A New Apartment

After searching in Ibaraki, a nearby town and the possible place of our employment, Joel and I have found a new apartment within a 20 minute walk of our soon to be old apartment. We went through legitimate channels while searching in Ibaraki only to realize that the landlord wanted a $2,000 gift to let us live there; bringing the first month's total to about $4,000. Given our current situation, neither one of us could afford the $2,000 necessary to come up with the required payment. So, after receiving a letter in our mailboxes, hand scribbled on a piece of paper, Joel called "Toshiko." Toshiko finds apartments for a living - for foreigners, Japanese people, anyone. So, we set up a meeting on Friday at 1 pm.

We met her at the train station and shortly thereafter picked up her husband. They drove us to the first apartment and showed us around. Although it is quite smaller than our current living situation, it had 3 rooms (2 bedrooms and a living room), as well as a kitchen, toilet, and bathroom. When Joel first spoke with Toshiko, she informed him that the rent would be 65,000 yen a month or about $650. However, at the end of showing us the apartment she informed us it had now dramatically changed to 70,000 yen a month or about $700. Needless to say, we weren't very happy. I forgot to mention, she had to run and grab the key and in the meantime, her husband bought us drinks, just juice, nothing special. We gave him a good old "konpei" which is equivalent to cheers. From that point on, I think he liked us, which would come back to work in our favor later.

They wanted to show us two more apartments but one was locked, perhaps the landlord had found another tenant, and the other rooms were singles, which Joel and I were not interested in due to the price. So, after showing us the apartment, she asked us how we liked it and her husband pulled the car over. We began to bargain in the car. We told her we liked it put there was no way we were paying 70,000 yen. Also, as a commission, the couple usually takes an amount equivalent to the first month's rent. This was not going to happen either. Her husband told us that if we took it, he would throw in a bike and a refrigerator. So, on a piece of paper, we wrote down our figures, including key money.

Rent: 65,000
Commission: 50,000
Key Money: 20,000

We handed the paper to the front, the husband took a look at it, changed the 2 to a 3 and handed it back. We looked at each other and both said, "OK!" He smiled and gave us the thumbs up. Toshiko had a look of disbelief on her face and kept saying it was "too cheap." She called the landlord to see if the rent and key money were acceptable. Joel and I waited intently to hear the outcome. After a few minutes the husband gave us the thumbs up sign again and we knew we were in. So, this Friday, we are moving in to a new apartment which comes furnished with a fridge and a bike, at a great rate, thanks to the husband. Hope everyone is doing well. I will try to post some pictures once we get settled. Also, for those of you interested in an address, I know I'll be able to give you a permanent one. Take care and have a great day - do whatever it is that makes you happy!