(Untitled)

[xelloss_poo]

I've been living in Japan for about 3 1/2 years in Aichi. In the middle of February, I'm going to be moving to Kanto area. (I would like to live somewhere in Kanagawa probably, or maybe Chiba, preferably within about an hour or so of Tokyo

Comments

[februaryfour]

For renting, I've had good experiences with both Century 21 and Able. Able, in particular, found us an EXCELLENT place 3 minutes from Yoyogi. I assume you're functional in Japanese and can talk about things like moving/apartments, or that you can bring a friend who's fluent? (Sometimes, if you're lucky, a real estate agent will run agent-fee-sales where they only charge you half a month's rent instead of one month's rent for the agent fee.)

If you _aren't_ fluent in Japanese, you might have trouble with regular Japanese real estate agents, in which case I would just recommend Tokyo Rent. They're a little more expensive than others, but they rent you furniture as well (washing machine, fridge, etc) and that can be really helpful in the future when you're leaving and don't have to deal with getting rid of everything. They also don't ask for key money or a guarantor, which saves a lot of trouble/money.

I've used ファミリー引越しセンター for moving twice, and I like them. However, I recommend you just shop around by paying attention to flyers distributed around your area--they might turn out to be better for you. Are you an ALT? You could ask your fellow teachers/staff for local recommendations. Someone might even be able to get you a friends-and-family discount if you're lucky.

[februaryfour]

If you can come up to Tokyo or Chiba before you have to move, then you should scout out stations where you want to live (or which are convenient to your commute) and then find a realtor near that station. That's by far the best way to find an apartment you'll like.

[xelloss_poo]

I'm functional enough to get by. My problem is that I usually understand what is being said to me, but I tend to freeze up at times or can't think of the words I want when talking.

But thanks for those recommendations. And that's a good idea about scouting stations.

And I have yet to see a single flier for moving where I live, in the 3.5 years. XD Its actually sort of countryside? So we usually only get things for small stores around this area. Wish I got moving company fliers where I lived though. XD

I'm actually a teacher at an Eikaiwa. I've talked to a few of my Japanese co-workers, but most of them still live at home. Or those that have moved, most have just done it themselves. And since I'm moving so far, I don't want to ask my friends to inconvenience them. Plus the sofa-bed is sort of large and heavy, and my stairs are sort of narrow at parts. XD Frankly I'm not sure how the person I got it from got it into the apartment.

Thanks for your help.

[februaryfour]

No problem. I know how hard it is to get information sometimes.

I was at your level when I first rented an apartment on my own. Luckily for me, I know Chinese, and so whenever I found myself groping for words, I wrote keywords down and the agent understood me. If this applies to you, then go ahead and try the Japanese real estate agent approach. If you try a Japanese real estate agent and they find it incredibly hard to deal with you, though, you may want to bribe a friend to help, or just deal with the agents that target foreigners.

Kevin mentioned Kuroneko. They actually do have a moving service, though I have no experience with them personally. If Kevin says they're cheap, then I'd go with them--they're the ones most likely to have a national network and therefore be able to deal with something like this (across a few prefectures). You can have a Japanese co-worker call to check, just in case.

BTW, I second the homes.co.jp recommendation, especially if money is an issue.

What sort of place would you like to live in? Big station? Small station? Convenient but noisy? Quiet but far away? Parks? Schools/kids? Shopping, arcades, specialty shops, etc?

[xelloss_poo]

Yeah. I would see about taking a friend with me if possible. Worse comes to worse and they're busy, I'll take my dictionary and muddle my way through it.

I've been putzing around on there now, and its just lovely. I like it.

For me, I would prefer the kitchen area slightly separated from the main room. If there's more than one, great, if not and the one room is big enough, that's fine. I'm currently in a 6 tatami (I think) room with a large closet. So if its about that size, its fine. I would like some windows, but that's sort of negotiable.

I would like a supermarket relatively close (within 20 minutes of walking), same as the station (about 20 minutes or so, is fine). I don't even mind a little longer than that. I want to be able to get to Tokyo area in under an hour by locals/express. I guess I would theoretically like to not be next to a pachinko parlor or something that is loud all night.

I'm sort of not picky which makes this a bit harder to find an area. XD

[februaryfour]

LOL. In that case, where are you going to work? Limit yourself to a 15-20-minute commute, no transfers. That narrows things down very quickly, especially when you have a budget. (How much do you want to pay per month?)

[xelloss_poo]

Well, the thing is that I'm not sure yet. I still need to find a job for next year. Part of it is that I'm probably going to be either doing part-time work and going for a Master's full-time, or full-time work with University at night. So I'm really searching for less than an hour away from my school. I seem to be doing things a little bit backwards, as I should probably have a job first, but oh well.

Ideally, I would like to pay 7man or less. Ideally. I'm willing to go up a bit more than that depending, but I should be able to find something for that. (Its still ultimately more than I'm paying now, but I doubt I can find an apartment up there for 4man. XD Yay inaka?)

[februaryfour]

Searching for something close to school's a good bet, and definitely doable. For 7 man you should be fine. My last apartment was 7 man and it fit all your requirements (it was in Kami-Nakazato).

4 man... yeah, in your dreams or VERY far away from Tokyo proper (but not in Chiba or Kanagawa). ^_^; Though you could rent a room for that. Maybe.

