"Why Are Japanese Homes Disposable?"

[yanpa]

Grand Designs

Hmm, did you post that before? I have seen that very same episode.

[yanpa]

Due to the amount of red bricks and roof style, I'm going to guess Edwardian, between 1901 - 1918.
(Second guess would be mock Tudor, from the 1860's onward)

Bzzzt, wrong centuries entirely.

Looks like timber frame on top of brick and mortar? No clue how old but it looks like it's been modified since it was originally built??

The frame is certainly made from trees, the bricks are there to keep the wind out and the heat in. IIRC the inner walls are concrete breezeblock; none of the internal walls are loadbearing. No modifications since building.

Judging by the window frames, the lack of vegetation on the walls, and the discolouration gradient of the half timbering under the eaves on the second floor, I am going to suggest that Wage Slave may be a winner.

Have a cookie for your obeservational skills, but

Hmmm. having had parents who bought a repro house in the west country which looked convincing as hell after 20 years I'm going to say circa 1995, brick, cement blocks and bespoke reproduction tiles.

2003, oak frame, tiles are genuinely aged (2nd hand from a demolished school building). I'm not really a fan of the rustic look (though it's vastly preferable to that fake mock-Tudor twee housing estate shite Middle England so loves), but it should stay up for a century or two. This is the north side BTW, the south side has much larger windows and looks slightly more modern.

[Wage Slave]

2003, oak frame, tiles are genuinely aged (2nd hand from a demolished school building). I'm not really a fan of the rustic look (though it's vastly preferable to that fake mock-Tudor twee housing estate shite Middle England so loves), but it should stay up for a century or two. This is the north side BTW, the south side has much larger windows and looks slightly more modern.

I've shifted my view on repro houses quite a lot. Give it another twenty years and that building will have weathered into its niche nicely. It still looks a little raw now but it will just look better and better as time goes on - there's nothing twee about it. And I'll bet that big and tall main hall is pretty spectacular inside.

Now, if you want HRH Charlie approved revival god knows what twee head for Dorset and the kind of house my father bought. My mother always hated it and she always had more taste. In the end I kind of warmed to it in spite of myself. Anyway, cavity walls in breeze blocks, render, some stone, tiled kitchen floor, real gas fire. The roof tiles on the garage/shed/carport are hand crafted reproduction farmyard outbuilding.

14518_1719732_IMG_00_0000.jpg

14518_1719732_IMG_03_0000.jpg

14518_1719732_IMG_04_0000.jpg

[matsuki]

Yampa - They didn't add that wood portion on the side after it was already built?? (Doubt I posted that vid before, it was just the first that showed up when I googled it)

Wagyl - Yeah, many people making idiots of themselves on that show. Obviously everyone's situation and needs are different and I'm not arguing that bricks shouldn't be used in construction...but in my admittedly ignorant POV, that they shouldn't be the only thing used nor do I think they are ideal. Be it earthquake, fire, or some drunk driver, I just imagine it ending up like this:

nz3[1].jpg

new-zealand-earthquake-2011-6-13-2-30-0[1].jpg

I wouldn't want to be inside or around a brick building during any of those situations. Whole walls coming down, raining bricks, etc. Concrete has it's own set of building issues but remember (if it's done right) it has a grid of rebar inside so while it'll crack and places may crumble, the rebar skeleton will probably prevent it from collapsing or raining concrete down on you. (though I imagine using shitty connections and/or design, prefabbed cement walls could probably fall over like dominos)

Taro - The funny thing is that home would probably be called "wasteful" here....when it's more "ECO" than any of the J-construction companies offerings.

[yanpa]

Yampa - They didn't add that wood portion on the side after it was already built??

No, it's the utililty room just off the kitchen. IIRC there was some planning reason it had to look like that, probably to do with it being "close" to the neighbouring house (not visible), at least in UK planning terms (if it was Tokyo you could build a 4LDK house in the gap and have room to spare for a strip of garden).

[Coligny]

In the photos it was in bad shape, and the minimum selling price was maybe 3 million yen. Obviously a real estate developer or construction company had bought and fixed it for a quick flip.

You mean 30 miliun ? Right ?

Nope, I really meant three million yen. There are lots of foreclosed houses listed on sites like bit.sikkou.jp.
You can download PDFs of the official foreclosure data that is available at the local courthouse in each area.
Each property or house will have a minimum selling price (bid starting price), and sometimes they even sell for less than that (you can see in the sold properties lists). I have seen inaka properties as low as one million yen, obviously not in great shape though. The caveat is that you cannot go inside the house prior to purchase, and have to rely on low quality scans of printed photos (they do label cracks and water damage in the photos though).

Found mah dreamhouse there, how do you process with the purchase ?

