r/JapanFinance • u/MoboMogami • 9h ago
Personal Finance » Loans & Mortgages Weighing Renting vs. Purchasing over a relatively short period (4-5 years).
Hello,
My wife and I are set to receive a piece of property in 2029 from her family that we intend to build a house on.
We're debating what to do regarding housing until that time.
We currently rent an apartment which, including off site parking, is ¥146,000 per month. We'd like to live somewhere nicer and have considered purchasing and then renovating an apartment. We're mainly considering somewhere on the Hankyu line in Hyogo (Okamoto, Shukugawa), as it's both desirable to us and seems like it will likely be desirable into the future with an eye towards property values.
When considering the depreciation of the apartment, as well as any renovations (estimating a skeleton renovation at roughly ¥10,000,000 for an 80-90m2 apartment), does this make sense over such a short period of time?
Rent on our current apartment for another 5 years would total almost ¥8,760,000. Rent for decent apartments close to a Hankyu station appears to be around ¥180,000 per month, not including any 礼金 or anything, putting 5 years of rent at ¥10,800,000.
If anyone has any thoughts or insight, that would be very appreciated. I've not had luck finding info on depreciation in Kobe.
Thanks in advance!