I have been asked to collect cost-of-living information around Japan for individuals who would NOT be given housing allowance.  I've heard from earlier posts that in Yokosuka, people that don't get housing allowance can find rental prices substantially lower that what military families pay.  Can anyone confirm this?

The areas I'm interested in include Yokota, Yokosuka, Misawa & Camp Zama.  I'm trying to collect info for cost of offbase housing for single individuals, married couples & families with kids.  If you can give me some samples of price of housing in one or more of these areas I would be very grateful.

Thanks!

It's the same everywhere, Japan, Germany, Korea etc. when the landlords discover that you are military and receiving housing allowance you get bumped up, I have also heard that natives pay much less than foreigners in most locations too even if they are in not associated with the military, DOS etc.

Yokota, I have a question, do the landords (or the Japanese equivalent) assume since you are American that you are automatically military(or get some sort of housing allowance if your US based company sent you here to work) and they then raise your rent higher than what a native would pay?

That is correct, I heard of a married couple in Korea (Caucasian male, Korean female) and the female found the rental home and arranged the deal with no mention of her husband. When he eventually showed up they were furious and demanded more money from them after the contract was signed. I was charged more money in Germany because the post housing office told the private rental owners what our housing limit was so it raised to that limit.

Gosh! So you cant even reason with them that you dont get any type of allowance? Would they take your LES as proof or your civilian pay stub?

Gosh! So you cant even reason with them that you dont get any type of allowance? Would they take your LES as proof or your civilian pay stub?

I think it all come down to a language barrier.

I will explain why. In Yokosuka, you have about 30+ agencies give or take, that serve the region.

Most of these are bilingual support agencies, or connected someway or another with the base.

But to a civilian/contractor, or better yet anyone, that can speak Japanese, they can go into any and all agencies, which expands the opportunity to find a cheaper place.

Military are not concerned with finding a cheap location. They have a ceiling, and they try to max it till there is no more. Even some civilians I know do the same. But to those local hires, contractors, and dependents, that decide to remain living in Japan, and do not receive a compensation for housing, my recommendation is to get someone who speaks Japanese, and go to non-affiliated housing agencies in Japan.

I actually did some leg work on this a few months back. Granted, most properties here are 180,000 yen on up.
But we went into a few agencies, that dont deal with the base.

Told them what we were looking for, 3LDK on up, and the prices started at 70,000-110,000.

Were talking 8 different places they showed us.

So is it possible for someone that does not receive an allowance to still make it, sure it is.

But you have to get away from the local agencies that smoother the base, and venture into another city. Go 1 town over, and then start going into agencies that dont speak any english. Find someone that can help you translate your situation, and then go that route.

Even if you had to pay 10,000 yen for someone to help you for the day, with translation, you will save yourself, about 50,000+ a month with a discounted rate.

So with all that said, can folks give me examples of housing costs around Yokota, Zama & Misawa? I'm collecting info on homes for single individuals (1LDK or just DK), married couples (2LDK apt) & families with kids (4LDK house). If you are a renter in one of these areas please simply post your monthly rent & size of housing. This would help a lot for my organization to help plan the cost for families in the region.

I'm still looking for some input into this. Can anyone in the Zama/Yokota/Misawa areas please share how much rent is, and what size how you have (like 3LDK, etc.) This would help me form the basis for cost of living in different areas that I'm trying to assemble. Thank you for any help you can offer.

Or alternatively, can anyone say if the Yokota & Zama areas cost roughly the same as Yokosuka? I have plenty of Yokosuka data from the ads on this website, but I don't know about the other bases. I expect Misawa would be substantially different so I'm hoping someone can provide real-world costs from their personal experience. Thank you!

PM sent

There are several reasons for the price difference between military and Japanese. The Japanese contract is a 2 year contract that has to be renewed at the end of that 2 years. So every 2 years you pay the agent's fee and landlord's fee again, but not on the military contract. There are several requirements that have to be meet for a base contract that is not needed for a Japanese contract, ie light fixtures and a/c units. Also a Japanese contract requires a cleaning fee, changing of the locks, and changing any tatami that is in the home where as the base contract does not allow for this. The price difference covers these plus a bit more for the owner. There is a lot more that goes into the difference in price that I could explain to anyone who wants information on the whys. As for my office I factor in what the local market would be, what the loss to the owner would be, and come up with a fair market price for the home. I also do non military contracts that are slightly higher than the Japanese rental, but come with lights and a/c units and are not renewed every 2 years. I have done the break down for people in the past and the month rental payment over a 3 year tour would only be around 5,000 yen a month more for my properties than if I rented it on a Japanese contract.