[Russell]

In the photos it was in bad shape, and the minimum selling price was maybe 3 million yen. Obviously a real estate developer or construction company had bought and fixed it for a quick flip.

You mean 30 miliun ? Right ?

Nope, I really meant three million yen. There are lots of foreclosed houses listed on sites like bit.sikkou.jp.
You can download PDFs of the official foreclosure data that is available at the local courthouse in each area.
Each property or house will have a minimum selling price (bid starting price), and sometimes they even sell for less than that (you can see in the sold properties lists). I have seen inaka properties as low as one million yen, obviously not in great shape though. The caveat is that you cannot go inside the house prior to purchase, and have to rely on low quality scans of printed photos (they do label cracks and water damage in the photos though).

Found mah dreamhouse there, how do you process with the purchase ?

Put in a bid at the court house.

[Coligny]

Wonder if they take goats and camels... Wish me luck...

[BigInJapan]

In the photos it was in bad shape, and the minimum selling price was maybe 3 million yen. Obviously a real estate developer or construction company had bought and fixed it for a quick flip.

You mean 30 miliun ? Right ?

Nope, I really meant three million yen. There are lots of foreclosed houses listed on sites like bit.sikkou.jp.
You can download PDFs of the official foreclosure data that is available at the local courthouse in each area.
Each property or house will have a minimum selling price (bid starting price), and sometimes they even sell for less than that (you can see in the sold properties lists). I have seen inaka properties as low as one million yen, obviously not in great shape though. The caveat is that you cannot go inside the house prior to purchase, and have to rely on low quality scans of printed photos (they do label cracks and water damage in the photos though).

Found mah dreamhouse there, how do you process with the purchase ?

Like Russell said, go through your local court house.
These guys have some more info in English about the process (I have nothing to do with them): Real Estate Japan - Japan's No. 1 International Property Site

[matsuki]

The caveat is that you cannot go inside the house prior to purchase, and have to rely on low quality scans of printed photos (they do label cracks and water damage in the photos though).

Sooo...basically you should assume it's full of rotting, hobbit-sized furniture and fixing that will all have to go.

[Coligny]

The photos show something average.from 2009. Giant workshop, two level, outside bubble bath, garden and 3 cars Parking...

[Russell]

The photos show something average.from 2009. Giant workshop, two level, outside bubble bath, garden and 3 cars Parking...

Before you put in a bid, it is good to take some advice from Russell.

First, check whether part of the property is owned by someone else, and whether that part is included in the auction. It sometimes happens that a sibling owns half or one third of the property. If you buy such property, it is not going to be fun.

There is also a description of other special circumstances coming with the property, like is it only the house and not the land it stands on (for example, the land could be owned by someone else to which you would need to pay rent), are there certain building restrictions, etc.

If you buy a property at auction in Japan, you have the task to get the previous owners out. You cannot just kick them out, but you have to do that patiently, via legal procedures. Think one year or so. Even when you get them out, you are not allowed to throw away their stuff, but you have to store it somewhere for some time. OK, in your case the parking lot of your in-laws' hospital would be a good place for that. Trying to get someone out from their previous house is a mentally tedious job, and even more so if the previous owners have kids.

In most of the cases, the pics of the property show the inside of the house while the people are still living in it. This is a good opportunity to see what kind of people you are dealing with. If you see right-wing memorabilia and/or holes kicked in doors / walls, there is only one thing you can do: run!

Though you are not allowed in the house, you could take a look at the outside to judge the neighborhood. However, do respect the privacy of the people living there. Also, do not tell anybody in that neighborhood that you plan to put in a bid. For one, it is to keep the number of competing bids low, and it is also better that nobody will know that you bought the house at auction in order to keep relations with your future neighbors good (maybe they were friends of the people whose house is auctioned).

Visit the courthouse to take a closer look at the details of the property. Some of the pages, like the total debt history of the affected people are not put online. Fortunately, whatever debt is on the house, you will not be liable for it when you buy it at auction in Japan (unlike in the US), but double-check my words, since I do not wish to be legally responsible for any mistakes you make in this league.

Finally, it is not easy to determine the right amount to bid. It depends on a lot of factors. There is a minimum bid amount, but for reasonable properties that is usually exceeded. When it is in Inaka, though, there could be some great deals. But such properties are unlikely to be near train stations or bus stops. If nobody puts in a bid, you have a certain period (I remember 1 week or so) in which you can put in a bid after the auction has finished. This bid could be below the minimum bid amount (I remember your bid should be at least 80% of that minimum).

OK, no prices for guessing that I have once put in a bid. Unfortunately, my bid was way too low. And that was after I extensively studied many previous cases on the "bit sikkou" web site, and made a database of the winning bids. So, yes, it is difficult.

