Buying/Building a house/Imported Houses

[oyajikun]

I'm now looking to build an American style house on some land I own in Saitama in the near future.

I have an idea of the plan I want, after reading this thread, I guess the next thing to do is find a local designer to make any necessary changes to it.

House here: http://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan_details.asp?PlanNum=6646

I have been corresponding with Neil from Foothill Homes (one of the Canadian builders recommended previously in this thread), and I was given an estimate of approx Y600,000 per tsubo. That puts this particular design at around Y54000000!!

Seems like an awful lot of money for a house this size.

Does anyone know of any other contractors that may be able to build this place for cheaper?

[ttjereth]

I'm now looking to build an American style house on some land I own in Saitama in the near future.

I have an idea of the plan I want, after reading this thread, I guess the next thing to do is find a local designer to make any necessary changes to it.

House here: http://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan_details.asp?PlanNum=6646

I have been corresponding with Neil from Foothill Homes (one of the Canadian builders recommended previously in this thread), and I was given an estimate of approx Y600,000 per tsubo. That puts this particular design at around Y54000000!!

Seems like an awful lot of money for a house this size.

Does anyone know of any other contractors that may be able to build this place for cheaper?

If you're looking to import talk to the PMHI guys mentioned earlier in the thread, their prices are reasonable and they are very helpful.
http://www.pmhi.com/index.html

Their quote for us was:

Final Plan Drafting Service....................................$ 4,367

Final Plan Engineering Service..............................$ 3,593
(To California seismic codes, etc.)

Shell or Framing Package................................... $62,870

Finish Package...................................................$60,000
(Includes allowance for hardwood floors in living and dining room)

Shipping.............................................................$11,000
(Based upon 3 each 40 foot hi-cube containers to your nearest port)

TOTAL ESTIMATED COST FOB JAPAN PORT...$141,830


for a 70 tsubo custom plan house (you're looking at around 90?), construction would have been separate and from what I've seen is usually at least equal to the cost of the house itself, so double that, or maybe even more realistically 1.5 times for an idea of how much it would cost with construction.

You'll need to find a Japanese contractor willing to build the house though, and that is difficult. Everyplace I talked to when we were considering using them either refused outright, or quoted us ridiculous prices for the construction.

[oyajikun]

Thanks ttjereth, I have just emailed them. If the total cost is in fact around 1.5x the above quoted price, it would absolutly be a much cheaper avenue. I'll keep this thread updated.

[ttjereth]

Thanks ttjereth, I have just emailed them. If the total cost is in fact around 1.5x the above quoted price, it would absolutly be a much cheaper avenue. I'll keep this thread updated.

Sorry, I might not have explained that well.

total cost would be something like

$140,000 + (1.5x$140,000)

[Mulboyne]

[Bucky]

I think this may be mostly a to-the-industry trade show, but it may be of interest to anyone thinking about building a house:

November 12-14, 2008

Tokyo Big Site - Tokyo Japan

The Japan Home & Building Show 2008 (JHBS 2008 is the largest annual residential construction and building materials trade event in Japan and a must for US companies and their Japanese agents creating brand awareness, test marketing new products or seeking distribution partners. The 2007 JHBS featured 573 exhibitors in 902 booths and attracted 91,982 visitors. JHBS 2008 features focus events on Insulation Materials & Systems, Stone & Ceramics for Construction and Gardens and Exteriors to maximize traffic during the show.

More info: http://www.jma.or.jp/jhbs/en/index.html

[Mulboyne]

Mitsui Real Estate Sales has just started a service targeting wealthy foreigners who want to buy and sell property in Japan. They've put some information up on their website here. If you have $18 million to spend, there's a house they can show you in Ichibancho.

[Adhesive]

Anyone ever been in one of these Toyota prefab houses?

I guess they start at around $200k for a 1k sq ft model. My wife's grandfather owns about half of the land in the little town of Kawaminami, so we have a parcel waiting for us if we ever decided to move there. At $200k I may want to just throw up a vacation home.

[Greji]

Anyone ever been in one of these Toyota prefab houses?

I guess they start at around $200k for a 1k sq ft model. My wife's grandfather owns about half of the land in the little town of Kawaminami, so we have a parcel waiting for us if we ever decided to move there. At $200k I may want to just throw up a vacation home.

Is that like Kawaminami in Miyazaki? I think I got a kid living there (I don't remember which one).

