Is it better to buy a new home or grab an older home and renovate it?

Things i like to do in Japan…

One of the questions we get all the time is: “Is it better to buy a new home or grab an older home and renovate it?”

And honestly, the answer really depends on you. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all here. It really comes down to your personality, your budget, and your goals in Japan.

The first and most obvious factor is this: are you handy? And I don’t just mean “willing to do DIY work if you have to.” I mean do you genuinely enjoy it? Because that distinction matters a lot more than people realize.

Trust me, when you come to Japan, you’re going to want to explore and do the things that drove you to buy a home in Japan.

You’re going to want to surf, snowboard, hit up onsens, eat ramen at midnight, and lose yourself wandering through shrines or mountain towns. Japan is magnetic that way. There’s always a pull to get outside and experience it.

So if you’re going to lock yourself inside sanding floors, replacing tatami, or trying to figure out Japanese plumbing fittings, you better actually enjoy the process.

If you’re the kind of person who finds joy in transforming a fixer-upper, then by all means, go for that old akiya and turn it into something beautiful.

More things i like to do…

But here’s where a lot of people get tripped up: they see that homes in Japan are cheap and assume renovations must be cheap too.

And yes, compared to the U.S. or Australia, renovations are definitely cheaper, but they’re not “nothing.” From what I’ve seen (and lived), people often end up spending more on their renovation than if they had just bought a similar house that was already renovated.

Costs add up fast. Replacing tatami, updating kitchens, fixing roofs, heating systems, A/C, seismic reinforcements, none of that is pocket change. And it’s not just money; it’s time, stress, and coordination with contractors (which we handle but it still involves a lot of back and forth from you end)

Now, of course, buying a move-in-ready home usually means you need to shell out a bit more upfront.

But from my experience working with clients, the ones who stretch a little for a nicer, renovated place almost always end up happier in the first 6–12 months.

They’re able to use their home right away as a comfortable base for adventures, skiing, surfing, or just relaxing, instead of living in a construction project.

So how do you decide? Ask yourself:

• Are you a hands-on DIYer who loves the idea of creating something unique from scratch?
• Do you have a very specific vision you want to bring to life, and the patience to make it happen?
• Or do you just want a clean, comfortable home base so you can spend your time actually enjoying Japan?

There’s no wrong answer,but you’ve got to be honest with yourself. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking cheap homes = cheap renovations. More often than not, those “deals” turn into bigger projects (and bigger bills) than you expected.

At the end of the day, it’s about balance. If you live for the DIY challenge, grab that fixer-upper and make it yours. But if your dream is to ski powder in the morning, eat sushi in the afternoon, and soak in an onsen at night, you might thank yourself for going turnkey.

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