13/03/2017
MINKA MY DREAMS
Live the Dream – A Beautiful and Affordable Traditional and Architecturally Gorgeous Japanese Farmhouse Awaits You!
Housing prices in America, Great Britain, and Australia have been skyrocketing for years. The average price of a four-bedroom house in California is $563,000 (as of 09/2016). In London it’s presently at £578,968. Even rents have ballooned to unimagined proportions, with a two-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles now averaging more than $3,000/month!
But Japan is a different story. While prices remain high in megalopolises like Tokyo and Osaka, in the lush green mountains just outside Japan’s big cities are beautiful, historic homes sitting atop large plots of lands near flowing streams and rich forests.
Many of these properties can be purchased for about the same price as a new car.
We know. We’re living the dream ourselves and want to share our knowledge and first-hand experience with you!
We purchased our 206-year-old kominka (traditional Japanese farmhouse) for about the same price as a new BMW, and spent an equal amount or so on renovations – upgrading the electricity and plumbing, adding an indoor toilet, cast-iron and wood-burning stove, new insulated walls, etc. – and now, well, it’s glorious! The house and the land it sits on, including three plots of farmland, plenty of parking, and riverfront access would easily fetch a million dollars in California. And, yet, the heart of Kyoto City is just a scenic, uncongested (and traffic light-free!) 45-minute drive away!
The air is fresh, the mountain water is clear and clean. Swimming in the summer (a 30-second walk across the street) and skiing in the winter. What’s not to love?
Why so cheap?
The Japanese dislike of anything used, old, or recycled extends to houses: where in America 80% of home purchases are for previously-owned properties, in Japan it’s exactly the opposite, with 80% of home purchases going toward newly-built houses, often involving tearing down perfectly good preexisting ones to make room for new homes often made of inferior building materials. For most Japanese, the idea of moving into a 200-year-old home, no matter how modernized and revitalized is unthinkable.
Secondly, the Japanese prize convenience. The highest-priced homes and apartments are those closest to the major train hubs: Shinjuku Station, Shibuya Station, etc. They want to live within walking distance of Starbucks Coffee, 7-Eleven, and myriad ramen shops. By contrast, kominka generally exist out in the country, meaning running out to buy a stick of butter at the convenience store down the block isn’t an option. But the tradeoff, we think, is more than worth it.
Primarily for these two reasons Japanese banks and realtors regard kominka and the land they sit on as essentially worthless, even though the raw materials inside them – the hundreds-year-old ceiling beams, the antique doors and other fixtures, etc. – sold at auction could fetch several hundred thousand dollars sold piecemeal all by itself.
As a result, kominka and its beautiful, ahead-of-its-time architecture – a major influence on Frank Lloyd Wright, among others – are a dying breed, with less than 200,000 houses left, the majority of those unoccupied and even abandoned.
Love of Minka
We ADORE kominka, and one of the goals of MINKA MY DREAMS is to revitalize these dying rural communities and bring these glorious houses back to life.
To be clear up front, we’re NOT real estate agents, lawyers, or carpenters, but we’ve personally LIVED through the experience of buying and renovating our own kominka, and we’re connected to other kominka owners of various styles and periods engaged in similar restorations. It’s a learning process that never ends, and we want to share our experiences to help you find the minka of your dreams.
Minka themselves are as varied as household pets, with innumerable styles, periods, and states. Some are ready to move-in; others may need five months or more of work. One can spend as little as $10,000 for a dilapidated (but fixable) minka, or several hundred thousand dollars.
Our philosophy is rooted not necessarily in restoring minka to museum-quality exactingness, but rather to respect, restore, and maintain its best original qualities while upgrading to the point where they can become extremely livable, comfortable, and enjoyable as vacation homes and full-time residences.
Here’s how MINKA MY DREAMS works:
Contact us by email for a FREE initial consultation by email, Skype, or phone. Tell us your dreams – where in Japan you might want to live; the style and age of the minka you’re looking for (if known); whether you’re thinking about moving to Japan permanently or just looking for a vacation home; to what extent you’re willing to renovate the property, etc. We’ll happily answer any questions you might have and, if you’d like, get you started by sending you basic information on a number of minka that fall in your price range and needs.
From there, we’ll offer you a wide range of services that can include any or all of the following:
• Detailed translations of kominka listings
• Coordination with real estate agents and travel to Japan
• Accommodations and transportation (if in the Kyoto-Kansai area)
• Interpreter services with real estate agent and owners
• Personal advice and negotiation assistance when assessing and negotiating a possible home purchase
• A detailed tour of our and other kominka to assist you with renovation ideas and the restoration process
• Aid in locating a “reform” (renovation) crew to suit your needs: carpenters, electricians, plumbers, etc. and monitoring of its progress (if in the Kansai Region)
The cost of our services varies depending upon the services you’ll require. Basically, though, after the initial free consultation we’ll prepare an estimate for you, one that will include a smaller, upfront fee whether you end up buying a minka or not. Then if you’re purchase goes through, we charge a second fee based on the price of the home. If you choose to extend our services through the renovation process, a third and final charge will be based on the cost of your renovation work.
Call or email us today - Your dream house awaits!
