We’ve now been in Tokyo for three weeks and are still looking for an apartment to rent. We’ve been living in our friend’s spare bed room while we look for a place of our own. They have been amazing hosts and we may be a bit spoiled. Apartment hunting is probably one of my least favorite activities. In DC, I’ve bought a town house, bought a condo, and rented three different apartments. Each search had its own challenges and compromises. This search in Tokyo is far worse than any previous search. I realize this is a different culture and all, but there are some problems in the system.
Let’s first talk about the costs. Here’s a breakdown of all the costs and fees, that I know of. I’m sure there are others that might magically appear at some point since no one tells you about the fees. Some are self-explanatory like rent that I won’t list here. Every apartment and owner has different requirements and not all fees are charged for every apartment.
Management/Maintenance fee: Usually between $100 to $200 on top of the rent each month. This is a fee for general management of the property. I don’t know why it’s not included in the rent. Actually, it is kind of nice because this reduces many of the one-time fees that are based on the monthly rent. (see below)
Deposit: Between one 1 and 2 months (but could be up to 4 months), and usually comes back after your lease ends, minus the cleaning fee. Think of this as a security deposit.
Cleaning fee: About $10 per square meter.
Agent fee: A one-time payment of about one month’s rent. Sometimes they add a percentage if they’re really good.
Guarantee Company fee: A one-time payment of about a half a month’s rent. I think this is a company that will guarantee that you’ll pay the rent, like a type of insurance. I’m not really sure. In our case, the organization Jocelyn is working with is actually paying the rent. Some places accept this as a guarantee since it’s an organization, not a person. Some don’t consider it as secure since it’s a non-profit.
Housing Insurance: A one-time payment of around $250. This covers things like fire insurance for the unit.
Lease breaking fee: Most leases are 2 years but you can break the lease after a year without penalty. If you break it before the year is out, you need to pay an extra month.
Key Exchange Fee: A one-time payment of around $250. This is to replace the locks. I don’t know why it costs $200 when I could change the locks in DC for $20.
Key/Appreciation Money: A one-time payment of 1 or 2 month’s rent. This is my favorite charge. I like to call it the bribery fee or extortion money. You’re basically paying them an extra month’s rent for the honor of living on their property. I have yet to hear a good explanation of what this fee covers.
Let’s talk about location. Everyone knows that location is the most important part of finding a place to live. I thought this would be relatively easy since we don’t have as many search criteria as we had in the past. I’m not working and don’t need to worry about a commute. J plans to take the metro to work and there are metro stations everywhere. Granted we don’t want J’s commute to be too long. We also want to live near our friends since they’re going through many of the same situations as we are (like having a newborn).
I was wrong. Tokyo is not an easy place to find an apartment. The neighborhoods we’re looking at are pricey since those neighborhoods match the criteria I mentioned above. Most places we looked at are between 60 and 80 sq m (650 to 950 sq ft). Those apartments range from $2700 to $3500 a month, not including furniture or parking. Fortunately, we won’t have a car. As an example, an 1100+ sq ft apartment in Arlington was $2850 and that included parking and 2 storage units. Talk about sticker shock.
Here are some of the views. I hope the neighbors don’t stay up too late making noise:
This link will give you an idea of what commuting is like in Tokyo.
http://nbakki.hatenablog.com/entry/2014/09/16/182153
Let’s talk about agents and real-estate companies. We have had 4 so far, with varying results, and someone specializing in Air BnB, which is under pressure from the Japanese government to shut down since the Japanese neighbors don’t like people coming and going too often. Air BNB is also not regulated by the Japanese government and over-site. We’ve looked at Craig’s list, Air BnB, Gaijin Pot, and several other real-estate web sites. Japan doesn’t have a comprehensive MRIS system for real estate listings like in the US. A Japanese real-estate agent doesn’t have access to all properties currently available in a neighborhood. There are many large real-estate companies that have their own lists of properties and they don’t share with each other. Some agents can get listings from other companies, but I don’t know how that works. Two of the larger companies are Ken Corp and Mori. They sell and rent properties on behalf of the owner. Sometimes they can negotiate fees and rent, but more often than not, they can’t change anything. I also think agents will only show you properties for two, maybe three, outings before they give up on you. Another unique Japanese aspect, is that the agent will tell you if someone else already put in an application. If you’re not the first person to put in an application, they won’t submit one for you.
Oh, btw, only one of the dozen or so properties we looked at had the keys at the location in a lock box. Usually, the agent has to go to the management company’s office between 10:00 and 6:00 (maybe 7) to pick up and return the key. Half our time is spent going to one management company or another before we get to see each unit. Since there is only one key, the agent has to make an appointment to see the unit, which means picking up the key and returning it immediately after showing the unit so that others from their company can do the same with other clients. Often the agents use taxis to drive clients around since it costs $3500 to get a driver’s license and agents share cars.
More about the properties. Most do not come with basic appliances like a microwave, food disposal in the sink, refrigerator and a washer/dryer. They have hookups for them, but you have to buy them yourself. So far they all have at least a 3 burner stove-top (called a “system kitchen”). Most don’t have an oven. They have a small broiler for things like yakizakana that can basically cook a fish fillet and nothing else. About half have dishwashers. They all have AC units, no central air. Some have some interesting features like earthquake locks on the cabinets and outlets that lock in plugs so you don’t accidentally pull them out, as well as heated floors. Some Tokyo residential buildings have front desks or concierges and some don’t. Some agents are able to provide the missing appliances/lights/blinds for a year from their company. You should always ask if the key money, rent, move-in date, and so on are negotiable, because you never know until you ask. And ask your agent to ask the property manager. We have seen a few cases of an agent getting 100,000-200,000 yen off the monthly rental cost of larger units in expensive neighborhoods. J says DC is unique in that most apartments come with microwave, refrigerator, stove-top/oven and a washer/dryer. But I can’t imagine an apartment in any large US city would not come with those basic appliances. You might have to go down the hall to wash clothes, but it’s part of the building and you don’t have to buy your own W/D.
Here are some of the appliances:
Joey's travels in Japan 
My brother live in Japan for 10 years. He basically said that as a non-Japanese person there was also about $10,000 in bribe money that needed to be paid to various people
to get an apartment.
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