So, you're not going to say hi to the Tokyo Tops? Meng: Hi Tokyo Tops Look at this! We're in a car -- we're in a fancy car You're fancy; you bought a car When Meng buys something I have to buy something I'm going to buy a house You're going to buy your second house My bessou (second house) We are going down to Atami, which is about a 2-hour drive south of Tokyo And I'm going to go look at some houses I've actually thought about this for a long long time You remember back in the day I wanted to b
uy an apartment building, right? So I have a friend who bought an apartment building, like, it's out quite far and he seemed quite successful But you know Covid hit; all that stuff happened And I thought, "Oh, is this, you know, is it a good to have something that I need high occupancy rates?" And when we started the channel, remember we started talking about like it'd be really cool to have a Tokyo BTM place Yeah Did I tell you I actually looked for a while? I think, if we do one for Tokyo BTM
it has to be in the gay area or accessible to the gay area Yeah I was out talking with a friend the other day who does Airbnb in other parts of the country And he was like, "No, no no you're thinking about it wrong - you don't want to do it in Tokyo" If you go out to the countryside where people vacation Then a lot of the places are going to be cheaper and it's low risk So it's a good opportunity to sort of like dip your toes into the market and see if you like it and if it works out and stuff l
ike that And for that, I have to choose an area that is popular amongst foreigners who come here maybe their second time And also Japanese people who want to get out of the city for a day So that's why Atami is really good cuz it's, you know, we're doing a day trip today you can get out for the weekend They do a lot of things in the summer - it's a beach town And the reason why it would be cheaper than other places is because Atami, my understanding is that, it was developed in the'80s when ever
yone had money And they're like, "Oh, let's go spend money and let's buy another house and like second or third house blah, blah, blah" And then the bubble collapsed and then the city just stopped developing So it's kind of stuck in the 80s I see So if you talk to Japanese people they'll think it's kind of, like, like super "Showa" (era in Japan) - it's super retro and old And like, it has a charm to it, but also there's kind of like a dasai (uncool) aspect to it as well because it hasn't develo
ped But I also hear that now because of that, there are some good deals We're going to be seeing a bunch of places today, not sure if we're going to be able to get to them all But I thought it'd be really fun to take you with us on a little vlog adventure because this is our first adventure in your new car! Oh, okay I don't want to oversell my new car though Andrew: What? It's really nice
Meng: Thank you, thank you Right? So today we're just going to take you around, show you these houses We'll
talk about the pros and cons Sort of what's going through, you know, my mind regarding like, my goals and, like, what I want to see, you know, come of this And then at the end of each video we'll talk about the price Let's go!! Okay I remember this house This was actually the reason why I wanted to come to Atami was for this house So let's talk about the size of this house So the size of this... Meng: No, sorry! First of all...!
Andrew: You want to talk about the agent? This guy here?! This guy
here?!? Was SO hard to organize anything with him And I told you from the start he was very, like, standoffish Well, he wasn't aggressive or anything, he was just kind of like... Meng: Grumpy old man
Andrew: Yeah, could not be bothered I mean, let's talk about the house so... So the size of this house is a 2 LDK and it's 77.22m2 And it was built in 1984, right? Which was my birthday Meng: Do you want people to know that?
Andrew: I mean, people already know that 2LDK, as you can see, like, on t
he bottom floor there was a really just large living room And then in the kitchen as well, I guess that's where the dining room is So it was pretty good and then upstairs they had two bedrooms I think my first impression for this house is it was kept very well compared to other houses Because, like, for other houses, some are kind of like "gomi yashiki (hoarder houses) and this house, it was really elegant I feel like it still kept the glory of the old age, you know? Like, even the ceiling was v
ery high and they had, like, a fireplace or something that as well So I feel like if you do Airbnb there, it's the house that you have to do least for renovation True, but this was also 30% more than the other houses, right? So that was another thing where I had to look at this with: if I went with this house I would have very little room to make any changes So it kind of had to be usable from the get-go, you know? Here this is pretty much why I wanted to see this house Is all the pictures had t
his, like, massive balcony with this great view I had this image of maybe, like, having a barbecue out here And have, you know, a nice big table and people could sit out here, have drinks and and eat and like maybe watch the fireworks But, something about it when I got there I think it was actually the drive to the place The area was extremely industrial, do you remember? Yeah, oh that! Yeah, yeah! Andrew: And like...
