“What is visiting (viewing) a share house like…?”
There might be many people thinking like that.
The flow of visiting a share house is basically the same as visiting a regular apartment. If there is a share house or an apartment that you are interested in, then you contact its landlord/management company to visit it with a person in charge.
However, share houses have many things that regular apartments don’t have such as a common space so categories/topics that you should check are a little bit different. Understanding important points beforehand leads you to avoiding further troubles after moving in a share house.
Having said that, it’s hard to know what specific points you should be aware of when you visit a share house.
So, we introduce the following in this article:
- Flow of visiting a share house
- Important points when you visit a share house
- Things you should know before your visit
Please refer to the article and let’s make a success of the share house hunt!
Flow of visiting a share house
Flow of visiting a share house is as follows:
[Flow from inquiry to visiting]
- Contact a management company of a share house through its website or a search engine
- Arrange a date and time for your visit through communication with a person in charge
- Meet with the person on the day of your visit
- Visit the share house
A length of time for a visit is about 1 hour. It takes a little bit more if there is something you worry about or something you want to ask a staff.
If you decide to move in the share house on your visit, then you proceed to signing a contract.
[Flow from signing a contract to moving-in]
- Arrange documents necessary for a contract
- Submit documents and wait for a result of the tenant screening
- Prepare for a move after passing the tenant screening
- Receive a house key before on the day of moving-in, and then, move in
The flow is basically the same as moving in to a regular apartment.
However, structures and lifestyles in a share house are different from a regular apartment. Furthermore, there are many people who start living in a share house for the first time. So, it’s difficult to realize what you should check while your visit.
Thus, we introduce important points you should know when you visit a share house for viewing.
3 important points you should be aware of:
- Make your basic requests and conditions clear
- Visit a share house two times in the daytime and nighttime, if possible
- Understand house rules of a share house
We explain the 3 points above next.
Important point 1 – Make your requests and conditions clear
First, you need to make your requests and conditions clear.
By understanding what you want and need comprehensively, you can avoid facing to differences before and after moving-in.
For example, basic requests/conditions are:
- Female only or mixed
- A large-scale share house – more than 100 share mates or a small-scale share house – less than 5 share mates
- A share house that encourages communication/interaction among share mates or that respects each one’s privacy and freedom
- Close to a station or cheap to rent but far from a station
If you are a person who wants to have deep communication/interaction with share mates, it would be easier to make friends by living in a share house for a large group of around 100 people. However, actually communication/interaction with each tends to be limited and superficial so it might take longer to be friends with some particular people.
On the contrary, you can have longer and deeper communication in a small-scale share house so actually it will be faster to get along with share mates.
You don’t need to be worried about moving in a short period of time by living in a share house that matches with your requests/conditions and image. It’s possible to find an ideal share house at minimum expense.
Important point 2 – Visit a share house two times in the daytime and nighttime, if possible
Second is “Visit a share house two times in the daytime and night, if possible.” A reason for the second is “to see a room clearly,” and “to have an opportunity to talk with other share mates.”
Usually many people visit a room from the morning to the daytime bright outside. It’s easy to take a look at the condition/state of a room clearly during the daytime because of the sun. So, that’s why first we recommend you to visit in the morning or in the daytime.
A reason of why we recommend a visit in the nighttime is that you may be able to have an opportunity to talk with other share mates. Many tenants are back home in the nighttime after their work and they tend to chill out in a living room. You might be able to catch the atmosphere of the share house by meeting and talk with them.
Moreover, you might find out, “There might be few interactions among share mates in this share house,” when no one is in a living room during the night time. You can compare your request and conditions with the actual atmosphere of the share house by catching its atmosphere.
Please go visit a share house two times in the daytime and nighttime if a management company of the share house is fine with it.
Important point 3 – Understand house rules of a share house
Third is “Understand house rules of a share house.”
After you catch the atmosphere of rooms and common spaces, lastly please make sure you understand house rules of a share house. Many share houses have their own rules and keep in mind that everyone in the share house can live comfortably.
However, each individual feels different about the house rules. Some may feel, “It’s good enough,” and you may think, “It’s a bit strict.” Understanding them before moving in also gives you a time to think if you can keep the rules.
We’ve introduced the important points in visiting a share house so far.
Lastly, we tell you a few things that might be helpful if you know before you go visit a share house.
Things you should know before you go visit
It will go smoothly if you know the following when you go visit a share house
[Room]
- A room might be available even if a website shows “Full” or “Not available”
- Conditions/circumstances of rooms such as sunniness are different
[Life with share mates]
- Opening members, meaning people who start living since the opening of a share house, tend to get along
- It’s easier to catch an atmosphere of a share house when you go visit on Saturday or Sunday
[Management company]
- Ask a management company everything in your mind
- Check the level of support and the speed of response to your query from the management company
- Take your time to consider carefully if you feel something is wrong about the management company or the share house
Please ask a person in charge from the management company about things you don’t understand until you are satisfied. If the person gives you decent answers/supports, you can not only feel safe but also start living a share house with a better understanding.
Let’s go visit share houses that you are interested in as you refer to the article above!
Summary: Understanding important points in visiting a share house will save you from troubles
This time, we explained the flow and the important points in visiting a share house.
To sum up, the important points are as follows:
- Make your basic requests and conditions clear
- Visit a share house two times in the daytime and nighttime, if possible
- Understand house rules of a share house
At least understanding the important points above will lead you to avoiding troubles in living a share house.
Please go visit share houses in your mind as keeping this article in your head.
Moreover, please be careful about “Illegal share houses” and “Share houses whose rent is too cheap.”
