List of foreigner-friendly apartment complexes and agencies in Tokyo, Kanagawa prefecture?

TokyoJoeblow

TokyoJoeblow

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So I know there is Leo Palace, but aside from there. I have been checking various sites like Gaijin Apartment Helper, the apartments section of Gaijinpot and the apartments section for Reddit as well.

These websites list the details of the apartments, with prices and photos, but has anyone used these sites to find their apartment?

I assume that since the apartments listed are on an English website like this, that they are mostly foreigner-friendly but that probably isn't the case with some of the apartments they list right?

I would actually rather try to find an apartment with a well-known agency that often helps foreigners find reasonable apartments.

I want to relocate to either Tokyo or Kanagawa. I don't need to live in a big city such as Yokohama and I'm alright with living in a smaller city. What matters most to me is finding the cheapest, non-complete shithole apartment I can find somewhere within these two areas.

I know the government subsidized housing system in these big cities run on a lottery system and that it is unlikely I would be chosen for one of these. I have also thought about maybe renting out a college apartment (I know some complexes do rent to foreigners and non-students), an apartment belonging to an older building or possibly even a jiko bukken apartment.

I'm a skeptical person, but the idea of living in a jiko bukken apartment is a little unsettling. I'm really tight on money though and I might not have a choice. Are jiko bukken apartments much cheaper than all others such as old building apartments, college apartments, etc?

Since most of the people using this site live in and around Tokyo, I thought I would ask which apartment complexes, neighborhoods in general you live in (don't need to go into details...maybe a place you used to live) or foreigner-friendly and trustworthy real estate agencies you used to find your apartment?

My budget is that I'm trying to find an apartment that is no more then 40,000yen a month (probably not in Tokyo I know, so anywhere in Kanagawa besides Kawasaki is ok too). I know there is usually key money involved, so my budget for the first time payment of all this plus the rent would be no more than 200,000yen.

Is this budget possible anywhere in these areas (I guess shitholes are ok to mention too)?
 
TokyoJoeblow said:
I know the government subsidized housing system in these big cities run on a lottery system and that it is unlikely I would be chosen for one of these.
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They actually have a surplus of units. Highly, highly, highly recommend that you try them. The rent is competitive, the units are well maintained, and there's no bullshit fees, just reasonable deposits.

Get a cheap sharehouse in the meantime.

Oh, and congrats on making the leap. You're going to be so much happier once you're out of the current situation.
 
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Sudsy said:
They actually have a surplus of units. Highly, highly, highly recommend that you try them. The rent is competitive, the units are well maintained, and there's no bullshit fees, just reasonable deposits.

Get a cheap sharehouse in the meantime.

Oh, and congrats on making the leap. You're going to be so much happier once you're out of the current situation.
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Well, are there any catches to living in a government subsidized apartment? My wife mentioned something a long time ago about living in a place like this and how if you do, it is like claiming you need government support so you aren't supposed to buy new things you don't need such as a Playstation 4, new clothes, misc. stuff that aren't necessities, etc. and you should only buy necessities such as food, water, etc? Are there strict rules to these places I should know about?

I think this is only the case when you are also on welfare right? I don't plan on going on welfare but an apartment like this would be good for my current situation.

My wife was mentioning that it isn't good for foreigners to apply to live in these types of apartments because the government will feel that you are sort of a drain on society and it could possibly effect my long-term status?

I'm pretty sure she is incorrect, but I thought I would ask you anyway. I don't think living in an apartment like this would effect my PR status at all though.

The last thing is since there is a surplus, I guess there is no lottery system now...but who would I contact to apply to rent out a place like this? Just the local city hall of where I want to live?
 
TokyoJoeblow said:
I'm pretty sure she is incorrect, but I thought I would ask you anyway.?
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Your wife is also the one who's been filling your head with all the other things about how your PR status is at risk for various things... you'd think you'd have realized by now that she doesn't really understand how the government systems work, and has continually been giving you bad advice. Either that, or she does understand the system and is intentionally giving you bad advice to keep you in Shizuoka.

Those "restrictions" only apply to people on welfare, full stop.

Here's a basic English guide to UR.

https://www.ur-net.go.jp/chintai_portal/sumainoshiori/english.html

There are a few "agencies" out there that claim to help you with UR applications, don't bother with them, all they do is collect a couple months' rent off of you for spell checking your application.
 
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Sudsy said:
Your wife is also the one who's been filling your head with all the other things about how your PR status is at risk for various things... you'd think you'd have realized by now that she doesn't really understand how the government systems work, and has continually been giving you bad advice. Either that, or she does understand the system and is intentionally giving you bad advice to keep you in Shizuoka.

Those "restrictions" only apply to people on welfare, full stop.

