hello welcome to the first video in a series of five that I'm going to make
about moving in Japan now everything else share is based on my personal
experiences from having moved here from overseas as well as my more recent move
earlier this year okay let's begin today's topic is six things
to consider when looking for an apartment in Japan
number one location now location is super important to get started think
about what place or places you will likely frequent because the time and
money that you save on transport and travel will be so beneficial in the long
run once you've worked that out have a look at the areas around those places
and if you can try and check it out in person and get a feel of what it's like
there is it too busy or quiet are you comfortable
are there amenities that you'll likely use nearby like parks or gym is there a
branch of your bank is there a station nearby and so on if you kind of get
there in person just use Google Maps I did that when I was looking for a place
while still in Australia and it really helped me just to get a feel of what is
around and what the area is like number to transport so Japan's railway system
is pretty well known for its convenience and reliability however don't forget
about the other methods of transport as well for example some place is actually
easier to get to by bus than it is by train so you may actually be better off
living close to a certain bus route than train stations also living close to a
bus stop or a train station doesn't necessarily mean travel convenience
depending on your route some buses and trains may not actually run that
frequently so you if you miss one you may need to wait awhile before the next
one arrives or you might need to do many transfers before you get to where you
actually need to be so definitely work out your commute time and cost first
because they do add up speaking of cost number three finance what is your budget
how much can you actually afford to spend on rent and don't forget about the
other fees that are usually involved when renting a place in Japan
like agency Kimani guarantee insurance repair cleaning renewal and so on I will
talk about these more in a teach video also bear in mind that when you actually
start renting your place you will need to pay around two months rent in advance
number four size so if you're living alone you
probably don't really need that much space but if you want to live more
spaciously or perhaps you have more people in your
family or maybe just a lot of stuff then think about how much room you need or
want and write it down just as a reference a lot of places in Japan is
actually measured by how many tatami mats can fit in each area so when you're
looking at floor plans you might see something like this in this example it
means that six tatami mats can fit in that room and one tatami mat is equal to
around 1.6 square meters number five floor plan and design my favorite. I love
looking at interior design and floor plans I just think it's so much fun so
when I was browsing for a place online I made myself a checklist of needs and
once because I will get so excited about all these different places and having
that checklist really helped me to stay focused and narrow down my options more
realistically and then I would arrange my inspections from there are some
examples of my needs where the building can't be more than 20 years old
Japan is an earthquake prone country and I know there's lots of opinions about
what's best or better in terms of construction and year and date but for
me just at least knowing the building's not too old gives me a bit more
confidence in ease of mind and another example was no deaths or accidents in
the apartment and preferably the building at all and also note itami I
really did not want to Tommy because I had a in my previous apartment I had a
room with tatami mat and just the whole maintenance and cleaning of it was for
me I just it was too troublesome so I really did not want that in my new play
you saw about some examples of my wants I wanted a place that was close to shops
and supermarkets I wanted to have lots of natural sunlight and I also wanted no
wasted space so the the design of the home has to be I guess there's no weird
angles or anything like that okay final point to consider building facilities
these are things like your elevators security door can anyone just walk in or
do you need a key or code to do so delivery storage locker so this is a
facility that some buildings offer where it's a place for the postman to put your
parcel or something bigger if you're not home to receive it so you don't have to
worry about rescheduling a delivery a storage is very designated garbage
collection area in the building so this is something I do miss about my old
place they had a designated garbage collection point just our stairs whereas
where I'm living now that collection point is around the block so it's not
too bad but it's definitely not as convenient as before also if you have
pets or you're thinking of getting one then it may be a little bit harder for
you to find a place because a lot of places here do have pet restrictions but
having said that it's not impossible you just may need to put in a bit more time
and effort alright so that's my list of things to consider
just a few tips if I wrap things up start planning and searching as early as
possible the more time you allow yourself the less pressure and stress
you're going to feel also try to avoid peak moving season which is March April
because then the agents will more likely give you bit more attention and will
also help you to reduce the moving costs such as the removals fee and finally
make your own check with what's important to me may not be so important
to you so write down your list of needs and once and go from there
okay hopefully this video has been helpful and I will see you in the next
one bye