Recently i've been doing a several part informative blog series for Greg's unofficial TUJ info site: http://tujinfo.ning.com/ about apartment hunting in Japan. I've moved 3 times in Tokyo and done EXTENSIVE apartment research as well as helped several friends move, it's a subject I feel quite knowledgeable about and enjoy talking about. I also get tired of surroundings really quickly so i'm constantly looking at other apartments, even just for fun.
Alot of the information I will be talking about is out there all over the net. But the problem is most of it is very vague, doesn't offer any real opinions or advice and doesn't really answer the 2 biggest burning questions of "what's average?" and "how much will it cost?" And if it does answer those questions it will either be on the extravagant expat scale or the frugal english teacher scale rather than informing you of whats really out there. Also most places just offer information on what to expect, not how to deal with it. For example, most places talk about how difficult it is to get a typical japanese apartment (which I won't lie, it's not easy) and they don't give you any advice on how to handle it.
What has kind of spurred this is numerous questions which I get asked on the subject or I see posted in various forums around the internet. I also can't believe how many foreigners I see who are WAY overpaying for crap apartments because they don't know whats actually out there and what they can really afford. And well, the gaijin targeting apartment companies take complete advantage of this naiveness. Though i'm sure not many foreigners (especially men) care quite as much about their apartment besides it being functional as I do, with all of my female senses about aesthetics and interior decorating obsessions.
What i'm hoping to do with this series is give you a better idea about what to expect, and what's really out there and the market value for it.
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