Compromise list

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We went out looking at land and houses again last weekend. I'm growing disheartened. Everything is expensive and imperfect.

The best place we saw was 115 sq m for about $680,000. It included a house we'd have to tear down. It was accessed by a private alley (dirt!). To the south was a tall apartment building that shadowed the house for most of the day.

After returning home and slumping in defeat, I made a list of the bad points we keep seeing in all these properties. Tod & I each ranked them, then combined our scores for a final list.

Compromises To Be Accepted

  1. Far from station: we're not going to be able to live 5 minutes from the station; it will be more like 10-15.
  2. Small lot: we will do the best we can within our budget. If we have to sacrifice size to gain a point below, so be it.
  3. Far from friends: far is a relative term, but we might not be able to be stay within walking distance of anyone.
  4. Inconvenient train to work: this is most critical for Tod and means we want the Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Mita, Tozai or Hanzomon lines. Yamanote and Chuo/Sobu are also possibilities.
  5. Neighborhood with no amenities: If the grocery store is far away, or there's no cleaner nor a decent restaurant, then we will hate it there. I still remember feeling stranded in Himonya.
  6. Bad light and air: I cannot live happily in the shadow of other buildings. No sun is a no-go.

So now that we know a little better what we can tolerate and what we can't, we can continue to look for places. Maybe we search a bit further afield. There are cheaper blocks of land in Ikebukuro and Sugamo and other neighborhoods on the edge of the Yamanote line.

Or we just go buy a mansion. (That's an apartment in Japanese, not a palatial home.)

2 Comments

HIRATSUKA! It's where the cool kids are at!

Actually the cool kids are in Zushi, but I understand that MJ got as close as she could.

Sounds like you guys are going through pretty much the same process we went through. In the end though we ended up fairly close to what we wanted so if you have time, be patient and don't compromise too much.

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