now I've moved to Dubai to find a job & make enough money to do all the things I want to. It's been good one week here. Hoping to see more videos from you guys...💙💙💙
Wow congrats on the big move! Did you have to find a new home for your chickens?
@@Slowsteading No, I used to live with my parents in our farmhouse. So now they are looking after thw chickens. And talking about them we hatched 11 new chicks couple of days ago.
@@GaganUluvaru congratulations on the new chicks! I wonder if you miss them, I think about our chickens often too :) Wishing you the best of luck in Dubai ✌
@@Slowsteading yeah miss them a lot. Miss getting annoyed at my cats..💙
Another excellent video. Super high production. You should be really proud!
I love your videos. I just wish that RUclips would suggest them to me!
9k for a abandoned house, that's cheap, how are the material prices there compared to the US, that would be my main concern, also if it would be mandatory to higher a contractor, I would have to do my own work to be satisfied with the quality.
Japan does have the equivalent of Home Depot and Lowes in the country. You just have to make sure of the legal issues for things like electric, gas, and heating mainly. Recommend you do your research and ask locals and contractors what the rules are on certifications for work done. I have helped with renovating a building in Japan to turn it into a church. All the work was done by people in the church and a master craftsman who flew over as a missionary to help with all the intricacies. We made sure our paper work was done correctly; and we were able to pass Japanese inspection with no issues. The majority of the men were all military, and we all had certifications from our jobs in the different areas of work.
Those are great questions! With the current inflation, I'm not sure what material prices are in the US currently, so it's hard for us to make a direct comparison. Before we left the US, we had some work done repairing the underside of our house in New Orleans, and at that time (2021), the cost of wood had recently tripled... So I just don't know what things cost there currently. I'll say I don't have sticker shock when looking at lumber and materials in Japan, so it's probably about equivalent to previous US prices.
As far as being required to use a contractor, we only hired out what we didn't have experience with, or would require permits. The rest of the work we're doing ourselves, and I agree, that's the only way to ensure quality. Also, we're making it a priority to repair and keep as much historic material as we can, so we were sad when the contractors (without our knowledge) cut out a perfectly good old beam under the floor in one room, and replaced with new wood... Their jobs are done now, so now the rest of the renovation will be done by ourselves.
These are great questions! From what I could tell at the home centres, prices were comparable for materials back home. Whatever can be produced domestically is usually cheaper, but a lot of the wood is imported thus subject to price fluctuations of it's originating country.
One thing @bentonhomestead mentioned to me was that although they were not required to, there was a sort of an implicit agreement that they work with that specific local contractor due to his relationship with the house/previous owners. I don't know the specifics about that arrangement, but it kind of illustrates that there are definitely cultural factors at play.
Are you and your family Ok...I heard there was a earthquake there that was pretty bad.
Hey team, please be mindful of the land taxes you are liable for. This the reason Japanese families aren’t keeping these properties when the olds die off. My Japanese wife is figuring about the viability of keeping her family home when her mum goes.
I loved this look into what it takes to pull up stakes, follow your heart and cultivate a life worth living. Can’t wait to follow them and you on this fantastic journey!
Thanks so much!
What happened to the homestead? I would love to take over and take care of it
Guts & stamina!! But, the rewards will be a lovely & simple life.. which we all strive for. Keep up your ur channel please. I had many Japanese friends when I lived in Hawaii (Oahu) back in the 70’s & it was such an uncomplicated life
It definitely takes guts to take on a project like this! But I totally agree, great rewards only come from taking big risks and putting in the work. These guys are inspiring!
⭐All your videos are great⭐
Very interesting. Thank you.
You can find more good condition akiya with cheaper price, but at first you should decide where you want to settle, then try to find akiya around neighbour there...
Haha. I just noticed the reference in the thumbnail for this video! Nice.
American Gothic 😂 The pitchfork was Evan's idea, but it fits so well
Nice video the Benton’s have made huge progress with the project this far and I wish them all the best. If you are going to live in Japan the countryside is where it’s definitely at.
Seriously, they've done an amazing job. I hear they are planning to complete the reno by November to get the guest house up and running, I'll have to get back there for an update video!
Couldn't agree more, the countryside > cities especially in Japan.
Aaaaah. Right. Tatami mat order. Thank you for reminding me. One of my orders of business has been to remove the tatami to double check what’s going on underneath. Had I removed them all and then tried to put them back I likely would have created LOTS of unnecessary heartache.
Fingers crossed for you that there are no surprises underneath!
Great video. I love watching videos about あきや .
Thanks for watching!
Don't forget the Earthquake and typhoon when you buy a property in Japean. Good luck with your project 🍀
Are ya gonna do it brother?!?!
If the right opportunity arises, anything is possible 😂😂
Nice story of the struggles of living abroad
Definitely, the Bentons are really inspiring in how they have tackled a lot of the challenges head on
What do you think, would you live in a house like that?
What is the reason for these homes being abandoned? Very interesting. It looks like it would a lot of work and time invested, but something your family has already shown you can do. Looking forward to see what happens. Good luck!
There are so many abandoned houses in japan... Especially in rural area... No one heirs the home. Mostly the young people not married now.. Lack of kids
@@littlefairyland763 They moved to big cities where there are more job opportunities
Demographic collapse. Same thing is happening to Europeans.
Building code changes. New building codes are more earthquake-resistant. It's usualy cheaper to destroy and build from scratch than refurbish to new standards.
Population decline plays part too
Very interesting 🎉
Thanks, I think they have such a cool story to share!
Thaxs for even showing such an idea. The japanese have some cute lifestyles but again, at the end of the day i dont see it as worth it at all. Christian community is worth far so much more in America. When weather tragedys strike here, community comes together. That I love.
Please turn down or off the background music when talking. It was so difficult to hear the dialog. Nice video otherwise. 😊
Thanks for the feedback! The audio was tricky as the cicadas were ridiculously loud at that time of year, but yeah could have done some better levelling on my end 😅
Xin chào