One more finally, in the documentation of the property there is also the amount of property tax that has been paid for it in the previous year. This gives you an indication of what you will need to pay every year.

Anyway, good luck, and you will need some Japanese ability to study those Japanese documentations.

[Coligny]

Will double check all these.

The eviction part is on the bottom of the scare list since we are not in a hurry and still have the bunker or at worse the minibunker. I have to stalk around a little more to see if it's still occupied bad luck it's not the season were grass height can be an indicator. Previous google streetview always showed 2 cars, minivan and kei. Never seen any when i drove by. Should have invested on an IR camera to check for heat signature in the evening.

Seems to have been company owned and the company shut down. So the multi ownership seems unlikely.

Meanwhile the land or building or both need attention.

As for the bidding price... I use the usual ebay behaviour... It's something that I want, but at a certain price only...
Minimum bid is 32 mil, average quoted value is 38 mil. Planning on 35 mil top or fuck it...

But the more it goes the more I think it will be a foreclosed house or nothing... Ever... because paying new house price for the kind of turd on paper plates they shovel here is simply not acceptable.


Btw: many thanks

[matsuki]

The photos show something average.from 2009. Giant workshop, two level, outside bubble bath, garden and 3 cars Parking...

Maybe that's a typo and it's from 2099....sounds more like a hotel than a home

[Russell]

As for the bidding price... I use the usual ebay behaviour... It's something that I want, but at a certain price only...
Minimum bid is 32 mil, average quoted value is 38 mil. Planning on 35 mil top or fuck it...

Houses in that bidding range usually attract no bids if inconveniently located, or a bid around 64 million (twice the minimum) from a real estate company that wishes to sell it for even more.

Factors driving price down: high property tax to be paid yearly, all kinds of special circumstances.

Factors driving price up: if it's not occupied anymore, good location.

35 mil seems reasonable to try your luck, but do not hold your breath.

How big is the land?

What is the material of the roof? That should also be in the documents, because it is important to determine (repair) costs in the future.

What is the reputation of the contractor who built it? The contractor should also be mentioned in the documents, but I seem to remember you'll have to go to the court house to get this info.

[kurogane]

On one point, very good caveat about trying not to aggravate any future neighbours. I could see a dream home quickly becoming a nightmare bunker in certain neighbourhoods if they found out you had bought it on the cheap under foreclosure. Apparently any so-called Inner City neighbourhood has that, and Okinawa is infamous for it.

And by Inner City Neighbourhood, I mean the ex leather worker types. Okinawans just seem to hate any outsiders on principle.

[Wage Slave]

The neighbours will know. There was one house near me foreclosed a couple of years ago. News of it and the price it went for reached even my tin ears. It was about 10 years old, decent but no name builder, and in a well sought after area. It went for about the bare land price. The buyers knew what they were doing and started work on a quick repaint/refresh job within a week of taking possession. It was on the market via estate agent fliers within a month for about 35% more than they paid. It didn't sell because they were asking too much and it was configured with two big bedrooms upstairs rather than the normal three. They had to reform upstairs to three beds and drop the price to get it sold. It took about a year in total and I would guesstimate they made about 10% in the end.

[Coligny]

On one point, very good caveat about trying not to aggravate any future neighbours. I could see a dream home quickly becoming a nightmare bunker in certain neighbourhoods if they found out you had bought it on the cheap under foreclosure. Apparently any so-called Inner City neighbourhood has that, and Okinawa is infamous for it.

.

Caveat X2... Fureigner buying house under foreclosure.

Too much Tom Clancy: introducing yourself in the hood as renter of the house. (Having super common japanese family name could help if someone search for land owner name.)

[Coligny]

Houses in that bidding range usually attract no bids if inconveniently located, or a bid around 64 million (twice the minimum) from a real estate company that wishes to sell it for even more.

In countryside bumhole where no car means near death, the concept of convenient escapes me.

35 mil seems reasonable to try your luck, but do not hold your breath.

Deadline is next week, nothing ready and I'm in the middle of a marital shitstorm over pajama laundry. (No, seriously...) so... Effectively not holding my breath at all... More moving forward to just set up some motion toward leaving the bunker. Getting this bid would be cherry on top... But I don't even know how much -I don't know- toward any kind of luck I could have of winning (cf Rumsfeld's "unknown unknowns" speech)

How big is the land?

Without the building, maybe enough to park two UH 60 side by side rotor blades folded. Or maybe enough for an helipad to operate an MH6 little bird.

What is the material of the roof? That should also be in the documents, because it is important to determine (repair) costs in the future.

good point but not really detail i factor in right now. At least it's not heavy tiled traditionnal crap. Angled panels. Stuff that look really easy to replace/fix. (Say the guy who have been fighting 8 years of roof leaks in the bunker... And losing)

What is the reputation of the contractor who built it? The contractor should also be mentioned in the documents, but I seem to remember you'll have to go to the court house to get this info.