But any rate, he's building a prefab in that general area right now. I will check with him (if I can remember which one he is) and get back to you.

[Adhesive]

Is that like Kawaminami in Miyazaki? I think I got a kid living there (I don't remember which one).

But any rate, he's building a prefab in that general area right now. I will check with him (if I can remember which one he is) and get back to you.

That's the one. I used to dread going there to visit the in-laws, but as I grow older I become more attracted to the area. Miyazaki is a very livable city. Educated population, low-rent, good food. The surfing is killer, too.

If you manage to recall which of your numerous offspring settled in the area, ask him a bit about the details of putting up a prefab home. There's a round of beer in it for you the next time your in the area resuscitating the father-son relationship with your boy.

[Greji]

[quote="Adhesive"]That's the one. I used to dread going there to visit the in-laws, but as I grow older I become more attracted to the area. Miyazaki is a very livable city. Educated population, low-rent, good food. The surfing is killer, too.

If you manage to recall which of your numerous offspring settled in the area, ask him a bit about the details of putting up a prefab home. There's a round of beer in it for you the next time your in the area resuscitating the father-son relationship with your boy. ]

Will do, and save the round of ale for me, I wouldn't want you to give it to that drunk.

I'll let you know what he's building as soon as he or I get sober....

[pheyton]

I wanted to thank the creator of this thread and the other "Home Buying" threads. I'm a small high-end contractor in California planning on moving back to Japan. The Mrs. is Japanese, although it seems we have switched our national identities at times.

The states are a goddamn nightmare and are going to get a lot worse so we are planning on getting the hell out. I realize Japan isn't so hot right now either, but there are a lot of perks there, especially if you have a family and wealthy inlaws. But I digress.

I haven't been able to read this whole thread, but I just wanted chime in. For those of you thinking of building, you'd be amazed at how easy a lot of the trades are to do yourself. Just stay away from electrical and plumbing. All the info is now online and step by step. You may not save time, but you can save money and have fun.

If I can offer any advice I'll be glad to, although I don't know anything about Japanese building codes, yet. But the inlaws are Daiku and Waterproofers so I do have some resources.

Kanse Dream House is a great show if you haven't seen it.

Good luck with your homes!

[TennoChinko]

Has anyone taken a look at this? A "zero-energy" home:

http://www.isomax-terrasol.eu/en/home.html

• http://www.isomax-terrasol.eu/uploads/media/ISOMAX-TERRA-SOL-engl.pdf
• http://www.isomax-terrasol.eu/en/referenzen/projekt-japan.html

They have a distributor in Japan but their site in all in Japanese:

http://www.isomax.co.jp/

[Greji]

That's the one.

Sent you a PM on this.

[TennoChinko]

...

[TennoChinko]

Styrofoam Dome Houses:

http://www.i-domehouse.com/

[yt]GHljTXBAwXU[/yt]


http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/08/styrofoam-dome-homes/

[pheyton]

Interesting, but without some sort of steel skeleton I wouldn't wan't to live in it. It wouldn't take much to have a small, light steel frame built and installed to give it strenghth angainst Typhons or earthquakes. I wonder how it is rated against fires or irritating neighbors?

That's great that it doesn't produce any waste.

[Mulboyne]

[Catoneinutica]

If you buy land and build a good, solid Western-style house, it's actually possible to eke out a profit on resale, like our place in Karuizawa:



-catone
-note the snow shovels
-one reason we sold it

[james]

If you buy land and build a good, solid Western-style house, it's actually possible to eke out a profit on resale, like our place in Karuizawa:

-catone
-note the snow shovels
-one reason we sold it

very nice place!

[pheyton]

If you buy land and build a good, solid Western-style house, it's actually possible to eke out a profit on resale, like our place in Karuizawa:



-catone
-note the snow shovels
-one reason we sold it

Nice garage, where's the house?

Seriously though, it's a very nice looking place. Americans are too hung up on 2,3 and 4ksq ft. homes. Wish I had the time and $ to build my own place. Maybe someday.

[Catoneinutica]

Our Chiba house - 75 tsubo on a 50-tsubo lot (bottom two floors are 30 tsubo each, using 60% of the lot). Pretty absurd.

[Mock Cockpit]

Seriously though, it's a very nice looking place. Americans are too hung up on 2,3 and 4ksq ft. homes.

