house hunting

[josiah]

i havent been here
recently
because
i'm looking for an apartment
which is very
very
very
frustrating

does anyone have any pointers
or ideas
for someone with
a minor rental history?

[JonB]

Truely one of the most difficult things in the world - foreigner renting in Japan! The amzing thing is that most Japanese will probably do it in one weekend and move 2 weeks later, honestly I do not know how they do it!

I was lucky in that my company paid for someone to do it and my other half is Japanese - even so it took us about a month of looking for the current place. so traumatised by the experience the next time I move will be in June after 5 years and into my own house - but that is an even harder experience!

Make sure to ask lots of questions. Do daft things like check out the water pressure and if an older building things like the electric and air con. In our fairly new house when we turn on the hair dry the lights dim - and don't even think about the oven and the spin dryer on at the same time (unless you have a handy torch!)