Job Discussion Forums

shoosh · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 31

Hello again

I want to teach ESL somewhere in the Kansai region, somewhere that's within 30 mins max to Osaka preferrably.

Now I'm still trying to decide if I'm better off going with a recruiter such as Aeon, GEOS, whatever, or just going independently (I haven't decided which is the best way to go for me). In the event that I must find an apartment (maybe if I don't want to share a place, or if I don't like the place the recruiter sets me up with) I am searching on here to see what's involved in looking for apartments.

Now in one post I saw that on average you'll end up paying certain fees:
key money (can be the equivalent of 1, 2, and sometimes even 3 month's rent)
damage deposit (ranges from 0 to 3 month's rent)
first (and sometimes the last) month's rent
realtor's commission fee (typically 1 month's rent)

I think in the same post I got the figure 65000 yen is a monthly rent payment. So I did the conversion to Canadian $ which equals a litle more than $600.

Now if I were to go looking for an apartment, according to the above fees based on $600 a month rent it would cost me about $4000 just to get my place! That's not cheap....and seeing as how I could realistically expect to maybe end up saving between $5000-6000 a year from taeching for a year - $4000 goes to an apartment so maybe I now come back home with only $1500-2000 to show for it.

Doesn't really seem worth it to go teach then does it?? What are your thoughts??

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Go live in a guest house, find a job, then find a place. Or find a job with a company that helps you find housing.

Urban_Legend · Joined: 23 Nov 2006 Posts: 4

shoosh · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 31

I got the figures from another post...those fees that I mentioned were quoted from another thread. The thread was talking about apartment hunting and the person responding said that generally those were the fees that you would have to pay.

I did the rest based on a monthly rent of about $600 canadian and the fees I calculated were assuming that they equalled 2 months rent. That's how I got the figure of almost $4000 that you have to pay initially when you're trying to get an apartment in Japan.

Is this common? Does everyone else end up paying this much when they're getting a place of their own in Japan? This is why I asked for some people to reply with their experiences and maybe explain how they negotiated to get out of paying certain things or just not paying so much.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

When (If) they get a place of their own, yes.

The overwhelming majority of teachers start out working for an eikaiwa, dispatch company or school that already has accomodation set up for the teacher, thus obviating the need for deposit, key money etc.[/b]

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

stillnosheep has it right. If you are concerned about the cost of setting up your own place, the one provided by your employer doesn't look so bad now, does it? Even AEON has a cap on rental payments (around 42,000 yen/month).

Bear in mind, too, that if you rent your own place, you will also have to furnish it, with everything from curtains to refrigerator and washing machine and stove. Not many items can be bought at 100-yen stores.

There are some few places around that don't require key money deposits (like LeoPalace21), but you have to pay for all of your stay up front, plus a cleaning service fee.

ripslyme · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 481 Location: Japan

No key money apartments are out there. I got my place with merely a one month refundable deposit and a guarantor.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

Even if you 'go independently', ie come across and look for an employer yourself rather than arrive with one of the big eikaiwa chains or dispatch companies, your school will probably already have an apartment for you - the one that your predecessor is now living in.

shoosh · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 31

Yeah you guys are probably right. It's better off to go with a school and live in their place that they provide, especially for me since I'm a noob. All that money is way too much to invest in a place and I don't even know if I will end up liking the whole teaching experience in another country. I might go and decide it's not for me, and now I'm out all that cash.

I guess I can always have the school or company take pictures of the place and if I really don't like it (ie. there's something really wrong with it, not simply because I think it's too small) then I can say get me a better place. I don't know....I don't see the size of my place bothering me too much because I hope that I'm rarely in it. If I'm in a new country I would like to see and experience it...not just sit inside all the time.

heathergray · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 41

What's up with reikin (gift money to landlord)? Is it based on the fact that housing is a market much more favorable to the seller in Japan? Because the whole idea of GIVING money to someone who I'll be throwing my money away to monthly just pisses me off.

But I'm American, and we're pissed off all the time.

c-way · Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 226 Location: Kyoto, Japan

I live in a guest house with my girlfriend and we have bypassed all these extortionary measures.

- English speaking landlord

- no key money, no deposit. We need only give 1 months notice of when we will be leaving, so the contract doesn't have an explicit end date.

-We split one bedroom for 59,000 + utilities (about 30,000 per person). There are also shared rooms for about half that much. WE only pay for utilities that we use in our bedroom.

-Wireless internet, water, basic cable (common room only), washing machine and gas are included. Other common items, such as dish soap, toilet paper, cleaning materials, are also included.

-One girl who lives in the house is provided free rent to do basic cleaning in the common areas, including toilets, shower, and kitchens. What price do you put on never having to clean your toilet?

-The apartment is located about a 10 minute walk south of Kyoto Station. Keihan railways are about a 15 minute walk. The subway to downtown is about a 2 minute walk. There is a 7-11 about 30 seconds away. IF your legs are long enough you can touch the cigarette machine and the front door at the same time.

-There is a hostel about 2 minutes away, so the favorite Japanese past time of throwing stones at foreigners is now our favorite past time. We also never waste an opportunity to not nod or say hello to foreigners we pass. And if a foreigner should ask us how to get to the hostel, we always send them in the opposite direction.

-The guesthouse provides an easy opportunity to meet and interact with Japanese people the moment you get here. Right now, some are nicer than others, English abilities vary, which gives you an impetus and live in reference should you endeavor to learn Japanese. They can also show you how to get the perfect spin on your stones when pegging tourists.

-ON the JR Kyoto line, JR Osaka Station is about 35 minutes away. On the plus side of that though, Kyoto Station is a beautiful station that is nothing to the complete klusterf.uck that is Umeda. Some like being canned into the subway each morning, I prefer to maintain the ability to squeeze out a fart should I get the urge.

-There are also some drawbacks to my guest house, but these are mostly in the aesthetics department. IN terms of price, value, and convenience, my girlfriend and I are quite content with the deal we got, especially compared to the prices and deposits I frequently see posted on this board.

I get half rent my last month if I can get someone in here before I leave, so if anyone is interested, please PM me.