Osaka house hunting 1

Japan, Travel

We took a train ride back to Osaka (2hours) to start our house searching quest. This will be the first of a few trips, and we hope to land a place before our daughter’s school starts in late August. We narrowed our search to a few neighborhoods and what the locals call ’tower mansions’ which of course are borrowed terms from English, but have a different meaning. ‘Tower mansions’ are actually condos in high rises, which we prefer for being close to the city center and low maintenance when we are not living in Japan. After our year or so stay in Osaka, we would like to keep the place as a second home since we will return often for visiting family and vacationing. It turns out, Osaka has lots of tower mansions, so our first trip will look at one brand new place, and a bunch of used.

Setting Expectations

We scheduled a viewing for one of the new developments, and after a video presentation and talking over the options with the sales guy, he took us over to the new building and showed us a 2LDK (2 bedroom/living/dining/kitchen) which was about 60m2 (650 sq feet). By US standards, this is rather small, but for local standards this was the typical size. The place had a balcony and made good efficient use of the space. The bedrooms were big enough for a double sized bed and a dresser or two, and the living/dining space was just enough for a couch and small dining table. The unit itself was modern, but the view was disappointing since we were blocked by taller buildings in every direction. Claustrophobia much? The other challenge here would be a rather far commute to the train station, about 15 mins… so while the neighborhood was nice, this was going to be a no.

All you can drink Sours

That first viewing left us a bit uneasy, it was on the lower end of the price range but maybe living in the city was going to feel a bit cramped. To blow off some steam, we found an izakaya (Japanese pub) to eat some small plates and have a drink. Something caught our eye on the menu, all-you-can-drink option for 1300 yen (10 bucks). Wow, even for local pricing that’s only 2-3 beers so what a steal in Shinsaibashi! We also learned something new, we were instructed to mix our own ‘sours’ from the tap/dispenser at the table. Not knowing what a ‘sour’ was, we got some fruit syrups and poured ourselves a few drinks. It is basically a carbonated hard seltzer, probably made with a cheap vodka or a similar spirit. After mixing it up, I would guess the alcohol content being similar as well at 5-7%. We ended up ordering a bunch of beers, sake and shochu since the ‘sours’ tended to be sweet. I don’t remember much of the walk back to the hotel, but the food was good too. izakaya

Used Homes

We made an appointment to look at 7 tower mansions so this was an all day experience with our real estate agents. The realty company specializes in these towers, and provided a list of available listings that fit our criteria of location, size and availability. Apparently, there are over 100 high rises in Osaka but maybe just a dozen or so open units in our narrow search. We learned a lot after seeing these units, with the oldest being 20 years old, to just recently built. One of the major advantages of a used place is location, since the choice spots are already developed and the new developments tend to be fighting over remaining sites near the edges. We also found out that the prices have been rising over the past few years, so the used units were selling higher than their original prices… but there didn’t seem to be the frenzy of recent California real estate, so no over bidding and selling within a weekend. Some units were on the market for nearly a year. We found 2 that were good candidates, one being in our ideal location in Kita Horie and one in Umeda near the main Osaka station. I think we will get over the smallness, and we really liked they were well lit and had views of the city. high_rise

We felt this was a very productive day, and our daughter seemed to enjoy imagining her future bedroom and checking out the views. I think we also learned what was important for us as we continue the search.

  • Corner units have more windows and more light. This makes a huge difference in not feeling boxed in.
  • We didn’t like the lower floors, they don’t get natural light when surrounded by other buildings.
  • Larger buildings have more amenities, like rentable guest rooms, lounge/party spaces, and gyms.
  • Age of the building was less concerning than initially thought. Many units were renovated and some of the older buildings had more luxurious common spaces, where the newer buildings seemed to be maximizing unit space. view

Next trip to Osaka will be to check out 5 new developments. Then we have a couple more used places to check out. If all goes well, we will make some offers and hopefully land a place. Plan B is finding a rental! Plan C, more sours!