What's with these EXTREMELY cheap properties from 981.jp web?

[Mherrador]

Hi there, excluding the issue of long term living (e.g., VISA, etc) it seems pretty affordable buying a property from 地元不動産業者のサポートを受けられる競売不動産検索サイト！981.jp is it?

do you maybe get to know the neighbours around to earn their trust so you can buy the property? where is the trick?

any other webs?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Petaris]

A couple of things come to mind.

• These could be abandoned properties, not just foreclosed like the website indicates. These properties generally fall into one or more of the following categories:
  • Need a lot of work or even demolition
  • Are "farm" properties that have requirements for farming
  • Are for the building only on leased property
  • Are in a location that is undesirable for some reason (very remote, close to something noisy/smelly/ugly, not well suited for development, far from the station)
• Structures (houses, buildings) in Japan depreciate (go down in value) over time and, because of this, are often not maintained well
• The land maybe leased, meaning you are buying only the building
• Old apartments that are in poor condition or a bad location (long walk to the train station for example)

The other thing to note is that it is an auction site, so the price listed is the starting bid, not necessarily what you would pay. Its also sealed (silent/hidden) bids so you have no way to know until the bidding is done whether you are the high bidder or not.

 

[mdchachi]

Hi there, excluding the issue of long term living (e.g., VISA, etc) it seems pretty affordable buying a property from 地元不動産業者のサポートを受けられる競売不動産検索サイト！981.jp is it?

do you maybe get to know the neighbours around to earn their trust so you can buy the property? where is the trick?

any other webs?

Some of the risk are listed on that site. Risks | 981.jp

 

[Mherrador]

Thank you guys, there is also another web only in japanese (I can't find right now) without intermediaries even cheaper bids

Is there anyone successful at getting one of these cheap properties? I would not care if it is far from stations lol

 

[Petaris]

Check out Tokyo Llama's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TokyoLlama/videos

He and his wife bought an abandoned farmhouse and his videos document some of the process of buying it and a lot of the renovation that was needed.

I don't think theirs was bought via auction but it can still give you an idea of what you might be getting into buying a property like this.

 

[Buntaro]

Mherrador,

There is another factor that needs to be mentioned. The further away a house is from a large metropolitan area like Tokyo, the cheaper it is likely to be. For many families living 'way out in the countryside', the children have grown up and moved to a big city and have no desire to move back to their countryside home. This has caused a large number of such homes to come on the housing market at a very cheap price. In which part of Japan are you thinking of buying a house?

 

[Mherrador]

there is long road yet, this is kinda long-term plan since still need perm residence etc after checking that guy's video one remaking barrier is the around 700k yens in taxes for anything you buy @Buntaro

 

[nice gaijin]

I just watched this video, this lady bought an abandoned mansion for about 100k, but probably spent more than that on cleanup and renovations


There's an instagram account that posts about cheap properties and akiya, it's nice to fantasize about a nice quiet life in the countryside

Cheap Houses Japan (@cheaphousesjapan) • Instagram photos and videos

174K Followers, 217 Following, 696 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Cheap Houses Japan (@cheaphousesjapan)

www.instagram.com

 

[johnnyG]

For some properties (something like a condo) there are likely years of unpaid fees for maintenance/management the the buyer will become responsible for.

This is the "catch" with some free properties--the seller gives away the property and escapes liability, which transfers to the buyer.

 

[Petaris]

Indeed, two sayings come to mind with these:

- There is no such thing as a free lunch.
and
- If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.