Friday, January 28, 2011

Apartment. Ugh.

Apartment hunting makes me feel incompetent.

I have Mr. Ueno (who works for Interac), who is great and is helping me search for apartments and is DESPERATELY trying to get me to understand all of these "hidden" fees that aren't listed anywhere on the web, but I'm having a hard time understanding.

I'm sure everyone has to go through this at least once when trying to find an apartment, but it just makes me feel like a complete fool. I knew about Key Money and deposits, but I didn't know about doorlock replacement charges, cleaning fees, fire insurance, guarantor company fees, common area charges, neighborhood association charges, and I still don't understand what a "daito kentaku" charge is. >_<;;

I'm sure the real problem is that I'm trying to find an unreasonably low cost apartment since I have to send 700USD home a month to pay off student loans. I also want to be able to save money in case of an emergency and have enough money to visit Texas for Christmas break.

If anyone has any suggestions, helpful hints, etc. Please let me know.

BTW- This is the apartment I like the most so far and is at the high end of my budget (and for all I know I can't actually afford). I'm guessing it's 47,183¥ a month (including deposit and fire insurance fee):

On a positive note, I was informed last night that Interac has lodged my application for eligibility with Immigration and they expect to receive it around February 10th. AWESOME NEWS! They said they will be sending it as soon as they receive it. I'm glad that my paperwork is going well.

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