The process of moving into a sharehouse is easier than moving into an apartment, explaining 5 steps!

“What the process of moving into a sharehouse is like…”

 

There might be a lot of people wondering like this.

 

The process of moving into a sharehouse is almost the same as the process of moving into an apartment. But, the tenant screening for a sharehouse is faster, and the amount of paperwork is often less than moving into an apartment.

 

However, it’s still hard to understand the specific process for moving in.

 

So, we explain the steps for moving into a sharehouse in the following 5 categories in this article:

 

・ Finding a sharehouse

・ House viewing

・ Submitting necessary documents

・ Payment of the initial fee

・ Moving in

 

We also introduce tips on how to speed up the process of moving in and what you need to prepare, so please take a look at these tips as well.

 

The general flow of moving into/out a sharehouse

 

 

First, let’s take a look at the general flow for moving into/out a sharehouse!

 

[Moving into a sharehouse]

1. Looking for a sharehouse, and apply for house viewing if you find a sharehouse you like
2. Apply for a housing contract if you like the sharehouse after house viewing
3. Submit necessary documents
4. Pay the initial fee
5. Receive a key and moving in

 

[Moving out a sharehouse]

1. Contact a landlord or a management company and tell them that you are going to move out
2. Submit documents if it’s necessary
3. Pack up your belongings by the day of moving out
4. Pay the fee for moving out by the deadline if it’s necessary
5. Clean and organize your stuff on the day of moving out and let the landlord/management company check your room
6. Return your key and moving out

 

The flow above is the same for many sharehouses.

 

We explain the detail of the process of moving in next.

 

The process of moving into a sharehouse #1: Looking for a sharehouse

 

 

First, let’s look for a sharehouse you would like to move in. Here are 2 ways.

 

・ Use a search site specialized for sharehouses

・ Contact a real estate or a management company and tell them you want to go house viewing

 

It’s easy to find a sharehouse if you search it with the name of the place through the Internet and a search site specialized for sharehouses. Also, searching for a sharehouse would be smoother if you know what you need/hope for a sharehouse before you search.

 

Then, please contact a real estate or a management company and tell them an ideal day for house viewing through a contact form on a sharehouse’s website. Usually, it would take a few days to get a response, but please contact them again if you don’t get a response within a few days.

 

As a reminder, you should also check the website of the real estate/management company when you find a sharehouse on a search site.

 

In fact, the search site only lists basic information for many sharehouses, but it doesn’t manage them.

 

In many cases, it would be easier to get an idea of the actual atmosphere of the sharehouse through the website of the real estate/management company.

 

 

The process of moving into a sharehouse #2: House viewing

 

 

Once the day of house viewing is confirmed, let’s go check out the sharehouse. You can figure out if the sharehouse really meets your requirement/needs by visiting the sharehouse in person.

 

Also, if you know what to check during your visit beforehand, you can prevent yourself from moving out because the sharehouse is different from what you imagined after you’ve moved in.

 

The things you should check are:

 

・ Your own private room

・ Cleanness and size of shared-spaces

・ atmosphere of the residents

 

The atmosphere of the residents will determine whether or not you will actually enjoy yourself in the share house. However, depending on the time of your visit, you may not be able to meet all the residents, so please check with a staff of the management company to find out what kind of people living in the sharehouse.

 

If the management company doesn’t know much about the residents, it means the sharehouse may not be well managed. Please be careful if the management company cannot answer well.

 

Also, the real estate or the management company often checks you through your visit. Please follow the rules below to make the tenant screening smoother.

 

・ Don’t be late for the appointment

・ Don’t go take a look at the sharehouse by yourself

 

The tenant screening would go smoothly by having good manners during your visit.

 

The process of moving into a sharehouse #3: Proceed with the contract procedures by submitting necessary documents

 

 

Once you decide to move in after your visit, let’s proceed with the contract procedure.

 

It varies depending on a sharehouse, and here are the necessary basic documents.

 

・ ID

・ Seal-impression (called “Inkan” in Japanese)

・ A letter of acceptance from your guarantor

・ A certificate of seal-impression of your guarantor

 

The necessary documents for moving into a sharehouse are not as many as for an apartment. The process would take longer for an apartment because you will be required to submit withholding tax statements in addition to the documents above.

 

If there is no problem with the documents above, the contract is concluded. In many cases, a result of the tenant screening will be informed 3 ~ 10 days after submitting the documents.

