[Chelly] Mansion de écrasée Vol. 3

Vol. 3: The pre-history of Mansion de écrasée 3.0

Now, let's finally turn our attention to Unit ②. The most problematic unit.

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If you look closely enough, you may find a door between Unit ① and Unit ②. According to the real estate agency, Ms. Mansion de écrasée was owned by a family with at least two children. After the parents' passing, the previous owner inherited the house and lived in Unit ① and allowed his/her sister to live in Unit ②. The sister seemed to be suffering from some unspecified mental illnesses, so the door between the two units was there to allow the previous owner to take care of the sister while giving the sister some privacy. It appears that unit ③ was used as a rental for some extra income to help with expenses. I don't know what prompted the previous owner to sell the house and what happened to the sister. From the inside of the sister-occupied Unit ②, we could say that the sister was not living in an ideal environment.

Judging from the condition of the kitchen (left on the upper row) and the slightly eroded flooring and tatami, it is possible that the kitchen and rooms were filled with lots of stuff, perhaps trash. Disposing of large amounts of garbage in Japan can be very expensive. Usually, it would cost at least 200,000 yen (≈$1300) to clear a 3 bd single-family house filled with stuff. More cost if the house is also filled with waste. And, if the house requires "special cleaning"––someone tragically died for several days before being discovered––the cost can easily be about 1,000,000 yen (≈$6300) because sometimes you may need to replace the entire flooring or bathtub. R.I.P. I can imagine that the previous owner of Mansion de écrasée probably didn't have much money left from selling the property after paying the cleaning fee. Maybe the sister passed away first. Or, maybe the previous owner passed away first, and whoever inherited the house had no intention to live or use it and could not afford to renovate it, so they decided to sell this humongous mess after sending the sister to a nursing home. Honestly, if that's the case, it is probably better for the sister to live in a nursing home than Unit ②. In any event, I wish the family of the previous owner the best.

Now, I shall assess Unit ② as an investor. Unit ② is definitely a tricky one. The doors of the kitchen cabinets are so damaged that it would probably take a full replacement of the kitchen part to fulfill basic rental needs. The flooring seems okay in the picture, but I highly suspect that a flooring replacement is necessary. All the tatami mats need replacement. In Japan, you have three options to replace tatami mats: 裏返し, 表替え, 新調(畳替え).

裏返し ura-gaeshi (turning over)

Both sides of tatami-omote can be used. The ura-gaeshi method removes the existing omote, reverse it, and re-attach it to the existing base with new adhesives. Turing over the omote works only if the visible surface is in good condition. This is normally done 3-5 years after the new tatami is installed. Turning over omote costs about 4,000 to 9,000 yen (≈$26 to 58) per tatami mat. So replacing a tatami room with 6 mats costs at least $150.

表替え omote-gae (re-covering)

The omote-gae method removes the cover from the base and replaces with a new one. Depending on the quality of omote and how frequently the room is used, it is recommended to recover five years after turning over the omote. Recovering is a bit more expensive than turning over. It is usually 5,000 yen (≈$26) per mat if you use economic materials.

新調(畳替え) shincho (tatami-gae)

Literally, changing to a new tatami mat. On average, the tatami base needs to be replaced every 20 years, but this depends on how the space is used and environmental conditions. Installing new tatami mats at least doubles the cost of the other methods. It is at least 10,000 yen  (≈$64), so with about $400, you can have a room with brand-new tatami mats. It would surely be nice for renters to have new tatami mats, but the rent value does not increase proportionately. Therefore, for landlords/investors, installing new tatami mats only happens when it is absolutely necessary.

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As you may see in the picture, all rooms in Unit ② probably need to have at least half of the tatami mats replaced entirely. Given the size of the unit, it would easily cost over $1500 to deal with the tatami mats. Definitely not worth doing before a renter is secured.

If a potential renter does not have a preference for tatami rooms, it is also possible to dispose of the tatami mats, smooth the concrete floor underneath, and put a thin layer of tile carpet like this.

The tile carpet might not be the most comfortable thing in the world, and it might be cold to step on during the winter. Still, some people would not mind having tile carpets instead of tatami mats. Installing tile carpet is probably the same cost as turning over tatami omote.

Finally, the condition of the toilet is not clear in the picture but I would assume that it probably needs some replacement. Luckily, the bathtub/bathroom looks okay-ish.

In sum, my estimate is that would be at least 800,000 to 1,000,000 yen (≈$5100-6400) before the first floor of  Unit ② could function as a rental. In the long run, these costs could be easily covered by a renter in about 2.5 years. However, as for now, until a renter shows up, we shall leave Unit ② as-is.

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In the next episode, I will summarize the pros and cons of Ms. Mansion de écrasée and the process of purchasing it. Stay tuned!