Articles Published in Akiya Lab | Roopt (Makigumi)
Makigumi, which operates Roopt, regularly researches case studies and other information on empty house revitalization and publishes them as columns.
This article introduces the experience of a teleworking migrant who 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'll be interviewing 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, and 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 what was an empty house, and that's where we live now. After that, we utilize the empty spaces in our house to share it as a vacation rental and workspace.
Noi: You mentioned you renovated your home, but what kind of place do you actually live in?
Yoshii: I live in Shikano-cho, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture. This area has a large number of migrants, and empty houses have been utilized here for about 20 years now. It's a small town of 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 migrants.
Among them, Shikano-cho, Tottori City, is an area where empty house utilization is particularly active, and many migrants gather and live in empty houses by renting them. There are many migrants and also many people returning to the area, so the human relationships are very good. I moved here from another place, but I think it's a very comfortable place to live, so if you're considering moving to the countryside, I hope you'll consider Tottori City.
Yoshii: After moving, I initially lived in a rental, but then I ended up purchasing 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 purchasing a house myself. However, after moving to Tottori, the owner of the rental house I was living in changed their mind and wanted to sell the house itself. When I asked how much they would sell it for, the price was quite a bit higher than I had imagined, and I was wondering what to do. But as I mentioned earlier, it's a very popular area for migrants, and properties nearby were being sold for quite high prices, so I thought it might be difficult to continue living there as it was. Also, living in a rental isn't very stable, and I thought that owning a house when my son started elementary school would lead to a more stable life, so I started considering purchasing a house.
Noi: So, various circumstances led to your decision to move. We've heard about the background of your move and renovation, and next, I'd like to hear 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 for my family, but it seemed like it would cost 30 to 40 million yen, even in the countryside, including the land. 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 point is that from 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, and that was a factor.
Noi: How did you find the empty house itself?
: Initially, I searched online using empty house banks and real estate sales websites. However, even searching across Tottori Prefecture, the number of properties was quite small, and those listed were often like unsold properties that had been listed for many years. The real estate properties themselves were quite old, but the asking prices were unusually high, and there were only such properties available.Yoshii
: 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 real estate companies can earn is small, so they don't really want to handle them. Many empty house owners are elderly, and communication with them can be quite difficult. If it were a condominium sale in Tokyo, everyone would be thinking about selling, so communication would be relatively easy, but many people are not used to selling rental properties or detached houses, so real estate companies felt that it wasn't worth the effort to deal with them.
Ultimately, I was introduced to an NPO that promotes empty house utilization 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, the number is small, and there are many people looking for the limited number of properties. So, if you have a general idea of the area you want to live in, I think it's best to consult with organizations or companies that support empty house utilization in that region.
: After finding an empty house, you mentioned you self-renovated it. Could you tell us more about that? Specifically, what were your reasons for self-renovating instead of hiring a contractor?Noi
: There are two main reasons. First, when we tried to get a quote for the ideal renovation we envisioned for our family, the budget we initially had in mind, including the purchase price, was 10 million yen, but the estimates from contractors were nowhere near enough. The house we live in now, before renovation, was a 5LDK with four Japanese-style rooms. We've since converted it to a 3LDK, made everything flooring, and updated all the plumbing, but if we had asked for such a renovation, it would have cost not 10 million, but perhaps 20 or 30 million yen. At that point, it would have been like building a new house, so we realized it was impossible.Yoshii
: After that, I was thinking of giving up on buying the house, but the NPO that introduced the house to me said, "If you have the motivation and time, and if you can compromise on the finished state, self-renovation isn't impossible, so why not give it a try?" Since the NPO itself had various equipment and tools, and offered to lend them, I decided to give it a shot.
Noi: I see. So, you initially decided to self-renovate purely for financial reasons.
Yoshii: That's right. The budget I had was completely insufficient for what I had expected.
Noi: So, you decided to self-renovate for cost reasons, and now that it's finished, how much did it actually cost?
Yoshii: Well, we started with a budget of 10 million yen. Initially, when we were going to purchase the empty house, it was offered for around 7.5 to 8 million yen. However, considering our 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 both land and building, but it was almost entirely the assessed value of the land.
As for other expenses, repairing walls and ceilings, flooring, plumbing, switching to new air conditioners, refrigerators, and since we went all-electric, installing an EcoCute water heater, plus a lot of garbage 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. Including those future costs, my own cash outlay 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 because there were applicable subsidies, I was able to upgrade various equipment and expand the scope of painting, and so on.
: I can imagine it must have been quite challenging doing it yourself. How much time did it take?Noi
: 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.Yoshii
: It takes a long time and can be tough, and there are many monotonous periods, but during those times, listening to audio content like Audible or Voicy while working helps pass the time. So, over this past year, I listened to a considerable number of audiobooks and podcasts, which not only increased my DIY knowledge but also provided me with various other insights.
Noi: That's a great way to make use of your time, amazing!
: I'm sure you've learned a lot about the costs and time management involved in self-renovation. If you were to recommend it, what would be your reasons?Noi
: Yes, there are two points. The first, as I've mentioned several times, is the cost. Even if you update various facilities to your ideal from an empty house, you can probably keep the cost to about one-third compared to a new build, which is a significant appeal.Yoshii
: 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, and I'm thinking of creating a children's room for them 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: It sounds like a lot of fun to be able to create a children's room or change your home freely according to your own will.
: That's right. You can do various things according to your life stage, so it also increases your skills in many ways, and I think it's highly recommended.Yoshii
: 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 interview Mr. Yoshii about renovation, this time focusing on the know-how. Thank you very much, Mr. Yoshii, for today.Noi
Yoshii: Thank you.
First published: Akiya Lab (2024 - now integrated into this site)
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