How We Bought Our Abandoned House in Japan | Process, Costs, Risks, Finance, How to Find One

In this video I go into more (or too much?) detail about how we found and purchased our akiya/abandoned house in Japan. It's a traditional Japanese house style - a "minka" or "kominka".

In spite of there being a large number of vacant houses (akiya) in Japan, very few are on sale, so finding a suitable one can be difficult. Even if you find one you like it is not without its risks. Furthermore, though the house itself may be cheap, there are hidden costs like taxes. Renovation costs can quickly escalate, so it’s not necessarily the cheapest alternative to finding an affordable place to live. But if you’re after a certain combination of larger land size, lifestyle, country living, DIY/renovation, and yes, something perhaps cheaper than a new house, then it could be a viable option.

Values indicated in Yen/US dollars.

The video’s rather long, and there’s a lot of talking, so if you want go to certain sections here are the markers:

What is an akiya? 1:58
Why buy an akiya? 5:00
Buying an akiya 7:42
Risks 12:37
Hidden costs (taxes) 14:43
Renovation 19:05
Financing an akiya 23:40
Conclusion 27:45

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In between videos I'm posting to my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tokyo_llama/

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LINKS
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Akiya sites
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Akiya banks throughout Japan: https://www.akiya-athome.jp/
Marketplace for akiya: https://www.ieichiba.com/
Akiya listings: https://inakanoseikatsu.com
Site with a lot of kominka: http://www.inakanet.jp/
There are quite a few regional sites, for example this one in Kyushu with some nice, cheap houses: http://forest1616.com/nbaibai1.html
This company buys, renovates, and sells properties including ex-akiya: http://katitas.jp

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Public Auction (公売）
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To find local tax offices holding public auctions google “prefecture name” 公売 e,g. 茨城県 公売
Yahoo Auctions: https://koubai.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/auction/search?catId=2084060731

Some regional sites (I'll keep adding to this list):
Gunma: https://www.pref.gunma.jp/04/a4310031.html
Hokkaido: http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/sm/zim/internetkoubai/koubai.htm
Ibaraki: http://ibaraki-sozei.jp/
Kumamoto: http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/hpkiji/pub/List.aspx?c_id=3&class_set_id=1&class_id=1085
Nagano: http://www.nagano-kikou.jp/
Saitama: https://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/a0209/z-8.html
Shizuoka: http://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/soumu/so-140/int-koubai.html
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Statistics
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https://www.pref.ibaraki.jp/doboku/jutaku/minkan/06kodate/akiyatoutaisaku.html
https://www.mitsuifudosan.co.jp/english/realestate_statics/
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Taxes
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https://resources.realestate.co.jp/buy/guide-to-japanese-real-estate-taxes/
https://www.legacytomodachi.com/2018/09/26/6-things-to-know-about-inheritance-without-a-will-in-japan/
https://www.realestate-tokyo.com/buy/property-cost-tax/
https://sumaity.com/sell/press/232/
https://iekon.jp/koteishisanzei-keigensochi-setsuzei/
https://ieul.jp/column/articles/538/
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General info on akiya
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https://www.rethinktokyo.com/free-houses-japan-countryside
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Websites used in video
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https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/05/asia/japan-vacant-akiya-ghost-homes/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/22/japan-free-homes-empty-houses-given-away-and-sold-cheap.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-giving-away-abandoned-homes-free-2018-12
https://iju-ibaraki.jp/residence/
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Stock video credits
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Video by Nithin Pa from Pexels https://www.pexels.com/video/variety-of-flowers-in-the-garden-1655209/
TV static: https://www.vidsplay.com/tvstatic.html
Maps by FreeVectorMaps.com: http://freevectormaps.com

#akiya #abandonedhouse #japanproperty