My wife and I are looking to purchase a home since no one in our area (smaller city in Kyushu) seems willing to rent to foreigners outside of the city center.
Every used home we've seen is priced as high as new construction homes, even in the same area. In addition, the used homes have all been disgusting. Wallpaper isn't just moldy, but usually smudged with greasy fingerprints etc. Cabinets smudged and dirty, roach poop inside cabinets and drawers. Bathrooms and tub dirty.
In the past, we only looked at homes for rent, which were uniformly spotless. I've sold a home in the past and couldn't imagine trying to put something up for sale where the interior was filthy and run down, especially not if I'm asking the same price as nicer new homes just down the street.
What gives? Is this normal? This is our first time home shopping in Japan and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. One used home we looked at last weekend was 25M and needed at least 2M in interior renovations; a couple blocks away there are a half dozen brand new homes selling at 20M – 23M.
by Taint_Skeetersburg