Another blog by Boh Tong the ex- SIA cabin crew: Houses in Japan
Showing posts with label Houses in Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houses in Japan. Show all posts

Friday, September 1, 2017

Buying a house in Japan?




My parents-in-laws sent us these photos. These are houses being built about 20 minutes from  where they are living now. They are interested in the one storey house which is quite rare in Japan. Houses in Japan are 2 to 3 storey high. Since they are old, they can't climb the staircase to the bedrooms in the upper floor and so they would like to live in a single storey house.
We were told each single storey house with 3 bedroom cost around 40 million Japanese Yen which is about S$500,000. Each unit comes with freehold land of about 1,200 sq feet.
We thought of paying for half the cost and they pay the balance. Each party will have to fork out about $250,000. Since, my wife and I are unemployed, we can't afford to pay.
In order to solve the problem of cost, I told my wife I want to be a Uber driver. If I can earn around $5,000 a month and save every cent then in 4 to 5 years, I should be able to save around $250,000 to pay our share of the house.
The idea is quite good but at my age can I drive 10 hours a day for 4 to 5 years?

Thursday, August 24, 2017

My parents- in-laws' house in Japan






This is my in-laws' house in Fukuoka, Southern Japan. It is 42 years old and is about an hour drive from Fukuoka Airport. The  house is situated in a quiet neighborhood void of restaurants, supermarkets and other amenities. The nearest supermarket and restaurant is 20 minutes drive away.
I was told the value of the house is zero but the piece of land could fetch about S$120,000 which was the price they initially paid for in 1975. The freehold land is about 1,200 sq feet.
They may want to sell it and buy a new one in a place that is convenient to them but it would cost them a lot more. A 2-storey house like this one in a better suburb may cost about S$360,000 which is still much cheaper than in Singapore.
Land in Japan is not as expensive as in Singapore. My friend who bought a 10,000 sq feet freehold land with a house in Singapore in the 1970s for S$70,000 could easily fetch between $6 million and $8 million today.