Tokyo Apartment Rental
February 28, 2023 7:12 PM Subscribe
I am currently in Kyoto and would like to move to Tokyo at the end of the month. When I came to Kyoto I used an agency which had a good site, clear information about costs (rate/ utilities/ deposit), and English speaking staff, but I'm having trouble finding a similar service in Tokyo, and it's driving me crazy.
1a. I have a visa which requires renewal at the end of July, which should be approved, but I have to factor in that it might not be, so I either need to get an apartment until the end of August (you get a month if your renewal is denied), or one until the end of the year with a reasonable cancellation policy.
1b. Because of the above, I *must* have a permanent address for July and August - i.e. I will apply for the renewal at the start of July and need to provide a mailing address, so I can't chop and change location at that time.
2. Airbnb seems pretty expensive for what you get in Tokyo, and I'd rather have the security of having a place for a longer term, vs repeatedly worrying about finding another place.
3. There are sites/ services like realestatejapan (which is the same service used on gaijinpot apartments) but there are so many apartments and I can't work out which are legit - e.g. on airbnb you can see reviews of the apartment/ host and exact availability dates, whereas on sites like these I have no idea who I'm dealing with, or if the apartments are really available, or if there's a drawback I can't see because I don't have enough information.
4. One of the services with a lot of apartments on realestatejapan is sumyca, which seems to be a bit like a Japanese airbnb (in that some apartments have an Instant Book option), but again I have no idea who I'm dealing with for any given apartment, and a lot of the listings require an inquiry form, which gives me the sense that I'm going to go down a lot of rabbit holes without much progress. Also, I can't find any English reviews of sumyca online.
5. So far I have contacted hmlet (the beautiful large apartments on the site do not align with the prices on the site, which are for studios), and fontana (waiting on a reply).
6. My budget is around ￥200000/ month.
1a. I have a visa which requires renewal at the end of July, which should be approved, but I have to factor in that it might not be, so I either need to get an apartment until the end of August (you get a month if your renewal is denied), or one until the end of the year with a reasonable cancellation policy.
1b. Because of the above, I *must* have a permanent address for July and August - i.e. I will apply for the renewal at the start of July and need to provide a mailing address, so I can't chop and change location at that time.
2. Airbnb seems pretty expensive for what you get in Tokyo, and I'd rather have the security of having a place for a longer term, vs repeatedly worrying about finding another place.
3. There are sites/ services like realestatejapan (which is the same service used on gaijinpot apartments) but there are so many apartments and I can't work out which are legit - e.g. on airbnb you can see reviews of the apartment/ host and exact availability dates, whereas on sites like these I have no idea who I'm dealing with, or if the apartments are really available, or if there's a drawback I can't see because I don't have enough information.
4. One of the services with a lot of apartments on realestatejapan is sumyca, which seems to be a bit like a Japanese airbnb (in that some apartments have an Instant Book option), but again I have no idea who I'm dealing with for any given apartment, and a lot of the listings require an inquiry form, which gives me the sense that I'm going to go down a lot of rabbit holes without much progress. Also, I can't find any English reviews of sumyca online.
5. So far I have contacted hmlet (the beautiful large apartments on the site do not align with the prices on the site, which are for studios), and fontana (waiting on a reply).
6. My budget is around ￥200000/ month.
This Reddit thread is a bit old but includes a long list of links and options for finding rentals in Tokyo. There is also advice within to visit the neighborhoods you’re looking at and visit agencies in person to get the lay of the land.
posted by mdonley at 7:40 PM on February 28, 2023
posted by mdonley at 7:40 PM on February 28, 2023
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by my log does not judge at 7:19 PM on February 28, 2023