How to find an apartment in Osaka?

[Pretty_Angel]

Hello everyone!

I was lurking around this site/forum for some time by now and I hope you can help me. I've already crawled through several threads that were somehow linked to my problem but I couldn't find an useful answer.

I'm going to Osaka for a semester abroad (student at OCU), my boyfriend accompanies me with a working holiday visa. For the 6 months of our stay we need an apartment and since we're flying next week I start to get super nervous cause I couldn't find an accommodation yet.

First address I checked out was of course(?) Leopalace21. Some friends already stayed there and said it would be a nice solution. After reading trough all the information I could find (including their homepage and all those forum threads here) I start do doubt that. And it's not even the fact that their apartments are super small. For a half year my boyfriend and I can live in a small place for sure. It's rather that either their priced are ridiculously expensive compared to the small room or their location is unfavourably for people without a car. Or I'm just unlucky and all the cool and affordable apartments are already assigned. Nonetheless, Leopalace is still on the list as Plan B, if everything else fails.

Second I checked out the offers at this site here. This way I found http://abhousingosaka.com/ who have some nice apartments that would fit our needs and are affordable for us as far as I can see. I tried to contact their manager (e-mail and sending inquiries) but I haven't got an answer yet. Does anybody here has some experience with them? Is it normal that you don't get a quick answer?

For the rest I searched several pages that I found through google. The gaijin houses weren't really what we are looking for and other pages were so confusingly designed that I couldn't find anything. *headdesk*

So, if anyone is willing to help a damsel in distress, I'd be super happy if you could recommend some other addresses where it's easy for us to rent an apartment. Any managers you know? Homepages? Information??


Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sabrina


P.s.: In order to judge the rents a bit better - can you tell me what are the average utilities (electricity, water , gas?) for a 2-person household in Osaka? What about internet, TV and so on?

[KansaiBen]

So, if anyone is willing to help a damsel in distress, I'd be super happy if you could recommend some other addresses where it's easy for us to rent an apartment. Any managers you know? Homepages? Information??


Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sabrina


P.s.: In order to judge the rents a bit better - can you tell me what are the average utilities (electricity, water , gas?) for a 2-person household in Osaka? What about internet, TV and so on?

Download the Kansai Flea Market at http://www.kfm.to which has lots of ads for apartments

Leo Palace requires you pay the rent up front for periods from 1-6 months.

Most regular apartments require a guarantor and if you dont have one you can get one through a guarantor company. The cost is usually about one months rent.

PS I live in Nara and spend about 15-20,000 yen a month on utilities (10,000 for power, 3000 each for gas and water. TV is free but if you are unlucky you will get nabbed by the NHK guy who will ask for a donation. Everyone with a TV is supposed to pay license fee but if you say you dont watch NHK or dont answer the door you may be OK.

[Pretty_Angel]

Thanks a lot for the quick answer!

Download the Kansai Flea Market at http://www.kfm.to which has lots of ads for apartments

Of course, the KFM! Someone told me that one months ago and I totally forgot about that. D'oh! I'll go an check those ads.

Leo Palace requires you pay the rent up front for periods from 1-6 months.

Yes, I know. Though, as weird as it may sound, money is not the problem for us. At least to a certain extent. We have some saving from which we could pay that. We still need to be 'economical' though.

Most regular apartments require a guarantor and if you dont have one you can get one through a guarantor company. The cost is usually about one months rent.

Do you know if there are any liabilities for the guarantor or if he has to meet certain requirements? In other words: Could I just ask a random student from the university to play the guarantor? XD

PS I live in Nara and spend about 15-20,000 yen a month on utilities (10,000 for power, 3000 each for gas and water. TV is free but if you are unlucky you will get nabbed by the NHK guy who will ask for a donation. Everyone with a TV is supposed to pay license fee but if you say you dont watch NHK or dont answer the door you may be OK.

Ah ok, thank you. That's not that much different from here.
Haha, yeah, I heard those stories from the NHK man. XD Though they seem to be pretty harmless from what I heard. Here we have actually a similar system for public television and their 'agents' are much more pushy and pretty annoying. D:


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If someone else still has some tips and tricks, your comments are much appreciated!

[KansaiBen]

Do you know if there are any liabilities for the guarantor or if he has to meet certain requirements? In other words: Could I just ask a random student from the university to play the guarantor? XD

If you can not pay the rent or default the landlord will go after the guarantor. If you cant pay how likely is it that non-earning student can pay on your behalf? Landlord wont accept a student as a guarantor.


The latest in KFM

http://www.resm.biz

http://www.ginzado.biz

http://wwwosaka-hotelweeklygreen.com

http://www.chikyuuya.jp

[Pretty_Angel]

Ahaha, I just got a mail from http://abhousingosaka.com/ ! W00t! What a timing! XD (I shouldn't be so impatient and open threads in a semi-panic attack. Ugh. Sorry.)

Anyway, the apartments look fine from what I see at the homepage and the e-mail also sounded like renting will be super easy. Just have a look at the apartments, choose one, pay the rent and move in. Yay!

KansaiBen, thanks a lot for your help.

[KansaiBen]

KansaiBen, thanks a lot for your help.

Like falling off a log, really.

No worries.

[Pretty_Angel]

Hey guys!

I just wanted to let you know that I arrived savely in Osaka and we found a nice apartment at abhousing.com not far away from bentencho station. It's probably a bit expensive but at least with furniture and we start to feel a little like home.