I’ve just signed a contract for a new apartment in Japan after a day of hunting via two different estate agents. One based in Ikebukuro, and the other in Iidabashi. Both were looking for me east of those locations, but the end results was markedly different.

The first way Lead Trust and the second Able.

In the end I signed with Able, however I first went to Lead Trust. Also recommended to me were Mini Mini, but in the end I didn’t go. They do apparently deal in quite a lot of very small, but cheap apartments and a English friend of mine said good things about the company. Lead Trust I didn’t get any recommendations about, but a Japanese friend found some apartments online via them so he booked an appointment for me. Able was recommended via a friend as having been used twice before with good results.

From my experience, don’t use Lead Trust. Their service was fine, although I didn’t like the fact that everything they showed me has two months gift money （礼金）when 1 month is common, but the apartments were OK and we got taken to three, the last of which was a newly refurbished, pretty large manshon（マンション） 3 minutes from a very convenient station. The price was good (1 month gift money), the location excellent. The final bill however was extortionate. Their agency fee was 1.05 (one point zero five) months rent, which isn’t unusual but many agencies at this time of the year have a campaign for half price fees. The apartment also came with a cleaning fee (nearly half a month’s rent), for the previous tenant or for me, I don’t know, and an extra fee (1/4 month’s rent), I can’t remember what it was for, and then the thing which made me angry; a charge for a guarantor company even thou my Japanese friend sitting next to me was going to be the the guarantor. ‘But because you’re a foreigner the guarantor company is still required, even if you have a guarantor already’ they said. That’s an extra 1/2 month’s rent, please. Bollocks. I’m not entirely sure if that was a lie, but research online suggests this just isn’t the case. You only use a company if you haven’t got a Japanese that can do it. Maybe different landlords are picker than others, but the guy in the agency said ‘almost always’ this is so, which I do think is either ignorance or a lie.

Suffice to say, I didn’t sign. In any case, I still needed to see Able.

This estate agent was far better. Same service (I see why they charge so much, you get driven to each place by an agent), but with a better selection of apartments with lower initial fees. They had a campaign which was half price fees, and no cleaning fee or guarantor money. I got a new apartment in a nice location for work, for a lot less up front money. They even pushed the gift money down a bit on my request.

You can go with other companies who specialize in dealing with foreigners. I was recommended Tokyo Rent but they didn’t have anything in the area I wanted. There are others too. I expect rents to be higher with these companies or else quality lower.

A few things I learned.

1) Searching online isn’t as useful as I thought. The information of some apartments was just wrong. Campaign special prices that rise after 3 months, or just plain wrong. I don’t think there was a single one found online that we actually went to see. If you want the most accurate information go direct to an agency and get them to find places. You have to do it anyway.

2) Check the charges first. Obvious, but I really wasn’t expecting that guarantor charge or cleaning fee.

3) Learn to write your address, occupation and company address, in kanji.

4) Generally you have to pay gift money. Places without tend to have higher rent.

There are other options. I could have rented a place with my company. It would have been furnished, although probably not cheaper for the location I wanted. No initial fees, of course, but if I move company I have to move apartment anyway. I could have got cheaper rent If I’d hunted more but I had a deadline and the place I finally found was very nice.

Now the hassle of moving my stuff, and cleaning this current apartment to within an inch of it’s life.

Over the past month I’ve been going through the herculean task of apartment hunting in downtown Tokyo. After having lived in Japan for over 12 years this is now my third time although it doesn’t seem to get any easier. I wanted to share my experiences in the form of a guide to help those either moving here for the first time or people already here looking for their next apartment.

The zen of apartment hunting covers a wide range of issues so I’ll tackle them in small bite sized chunks. In this first article let’s take a look at the possible break down of cost which vary from from case to case.

敷金

Shikikin: This is a refundable deposit. How much you get back depends on the state of the apartment when you move out and the honesty of your landlord. Generally speaking you should get a majority of it back although this can vary form case to case. It is not uncommon to have to pay “敷金：２” or two months rent  up front.

In Osaka and other parts of Japan 敷金 is called 保証金 hoshoukin. After moving out you can expect to be charged a cleaning fee which can be anything around 30,000 yen.

礼金

Reikin: 礼金 generally translates as “thank you money” and is a non-refundable deposit. Not only that but depending on the apartment, you might have to pay “礼金：２” or 2 months rent up front with no refund. This is where Japan gets it reputation being an expensive place to move apartments.

仲介手数料

Chuukai tesuuryo:A finder’s fee. You’ll usually use a 不動産 (fudousan) estate agent (realtor) to help you find a place. The finding fee is usually one month’s rent.

共益費

Kyouekihi: Monthly building management fee. This is a monthly cost to pay for general cleaning and upkeep of the building. It can vary from only 1000 yen ($10) to 10,000 yen ($100) or more. Make sure you add this onto the basic monthly rent.

保証会社

Hoshougaisha: To move into an apartment in Japan you need to have a guarantor. The guarantor is financially liable for any major damage or toruble you might cause. Your parents or company can be your guarantors. However if this is not possible you can use a Hoshogaisha or guarantor company. They usually charge 50% of one month’s rent to act as your guarantor.

Other costs

鍵交換代: kagikoukandan: This would be the costs for changing the locks which is about 30,000.

クリーニング代: Kuriiningu dai: Cleaning fee. 30,000 yen. This is usually paid when you move out

サッポートシステム: Support system: 15,000 yen a year for 24 hour emergency service dealing with things such as burst pipes or being locked out.

火災保険: kasaihoken: Apartment insurance which covers you for 2 years for about 15-20,000 yen.

So, let’s imagine you have found a desirable residence in town for about 100,000 yen or $1000 a month. This is an estimate of the single initial deposit to move in.

Total cost: 730,000 yen

So if you add on another 100,000 yen for the removal company you are looking at 7 to 8 times your monthly rent as a first payment to move in…ouch. After that your rent will be 100,000 yen plus the managerial fee which will bring it up to about 110,000 yen per month.

Of course this is a high ball estimate. You can negotiate and each case is different. So don’t go just yet to buy a tent to live in Yoyogi park. Therefore in my Apartment hunting (part 2) I’ll show you some ways to avoid paying such high costs.

I would love to hear your ideas and opinions on this so please feel free to leave a comment below.