Lifetown, that's awesome information. I never understood all the differences. Are you saying that a Japanese tenant, on a 2-year contract, has to change the tatami when they move out? That must be crazy expensive!

In my little Iwakuni apartment, I had to buy all my light fixtures. I couldn't believe the apartment came with empty electrical baseplates in the ceiling, but our local housing office said that's how it is down here. There are 2 A/C units provided, but none in our bedroom. We were gonna buy one but just ended up using the one in the LD area & keeping our bedroom door open. It raises our electric bill somewhat, but kept us from having to buy another A/C unit.

Yokota, thank you for the referral. I'll follow up on that. It's very helpful!

I just signed a Japanese lease. While I was looking, I had to explain everywhere I went that I was not military. And they didn't understand why I didn't want to go through the base. Obvious to me, it was because this 2LDK you have listed for a US military at 180K, can be had for 80K by anyone else. I realize there is a risk of a military leaving and breaking the lease, but 100K a month more is outrageous. Not all agencies are like Life Town. I wish I would have talked to him while I was looking. The first question the agents want to know is how much is your allowance or what is your rank, instead of what size and location do you want. I did end up having to sign up with a guarantor company, Trust 21. They act as a liaison between me and the owner if I have any questions or problems. Reasonable fee in my opinion for what I save. But, even after meeting with the guarantor company, I learned that I would have had more of a selection if I had an alien registration card instead of SOFA status. It wasn't easy finding a Japanese lease because some owners don't want to rent to foreigners, however, I was able to find a few that would at the Japanese rental rate. The price range I looked at in the Yokosuka area was between 80,000-115,000 for 2LDK. There are a few things you may have to give up, like the requirement to have lights and A/C. However, most I looked at had these already. I did have to get a couple of lights for the one I decided on, but it did have ac already.

Thanks Jess; that's useful information. In essence, the US government is being taken on a ride, subsidizing vastly inflated housing prices all over the world. But that's a different topic.

Anyway, I appreciate the info. I might get in touch with you later for more details on how you did that. I'm trying to help out families who might be coming over & they WILL have SOFA status, but minimal pay & no housing allowance. So they would have to jump through all the hoops that you did. I'm glad you were able to figure it all out.

Absolutely, I can give you my agents name as well. They work directly with the guarantor company. There were a couple near the base willing to help with a non-military lease. Let me know if you need more info.

Posted By Life Town Japan on 04-16-2012 10:49 AM
There are several reasons for the price difference between military and Japanese. The Japanese contract is a 2 year contract that has to be renewed at the end of that 2 years. So every 2 years you pay the agent's fee and landlord's fee again, but not on the military contract. There are several requirements that have to be meet for a base contract that is not needed for a Japanese contract, ie light fixtures and a/c units. Also a Japanese contract requires a cleaning fee, changing of the locks, and changing any tatami that is in the home where as the base contract does not allow for this. The price difference covers these plus a bit more for the owner. There is a lot more that goes into the difference in price that I could explain to anyone who wants information on the whys. As for my office I factor in what the local market would be, what the loss to the owner would be, and come up with a fair market price for the home. I also do non military contracts that are slightly higher than the Japanese rental, but come with lights and a/c units and are not renewed every 2 years. I have done the break down for people in the past and the month rental payment over a 3 year tour would only be around 5,000 yen a month more for my properties than if I rented it on a Japanese contract.

After the cotract end (2-5Years) you must pay the landlord's fee again, yes this normal for Japanese. But you not must pay the agent's fee agin.

My family of 4 live in a 4DK single-detached house. We are locally hired SOFA workers on base. We pay ¥110,000 including parking, 3 AC units and a newly renovated kitchen counter and bathroom. It is a good deal that we found online by using google translate to get the gist of the website. We don't speak the language so we asked a japanese friend to inquire, help us in the contract and also act as a guarantor. Then about a couple days after we got the contract signed, we saw the same house still being advertised in the agency's Yokosuka branch (they dont know that we just rented the place), it was being offered for ¥190,000 for military. That is an ¥80,000 difference. They really are milking the military.

oh yeah, we just renewed our contract and we just payed the landlord fee. No agent's fee.

Does anyone know if the housing prices around Zama & Yokota are comparable to Yokosuka?

And, what about Misawa? What's the cost of a house or apartment there?

I appreciate all the feedback given so far. This information is invaluable in preparing for some families hoping to come over.

Hi all. I'm still looking for hard data on this topic. Anyone??? I know there are Zama/Atsugi/Yokota people on this forum. Can you tell me, at least in broad, general terms how the cost of living off base compares with Yokosuka? Are they roughly the same? Is Yokosuka more expensive? Any info would be greatly appreciated.