Shimizu-san is, without a doubt, The Bomb. Hiroko and I were wondering if really Pacific was the better apartment, or if we should go for MinamiAzabu 3rd, the house we saw. Both have their good points.
Pacific:
Tons of light, huge living-dining room, brand new reform, right in AzabuJyuban, but the building is old.
3rd:
Huge, giant basement, two toilets, fully spec'd kitchen, but it's a stand-alone wood-frame building (not well insulated.)
Anyway, going back and forth with Shimizu-san and she finally says: "The management company of Pacific is...sketchy. Even negotiating the most basic things, they're dodgy and indirect, and then they're making this crazy demands like 6 months advance notice when moving out...I've done some research and the parent company is into loan-sharking, debt collection, land and real estate management, venture capital...I just get a bad feeling dealing with them, and I'm worried that it will be trouble for your later."
Hmm: loans, debts, real estate...can you say Yakuza front? So Shimizu-san basically gave up her agent fee by being honest with us. That is so cool.
But little did she know we really liked 3rd as well, so I told her to go for it. She knows that management company well and they're totally cool. So she's put a hold on the place and is negotiating to take 50,000 yen off the rent and knock down the deposit, get the place cleaned, etc.
It's an awesome house:
First floor has a big entrance way with a MASSIVE shoe closet. Right off the entrance hall is the bedroom (as big as my living room now; 12 mats) which has a giant walk-in closet. Down from that is the bathroom (toilet and sink) and next to that the shower/bath, a totally modern Japanese deal.
Stairs go down into the basement, which is basically the whole foundation of the house (20 mats at least), plus two massive storage spaces in the corners and more storage under the stairs. So basically, that's my dojo.
Upstairs is the main level: kitchen with refrigerator, washer/dryer, dish washer, water filter, oven, and stove. Lots of cabinet storage and counter space, and an open counter into the living-dining room. The ceiling is high; cathedrals all the way up to the roof, and theirs more stairs up to the loft above the kitchen. Loft has carpet, more closet storage, a big sky light, and is big enough to stand up in (my office probably.)
Off the living-dining room is a reasonably nice sized wooden deck on two sides (with a small bench on it now.)
So, things are looking good, assuming we can get a final agreement on the place. Also, it's about a two minute walk from our place now, so moving won't be a big deal, and I know the neighborhood's good!
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