Articles Published in Akiya Lab | Roopt (Makigumi)
Makigumi, which operates Roopt, regularly researches case studies and other information on empty house revitalization and publishes it as columns.
This article introduces the experience of a teleworker who moved and self-renovated an empty house. It covers the search for an empty house, the process of self-renovation, the costs and time involved in the renovation, and the reasons why self-renovation is recommended.
Noi: Hello everyone, I'm Noi, the host of this channel. In this video, we've been discussing the evaluation of old detached houses for investment in modern times with Mr. Ueda from Gaiax. This time, we'd like to hear from Mr. Yoshii, who has actual renovation experience. Mr. Yoshii, thank you for joining us.
Yoshii: Thank you for having me.
Yoshii: First, let me give a brief self-introduction. In 2017, when I got married, I moved from Tokyo, where I had been living, to Tottori. Now, I live in Tottori with my wife and child, a family of three. Both my wife and I work with computers and work from home. Neither of us has a daily commute, so we use our free time to self-renovate a house that was empty, and that's where we live now. After that, we utilize the extra space in our house to operate a vacation rental and share a workspace.
Noi: You mentioned that you renovated your house. Where exactly do you live?
Yoshii: I live in Shikano-cho, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture. This area has a large number of new residents, and empty houses have been utilized for about 20 years now. It's a small town with about 3,400 people. There's a magazine for people who want to live in the countryside, and Tottori City has won first place in the category of 'countryside where child-rearing families want to live,' making it a very popular area for new residents.
Among them, Shikano-cho in Tottori City is particularly active in utilizing empty houses, and many new residents gather there to rent and live in empty houses. There are many new residents and also many people returning to their hometowns, so the human relationships are very good. I moved here from another place, but I find it a very comfortable place to live, so if you are considering moving to the countryside, I hope you will consider Tottori City.
Yoshii: After moving, I initially lived in a rental, but then I ended up buying the empty house I was renting. Until then, when I was in Tokyo, I had always lived in rental properties, so I didn't really have any intention of owning or buying a house myself. However, after moving to Tottori, the owner of the rental house I was living in decided they wanted to sell the house itself. When I asked how much they would sell it for, the price was considerably higher than I had imagined, and I was wondering what to do. As I mentioned earlier, it's a very popular area for new residents, and properties nearby were being sold at quite high prices, so I thought it would be difficult to continue living there as it was. Also, renting doesn't provide stable living, and with my son about to start elementary school, I thought owning a house would lead to a more stable life, so I started considering buying a house.
Noi: So, various circumstances led to your decision to move. We've heard about the background of your move and renovation. Next, I'd like to ask a bit more about the internal aspects of the renovation using an empty house.
Noi: Could you please tell us why you chose to renovate an empty house instead of building a new one?
Yoshii: There are two main reasons. The first is cost. I considered building a new house of the size I wanted, but even in the countryside, with land, it seemed like it would cost around 30 to 40 million yen. With an empty house, I thought I could buy the house itself for a few million yen and complete the renovation for around 10 million yen.
The second reason is my experience living in an empty house as a rental. I thought that even empty houses or houses 40 to 50 years old could be made livable with simple renovations. The house I lived in had been empty for several years, so there was some mold, the interior was quite dirty, and the garden was very overgrown. However, after about two or three months of cleaning, and hiring professionals for kitchen and toilet cleaning, and also for wallpaper, it became quite bright inside and the atmosphere changed dramatically, even with a relatively simple renovation. So, I thought it would be fine to live there.
Noi: How did you find the empty house itself?
Yoshii: Initially, I searched online using empty house banks and real estate sales websites. However, even searching across Tottori Prefecture, there were very few properties available. The ones that were listed were often leftovers that had been listed for many years. The real estate properties themselves were quite old, but their asking prices were unusually high, and there was nothing else available.
When I asked various real estate companies about the empty house sales situation, they said that since empty houses don't sell for very high prices, the profit they can earn is small, so real estate companies aren't very keen on handling them. Many empty house owners are elderly, and communicating with them can be quite challenging. If it were a condominium sale in Tokyo, everyone would be thinking about selling, so communication would be relatively easy. However, with the sale of rental properties, or rather, detached houses, most people aren't used to it, so real estate companies felt that it wasn't worth the effort to communicate with them.
Finally, I was introduced to an NPO that promotes the utilization of empty houses in the region. Coincidentally, I found the empty house I now live in about 100 meters from where I was living at the time. While it might be possible to find empty houses online, there are very few of them, and many people are looking for them. So, if you have a specific area where you want to live, I think it's best to consult with an organization or company that supports empty house utilization in that region.