[xelloss_poo]

*laughs* Yeah, I don't expect to get that anywhere near Tokyo. I know that. I figure that 7man is a reasonable price to find something. Cheaper of course would be better, but not everywhere can be as cheap as the countryside. XD

[februaryfour]

7 man will let you live IN Tokyo. ^_^ You just have to know where to look. Kami-Nakazato is part of Kita-ku, Tokyo, and was only one station away from the Yamanote line. If you are open to sharing apartments, it becomes even easier. I live with my husband 3 minutes away from Yoyogi station, on the Yamanote line, between Harajuku and Shinjuku. We pay 125,000 a month in rent for a 2DK. We chose to live here even though it was pricier--if we had been willing to live in a slightly less convenient location, we could have ended up with a nice 2LDK for less than 10 man.

The real expenses, when moving to Tokyo, come from key money, guarantor fees if you don't have a Japanese guarantor, and other move-in costs. You also need to put down a huge deposit. We were lucky--this place only asked for 1 month's key money and 1 month's deposit. Some places will ask for 2 or 3 months, though you then get better places, and occasionally that's the price of being a foreigner.

Speaking Japanese helped a LOT--the agents were more willing to go to bat for us (I heard them say "Yes, she can understand and communicate in Japanese, she works at company X, yes, that one... explaining the contract and renting to her will not be a problem" over the phone whenever they were talking to the landlord about whether or not they would rent to a foreigner).

If you don't mind me offering more advice--where are you going to school? Which campus/station? Living here, I can tell you about most stations. Also, how do you feel about subways? (I personally hate them and will do everything in my power to use the train instead of subways, because I hate being underground, and my husband doesn't like subways because he can't get uninterrupted reception on his iPhone.)

[xelloss_poo]

Yeah, I was looking around more on the outer parts of it a little and I could find some relatively nicely sized apartments for under 7man. A little out of the way, but that's fine with me.

Yeah. I figure that as a whole I just need to go out there find an area I like, and I'm sure that I can probably find something.

I'll be going to Temple's Tokyo branch, so you can get their via subway (shirokane takanawa or Azabu juuban) or JR (Tamachi). For area's I've been looking around above, as long as I can get there via one of those three stations in a decent amount of time, I'm happy. I honestly don't mind subways.

(sorry for all the edits)

[februaryfour]

Oh, I used to live near there, in Shibaura. Are all three of those stations equal? Tamachi is surprisingly crowded, but so is Shirokane-takanawa, and Azabu-juuban is an expensive area. You could live near your school, around Tamachi, but it would be a bit out of your budget. I do know, though, that there is at least one cemetary there (near Keio IIRC), and if you are willing to live overlooking it you might get a place you can share (with two other people) for cheaper than you'd be able to get solo. But that's only if you want to live near your school; it would be a lot easier living further away.

I would recommend something on the Keihin-Tohoku, or something on the other side of the Yamanote. Think Shin-okubo, Yoyogi (out of your price range, I would assume), Meguro, Ebisu, Osaki. Osaki in particular is surprisingly busy, so that might be a negative point (crowds). Meguro is also very busy too (major transfer point). Shin-okubo has the benefit of being near Koreatown, if that's any use to you. Yoyogi has the benefit of being close to Harajuku and Shinjuku while having a significantly less crowded station.

You could also consider the subway lines. The Namboku line goes to Ouji, which has good shopping and cheap apartments. If Doug and I hadn't found an apartment in Yoyogi, our next stop would have been Ouji. Komagome and Akabane-iwabuchi are also reasonable.

The Mita line gets you to Sugamo and beyond (anything before that is going to be incredibly expensive because it's in the middle of town). It may be worth considering, but it's a more "high-class" area, and people working in the area have higher salaries, so they'll be more willing to pay higher rents. I wouldn't be very optimistic about my chances on that line, but your mileage may vary.

If you want to be closer to hinoai (since I saw you guys read each other's blogs), then I would recommend living on the Keihin-Tohoku, south of Tamachi. My recommendation would be Kamata, simply because it's a terminus (and therefore trains start there, which means you are more likely to get a seat.) The south-to-north Keihin-Tohoku is a nightmare in the mornings, and when I say "nightmare" I mean "push yourself into the train and force yourself in while stepping on other people's toes, and then having other people force themselves in after you". Actually, the Keihin-Tohoku is a nightmare in the mornings going north-to-south, too, so. ^_^;

ETA: I saw quite a few decent listings outside the local real estate agents advertising 1R apartments for about 5 man or so. Looks like you're going to be spoiled for choice as long as you aren't picky about location.

ETA2: If you don't mind the sketchy reputation and neighborhood, Uguisudani is love hotel central, but the apartments there are decently-priced.

Re: (sorry for all the edits)

[februaryfour]

The more I think about this, the more I think Ouji would be a good starting point for you to take a closer look. It fits all your requirements, IMHO.

Re: (sorry for all the edits)

[xelloss_poo]

I'm happy living a bit further away and a not quite as crowded station/area.

I have friends all over and in like every direction near Tokyo, so pretty much anywhere I go, I'll end up being somewhat near someone, unless I go out to Saitama. XD

Yeah, I was looking out there, since I have a friend who currently lives in Nippori. I found a few nice listings for Kami-nakazato and ouji area, so I'll probably start around there. And if I don't see anything than can look at other areas.

:) Thanks for all the advice. XD And I don't mind the edits.

Re: (sorry for all the edits)

[februaryfour]

No problem, and good luck! I've spent FAR too much time researching this sort of stuff, and it's nice to be able to use it once in a while, know what I mean? ^_^

Re: (sorry for all the edits)

[xelloss_poo]

I know exactly what you mean. No problem. All of this was really great stuff, so thank you. :D I figure I'll go looking around Ouji on Monday since I'll be around town this weekend. So it was good timing and great advice. ^__^ Thank you!