How to start living on your own in Tokyo
How much money do you have to prepare if you want to live on your own in Tokyo?
There are various expenses other than the first month rent when you make contract with the real estate agency. Let's take a look.- Deposit ... usually the same amount as the rent
- Deposit will be reimbursed when you move out after deducting the maintenance fees.
- Gift money ('Reikin') ... usually the same amount as the one or two month(s) rent
- This is basically 'gift' to the landlord and you don't get this money back. Lately, there are less contracts with this 'Reikin'.
- Agent commission fee ... usually the same amount as the one month rent plus tax
- Paid to the real estate agency. This fee should be the same as one month rent or less, defined by law.
- Second month rent ... the same amount as the one month rent
- You have to pay the second month rent. If you are moving in in a middle of a month, the rent will be prorated.
- Administrative expenses / common service fee ... costs besides the rent
- It really depends on the property. Some are free but farely new properties require high amount of these cost. Usually it is ¥10,000 or less every month. Because of this, the rent based fee such as deposit or gift money can be lower.
- Rent guarantee fee ... a half the rent
- Fee which is paid to a rent guarantor agency and it won't be refunded. If you have your own guarantor, you may not need this fee.
- Key replacement cost ... 2 to ¥30,000
- 20,000 yen or less for an ordinary key. ¥20,000 or more if it is self-locking key.
- Fire insuarance ... about ¥20,000
- Usually 2 year contract. If you cancel when you move out, you will get reimbursed for the period you didn't live. (You have to cancel it by yourself so don't forget to cancel the contract.)
- Disinfection fee ... ¥10,000 to ¥20,000
- It is not obligated so you don't have to have one if you don't need it. Of course you don't need it on newly built property,
The initial cost is likely to be about 3 to 5 times the monthly rent plus ¥40,000 to ¥80,000.
"I want to know the standard rent cost in Tokyo."
It really depends on the conditions of the property. Like meeting people, you need to be patient to meet an ideal property.- 20,000 to 40,000 yen
- You can find an apartment with 3 to 4.5 tatami mat size room in an old building. With this price, the apartment does not have shower or bath room. Toilet might be shared.
You can also find a dormitory style guesthouse or share house close to a station. - 40,000 to 60,000 yen
- You can find a small studio style apartment with a bathroom in a fairy new building.
- 60,000 to 80,000 yen
- You can find an apartment with 2 bed rooms, dining, and kitchen. Also with self-locking system.
- 80,000 to 100,000 yen
- You can find a studio style apartment with 2 bedrooms, dining, and kitchen in a fairy new building. The building might have a delivery box.
- 100,000 yen and up
- You can find 2LDK (2 bedroom with living room, dining room and kitchen) apartment.
After finding an apartment, you have to think about the moving.
It can be estimated by the amount of the stuff you want to move and the distance. If you want to save the moving cost, it is better to reduce the amount of the stuff.If you don't have much stuff and the distance is not too far, you can ship the boxes or rent a car and the cost can be ¥10,000 or less. There is also a service for a little stuff and short distance by the logistic company.
If you have a lot of stuff and you need to use staircases, you might better off using a moving company.
Moving a lot of stuff or long distance moving might cost ¥30,000 or more. It also depends on the company so make sure you get the quotations from a couple of moving companies. You can also ask for discount or an extra offer.There are quite a few things you need to buy when you live on your own. Be prepare before you actually start living.
- Electric devices
- Refrigerator ... ¥20,000 to ¥40,000
- Microwave ... ¥10,000
- Rice cooker ... ¥10,000
- Vacuum cleaner ... ¥10,000 to ¥30,000
- Washing machine ... ¥30,000
- TV ... ¥20,000 to ¥40,000
Total would be ¥100,000 to ¥160,000 to by all these.
- Furniture
- Bed ... ¥10,000
- Futon ... ¥10,000
- Table ... ¥5,000
- Chair ... ¥3,000
- Curtains ... ¥5,000
- Light ... ¥3,000 to ¥10,000
You can buy all these for ¥50,000 if you are not too picky.
- Others
- Commodities ... Toilet paper, tissure paper, garbage bags
- Kitchen utensils ... Knives, cutting board, bowl, seasoning, spaｔula, pans, pots, saran wrap, alminum foil, dishes, chopsticks, cups
- Toiletly ... toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, towel
- バス用品・・・シャンプー、ボディソープ、タオル
- Laundry items ... cloth hangers, detergent, clothpins
Approximately ¥10,000 to ¥20,000
- Public bath
If the apartment doesn't have a bath, it costs you ¥460 per day (¥13,800 for 31 days) to go to a public bath. The alternative is that to become a gym member and use the shower.
It costs more money than you may think. To obtain an ideal living situation, you need to be careful when you start looking for a property. It is not a bad idea to live in a guesthouse while you look for an ideal apartment.
How about living in a guesthouse for start?
- The reasons why people choose guesthouses
First of all, it is cheap to live in. Secondly, the contract is very simple. Basic tools and items needed to start a new life are already provided. People experiencing the following situation(s) listed below actually live in our guesthouses.
- - No enough time to prepare but wanted to start a new life.
- - Work and save money to rent an apartment while living in a guesthouse.
- - Wanting to be familiar with Tokyo before deciding where to rent an apartment.
- - Wanting to take enough time to decide which property to rent (finding a home is similar to meeting people).
- - Save money while living in a guesthouse and in order to invest for the future.
- - The cost for business stay can be extremely high.
Please feel free to inquire!
- The initial cost is extremely cheap compaire to renting an apartment on your own.
- Starting from 27,000 yen, TenTen Guesthouse group offers very reasonable price! Only rent plus 10,000 yen of deposit (5,000 yen will be refunded when moving out) for initial cost.
It can be even cheaper if you use our coupon.
* some of the branches require utility fees besides the rent.