housing in Japan and elsewhere

[dogsbody70]

I see according to our newspaper that our house prices in UK are going to rise. Oh-- dear!!

Its hard enough already to get somewhere to live.

what is housing like in Japan as far as buying or renting.

Do they have our equivalent of social housing? except we no longer have council houses for rent here-- at least not without great difficulty as when they were offered for sale by the actual residents during Margaret THatchers years, it meant a loss of that Housing as a source for many.

We are suffering many cuts here in Uk since the new government took over yet prices are soaring?


Is there an equivalent of our VAT in Japan? ours has risen to 20/%

[princessmarisa]

Not sure about the house prices and such, but I think the closest equivalent to VAT in Japan is sales tax.

5%

It is added on to most items and is not always included in the advertised price (although I think they are meant to!)

[siokan]

Property tax?(Tax of fixed assets)
When the house is bought, property tax is taken.
1.4/100 of valuations

It is added on to most items and is not always included in the advertised price (although I think they are meant to!)

It is prohibited by the law as a misleading representation.

It is an total amount basically display.

It is a brokerage to the estate agent that is not displayed.
3% was taken.
Because the amount is large, the trader wants you to display it neatly.

[Sangetsu]

Housing can be found anywhere if you have the money. When you se something you want, but don't have the money to buy it, don't tell yourself that you can't afford it find a way to afford it. There is always a way if you look for it hard enough.

Housing prices in Japan now are the lowest since 1983. This is because of the soaring value of the yen, and the fact that in uncertain economic times no one wants to buy a house. The market in Japan is bad now. I am looking at buying a home near the beach, and the problem isn't the price, but trying to choose which one of many that I want.

[RealJames]

The value of any building you buy will tend to depreciate steadily, mostly due to older buildings being seen as less reliable and unsafe (earthquakes).

[RobinMask]

Post Deleted.

[Sangetsu]

Originally Posted by RobinMask

Isn't that rather bad advice? One of the many reasons for the economic recession of late was due to the housing crisis, the banks were loaning out money for mortgages that people couldn't possibly afford to purchase. There are many people who have gone bankrupt or are in substantial financial difficulty, because they have brought property they can't afford and 'found a way' to 'afford' it.

In response to the original post. Housing is very tough at the moment, made worse for first-time buyers as I think they need a 20% cash deposit on a house, and of course that's a lot of money to find in one go! There are still council properties avaliable actually, but - as said - these are very difficult to find, the waiting list is huge, and there's no guarantee of finding a 'suitable' place. I'm kind of curious as to what housin conditions are like in Japan too, but I think they're faring a lot better - I think (as Sangetsu said) housing prices there are extremely low, so in regards to buying property it doesn't sound too bad for potential buyers

My advice isn't to find a way to borrow more money to buy a house, it is to find a way to make more money. It is the entrepreneurial spirit which motivates people to succeed rather than to merely subsist.

If I want a nice house it goes without saying I will need to pay a nice price for it. If I want to have the money to pay that price, I will have to find a way to get it. If my job doesn't pay enough, I either need to find another job, or try to move up in my current job. If neither of these are an option, then perhaps I might find a way to make more money working for myself.

[dogsbody70]

well house prices in UK are astronomical--------

Maybe sangetsu would find a way topay but surely there needs to be a limit to the highprices.

Our economy is really bad here although Bankers are doing alright with their outrageous bonuses.


The rents here are high especiallysouth of London.

Some one told me that in Japan often families inherit the cost of mortgages in japan carrying on paying after the death of first mortgagees. I don' tknow if that is a fact or not.


are modern homes being built with different materials?

[dogsbody70]

Originally Posted by Sangetsu

My advice isn't to find a way to borrow more money to buy a house, it is to find a way to make more money. It is the entrepreneurial spirit which motivates people to succeed rather than to merely subsist.

If I want a nice house it goes without saying I will need to pay a nice price for it. If I want to have the money to pay that price, I will have to find a way to get it. If my job doesn't pay enough, I either need to find another job, or try to move up in my current job. If neither of these are an option, then perhaps I might find a way to make more money working for myself.

I think you might know how to make money sangetsu any tips?

[GoNative]

Originally Posted by dogsbody70

well house prices in UK are astronomical--------

Maybe sangetsu would find a way topay but surely there needs to be a limit to the highprices.

Our economy is really bad here although Bankers are doing alright with their outrageous bonuses.


The rents here are high especiallysouth of London.

Some one told me that in Japan often families inherit the cost of mortgages in japan carrying on paying after the death of first mortgagees. I don' tknow if that is a fact or not.


are modern homes being built with different materials?

Housing like any market is about supply and demand. If the demand is high and there is a lack of supply then there will remain upward pressure on pricing.
Much of my current wealth has been made through property investment both in Australia and here in Japan. I have bought and sold 5 properties so far and currently still own 3 properties. I was very lucky in that I bought my first property just at the start of a major property boom in Australia. It was not unusual to receive returns of 50-100% per year for awhile there.
The investment property I had here in Japan was at the resort I work at which is one of the few areas in Japan that has seen increasing house and land prices. We made in excess of 50% return in only 18 months on that investment.
The house we live in here on the other hand was not really an investment. We will be lucky to get the money back that we invested in the house when we renovated and that will only be possible if we sell to other foreigners. But we were able to buy this house and renovate it without any loan whatsoever.
We have just bought a house in Australia and even though it is 2 hours outside of a major city (Melbourne) it still cost 5 times what our house is worth here in Japan.

We also have 1st home buyers in Australia bitterly complaining about the cost of housing. One of the big issues I see though is that most of them are not prepared to work up to their dream homes. They want it all from day one. They want to live in a nice suburb in a good size house and have 2 cars and the plasma TV that covers half the wall. No one seems to realise that you need to work up to that sort of thing anymore. So they get massive loans to affford it all and as soon as interest rates rise a couple of percent they are stuffed.