[Chelly] Mansion de écrasée Vol. 2

Vol. 2: The pre-history of Mansion de écrasée 2.0

Now, let's look at the fabulous Unit ② and Unit ③. First, let's start with Unit ③, the better of the two. Gotta save the most exciting one for the grand finale, right?

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As you can see, Unit ③ is in the back of the other two units. As the Japanese on the right side of the floor plan says, the right side of Unit ③ is connected to the neighbor's wall. This means that Unit ③ is being sandwiched by two similar-sized buildings, and you can certainly imagine the limited amount of sunlight it may get during the day.

As you may see, the flooring room and the kitchen were getting some sunlight during the day from the side road, so they are not too bad. The Japanese rooms, the bathroom, and the toilet are very dark as you can see even during the brightest hours of the day. Darkness can be easily solved by adding more light fixtures. However, the biggest problem that can stem from lacking sunlight is MOLD. Niigata city is close to the ocean. (BTW, they have one of the loveliest aquariums in Japan. Check out Marinepia https://www.marinepia.or.jp/mlg/en)

Anyway, most of the old houses that still have rental value are concentrated in the area marked on the map above. The locals call it niigatajima, the Niigata Island. It was the old administrative and commercial center of Niigata city and, to this day, the city administration buildings are still standing there. Nowadays, the Niigata Island area is a mosaic of the old and the new. The old commercial streets simultaneously harbor decades-old snack bars and newly renovated luxurious kaiseki restaurants that offer Michelin-level dishes. The same applies to the real estate market. While there are still many houses that are over 80 years old, owning a newly built single-family house inside the Niigata Island area is the absolute symbol of financial success among the locals.

Back to Unit ③, as part of the typical 80-something-year Ms. Mansion de écrasée, Unit ③ is definitely not equipped with the proper ventilation system to fight the humidity and lack of sunlight. Mold is definitely going to be a problem if the tenant is not careful. This is definitely a weak point for a rental property. However, as long as the tenant acknowledges such challenges and does regular cleaning and ventilation to keep the unit in normal condition, the rental value of Unit ③ should not be affected. Frankly, as long as someone is willing to call it home, whether they take care of their home or not is their own problem. The amount of rent you receive is not going to be affected while it is renter-occupied. What? What about after they move out? Well, the beauty of low-income renters is that they don't intend to move frequently unless it is absolutely necessary. If they live there for, say, 10 years, and the bathroom got moldy and the floor is pooping because of it, you simply hire a cleaning team and replace the flooring with the cheapest flooring materials on the market––these are the things you do anyway after a long-term renter leaves. Besides, if the unit have generated stable rent income for 10 years, you'd already have your initial investment amount back plus annual profit. Changing some floors and cleaning some mold is just nothing compared to that.

Another potential flaw of Unit ③, as you may have noticed, is the Japanese-style toilet.

Japan is known for manufacturing life-changing washlet seats. Many people would say once you are used to using a washlet toilet, you cannot go back. This applies to most young Japanese people as well. Most young people in their 20s would say no as soon as they see a traditional toilet. However, the targeted renter of this unit, a person on welfare or disability, is likely older than that and is more exposed to using traditional-style toilets growing up. So, although probably not for people under 30 or older than 70, Unit ③ should still be okay for renters in their 40s to 60s. In fact, most of my renters are single men and women in that age group. Changing the toilet to a modern one usually costs around 500,000 yen (≈$3200). Doing that will definitely increase the rentability but it will not increase rental income, if that makes sense. So, as for now, let the traditional toilet stay and see if a renter might be interested is the more reasonable choice.

So, with all these flaws, what's good about Unit ③ that may attract a potential renter? As you may see from the picture, the first floor is in relatively good condition. The floor looks clean and well-maintained. I have more detailed pictures I have not posted but in terms of the general condition of the first floor, Unit ③ is even better than Unit ①. The second floor definitely needs some flooring maintenance or tatami replacement. But if the renter is a single person, he or she can just use the first floor for living and use the second floor as storage or simply not use the second floor at all. One of my rentals had all kinds of stuff from the previous owner on the second floor. In Japan, it could take a good amount of money to depose those things. Since my renter, a nice unmarried ex-convict gentleman in his 50s (I can't say the nature of the crime he was convicted of but it was violent in nature) is perfectly okay with only using the first floor, the furniture and stuff from the previous owner stayed on the second floor. You might be truly surprised that someone can stand having strangers' stuff in their home or an area at home that he/she is not supposed to enter. My comment would be, welcome to the reality of human society. For many people, choices are limited from the moment they are born or after making some bad decisions in life. They would rather use their limited resources to improve other aspects of their lives than have a perfect home. These people have my full-hearted respect.

So, long story short, if a renter is happy to use only the first floor and the traditional toilet, Unit ③ will be ready to house its new guest after just a small amount of cleaning fee and a new water heater.

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Thank you for reading my rambling about crappy houses.

In my next blog, I shall start with the marvelous Unit ②. Stay tuned :)