Osaka house hunting 3

TLDR: we are still nomads.

It’s been a while for updates on our house hunting adventure, and we were hoping at this point we would have a contract with a move in date. However, to look on the bright side, we are learning a lot about Osaka real estate and we’re getting closer.

Umeda Tower Mansions (condos)

We had put in a bid for a used place within a couple blocks from the Umeda Sky Building. This is a popular (and expensive) area, but the tower we found was older (~15 years) and quite spacious on the 17th floor. The place was located about 10-15 minutes walk to Umeda/JR Osaka Station, which is the busiest station outside of Tokyo. In addition to many department stores, hotels and retail, there must be thousands of restaurants scattered in both the above and underground malls. There is also a major expansion next to the station being constructed with the next phase opening in 2 years. The Umekita project will create a huge park, add another subway line/station and of course more retail.

The place we liked was big 80m2 (860 sq ft), had a nice layout and really great location. The only issue was the age of the building, and it was starting to show. However, the price was reasonable for the size and the unit itself was in good shape. It would probably need a bit of remodeling in a few years, but it was move-in condition. One cool feature was the small tatami room, which is rare nowadays in a tower mansion.

This was our first offer, so we weren’t sure what to bid, so we decided to go aggressive. We put in about 12% under asking, it had been on the market for over a month, and they hadn’t had any other offers. What seemed like forever (a few days), the seller agent came back with a no, and asked us for a better offer. We bumped up a few percentage points, expecting that they may counter, but after a few more days… the seller had no response. Apparently, the agents could not get a counter price or even a firm request on their asking price, just silence. Maybe it’s a cultural thing, maybe they were insulted by our low offers, but we decided to move on. The whole process took like 10 days. Coming from the Bay Area, we are used to offers/counters being accepted within a day or two.

We took another trip to Osaka to look at another property recommended by our agents. There were lots of similarities including price/size/location/age for this place, just two blocks from each other. The striking difference was the maintenance of the building and the place felt 10 years younger than the other. Sure, the maintenance fees were a bit higher, but the lounges, hallways and common spaces were much cleaner and well kept. All in all, the unit itself was similar condition but I would expect a better maintained building would retain it’s value, and it seems to have been built/designed with a higher level of quality. Not getting the first place was probably a blessing!

Offer #2 went towards this new place immediately. Unfortunately, there was a competing offer at asking price, so we had to match. Then the next bombshell was the owner was requesting that they retain the place till October… wtf. Technically, we put in the offer first so they need to negotiate with us first, but it seems the other interested party was okay with conceding to all the sellers requests. We are probing how firm they are on the closing date, the place is empty but there are some ‘family reasons’ the children of the late previous owner wanted a later date. Not looking good:(

A few real estate things we learned so far:

• Expect offers and negotiations to take potentially weeks!
• Buyers aren’t supposed to negotiate with multiple properties, one at a time.
• Sellers are supposed to only negotiate with one buyer, but they do know about the other offers in line so they may up their demands.
• Negotiations could end by either party, until a contract/deposit is finalized.
• Deposits (5% purchase price + half real estate agent fees) are often paid in physical cash. (There is a fee for receiving bank transfers). I wonder how big of a stack of bills we have to haul around town?
• Appliances are rarely included, even for used places. That means no fridge, washing machine, furniture, but occasionally air conditioning units in used places. One exception, there is almost always a new bidet toilet.
• Real estate agents have to ask for keys from the seller agent, so they often meet us at the place. There doesn’t seem to be a concept of lock boxes, so scheduling a viewing is a bit more cumbersome.
• Offers need a signature and hanko (unique stamp with your family name) so we have to physically come and sign these things. Docusign, please solve this someday!
• Our agents have been really amazing, driving us around and keeping us fed/hydrated. They have worked over their days off and have been very helpful in explaining stuff. They also only get paid when we close on a place, the total agent fees (including sellers) is a standard 3% here.

Summary

We are learning to be patient with the long negotiation times, making time/trips to go to showings and the ups and downs of making offers. We still have hope though, and there are a couple more potential places if things fall through. Hopefully, our daughter will have a home before school starts or we might be doing homework in a hotel room:).

Hearton Hotel

No, this is not a love hotel, but we stayed here while searching last time. Their marketing folks should have known better! We have actually stayed at two of these branded hotels so far in Osaka, and they are mid-priced stays in convenient locations. The latest one (sign below) had small rooms though, felt like 100sq ft. There was only 3 of us, on a double bed. We’ll try to avoid that one next time we are house hunting in Osaka.