I'd say... Crap & Shit Corp... But it's not like if I could call Bouygues or Dumez to build me a house anyway...

[inflames]

There is also a description of other special circumstances coming with the property, like is it only the house and not the land it stands on (for example, the land could be owned by someone else to which you would need to pay rent), are there certain building restrictions, etc.

If you buy a property at auction in Japan, you have the task to get the previous owners out. You cannot just kick them out, but you have to do that patiently, via legal procedures. Think one year or so. Even when you get them out, you are not allowed to throw away their stuff, but you have to store it somewhere for some time. OK, in your case the parking lot of your in-laws' hospital would be a good place for that. Trying to get someone out from their previous house is a mentally tedious job, and even more so if the previous owners have kids.

If they rent the land (or with mansions/buildings with fees), the new buyer often has to make up whatever back payments there are (someone in foreclosure has some back payments on this stuff; from what I've seen they usually are a couple of hundred thousand yen, but I saw one recently where it was nearly a million yen!).

The usual way to get tenants out is to give them cash to get them the fuck out, at least that's what happened to my friends (they each got around half a million for moving out, one also got them to pay for movers, where he scammed the landlord even more).

[matsuki]

The usual way to get tenants out is to give them cash to get them the fuck out, at least that's what happened to my friends (they each got around half a million for moving out, one also got them to pay for movers, where he scammed the landlord even more).

I think it's cheaper to park a van with solar powered speakers in the carport and blast mariachi music just within the legal range...believe me, they won't last very long.

[Russell]

The usual way to get tenants out is to give them cash to get them the fuck out, at least that's what happened to my friends (they each got around half a million for moving out, one also got them to pay for movers, where he scammed the landlord even more).

I think it's cheaper to park a van with solar powered speakers in the carport and blast mariachi music just within the legal range...believe me, they won't last very long.

But your new neighbors won't be happy either...

[Samurai_Jerk]

Say what?

Concrete houses are synonymous with high-end housing.

[Coligny]

The usual way to get tenants out is to give them cash to get them the fuck out, at least that's what happened to my friends (they each got around half a million for moving out, one also got them to pay for movers, where he scammed the landlord even more).

I think it's cheaper to park a van with solar powered speakers in the carport and blast mariachi music just within the legal range...believe me, they won't last very long.

But your new neighbors won't be happy either...

Soo.. Finally we didn't even try. Dad found it cool, the layout and size were nothing short of awesum.
But mominlaw saw the kids of the actual/previous owner going back to it from school, and said it was bad mojo...
And I was actually short of anything to say to her except for ... "My thought exactly..."
So for now still in the bunkerdumpster. And maybe worse to come... (Like moving out of The big T for Saitama worse...)

[Wage Slave]

:lol:

Say what?

Concrete houses are synonymous with high-end housing.

They are expensive to build that's for sure. They do of course suffer from all the disadvantages listed. The only really wealthy home I have visited in Japan is concrete. It also has a central climate control system which consumes vast amounts of power but that isn't the slightest issue.

[matsuki]

:lol:

Say what?

Concrete houses are synonymous with high-end housing.

You missed:

The problems are due to insufficient insulation prevalent in typical domestic construction methods.

and

The answer is the Star House proprietary construction method. We employed the ICF (insulating concrete form) construction method developed in North America for the walls.

ICF's are awesome...though I've never seen them used in Japan? (imported?) They're like foam legos that you use as a form for the walls...but you don't remove like the usual wood forms they use here. Instead, they stay in place and form a damn good insulating layer. (and if done right, they can maximize all that concrete thermal mass and make your home comfortable with minimum A/C heating) Pretty much the opposite of most JDM construction methods. (and I'd be using them myself if they were reasonably priced here)

[Takechanpoo]

to be exact, its steel framed reinforced concrete one.
i too want to build it someday

39f0d9a53b1ea484409b504cd0103127.jpg

247500f0b3c5bf7690efc6b33ac54337.jpg

but probably no chance........

[matsuki]

to be exact, its steel framed reinforced concrete one.
i too want to build it someday

39f0d9a53b1ea484409b504cd0103127.jpg

247500f0b3c5bf7690efc6b33ac54337.jpg

but probably no chance........

Not sure on the top pic but that bottom one...that's the moisture (moldy) ridden, non-insulated, concrete shitbox style mentioned here:

If a contractor who specializes in concrete office and other buildings builds a house using the same construction method as for commercial buildings, the result is a house that is uncomfortable to live in. Moreover, condensation tends to occur in such a house, which may compromise human health. For all the investment in the house, it brings anything but comfort. And, you feel nothing but regret.

ICFs mean you don't see the concrete...