Noi: After finding the empty house, you mentioned that you self-renovated. Could you tell us more about that? Specifically, what were your reasons for self-renovating without hiring a contractor?
Yoshii: First, when I tried to plan a renovation that would meet my family's ideal, the initial budget, including the purchase price, was 10 million yen. However, when I saw the estimates from contractors, it was nowhere near enough. The house I live in now, before renovation, was a 5LDK with four Japanese-style rooms. We changed it to a 3LDK, converted everything to flooring, and replaced all the plumbing. If I had asked for such a renovation, it felt like it would cost not 10 million, but more like 20 or 30 million yen, which would essentially be like building a new house, so I realized it was impossible.
After that, I was thinking of giving up on buying the house, but the NPO that introduced me to the house said, "If you have the motivation and time, and if you can compromise on the finished quality, self-renovation isn't impossible, so why not give it a try?" Since the NPO itself had various equipment and tools, and they offered to lend them, I decided to give it a shot.
Noi: I see. So, initially, you decided to self-renovate purely for financial reasons.
Yoshii: That's right. The budget I had in mind was completely insufficient.
Noi: Regarding the costs, you decided to self-renovate. Now that it's finished, how much did it actually cost?
Yoshii: Well, we started with a budget of 10 million yen. Initially, when purchasing the empty house, it was offered for around 7.5 to 8 million yen. However, considering the 10 million yen budget, that wouldn't leave much for renovation costs. So, after various discussions, we were able to purchase it for 5.5 million yen. That amount is the total for the land and building, but it was almost the assessed value of the land.
For other expenses, such as repairing walls and ceilings, flooring, plumbing, switching to new air conditioners, refrigerators, and since we went all-electric, installing an EcoCute, plus a lot of trash disposal and such, it would normally have cost around 7 million yen. However, by utilizing various applicable subsidies, we were able to keep it to about 4.5 million yen. The interior renovation is complete, but we are still planning to add a wooden deck, fences, and exterior painting in the future. Including those costs, my out-of-pocket expenses for the entire renovation will be around 10 million yen.
Noi: Wow, did it turn out as you expected?
Yoshii: Yes, it did. If it weren't for the subsidies, I would have had to compromise and lower the quality of various things, but since there were applicable subsidies, I was able to upgrade various facilities and expand the scope of painting and so on.
Noi: You did it yourself, which I imagine was quite a challenge. How much time did it take?
Yoshii: My wife and I, with some help from our child, spent about a year on it. Both my wife and I work remotely from home, and the house we were living in was about 100 meters from this house, so after work, we would come here to do DIY, or paint a little during lunch breaks. We also used time in the mornings, evenings, and on weekends.
It's a long and challenging process, and there are many monotonous periods, but during those times, listening to audio content like Audible or Voicy while working can make the time pass. So, over this past year, I listened to a considerable number of audiobooks and podcasts, not only gaining DIY knowledge but also various other insights from Audible and Voicy.
Noi: That's a great way to utilize your time, amazing!
Noi: You've shared a lot about the costs and time management of self-renovation, and I'm sure you have many thoughts. If you were to recommend it, what would be your reasons?
Yoshii: Yes, there are two main points. The first, as I've mentioned several times, is the cost. Even if you install the ideal facilities in an empty house, you can still keep the cost to about one-third of a new build, which I think is a significant appeal.
The second is the improvement of DIY skills. As your DIY skills improve, you'll be able to modify your current room as needed in the future. My child is now six years old, and will soon be starting elementary school, so I'm thinking of creating a child's room soon. At such times, I might consider adding another room somewhere, or I might want to create a storage space for DIY tools. Recently, I've also started camping, so I'm thinking of building a small shed or something to store outdoor gear and tents. The advantage is that you can implement such changes without spending a lot of money.
Noi: Creating a child's room or freely changing your home according to your own will sounds very enjoyable.
Yoshii: That's right. You can do various things according to your life stage, so in that respect, you gain various skills, and I think it's highly recommended.
Noi: Thank you very much. This time, Mr. Yoshii shared his experiences as a renovation veteran. Personally, I was very surprised at how much the costs could be reduced. In the next video, we will continue to ask Mr. Yoshii about renovation know-how. Thank you, Mr. Yoshii, for today.
Yoshii: Thank you.
First published: Akiya Lab (2024 - now integrated into this site)
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