The hunt continues
Yesterday we spent a good portion of the day apartment hunting. This business of searching and viewing is seriously an energy sapper. Good thing I have all of you to get some advice from - so see the last paragraph in this post.
Other than viewing a few apartments and looking through a 100 or more listings, we met Ayako’s senpai Sakuma-san and had lunch with him. We also met a friend of Ayako’s from Maebashi - Madori. I met her over a year ago, so it was nice to talk to her again.
Ok, so you didnt have to wait long. This is the last paragraph 
In our search we’ve come across 2 potential apartments in a brand new 7 story apartment complex here in Tokyo. It will open by summer, and is in a pretty nice location. 1 of our potential apartments are on the second (2) floor, and the other potential apartment is on the seventh (7) floor. So help us decide - which apartment would you choose if you had to pick one - and why?
- 2nd Floor Apartment (5 other apartments on this floor)
- 2 bedrooms
- 50 meters sq. in total size
- (drawback) $480.00 extra down payment + $120.00 extra per month
- extra room for home office or guests (not sure how many guests we will have)
- year-round electric bill should be consistent b/c lower apartment?
- not a great view
- 7th Floor Apartment (top floor - only 1 other apartment on this floor)
- 1 bedroom
- great view since this apartment building is taller than the others around it
- 42 meters sq. in total size
- summer electric bill may be higher b/c of top apartment?
- (plus) $480.00 less for down payment & $120.00 less per month
–Both Apartments Have–
* 1 Kitchen + 1 Living / Dining + 1 Bathroom
* Quick access to stairs - and elevator access down the hall
* The rooms are the same size in both apartments - 2nd floor just has an extra bedroom of the same size
Leave a comment - which would you choose?
March 1st, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Man that’s a tough one. Both may become equal in price depending on electric bill fluctuation. It all really comes down to this, is being closer to the ground and having to pay an extra $120 a month worth 8 meters sq.?
IMO I can see 4 reasons to chose the 1 bedroom:
1.) 1 less room = 1 less room to pay to heat and power
2.) $600 less for the first month you move in can be a big difference when it means you may need to obtain new furniture (plus a wedding to pay for)
3.) Top floor means no noisy neighbors above you (my apt is top floor, and I love not having to hear people walking around)
AND THE 4TH REASON:
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..
…
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7TH FLOOR is a sacred floor to live on. LONG LIVE RIVERS, 2am D&D, countless hours of gaming, and Monthly EDO’s trips FTW!
March 1st, 2009 at 7:15 pm
OMG Grady- YES, didnt think about the connection here - 7th floor living all over again. Will you put the name tags on my door again?
Those of you with extra bedrooms - do you use them often, is the space worth it to you?
Anyone else?
March 1st, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Give me a valid address and you and Ayako will both get door decs.
I have an extra room in my apartment, its where my roommate lives. I honestly dont use all of the living space I have because I dont get to spend much time in the apartment. most of my personal things are in my room and my cpu and ps3 are all in the living room, so I dont need anymore space, it just becomes a place for things to collect in the long run.
March 1st, 2009 at 9:43 pm
hehe i’ll send the address as soon as i learn what it is
good point on the collection of stuff… im bad about that.
Also the one about furniture on your first comment is sticking with me - we will have to buy some basic furniture like a chair or two, maybe a couch or futon too…
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:27 am
You work from home frequently. Maybe the extra room is your office. This may be unnecessary for you, but if it will help at all, $120/mo extra seems really for…Tokyo? Plus, you know Ayako will love the room
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:02 am
1)I don’t know the business laws in Japan, but you may be able to use the 2nd floor extra room as a business and have a tax write-off then the extra $ per month would be of little effect. You say you only go to office 2 days a week, you may even wright off some of the electric and heat/ac bill also on the extra room.
2)On the 7th floor you have 6 floors below you and it increases the chances of someone accidentally starting a fire below you and your escape root may become blocked, though this happening is a low probability it still could happen. Thats a long ways to jump from the 7th floor. Also doesn’t Japan experience earth quacks a lot?
In the end you will make the right choice.
Good Luck
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I have a spare room that’s going 99% completely unused. The office idea is valid if you don’t like computing in the bedroom/living area all the time. I’d go with the cheaper, higher place.
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I don’t think I would want to be on the 7th floor with the earthquakes Japan has…that’d be to much “rockn’ n rolln’!!!! You can always use extra space. You will be surprised how much “junk” you will collect over the next couple of years. That room would come in handy for storage and in case your stateside friends come visit. That is if we get invited!!! We could have REAL Japanese food!!!!!!
March 2nd, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Spree… hmmm is 120$ a month cheap? good point, maybe it is relatively cheap. Perhaps I’ll lay 4$ on the floor everyday for 30 days and see how it stacks up… let me visualize it for a while
Roy, hm, as good as it may sound, i’d rather not make an investment decision based on a tax write-off. the math just isnt there. but you do have a point about me working in a home office 3 days a week… as for fires - a certain sense of security is nice - but paranoia can be scary. Living in Rivers Hall in Florence - we had so many fire drills (and we were on the 7th Floor) - that one almost decided to sleep through them if possible.
Burn, thats a shame, I just knew that spare room would become a gaming center, or cool drinking pub, oh well.
You know I almost always worked in my bedroom - so small quarters are not bad. Just for Ayako’s sanity I need to move my computer desk out of the bedroom (too bad right now the bedroom == the only room). The living room in a new apartment may have enough space to do that.
March 2nd, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Amanda:
>>You will be surprised how much “junk” you will collect over the next couple of years. That room would come in handy for storage<<
That scares me
, but as for the part about friends visiting - that sounds good. Of course there will be invitations in the future.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:29 am
get the two bedroom. You’ll use it.
Later,
Jim
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 am
Yes, but the spare room is great incase a bud needs to come in and crash for a month or so.
March 3rd, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Thanks for your 2yen Jim and B,
so far looks like a 5 to 2 split
5 in favor of the two bedrooms, 2 in favor of the one bedroom. Good points on both sides. I’ll update everyone later - and maybe even share some floor plans / japanese advertisements for apartments
March 4th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
What would Dave Ramsey say about this? I would go 7th floor, view, on top of the rubble pile, less space to heat and cool. besides the building codes are earthquake approved there and i never really remember that many of them happening there.
March 4th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Dave Ramsey would say no more that 25% of your monthly take-home pay and whatever makes the lady happy
Good to know about the earthquake codes, i feel little tremors here quite often.