I actually looked into that property once; there was no way it was going to happen for a number of reasons. I ended up buying a house in much better condition in another area.
I really need to do a video about the topic or something. There are many, many landmines with stuff like this. For a very TL;DR and assuming every single other thing is perfect: owning a home does not give you the right to spend any extra time in Japan nor grant a visa; you are on the hook for taxes, fees, septic maintenance (though the above property may have been a pit toilet; I don’t remember), and other bills which will have to be paid from a Japanese bank account. There are also certain neighborhood association obligations, property maintenance, fire control, etc.
Also, why buy if you don’t want to live there?
It’s not gonna earn rent out there. Italy, among other countries also let’s you buy abandoned homes.
Not sure if they’re still doing it, but a few years back (holy shit maybe a decade), Italy was even offering to pay people to move there. But there were massive conditions. Like, you had to buy a historical property, maintain it to their standards, and open a business to boost tourism, or something along those lines. I looked into it and was kind of intrigued, but it seemed pretty obvious it was designed to draw rich expats, not average losers like me.
I believe they now charge $1. Still unaffordable.
In some cases in Italy the condition for buying is that you’ll live there.
That’s good.
In my case, I moved to the Japanese countryside because I wanted to farm, mostly. But, yeah, I’m definitely not the average case.
Sounds amazing, as long as the locals don’t show dissent.
So far so good a year in. Everyone’s been super friendly and helpful.
Essentially, there’s usually good reason it was abandoned.
Additionally, houses in Japan aren’t really built to last. Properties like these are usually bulldozed and rebuit when purchased.
Essentially, there’s usually good reason it was abandoned.
I knew it…
Ghosts
Basically.
Grandma died and nobody wants to live in a 50 year old house in the middle of nowhere.
Building standards are improving but, yeah, slowly. Kominka over 100 years can have really good structure if well maintained, but it definitely would not be something who isn’t already knowledgeable about them. The majority fall into ruin.
Essentially, there’s usually good reason it was abandoned.
For $3400, I’m fine with living with tormented ghosts.
I watched a video from an American guy who did this. But he already had residence, and made it very clear that if you don’t have residence, doing something like this would be a waste of time and money. He bought a massive junker of a house and it took him like 2 years and a bunch of help to make it livable. Still a good video, and still a cool idea, assuming you have certain ducks already lined up. Definitely not something to do on a whim.
I looked at doing something like this in quite a few countries, and skipped on Japan pretty quickly. Happy with my decision though.
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I’d start by researching areas and find places you like the climate, vibe, future prospects, etc. from there, start with suumo then the akiya bank to get an idea. Next, go in person and spend a weekend there. See what exists that is NOT listed anywhere other thanaybr a sign in the yard (or not even listed but obviously not lived in).
You can actually do this in most countries. Public Auctions of homes are for when people don’t pay land taxes so the local auditors repossess them and sell them dirt cheap to cover the amount due.
You certainly can’t buy a home in Germany that’s anywhere close to as cheap as the one in japan. Maybe there are some very remote plots of land with a ruin of a house on it, but those will still cost more than 4000€.
Public auctions around my area usually start at around 150k or more, so it’s just not worth it for me.
I don’t speak enough Deutsch to navigate their websites for specific examples, but home foreclosures in Germany increased 9% yoy in January 2025, but you’re also correct that property prices are quite high which is the primary contributor to rise in foreclosures.
It’s definitely highly desirable property given the chaos in the USA, the East, etc.
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ghosts
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Chances of being isekaied are much higher immediately after moving to Japan.
Why are you listing benefits? They asked why not.
:P
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Don’t buy these old japanese houses, they’re literally made of mud and sticks and have absolutely fuck all for insulation.
Living in nature is all fun and games until you’re expected to expected to sleep in 50 degree weather while your split unit struggles to keep your paper box of a bedroom cool.
Most of the time the closest hospital is like 2-3 hours away on a bus that only comes twice a day, so you better hope you never get in an accident cause the ambulance won’t come for hours and your only other hope is the only other person in neighborhood: your 90 year old neighbor who you’re not sure is even still alive.
Source: lived in one for multiple years.
Wattle and daube is actually pretty insulated for what it is. That said Japanese homes are cold because they’re breezey choosing high air turnover over high insulation value in an attempt to circumvent some of the summer humidity.
for $3k i’d buy it just for the land it sits on. who cares about the house
Right? That’d be a solid investment for someone with enough money to replace/remodel the house
Land in Japan only appreciates in large cities. If you buy it now at 3k it’ll be worth 2k in 30 years.
Nah in 30 years it’ll have a real fuckin nice house on it that’ll bring up the value
If you built a house in Japan now for the cost of 100k the house would be worth 50k in 30 years.
Real estate in Japan appreciates like cars, unless you have an especially rare piece of land, it depreciates over time. It’s a bad investment unless you’re actively getting use out of it.
Part of why there’s so much cheap and abandoned land in Japan, there’s no real estate investment structure outside of land near train stations.
there’s no real estate investment structure outside of land near train stations.