Meng: You talk about it There was something about the area where I was like, "
I don't know if it would be a fun area for people to visit" Cuz it seemed to be like a little bit, you know, away from the main Atami area and had a nice view If you're in Atami and you're here in an Airbnb, you're going to want to like stop by a cafe in the morning Andrew: Or like...
Meng: But it was factories all around And that's, of course, something you can't see in the listing But that was a bit disappointing when I found that out So I was just like, "Oh, I don't know if the area is vibing
with me" Yeah Okay so let's reveal the price for this place It is a little bit below 10 million Japanese yen So would you pay 10 million yen for this? I mean if you're coming from America I think it's a steal! Everyone's like, "OMG, why didn't you buy it? It's so cheap!" Yeah, this house is in fairly good condition as well They just need some renovation, probably throwing another 1 or 2 million yen ($7500~$15,000 USD) Meng: It's livable
Andrew: Yeah I mean, it might not even be 1 or 2 (million)
, it's a lot of cosmetic changes, like the wallpaper sort of thing Maybe replace the tatami - thatd' be expensive, I guess but... You mean the place? Like, there's this one's more expensive All right, next one Who was the real estate agent? It was still the same person Oh! Yes We had two houses with him Oh, he didn't even want to show this one to us! He didn't? He wanted to show me another one and then I was like, "No, it's not my budget" He was like, "Okay fine, we'll go to the one that you wan
ted to see then" So this one was bigger than the last one This is a 4 SDK, which means it has four rooms and then there's a storage room And a storage room in Japan, I guess well... Meng: It's another room - it's just five rooms
Andrew: But without windows Meng: Or the light into the window is, like, too limited
Andrew: Exactly And then it is uh 9.46m2 And it was built in 1980, so 4 years earlier than the previous one And this one was fine too Okay I feel this one doesn't have any personality t
hat's what I thought It lacked the personality that the last one had It looks like a giant square It looks like an apartment too Andrew: From the outside it looks like the type of apartments you have in Japan
Meng: Yes I thought it was in quite good condition as well as we were reviewing back at the video at the moment Especially considering the price Meng: That's true
Andrew: Which we'll get into later So this bathroom would be a full gut You love this bathroom You said in the video like, "I k
ind of love this!" Andrew: I mean, it's hideous, but it's very fun
Meng: It's very retro, yeah It's hideous in a fun way The thing here is: it doesn't have character, as you said It was kind of okay to get to But there was like no parking lot The last one actually didn't have a parking lot either But because it didn't have character it also didn't have a view And that was one thing that I really wanted Not all the places, but I kind of wanted to sort of push the view I think it is - it was at th
at window, right? Meng: It does have a view though...
Andrew: But they lied to us! It's like tiny...it's like a tiny window over there I feel tricked because in the listing they were like, "This is the view" and it's just this, like, little tiny hole in the wall where you can, like, strain to see But it's kind of funny to hear you talking about right now Because I feel like when we were there you didn't feel so negative about the view Here you didn't voice it out Andrew: Oh, look at this! It's j
ust that!
Meng: You were like very excited about it Nooo...! Meng: But it is a view that's facing Atami though
Andrew: Yes So, like, had that been a bigger window on the balcony side And someone could go out there Like, people coming and renting this place and having some drinks out there, watching fireworks It would have been different One little window Andrew: Everything else is just...
Meng: I mean, that's how people advertise hotel industry as well They say it's "ocean front," but actually
just see a tiny piece of the ocean And they say it's ocean front, you know? Let's reveal the price for this one So this price was 6.3 million yen So, 30% cheaper than the last one So I mean, like, that is a steal That is a steal as long as of course, you know, this had to, like, pass inspection, right? Make sure there aren't any termites or the foundation cracked or whatever But, like, let's say everything check out - it's cheap It's very cheap Meng: But I don't think this view is superior thoug
h...
Andrew: Than the last one? Meng: Yeah
Andrew: Well that's good, 'cause we're also going to other views south Honestly because I feel like as long as you can see umi (the sea) what's the difference? A new real estate agent and this was the guy who was, like, super passionate, right? Meng: Okay he was wearing a mask, but low key I feel he was kind of hot, you know?
