Renting in California and Tokyo - An Anecdotal Story

In 1991, I and several others financed moving into a 2 bedroom condo in Shinjuku - in the heart of Tokyo. After one went back to DC and the other to Turkey a year or two later, I found myself wanting to rent it by myself. The owner of the condo knocked off a 1,000 USD so I could afford it and I lived there until mid-1998. In 1997, I was given ONE YEAR'S notice that he intended to sell the place and asked if I wanted to buy it. I declined, moved out (after 6 years) and got my full deposit back. Total rent for more than one person: 200,000 yen ($2,000 approx) and for one person (me) = 100,000 yen. Size = 700 square feet.

I took the first place I looked at and moved to the new place in 1998, also in Tokyo. Over the 9 years that I lived there, the daughter of the owner (a 二号さん - or second wife - in pre WWII Tokyo) and I developed a sincere relationship of trust and care. Her mother owned the building (given to her by her patron) and the daughter and her husband ran a clinic on the 2nd floor. I didn't have health insurance so when I took ill or became injured, they gave me free medical treatment. They gave me the key to the roof so I could have parties. I would sometimes pay my rent in a 3 month package and sometimes not pay rent at all for 3 months. They never gave me any grief. When I moved out (after 9 years) they took my deposit of 1,000 USD and gave me 3,000USD in "good luck" money to take back to the states. Total rent: 100,000 yen not incl utilities. What is the rate today? I haven't been checking. Size = 800 square feet.

LAX! October, 2007. I found my first dwelling in the U.S. (since 1987) in Ventura County. It was 900.000USD/month. There was no bathtub, no toilet roll holder and the kitchen was bare bones...the whole thing was bare bones. The hot water stayed on for only 5 minutes and when I told the owner, he looked at me and said, "Americans don't take showers for longer than 5 minutes." I soon discovered this was not true. When I told him this, he replied, "well, you lived in the Thai countryside, they probably didn't have any hot water there either." Me: "Yes, but I was only paying 5 Dollars a day." That shut him up. But he still wanted Duv and I to FIX the hot water heater with no assistance whatsoever. Thanks, idiot. When I moved out (after 6 months,) the owner's wife scoured the place for any signs of damage and insinuated that I should have thought to remove a cobweb from a certain corner. I was flabbergasted when I recd my full deposit back. I think she had a guilty-conscience. A side note: my favorite quote of hers is "And, you know, New Zealanders don't even get paid to recycle," after she returned from her big trip there. Come to think of it, I could devote an entire blog entry to this paragraph alone. Total payments on this dive: $900.00 not incl utilities. Size = 650 square feet.

Next place was closer to Ojai - in the same valley anyway. Nice woman with 60+ cats at a cat sanctuary. I rented a room in the house on the 1st floor. The only thing I remember about that situation was 1) her two big dogs needing to come inside at the crack of dawn, 2) her "slave" who lived in the garage 3) my cat Babura's stress level going off the charts. She took pity on me (a recurring theme since I've been living in the U.S. ) and she was basically nice. No deposit. I moved out after 4 months once I found a job. I had to get out of there...it was someone else's feifdom. Relationship more or less intact. Nice woman overall. Beautiful bathtub. I enjoyed that. Wish it were MY house. Now that I'm back, I guess that is something to aim for -unless I can find something cheaper somewhere else (my current dream city is Salvador.) Total rent: $695.00 incl utilities. Size = depended on the mood of the property owner.

August, 2008. Now that I am gainfully employed and IN OJAI (finally) I choose a place in a small, working class neighborhood. I have to fill out a rather lengthy application to rent (something I have never had to do before) and pay my rent dutifully on the first of every month, lest I be charged a penalty. The good thing about this situation is that the owner lives in ANOTHER STATE. It is small but solidly built. I have to get used to noisy neighbors (I never HEARD my neighbors for the 9 years I lived in Suginami-Ku in Tokyo and I assume they never heard me,) a flickering moody kitchen light that the maintenance guy can't fix and a flapping plastic light covering in the kitchen that jumps up and down whenever the Santa Ana winds come through. There is no bathroom or bathtub but the toilet and shower are sort of set off from the upstairs room in a way that is, at least, artfully done. Total rent: $950.00 incl utilities. Size = 400 square feet.

Today! I have found another place in Ojai. It has a proper bathtub, a proper kitchen, a bedroom, some closet space and a communal backyard. The application was even more thorough than the preceding one and I was surprised that they didn't ask me if I had any sexual fetishes and a "yes" and "no" box for the answer. I don't know the owners and I'm dealing with a realtor. My neighbors will be a father and son living together originally from Turkey. The current landlady wants me to give 30 days notice or she will withhold money. The realtor wants me to move in by mid-July. I'm out money, I guess. And I don't reckon I'll get any "good luck" money from the current owner either. Total rent: $910.00 not incl utilities. Size = 600 square feet.

I'm not sure what all this means...it is terribly confusing for an international returnee. I can see why people go into debt to own property here in the states.