So it’s the way it should be, then.
No real “I’m gonna buy cheap land in fuck-off nowhere and build a fucking theme park or whatever and run ads to make sure some idiots make the long trek out to this miserable tivoli of scams and no options. But then other people get the opportunity to settle close to me and compete by selling almost reasonably priced sustenance, and such. And some years down the line we’ve got a shitty pointless desert town going, one with a defunct theme park about raccoons or some shit.”
Sounds like Totoro. Here’s you 3k I’m in.
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I can imagine this would make your taxes wacky
Will I meet the Totoro?
requires repairs
Black mold fucking everywhere.
Might be a fun projectStarting with “after the burning”
No insurer will touch it without being brought up to earthquake code, either, most likely.
なぜだめなのw
That’s a 3.5k shed with no utilities is probably why. Running power, gas and plumbing to that place would cost more than a town of houses.
A lot of homeless people would love for there to be more “sheds” on the market. US citizens just seem to think it’s better to have no home at all, than one that isn’t up to snuff, so they make sure cheap sheds are not up to code.
I highly doubt homeless people would want this home, based largely on location. Getting between there and town would suck…
Yeah squatters are so picky. Not much is better than pavement and fresh air.
What they need is housing in urban or suburban areas, not abandoned structures in the middle of nowhere.
Because they won’t sell it to a foreigner. It’s not exactly legal but they won’t sell anyway.
Unless you lawyer up beforehand.
A lot of these are sold by real estate companies that take 100% commission for customers who just don’t want to pay the taxes on it. They couldn’t care less about if you are a foreigner. The local government however, may place restrictions to prevent you from just making it an Air b&b.
Because Japan can be extremely xenophobic.
It’s a very remote place
going to nightclubs as a foreigner in japan: everyone loves you and wants to talk to you
getting a job (other than teaching english to kids) as a foreigner in japan: good luck
I think you meant “going to nightclubs as a white foreigner in Japan”
Ehhh. My experience in some bars was not like that. I had a couple where they where the bouncer clearly didn’t want me inside and I was told a place was closed several times when clearly they were not. It was just closed to me.
Nightclubs new not the same as bars.
It was not a nightclub. It was a bar
going to nightclubs as a foreigner in japan: everyone loves you and wants to talk to you
OP was talking about nightclubs, not bars.
I was stuck in Turkey for 2 months, for work, a year and a half ago. I remember being told that my group could enter this club in Instanbul, and we were excited to enter, until a black guy of ours joined our group as we were walking up. Suddenly there wasn’t room in the club anymore. That shit pissed me off.
Racism instead of xenophobia, but similar lived experiences of (witnessing) discrimination I suppose.
Because Japanese visa will never allow for you to live there
You can get 180 days total per year in two sets of 90 so to live in this house you’d have to:
- live there for 3 months
- leave Japan
- live there for 3 more months
- leave Japan for 6 months and have someone look after your house.
This is no way sustainable not to mention as a tourist you wouldn’t have access to anything that requires full residency which is very complicated.
You can get long term visa like education or business investment or work permit etc but those are really expensive and can be very hard to get.
I wish I had that kind of money.
Oh to be a thousandaire
we can imagine it
If you think it’s a good deal, You could’ve bought one in Detroit for $1
Well spank my monkey.
There’s a 4bd, 2bath with 2500sqft for nearing the price of the shed in Ops picture. https://www.zillow.com/detroit-mi/under-10000
IIRC Japan’s more or less the hardest country out there to immigrate to.
To get a visa? Not really. To get permanent status? It’s still hard but getting easier (spouse 3 years, working visa 10 years, anyone with enough points in the point system after either 1 or 3 years can apply for PR. Probably more cases I don’t know).
What if… hm…what if you declared that your haunted house wasn’t Japan, but instead was like your own nation of Sayeedistan or whatever, and you went Home Alone on anyone who tried to kick you offI’m just asking questions
American? Fellow American?
Just wondering. Because “going Home Alone” on anyone who tried to kick you off is a terrible idea. Americans are used to the idea of behaving like a little shit without suffering negative consequences, or at least they’re delayed for years & years because of “your rights”…Asian countries, especially as a foreigner? You have no rights. Fuck your rights. Be polite, be respectful, comply, or you are almost guaranteed to have strong negative consequences.
Asian countries like Japan look & behave like they do because they have a strong moral order that is rigorously enforced. I think maybe 7-8 years ago, I saw they developed a non-lethal high power bean bag cannon that, when it hits you in your center mass, will make you sit your ass down & reconsider your life choices. IIRC, as you’re doing that, I think the cannon can deploy an electrified net to further disable you.
Your best bet is to be a fairly well-off, fully legal, kind, polite country hermit. That assimilates to their culture.
No but see when the cops come in they’ll trip on the marbles, and then I hit em with the airhorn BWAAAAA like that, you watch them scoot out of My House after that!
Nah I’m just joking, this is literally what cops are for. You wouldn’t stand a chance in any country.
That sounds like sovereign citizen with extra steps.