Andrew: Yeah So for this house this was the garage Yeah, which is good - this is the first one that actually had a garage And lik
e, if you're coming out to Atami, they're saying that people come in cars For me, living in Tokyo, I want a place close to a train station because that is convenient for me, like, in my mind But, you know, it makes sense - once you go out of a major city, people don't really need to be close to the station You can be far away as long as you have a car and you have a garage And the last two places didn't have that, which is a problem The biggest issue about this one was that the outer walls were
cracking You probably need a couple million ($20k USD) just to fix that one problem So for me that was part of the -- like, that was a huge downside And, you know, looking at the price, not only factoring renovations, but fixing structural elements of it You know, if it didn't have that issue, it would have been entirely different, I think So this is a 4LDK and it's a little bit bigger than the last one at 94.4m2 And the year of building is also at '87 right? So, 1987 So we're getting closer to
your age now A little bit closer - not yet there! Another thing is like your friend is also doing Airbnb and he actually think this is one of the places that he thinks has the best potential, right? Had the outer wall - the structure - been a little bit more stable I think I would have agreed with that And my friend when he looked at this viewing he didn't know about that element I feel like if he knew that after the fact he'd probably change his opinion But, yeah, it did initially have more pot
ential There wasn't a lot of things blocking it and it had a bit of a a view I don't remember the view - is it right here? So what do you think? Like, do you think it should be a bedroom where you have a view or, like, do you think it should be a living room though? I don't mind either way What I want is a view with a balcony because I want people to be able to go out and, like, have a coffee But I think the people would want to go out and watch the fireworks Because every summer there's a whole
bunch of fireworks across all Japan, but Atami fireworks are pretty well known It's a big thing And to be able to go and look over the ocean would be great Meng: It does have a balcony though
Andrew: It does! Both: It does, it does Should we go buy it? So we going to go to the next house I would say, like, so far the three houses didn't give me any bad energy So, there's still, like, lots of sunlight, lots of warmth to the house So I'm ok with everything We're gonna show you the next house, but
before we do that let's talk about the price So okay so for this house, it's around the same price with the previous one So it's 6.8 million Japanese yen Oh, is this the gomi yashiki (hoarder) one? And like no lights and grandma lived there Yeah... So this one you can see I did a terrible filming job Oh did you? Yeah, because I was, like, stunned I was basically -- I walked in and I just, like, I didn't know what to do Like, I didn't even film; I was just standing there, like, "What should I do
?" I remember looking at you and I could tell instantly that you were, like, you were just getting bad juju vibes and you wanted out so fast Your face looked like you felt it was, like, haunted And, yeah, I could -- I think I even said like, "What's going on?" You're like, "Nothing! Nothing!" But your face just gave away everything But because I didn't want to interrupt your judgment, you know? But your face did! So this house is the biggest one yet - we keep on going bigger and bigger It doesn'
t feel like that It didn't feel like that, that's true, it really didn't I wonder why it felt (not) so big Meng: *whispers 'Cause it's haunted!
Andrew: But it's a 5k, so five rooms and a kitchen Meng: So there's no dining room
Andrew: So there's no dining room and there's no living room So I guess for what I would have to do is, I would have to use one of the rooms, blow it out and connect it Andrew: 'Cause that's what people want, they want...
Meng: I don't think you should do anything with thi
s house But that would have been the plan, right? Is make it, like, 4LDK instead of keeping it as a 5K And then the total amount is 118.38m2 That's the biggest so far And I don't like it when they sell a house and you can see traces of who lived there before Like, they left things behind That's like the definition almost of, like, Akiya in a way Ohhhh You know? It's like you go in and you have to kind of clean everything up But, so my friend he was saying that he did have a house that he put an
offer in - a different one And he negotiated that with the price He said, "If you want me to clean this out, I have to hire people to come help me and dumpsters and stuff like that" "So I want it for like a million cheaper"
and then they were like, "Okay" So you could like negotiate I mean, we could save the "sentaki (washing machine)..." She's giving us design ideas! Well maybe it's a hidden gem, I didn't realize that But even the agent was having a hard time finding lights, you know? So like,
there was no lights to turn on in the room; I couldn't have a proper view of the house It was very dark - maybe that's why I created this, like, haunted vibe, you know? So this is actually 10 years older than the previous one Meng: Or the other one...
