How Aussie bloke Jaya Thursfield managed to buy a huge three-bedroom house for just $30,000
An Australian man has moved to Japan with his family after being able to purchase a house for just $30,000 because a house in their Australian city was out of reach.
Jaya Thursfield, 48, from Melbourne bought the abandoned house, known as ‘akiya’ in Japanese, in his wife Chihiro’s hometown of Ibaraki in rural Ibaraki.
After hearing about the abandoned houses in Japan, Mr. Thursfield went looking for a farm and found one for sale in a newspaper advertisement, SBS Date Line reported.
There are an estimated 10 million Akiya in Japan. Many of them live in rural areas because the inhabitants want to move to the cities. They are also left to fend for themselves because of the country’s high inheritance tax.
“I just don’t think we could have afforded to rent a house (in Australia), especially not one near my parents in central Melbourne,” Mr Thursfield said.
The family bought their “impressive” 250-square-metre home on a 1,800-square-metre plot with three bedrooms, one bathroom and a guest room.
The father also said the family found the house to be “taller, bigger and more beautiful” than they expected when they first saw it in real life, about a 45-minute drive from Tokyo.
According to Mr Thursfield, Japanese people even give away their akiya for free, but the abandoned houses are not listed on real estate websites.
The home, which the Melbourne father bought for $30,000 and renovated himself, was “impressive” when he first saw it in person. So far, the family has spent A$250,000 on renovations, making it far cheaper than the average Australian house price of $997,963.
Mr Thursfield bought the three-bedroom traditional Japanese-style house on a 1,800 square metre plot in February 2019
Mr Thursfield said local councils are participating in a programme that creates an inventory of all abandoned homes, called Akiya Bank, so people can easily find a vacant property.
The now Japanese resident said that while the abandoned houses are found all over the country, the further buyers move from the cities, especially to the countryside, the cheaper the houses become.
Most of the akiyas need to be renovated and made structurally sound. The Melbourne family had a budget of A$200,000 but have spent $250,000 in the last three years
“It was not habitable. There was no working kitchen and the bathroom was really outdated,” the father said.
Mr Thursfield said living in the house would have been challenging as the plumbing was not working properly and the electrical wiring needed to be renewed.
Everything in the house had also been left behind, including a huge mess in the kitchen.
Despite the expense for the family, it is still considered cheap compared to new construction homes in Japan.
Mr Jaya Thursfield, 48, (pictured) documents the renovation of his three-bedroom Japanese home on YouTube
“A piece of empty land with no house on it (in their rural area) will cost you about $70,000-$80,000 Australian dollars, whereas building a new house will probably cost you about $200,000 Australian dollars,” Mr Thursfield said.
Despite having no experience with renovations, Mr. Thursfield decided to do the work himself and began documenting it on Youtube Channelwhich has since gone viral.
Mr Thursfield said he got a ‘satisfaction’ from doing the work himself, especially knowing he had ‘saved’ the house.
Australians interested in purchasing an Akiya are advised to check for possible restrictions, such as its use for short-term rentals, it said. Cheap Houses Japan.
Other restrictions may include that buyers must be under the age of 43 and have children in high school.
There are now more and more abandoned houses in Japan in cities and built-up areas, mainly due to the country’s aging population (pictured Akiya in Hokkaido Prefecture)
Aussies are allowed to buy in Japan, but can’t get a mortgage. Foreign buyers are warned to do their research, as there may be restrictions. Older homes are also more susceptible to earthquake damage (pictured, an abandoned house in Ishikawa)
Australians are also warned that older homes are not built with materials that can withstand earthquake damage, so they should not buy homes built on soft ground.
Although there are no restrictions on Australians buying property in Japan, they cannot take out a Japanese mortgage.
Obtaining a visa to live in Japan can also be very complicated.
Still, it could be worth it: according to the latest data from Corelogic, the average house price across Australia’s capital cities combined is a whopping $997,963.
And in Mr Thursfield’s hometown of Melbourne, the average price now stands at $944,138 – significantly higher than what the family paid for their large Japanese home.