Work & ski holiday in Hokkaido

Just an idea but rather than just skiing in Hokkaido for a period, why not buy a house and ski whilst you are renovating it. Maybe you can advertise the property online for temporary accommodation. In fact I will make this offer. If enough people want to offer their foreclosed property as holiday rentals, or offer free rentals in exchange for fixing a place up, I will provide a dedicated site and a link from my related websites.
This is actually an old business idea of mine that I never followed through on because I broke up with my ex-Japanese GF. Basically the idea is to offer a network of foreclosed properties for short term holiday stays around Japan, which people can stay in for variable periods. I was intending to get an old lady in the local village to clean and manage the keys. The intent was also to compliment my rural based services with capsule hotel facilities in the cities. The idea was that people come to Japan for 1-3 weeks and stay in my accommodation at 3-5 different locations. This makes a lot of sense if you can offer could directions and they make use of the Japan Rail pass. The JR Pass offers unlimited Japan Rail travel for $300-500 for 1-3 weeks. The service would be particularly attractive to people wanting to join the scheme.
Let me know if anyone is interested.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Ski accommodation in Hokkaido

Here is skiing accommodation in Hokkaido, right on the snowfields, and its selling on a minimum bid basis of just Y0.792 million. You might think the minimum bid price is far from what the property will actually sell for. But with respect - I think you would not be appreciating the market dynamics which are uniquely Japanese. I bought my property at just Y100,000 above minimu finding properties that mostly Japanese buyers won't buy. Its very much an issue of PURCHASING STRATEGY. Japanese people have lost interest in skiing. This creates opportunities for foreigners to buy property cheaply. Even closer to Tokyo. The idea of going skiing is 'so 1980s'. Only the most adventurous students would likely arrange an overnight staym. The secret is away. Few Japanese are fitness orientated, and certainly few go skiing seasonally, or for any length of time.
Looking at the photos we can see this property is in pretty good condition. The owner appears to have backed the car into his wall, but otherwise the building is in good condition. The kitchen & bathroom are very clean. The outside building appearance reminds me of a 'Thunderbirds' module - but maybe I'm just showing my age. Ground floor is basically parking space, upstairs is the living area. It really is a design suited to ski accommodation. As you can see from the topography map, the house is close to a skifield. This house is 125m2 x 2 = 250m2 in area, and it occupies a square 180m2 lot in a quiet valley.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Ski accommodation in Sapporo

A number of you will be aware of the growing popularity of Japanese properties close to world-class skifields. A few years ago the focus was on the Niseko Ski Resort area south of Sapporo. Apart from skiing, the northern island of Hokkaido offers some superb scenic beauty. Its one of the few places in Japan where you get a sence of space to which Americans, Canadians and Australians are accustomed. Foreigners have been paying Y30+ million for resort properties in the resort areas. But you can get them as cheap as Y0.8mil.

You can live on the snow, or you might prefer a place in Sapporo, the largest city, and provincial capital. The city has an international airport as well. The attraction is the good quality snow in these areas. These properties make particular sense of expats living in Asia.
This house is 3-storey, with an area of 135m2, and the lot area is 115m2. The house is getting a little old, and the exterior is a little cracked up, but nothing bad from the photos. The interior is clean, though a little '70s with its drab timber cladding. Its about 1.6-2.5km from train lines, so not too remote.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Bargain house in Kyoto

This house in Kyoto strikes me as a bargain. The quality is similar to a place we bought in Saitama. Its a very small lot of land 108m2, whilst the house floor area is 83m2. This place is perfect as a holiday house because the garden is easy to maintain. You might think the neighbours are so close, but this is also the same as our place. People are so quiet in Japan. There is kind of a 'social pressure' to conform. So everyone feels guilty playing music. Even the pets are repressed. This place is offered at just Y880,000 minimum bid. No joke! I dare say its well outside of Kyoto, and some mountainside subdivision. But I swear you will love it if there are any

probably heaven for mountain bikin sporting activities in the area. Itsg. I was biking whilst I was fixing up our place in Saitama. You can always sell it off or better still rent it in the market after you fix it. Like our place, this place just needs a cleaning and paint job. Maybe a new stove. Very cheap to prepare this place for rental. It would rent for Y55-60,000 per month no problem. My god, thats an incredible return on investment. Thats probably because its so far from the train station, say 10-12km, and 30-40mins from Kyoto by train. Its not as steep as some of the subdivisions I've seen in West Tokyo and Saitama.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Ski accommodation in Niigata anyone

Anyone interested in skiing or a holiday house in the countryside. This is a very large house in Niigata, some 180m2. Very large I guess for a holiday house. This place is however situated on the side of a mountain, and is very close to a river. The property is offered at a minimum bid price of just Y1.42million. Wow! For what is a very modern looking house. And its in very good condition as well. The bathroom always provides a good clue to how well the property has been treated. Aside from the very large house you also get a good size property by Japanese standards some 620m2. Being a corner block should add to your privacy. It appears to be a very idyllic location looking at the map. Its likely rice padis. Looks like a great area for mountain biking. Might even be a ski resort in the area.
I dont think I've ever seen such a clean bathroom. It looks like they freshly renovated for the new owner.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

Personal experiences buying foreclosed property in Japan

I would be interested in hearing from other people who have bought foreclosed property in Japan, for the benefit of readers. Good or bad experiences welcome. Any insights. Risk is managed, not avoided. You can use the feedback form. I just searched the internet and I don't see many people posting info about their experiences. A lot of interest though. More questions than answers.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com

What are the risks buying foreclosed property?

There are always risks whenever you do anything. In fact there are risks attached to not doing anything - they are called 'opportunity costs'. Having bought property I think the greatest risks are:
1. Buying the wrong type of property
2. Buying in the wrong areas

You might wonder how could anyone buy a property without looking at it. The reality is that you do see inside. You do rely on the court photos to offer an accurate depiction of the houses condition. In my experience, and the house reports will support me, I dont think there is evidence of the court misleading buyers. On the contrary I think the information is representative. They provide a lot of photos. The risk is small that the condition of the property would have changed in the 6 months since it the photos were taken. Unlikely since its the same occupants, if they have not already left.

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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com