Japan’s 35C heatwave might be good for the economy in terms of higher air conditioner and beer sales, but frankly, all I want to do is stay indoors, run my air conditioner, and eat lots of ice cream!
By the way, anyone been apartment shopping lately? The end of the JET year, school contracts for teachers, and university sessions means that summer is a time when many expats in Japan find themselves looking for housing. As one possible option for short-term (one year or less) stays, I thought I’d recommend a new and growing company as a good source of furnished flats which require no key money and minimal deposits: Leopalace21.
Leopalace21 has a unique business model: they contract with urban and suburban landowners in 1009 local markets across Japan to build apartments on the owner’s land. They handle everything from construction to management and leasing of the apartments, and provide a stable rental income and a mutual benefit association for owners, while taking a slightly larger than normal cut of the rent. Everyone wins: landowners can build apartment buildings with minimum risk and a guaranteed level of rent income, Leopalace can add to its building inventory without adding to its fixed asset pool, and apartment hunters benefit from the company’s flexible and cheap rental
systems.
When are Leopalace flats frugal? When deciding on an apartment, it’s important to first decide your budget (how much you want to spend IN TOTAL for the year on housing, including key money and deposit), and operate within that budget. This will help you decide whether to rend a regular apartment (with key money and deposit requirements) with a lower monthly rent, or choose to rent a LeoPalace or similar furnished monthly place (which has a higher monthly rent but no startup
costs, and is often furnished).
Let me illustrate this cost comparison (for a Tokyo suburban apartment).
Case A: Regular 2K apartment costing Y80,000 month with one month deposit, one month key money, one month real-estate fee required (a bit of a bargain, as most are “2-2-1″). Add roughly Y100,000 to outfit your apartment with second hand goods (frugally). Total
yearly costs: Y1,300,000 for rent/12 = Y108,000/month. Utilities are not included.
Case B: Monthly Leopalace or other flat. No key money or deposit required, and as the apartment is usually furnished with bed, TV, desk, air conditioner, light fixtures, et cetera, no extra expenses. For good measure, throw in a subscription to Leopalace 21’s Leonet service, which offers video-on-demand technology and high-speed internet access (Y3000/month). Utilties are also included. Monthly rent: around Y100,000/month. (A small cleaning fee per month is often required)
In the end, you can see that in some situations Case A and B are about the same, or B even cheaper, though on the surface the higher rent figure is offputting. LeoPalace flats are a good first option to look at, and do eliminate the worries of selling your goods off at the end of your stay in Japan. Have a look at Leopalace21’s web site for more information
© 2004 Wendy J. Imura.