 

By the way, depending on a sharehouse, you don’t need to prepare a guarantor. In fact, you don’t need a guarantor for our sharehouses, and we only ask you to prepare the necessary documents.

 

The process of moving into a sharehouse #4: Conclude a housing contract and pay the initial fee

 

 

Once you conclude a housing contract, please pay the initial fee. In sharehouses, the amount of the following fee is called the initial fee.

 

・ Rent for one ~ two months

・ Utility fees for a month

・ Deposit

・ Brokerage fee

 

The average of the total amount is ¥100,000. It usually costs ¥400,000 ~ ¥600,000 as the initial fee for renting an apartment, so you can feel how cheap the initial fee is for sharehouses.

 

 

The process of moving into a sharehouse #5: Move into a sharehouse

 

 

After going through the preparation for moving in, let’s receive a key and move into a sharehouse on the move-in date.

 

You can move in any time after the move-in date once you tell a real estate or a management company about the move-in date. You just need to be careful that you cannot move in before the move-in date decided between you and the real estate or the management company.

 

By the way, we only ask for your arrival time in advance.

 

 

The tenant screening is the key in the process of moving into a sharehouse

 

 

We talked about the process of moving into a sharehouse so far, and the tenant screening is the key to make the process go smoothly. Because:

 

・ The sooner the tenant screening is completed, the sooner you can move in

・ The sooner you submit the necessary documents, the better your impression will be

 

It takes 7 days on average for the tenant screening, and it will finish sooner if there are no problems in the documents. Also, the tenant screening starts earlier if you submit the documents faster. As a result, the time for moving in gets shorter.

 

If you want to live in a sharehouse as soon as possible, please prepare the necessary documents for the tenant screening beforehand.

 

Let’s prepare things you need before the move-in date for a sharehouse comes.

 

 

Once you finish the process for moving into a sharehouse, let’s prepare things you need before the move-in date.

 

Basically, the following things are what you need.

 

[Necessary things]

・ Personal furniture such as a bed

・ Clothes

・ Toiletries such as shampoo

・ Everyday items, such as detergents, that people have their own preferences

・ Hairdryers

・ Towels

・ Hangers

 

These are the things you would bring for travel. Please bring the things you need for your appearance.

 

On the contrary, the following things are unnecessary because they are prepared in most sharehouses.

 

[Unnecessary things]

・ Washing machine

・ Vacuum cleaner

・ TV

・ Dining table and chair

・ Sofa/couch

・ Refrigerator

・ Cooking utensils

・ Dishes

 

You should ask a real estate or a management company how much the sharehouse that you are going to move in can provide you with beforehand.

 

 

The flow and steps for moving into Hidamari’s sharehouses

 

 

We introduced the process of moving into a sharehouse in general so far. Lastly, we roughly introduce the flow and steps in the case of our sharehouses.

 

[The process of moving in]

1. Come house viewing and let’s have a chitchat
2. If you like our sharehouse, let’s proceed with a housing contract
3. Please submit the necessary documents
4. Please pay the initial fee
5. We ask you for your arrival time beforehand and please move in on the move-in date

 

[The necessary documents]

・ Identity verification documents

・ Resident card

・ Seal-impression

 

[The initial cost]

・ Rent for the first month (¥20,000 ~ ¥70,000)

・ Utility cost and Internet fee

・ Processing fee (¥15,000)

 

The initial cost would be around ¥80,000 ~ ¥100,000 for most of our sharehouses.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

 

Summary: The process of moving into a sharehouse is easier than moving into an apartment

 

 

We explained the process of moving into a sharehouse this time.

 

To review, the process is as follows.

 

1. Looking for a sharehouse, and apply for house viewing if you find a sharehouse you like
2. Apply for a housing contract if you like the sharehouse after house viewing
3. Submit necessary documents
4. Pay the initial fee
5. Receive a key and moving in

 

The process is almost the same as renting an apartment. In fact, there are often fewer documents required for a sharehouse, and the initial cost is lower.

 

The process for moving in will be smoother by having a clear understanding of the flow and steps.

 

Please refer to this article, and let’s start to prepare for moving into a sharehouse.

At the same time, you should also think about the specific timing of moving into a sharehouse. Depending on the timing, you can move in at a lower price, so it’s even better to know the recommended season.