Here's a basic English guide to UR.

https://www.ur-net.go.jp/chintai_portal/sumainoshiori/english.html

There are a few "agencies" out there that claim to help you with UR applications, don't bother with them, all they do is collect a couple months' rent off of you for spell checking your application.
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Yes, I have assumed that she is just trying to keep me in Shizuoka. I wouldn't mind scoring an agriculture job as there are a lot of fields in this area and I know about the foreign support needed due to the aging Japanese farmers. I know that Japan is mostly hiring Vietnamese and other Asians for this type of work, but that a lot of them are fleeing the farms and hiding in big cities. Due to this issue on top of the issue of a lack of farmers, I have been applying to this type of work as well. So far, I have only been offered a part time/temporary job in Hamamatsu and the pay is too low.

So it would be better if I just relocated to Kanagawa or Tokyo and rented out one of these places. I would just start job hunting right after I put my stuff in the apartment.

Is it possible for UR applications to be rejected? I'm going to just avoid agencies if possible. So UR is a government agency specifically for helping foreigners find apartments? They put me directly in touch with landlords without the agency bs yes?

Thank you for the UR link.

Last question for now...the surplus in government subsidized apartments are only in Tokyo or in other big cities such as Yokohama, Yokosuka, etc?
 
Yes, UR apartments are foreigner-friendly. You don't need a Japanese guarantor and the initial deposit you have to pay is lower.

I don't think UR apartments are heavily subsidized. It's not privatized yet, but some UR apartments in prime locations in Tokyo charge market-rate rents. You can still find cheap ones easily in the suburbs, like remote parts of Yokohama, Saitama, Chiba and Ibaraki. There are always vacancies there. The rent is around Y40K - Y60K per month. Those cheap ones are built in the 60s but they are maintained very well. You can see the vacancies from this website.
https://www.ur-net.go.jp/chintai/

Many people misunderstand UR apartments are for low-income households. That's not at all true. In fact, to be a tenant of a UR apartment, you need to prove that your monthly income is more than 4 times of the rent.
https://www.ur-net.go.jp/chintai/rent/requirements/

Public housings for low-income households are run by municipalities, not by UR, for which you need to prove that your income is lower than set thresholds (like US public housing).
 
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Ken1988 said:
Yes, UR apartments are foreigner-friendly. You don't need a Japanese guarantor and the initial deposit you have to pay is lower.

I don't think UR apartments are heavily subsidized. It's not privatized yet, but some UR apartments in prime locations in Tokyo charge market-rate rents. You can still find cheap ones easily in the suburbs, like remote parts of Yokohama, Saitama, Chiba and Ibaraki. There are always vacancies there. The rent is around Y40K - Y60K per month. Those cheap ones are built in the 60s but they are maintained very well. You can see the vacancies from this website.
https://www.ur-net.go.jp/chintai/

Many people misunderstand UR apartments are for low-income households. That's not at all true. In fact, to be a tenant of a UR apartment, you need to prove that your monthly income is more than 4 times of the rent.
https://www.ur-net.go.jp/chintai/rent/requirements/

Public housings for low-income households are run by municipalities, not by UR, for which you need to prove that your income is lower than set thresholds (like US public housing).
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Yes, I was just reading the UR website and came across that information about needing to earn 4 times my monthly rent...damn talk about a catch. Looks like renting out a UR apartment will be too much of a hassle.

If UR apartments are not government subsidized apartments then where is the best place for me to apply for one of these types of apartments instead? Are there any catches to living in subsidized housing as well?
 
TokyoJoeblow said:
came across that information about needing to earn 4 times my monthly rent...damn talk about a catch.
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If you want to get ahead financially, you shouldn’t be spending more than 20% of your monthly take-home income on rent unless it’s saving you money in other ways, such as transportation.
 
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Sudsy said:
If you want to get ahead financially, you shouldn’t be spending more than 20% of your monthly take-home income on rent unless it’s saving you money in other ways, such as transportation.
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Yes, I know and I have been really frugal with my money for a long time now. I applied to a couple schools here in Shizuoka City and some schools in Numazu City as well last night. If I exhaust all my options in Shizuoka prefecture, I will just need to head to Kanagawa or Tokyo.

By the way, do you know what website or organization I need to get in touch with in regards to the government subsidized housing?
 
Agriculture job! What the fuck is the matter with you? Farm work is what all sane people try desperately to avoid. I would be a Nova teacher in Chiba before I did that.
 
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TokyoJoeblow said:
By the way, do you know what website or organization I need to get in touch with in regards to the government subsidized housing?
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Ken and I linked all the UR stuff above.
 
warubuta said:
Agriculture job! What the fuck is the matter with you? Farm work is what all sane people try desperately to avoid. I would be a Nova teacher in Chiba before I did that.
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But pigs are always found on farms haha!

Well there is nothing wrong with not worshiping money and city life. Working with your hands and creating things, working with the land has proven to be mentally healthy. I don't mind hard labor as long as the work is full time and stable.