Andrew: 15 years older! So it was built in 1972, almost 50 years Yeah, so it's pretty old And I think we're actually in the second - I don't really know the official name But, like, the bay which is lower than the main Atami city one So the view th
at we're looking at is actually not Atami proper I think it was called whatever this..."Ajiro Bay" And that's technically...like, I don't want to say it in a bad way, but it's the wrong bay It's not the bay that I wanted to be facing I mean this just screams "grandma," Like, the bathroom just screams... Andrew: Like, it's very old, but I think...
Meng: Yeah, he has to use his phone! Meng: He had to use his phone to...!
Andrew: This reminds me of these, like, scary haunted houses Videos or TV sho
ws where they go find stuff or they go and try and find treasures in houses It's the same sort of vibe I wanted to get out of there, like, so fast, you know? I know you did, I know you did But I'm, like, just viewing back the video and am surprised I stayed so long But actually here you told me to go get out "Just leave!" See? I could tell at that moment Wait, so this is the bay? Andrew: Yeah, that's Ajiro Bay
Meng: Ok, I see, I see And it's beautiful, I mean, minus the electric wires or whateve
r I remember also in this room, you know, the ceiling is broken So that's why, like, maybe it takes a little bit more extra money to fix that, but I don't know For this house it's actually 6.5 million Japanese yen Do you think it's worth it? Oh it's this one! See this was -- if we're talking about personality, this had all the personality Meng: Uniqueness
Andrew: Yeah, even down to the metal bridge that takes you to the house You liked this one So, yes, if I'm not doing an Airbnb If it's like r
eally my "bessou," like my second house or like my treehouse It's very cute, it's like two layers It's also built on this, like, edge of mountain as well, right? Yeah, on the side of a mountain So, it's kind of, like, very spy-like, you know? Well the place next door as well looked like a secret spy hideout! Meng: They also have like the ' 90s vibe, I feel like the spy movie
Andrew: Super 90s I wonder...I think we were also wondering what would happen in an earthquake though, right? Like, you're
literally propped up on metal poles, essentially And it's just, like, jutting out the side of a mountain so... So the difficult part about this house though is that, you needed a car to get to it The other houses, like, maybe you could figure out some sort of bus or whatever This one you needed a car and there was no car space, there was no parking space Meng: It was a long drive as well
Andrew: Yeah But look at that view I mean, we're high up Is it facing the right direction? No, it's facing A
jiro Bay I think as well Meng: Oh, so there's -- no, wait! But this one doesn't look Ajiro though
Andrew: It is, it is I really like the vibe Yeah, I agree I feel like people who were there were using it for themselves But, of course, the difficult part about that was that... Like, the reason why I think everyone's using it for themselves is because it's really high up in the mountain, far away and hard to get to Like, if I did an Airbnb here, how am I going to give someone the dire directions t
o get here, you know? It would be really hard - especially someone who maybe they haven't lived in Japan before It's a big ask to give them that address and be like, "Have fun trying to find it!" But it was interesting 'cause this actually -- he is using this as a as a Airbnb or something similar Like, he's renting it out I mean, but he wasn't making money that's why he's trying to sell it That's actually true We are only seeing the first floor, but there's a second floor below it Oh, and it was
with the bathroom that I loved So you can pump in hot spring water Actually a bunch of these you could - not all - but this was one of them You could pump in actual hot spring water into your own bath, which is super cool It's quite expensive though Meng: I think we forgot to talk about the size of this house
Andrew: We did So the size of this...so it's smaller, it's the smallest we've found yet And it's 2LDK and 70.35m2 Built in 1969 Wait so this is actually the oldest one It didn't feel like
it though I guess they were taken care of, I mean... Anyway, so this house was also a little bit below 10 million Japanese yen Andrew: Yeah
Meng: One of the most expensive ones Yeah and that was a reason why...well, there were multiple reasons why it just wasn't realistic How can you make that work when, like, it's 10 million and you'd have to do a lot of work on it And I might need to build a parking space somewhere, you know? So it's just not realistic Andrew: "Out," so maybe this way?
Meng:
Ok Meng: So luxurious
Andrew: So nice Like, I'd rather stay here Andrew: Are you happy now that we've come to an "oshare (fancy)..."
Meng: Finally, right? Like, looking at all the "boro boro (derelict)" houses... Meng: Like, look at this!
Andrew: Now you're so fancy! Now look, he's so happy!
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