If you don't have a 4k sq ft house how else are you going to accumulate all the "stuff" you need?

[Charles]

I can't believe all the brick construction in these houses, since Japan is so seismically active. That chimney looks like a hazard to me. Seriously, are there building codes that deal with brick construction techniques?

[Taro Toporific]

I can't believe all the brick construction in these houses, since Japan is so seismically active. That chimney looks like a hazard to me. Seriously, are there building codes that deal with brick construction techniques?

Oh, that's 2x4 or 2x6 framing with...
faux brick vernier panels in 1.5m-x-2m sheets.

[Charles]

Oh, that's 2x4 or 2x6 framing with...
faux brick vernier panels in 1.5m-x-2m sheets.

Ah, I suspected as much, it looked a bit too smooth and regular to be real brick, but I didn't want to cast any aspersions on the homeowners (or former homeowners). But that chimney, is it safe to make it out of wooden framing? I suppose you can use ceramic chimney liners, but I don't know if even that passes inspection, here in the US my insurance inspector came over and tried to make me remove a Franklin Stove with a ceramic chimney liner in the flue. We could only come to one compromise: I had to agree to never use the stove, and have a chimneysweep clean it once a year anyway. Sheesh!

[pheyton]

Ah, I suspected as much, it looked a bit too smooth and regular to be real brick, but I didn't want to cast any aspersions on the homeowners (or former homeowners). But that chimney, is it safe to make it out of wooden framing? I suppose you can use ceramic chimney liners, but I don't know if even that passes inspection, here in the US my insurance inspector came over and tried to make me remove a Franklin Stove with a ceramic chimney liner in the flue. We could only come to one compromise: I had to agree to never use the stove, and have a chimneysweep clean it once a year anyway. Sheesh!

Actually all modern chimneys are wood framed. The interior of the chimney is a prefab steel flue and the box itself is steel. I have worked on hundreds of new houses and have yet to see one without a steel flue, wood frame. I did work on a raised foundation house where the idiots used solid river rock just on the surround of the fireplace. The floor started sagging big time and we had to go in, jack up the floor and reinforce it with some serious posts and beams. Then we forced him to remove the river rock. It wasn't his fault. The builder probably never accounted for that much weight being stacked up on the floor. Over time it just crushed the floor joists. It was actually pretty frightening to work on because it seemed the chimney might come down on us at any time.

As taro pointed out the stone nowadays is all veneer and most of the time is faux. Even on the higher end homes I work on the stone is faux.

Your current house is very beautiful Canton. Do you have a tatami room? That is my one demand when I build my house, is to have my tatami room so when I'm an oji-san I can drink my sake/shochu and ponder life. That and a place to ponder my Sabra.
The only thing it's missing are solar panels!

Do you still have the plans for any of your houses? I've done some work in Japan with my uncle in laws company, so I am somewhat familiar with building processes, but I'd like to see the details. How their codes relate to California codes. Especially since we have some of the strictest codes in the world.

Congratulations on building two very nice, albeit American style, houses.

[Greji]

Your current house is very beautiful Canton. Do you have a tatami room?

He doesn't know, because his wife won't let him in. Everytime I see him, he's sitting in the lobby at the Okura waiting for someone to take him into the bar for a pint....

[Catoneinutica]

He doesn't know, because his wife won't let him in. Everytime I see him, he's sitting in the lobby at the Okura waiting for someone to take him into the bar for a pint....

Sometimes if I whimper loudly enough, I can get a foxy pharmaceutical MR to take pity on me...


Notice the weatherbeaten side of the dormer window in the Karuizawa house pic. That's why I'd never build another wooden house in Japan. Using an extension ladder, I was able to get right up to the apex of the side of the house to brush on the annual coat of Xyladecor (good Cherman stuff, and expensive as hell) weather-protection stain. But the sides of the dormer windows were completely out of reach, and I didn't want to rappel down the side of the roof. Called a couple of local painters, and they wanted something like 200,000 yen to do the job - they said they'd need to put scaffolding up. Screw it, I finally concluded, and hoped the buyer would see and/or object to the grizzled-looking siding up there.

[pheyton]

Holy crap! $2k to coat the sides of the dormer windows?! Wow I need to get over there and make some $$. I would do it for $1.5k and still make a mint. Those kinds of roofs are dfinitely difficult to deal with.