世論 What Japan Thinks

Continuing the accommodation theme, this survey from goo Ranking looks at nuggets of wisdom for avoiding a failure when choosing rented accommodation.

Demographics

From the 6th to the 9th of July 2012 1,016 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 60.0% of the sample were female, 9.9% in their teens, 12.7% in their twenties, 29.0% in their thirties, 27.0% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 10.3% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

The first time I rented in Japan I was accompanied by people from the office who I assume dealt with all the tricky bits. About the only thing I should have confirmed was how to use the air conditioning, and the maxiumum load on the electrics. The second was a serious fail as turning on the microwave and the television simultaneously, for instance, was enough to trip the breaker. Looking at my parents-in-law’s place, they have a major problem that although the flat was remodelled before they moved in and the main window replaced by a nice new one, the window frame is not airtight and in winter a cold breeze blows though their flat.

Ranking result

Q: What nuggets of wisdom for avoiding a failure when choosing rented accommodation can you suggest? (Sample size=1,016)

Rank		Score
1	Confirming how much the deposit and key money is	100
2	Asking the reason for a rent that is much cheaper than similar properties	97.9
3	Confirming the degree of noise pollution	91.4
4	Viewing the property at both day and night	90.5
5	Visiting and comparing many estate agents	88.1
6	Confirming if there is a supermarket, convenience store, etc in walking distance	87.0
7	Confirming what sort of people live in the neighbouring rooms (up and down as well as left and right)	83.7
8	Confirming that the bathroom does not smell of mold	72.7
9	Confirming that the route home is safe at nighttime	71.3
10	Not just going by the estate agent’s car, but also walking to the property from the nearest station, etc	66.5
11	Confirming how much sunshine the property gets	65.5
12	Checking the number and positions of windows, and confirming the flow of air through the property	63.9
13	Confirming how long the property has been vacant, and the reason for it	59.2
14	Confirming where washing, futons, etc can be hung out to dry	56.4
15	Confirming the personality of the landlord	51.8
16	If the property has not been cleaned, confirming whether it will be thoroughly cleaned	49.9
17	Confirming whether a fridge, washing machine, other large white goods are included in the property	49.7
18	Confirming that the air conditioning works and doesn’t make strange noises	47.8
19	Confirming if the structure is built from wood, reinforced concrete, etc	47.5
20	Confirming how frequently shared areas are cleaned	43.3