# Are Tokyo landlords accepting low offers?



## Singapore Saint

Hi Everyone,

At the risk of sounding too mercenary and uncaring, does anyone know if landlords are accepting much lower offers in the aftermath of the earthquake? Despite initially wanting to immerse myself in the Japanese culture and live way out in the 'burbs, my wife and I are looking at what I guess are popular Tokyo expat areas of Moto Azabu, Hiroo, Aoyama, Toronamon/Kamiyacho, Ebisu, Roppongi/Akasaka.

We're heading to Tokyo on 22nd April for a 9 day visit to find somewhere to live and will be on a corporate lease, moving in mid-June, and if our experiences during 6yrs in Singapore are anything to go by, a landlord would prefer a corporate lease over a personal lease, so that will hopefully work in our favour.

I'm assuming that the number of people moving to Tokyo at the moment has dropped off, meaning that rental properties may be harder to get rid of, so just wondered if anyone has any insight on this?

Many thanks in advance for any information!


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## larabell

Singapore Saint said:


> At the risk of sounding too mercenary and uncaring, does anyone know if landlords are accepting much lower offers in the aftermath of the earthquake?


That's not mercenary, per-se... just good business. However, I've not heard anything of the sort and, given the small percentage of the rental market is composed of non-Japenese ex-pats, it seems kinda odd that the drop in foreign immigration would have any substantial impact on rental fees. Maybe in the areas that are 93% non-Japanese because Japanese can't afford to live there -- but I doubt that's a significant driver in the overall market. Somebody's probably pulling your leg...


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## Singapore Saint

larabell said:


> That's not mercenary, per-se... just good business. However, I've not heard anything of the sort and, given the small percentage of the rental market is composed of non-Japenese ex-pats, it seems kinda odd that the drop in foreign immigration would have any substantial impact on rental fees. Maybe in the areas that are 93% non-Japanese because Japanese can't afford to live there -- but I doubt that's a significant driver in the overall market. Somebody's probably pulling your leg...


Thanks Larabell. It wasn't something I'd been told specifically, but I have been told that there is 'traditional' western housing popular with expats that the Japanese don't often live in, and vice-versa, so I wondered if there was any impact. 

Pooey, may have to pay market-rate afterall.. ;-)


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## larabell

Singapore Saint said:


> ... but I have been told that there is 'traditional' western housing popular with expats that the Japanese don't often live in, and vice-versa ...


I dunno... I know there are some western-style areas in Yokohama that tend to be expensive but, except for the military bases, I don't think there are any areas that are populated primarily by ex-pats.

There was a news article yesterday that said 240,000 foreigners left Japan in the week after the quake (compared to 140,000 the week before) and only 20,000 entered (compared to 120,000 the week before) so it's possible the competition for higher-priced places may slack off for a while. But my guess is that the owners of such places would rather the place sit empty for a few months than accept an offer for half the normal rental.

I'd also guess that many of the ex-pats who bailed out in the days following the quake left most of their stuff here, expecting to come back. I only know one guy (a Frenchman) who left Japan and his company is still maintaining his apartment so he can come back when the crisis blows over.


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## Rube

A lot of places have got rid of a lot of the key money so it's much cheaper than it used to be, you can find places in Tokyo to live with one month's rent but I haven't heard any drop in rents.


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## larabell

Rube said:


> A lot of places have got rid of a lot of the key money so it's much cheaper than it used to be...


But that trend started well before the quake.


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## Rube

Yeah it did but it's still getting better.


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## Singapore Saint

Rube said:


> Yeah it did but it's still getting better.


Thanks very much for your thoughts.

We've been in Tokyo this week looking at places and landlords seem to be accepting offers up to 30% below asking price - unfortunately we missed out on a couple by just a couple of hours, but we were able to find out what the offer was. 

Just got to hope that one of our offers is accepted now...

As an aside, this was my first visit to Tokyo, and the 6-7 weeks before we finally move up are going to be long... what an amazing place, I can't wait to come back!


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