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Our House In April 2008 we decided it was time to purchase a house. There were several driving factors behind this. Our apartment is pretty small and with any number greater than 2 persons occupying it made it virtually unusable as any which way you turned you were running into another person. The apartment is located on the first floor and has a sever water leaking problem from the windows and window frames. Its a disaster as well as a health concern with the mold etc. The location is good, next to the Katsutadai train station and so the price is a bit higher than elsewhere. With mortgages in Japan hovering at just under 2 percent the cost of a house comes out close enough to warrant buying rather than renting. We were throwing money down the drain with no equity to show for it. Finally, this the last year the Japanese government offers tax breaks on owning a house, so we had to make a move in 2008. We looked at the cost of "already built" houses and the cost of doing a custom house. Both have obvious benefits and drawbacks. But it came down to better quality materials and the ability to design our own house that pushed us towards a custom built house. We selected Hinokiya Juutaku as our builder because their prices are reasonable and the construction is more sturdy than other builders - they use thicker framing wood from the Hinoki tree. The Japanese Hinoki tree is a cypress tree that grows over 35m in height and 1 meter in diameter. It is grown for its very high quality timber in Japan. The process of customizing a house is long and drawn out, fun and agonizing. We had many meetings with the sales rep, the architect, and the interior coordinator, and carpenters. Many things need to be decided, from trim to door handles, to layouts and materials. Finally in September 2008 ground breaking took place and the house completion date is set for December 2008. You can see the steady progress in the House Photo Album. Welcome to our new home.
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