I would also like to learn agricultural skills as it is one of many interests. Actually, a lot of young people that were doing the work grind in Tokyo and other big cities have started to move into the countryside and take up work like this because it is less stressful and it helped them mentally, physically and spiritually. It isn't all bad man.
 
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TokyoJoeblow said:
But pigs are always found on farms haha!

Well there is nothing wrong with not worshiping money and city life. Working with your hands and creating things, working with the land has proven to be mentally healthy. I don't mind hard labor as long as the work is full time and stable.

I would also like to learn agricultural skills as it is one of many interests. Actually, a lot of young people that were doing the work grind in Tokyo and other big cities have started to move into the countryside and take up work like this because it is less stressful and it helped them mentally, physically and spiritually. It isn't all bad man.
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All I can say is give it a try. Feeding yourself either directly or through selling what you grow is brutally hard work. Most people would rather do almost anything else. Get a job in the city. Grow herbs on your balcony. Basil in Tokyo. Pot anywhere else.
 
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Ken1988 said:
Here are some websites of public housing for low-income households:
Tokyo
https://www.to-kousya.or.jp/chintai/index.html
Kanagawa
http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/docs/h5z/cnt/f6022/

You need to be already a resident there. The process is way more complicated one than that for UR as you need to prove you met several qualification criteria.
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I must have been reading through your earlier post too quickly. I realize now that you meant that UR housing isn't actually low-income housing, but just heavily subsidized.

With all the different rules of UR housing and even more for these other places you posted links to...might it be easiest for me to just rent a regular non-subsidized single room (単身アパート)?

Because although there will most likely be key money with a single room apartment, there might not be as many rules so it might be easier to rent out?

Do you know of any foreign-friendly apartments I could contact directly (without using any agencies) that just rent out these types of places?

Isn't the system kind of set up in a way where most people (especially foreigners) looking for apartments need to go through an agency and that if you go to a landlord directly, they will tell you off?
 
I suggest people that are coming in with limited budget to do Sakura house for a few months & find a permanent place.
Also the UR agencies just helping you with paperwork is incorrect.
The agencies go to the UR office & snatch up the good locations first. So they have apartments that never make it to the website.
Also if you go to the office directly in the mornings you can get the new listings that never make it to the site.
There’s another similar system I think it was called JKK or something.
Lots of English teachers know people doing room share. Do Sakura for a little while while working & try networking to find a place.
 
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I'm thinking about taking Sudsy's advice about just finding a room share to stay in for the first few months until I find a job, start getting paid a decent salary for a couple months to save up for my own single room.

Is it easy to find a room share with say one other person rather than the noisy types where like 5 or 6 people live together? I used to check out room shares on Craigslist, Tokyo.

Are there any strict requirements for living in a room share? Like for some reason, would a room share not be a legit location to report to immigration as my new registered address? Do I for some reason need to already be living in the city of the room share to even be able to rent there? Am I required to already have employment at the time I rent out a room share?

I hope I don't already need a job to rent out a room share because the plan was to rent out a cheap room first and then job hunt everywhere. I will also apply to schools that will offer accommodation as well and see if any schools reply.
 
Sharehouses are fine for all the bureaucratic stuff.

As to quality of flat mates, that’s purely luck of the draw. A colleague lives in one, and has a fantastic time, while another coworker seems to have some kind of war going on with his neighbouring flat mate.
 
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With getting a shared house through individuals it’s easier to burn bridges if you know you will bail in a few months. Most people want to find the opposite people that they give a chance so they won’t bail. Sakura house etc is made for short term solutions. It being cheap & sucky motivates you to find a good location.
 
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Desktop said:
With getting a shared house through individuals it’s easier to burn bridges if you know you will bail in a few months. Most people want to find the opposite people that they give a chance so they won’t bail. Sakura house etc is made for short term solutions. It being cheap & sucky motivates you to find a good location.
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haha that is hilarious. Maybe Sakura Houses' motto can be:

This place sucks, so you will probably want to move out in 3 months.

So is Sakura House a room share company?

I might just contact a bunch of individuals looking for roommates on CL Tokyo. Does anyone still use CL to search for rooms to rent?
 
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TokyoJoeblow said:
I might just contact a bunch of individuals looking for roommates on CL Tokyo. Does anyone still use CL to search for rooms to rent?
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That site is mostly full of scammers, losers, and rip off artist. I wouldn’t trust anybody off that site Any further than I could throw at them, especially with something as important as my place of residence.
 
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Sudsy said:
That site is mostly full of scammers, losers, and rip off artist. I wouldn’t trust anybody off that site Any further than I could throw at them, especially with something as important as my place of residence.
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Yes, I know. There are some good people mixed in and I know a lot of the different scams they try to pull. I can usually tell when something is off.

Aside from Sakura House (prices for even just room shares are looking quite pricey) what other sites do you know of that aren't full of scammers?
 
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