Apartment listing websites? Yokohama..

Hi everyone,
I just received notice I got a scholarship to go study at the Inter-University Center in Yokohama (Pacifico Building, Minato Mirai Station) so I'm now beginning the process to find apartments/studios. I've done some searching online and looked at the FAQ above a bit, but I haven't had much luck finding any listings of apartments in Yokohama that are within my price range via real-estate agent sites (English and Japanese) (I'm trying to keep it below 100,000 yen so I have more of my stipend to use for domestic travel during my breaks). Does anyone have any sites they would recommend, English or Japanese, that have apartment listings or classifieds? I think I'm ideally looking to find a place in Kohoku or Tsurumi Wards, because they're closer to Tokyo and a lot of my friends live on the other side of Tokyo. But really, any information would help. Thanks a lot!

Hey try gaijinpot.com - it has listings for apartments, jobs, etc.

Thanks Ryuk, I've actually already looked through Gaijinpot. They have a few apartments that are in my price range, but the prices go up quickly. I've just started looking but I'll definitely go back and take a look at it as I do more searching. Thanks again!

Have you tried CraigsList Japan? They have frequent apartment listings there -

tokyo.craigslist.jp

You do know that most apartments will ask for "key money" (reikin), 2 months deposit (shikikin) and possibly a rental agency fee. You might also need to supply the name(s) of local references/guarantors (hoshonin) as well.

Here's a couple of other websites with apartment listings:

tokyorent.com
monthly-apartment-tokyo.com

Doesn't Inter-University Center have any info to help its students on this, even dormitories?

The basic rule is to finding a cheap apartment in the Tokyo/Yokohama area is to be willing to accept a place in an area that is not fashionable, a place where the express commuter train doesn't stop, and an apartment located quite far from the closest railway station (need to ride a bike to the station).

Assuming that your stay in Japan is legal, you are also qualified to look into public housing. Although the very cheap apartments provided by municipal governments have long waiting lists, there may be some run by the government-affiliated Toshi Saisei Kiko (Urban Renaissance Agency) in the areas of your choice. (No guarantee, though! )

If you are able to find a place to stay (such as with a friend) for the first month or two, I recommend hunting for apartments after your arrival. I think the bargains are not posted on the Web.

HTH!

Yokohama International Student House
http://homepage2.nifty.com/yish/home-e.htm

Wow... so the 'new posts' section never showed there were so many replies to my initial post - sorry everyone. A month later, I thank all of you for your responses. Craigslist was the first place I looked, but surprisingly most apartments listed are for NOT in Japan -_-. Yes, IUC does help, but even just initially searching on my own I have been finding MUCH cheaper accommodation than in the information they provide. And no, IUC does not operate dorms. A friend also guided me to www.roomshare.jp, which looks very promising to me as living with a Japanese roommate will give me that extra opportunity to use Japanese outside of the class.

And of course my stay in Japan is legal -__-

If I could ask one more question, I know that I will have to sign the contract in person, but how far in advance are realtors, or even people looking for roomshares, willing to reserve a space for an incoming tenant? I know it will depend on the agent/roommate-seeker, but is there a general time when I can be more actively seeking to make a contract? I'm working (legally) in Korea for the summer before I head to Japan, so I wont' be 'on the ground' so to speak until just a few days before I start class.

Again, thanks to all of you for your help and sorry about my very belated response!

Use a Guest House to start!

Don't jump into an apartment if you don't like the location it will be VERY costly to change apartments. Use a guest house to start. Then take your time to find a good apartment or room share etc. You can find a full list of guest houses at http://gaijinhousejapan.com

Cheers

hi,when you rent apartment in japan, you have to find guarantor .guarantor is person who live in japan and have source of income in japan.can you find them ? if you can not find them ,you have to hire guarantor company.but they charge very high fee.cuz, when you do not pay your rent, guarator company have to pay rent on behalf of you.their job is risky so, they charge high fee.
but if you have some amount of money , why do not buy apartment ? If you are willing to buy apartment out of center of tokyo,you can buy it rather cheaply .especially, in saitama or chiba prefecture.there are enough transportation in japan, so you can go to your school or office by train.and moreover if you want to buy it cheaply, it is better of you to buy foreclosed properties in japan.you can buy it very cheaply.i know that one foreigner bought house and land at the price of only 1500000 yen.you can find their blog site when you search for "foreclosed , japan, akiyama".