Why we chose to own our home instead of renting
20 May 2025 | #housing | #money | #japanBack in January 2023 I wrote a post on the renting vs buying decision in Tokyo concluding that the two options have comparable financial outcomes (assuming the renter invests the additional money into a diversified portfolio). Yet we decided to build our house. In this post I’ll share the reasons that contributed to this decision.
For a family, it is hard to find a big enough place to rent
The largest rentals in our area are mostly 3LDK (3 bedrooms, one big living-dining-kitchen), which might be enough for a family with one kid (or a family with 2 kids where none of the parents work from home), but if one wants more than 2 kids, or 2 kids and a remote working parent, then it starts to get small.
Quality of rentals is often low
We found that when people build or renovate with the intention of renting it out, they often focus on reducing costs. This results in cheap air conditioners and stoves, missing floor-heating and dishwasher, etc. In case of houses, also low quality builds (bad insulation both against heat and noise, low quality flooring that get damaged easily). These don’t only contribute to higher utility bills, but also significantly impact our quality of life. We had a place where it was super cold in the morning in winter, but if we turned on all the ACs, then we could use the microwave as that would trip the breaker. This is not how I want to live my mornings.
We have seen well built rentals, but they were usually built for the owner themselves, and were only rented out as the owner had to move away for a few years (usually due to work). However this means that the rental contract is only for those few years until the owner is away, meaning one can’t stay long term. Moving is expensive and time consuming (including finding a new place).
Moving gets harder with kids
One of the main benefit of renting is the flexibility of moving (e.g. if there is a good job opportunity or if one needs more or less space). However if one has kids, then as kids start to go to school, moving becomes harder, as it will either limit the location to the same school district (so that kids can stay in the same school), or kids will have to switch schools.
Now whether this is a major issue or not comes down to personal preference, but I had to switch schools when I was 10 due to my parents’ work, and I did not take it well. So it is important for me to let my kids go to the same school (as long as they want to).
Less worry about damages
Again with kids it is inevitable that there will be damages, heavy things dropped on the floor, food and drawings on the walls, etc. These are more costly to fix in rentals, as most landlords prefer professional repairs over DYI solutions, which adds stress to the situation. Even if one doesn’t care about the damage itself, if it is big enough that it risks the landlord withholding the 1-2 months worth of deposit, it can easily make the problem seem bigger than what it ought to be.
More customization options
Owing, especially building our own, gives us the option to customize more. We get to have a front-open big dishwasher, smart home, and a small office for remote work. We can choose the best insulation, floor heating in all rooms, high-grade ACs, self-cleaning bathtubs, and solar panels.
DIY opportunities
Owing also provides the opportunity to do DIY, which I greatly enjoy. In rentals we had minor issues a few times (e.g. a sink leaking) where I could have likely fixed it myself, but as there is a chance I break something, it was safer to call the landlord, even if it meant that we had to wait a few days. But this is a personal preference again: I genuinely enjoy fixing these things myself, while I know many people would rather have someone else take care of them.
Summary
Overall for us owning a home seem to provide a better quality of life for only slightly higher costs (current rent is 240,000 yen, current expected mortgage is 290,000 yen), which is essentially why we decided to own our home in the end.