Selling the House

About 3 years ago I ended up buying my first house. Right on the water, minutes from great year round surf and dirt cheap. I always thought Japan's real estate was ridiculously expensive... but not used houses outside of the big cities. Values go south right from the start and the houses value approaches 0 at around 30 years. The land still retains value, but even this has been in decline since the property bubble burst in the '90s.

Before

After

I bought it using mostly dollars for about $58,000 and put some work into it. Really enjoyed being out of the city and close to the water. Occasionally monkeys would visit and steal vegetables from our neighbors garden.

I was travelling 30 minutes into town for work everyday, my wife was doing the same and even the day care for Zion was in town. After 3 years of doing this we decided it was more practical to live in town and decided to sell the house.

 Miyazaki Coastline

Private beach near the house

We had a few bites recently trying to sell it ourselves but no success yet. A friend of a friend... almost... but then he got divorced. A local who is renting near the house... but then her grandma backed out of giving her $80,000. And most recently the old man vegetable stand owner looking to buy something near his shop. He ended up buying a mansion down the road with a pool and helicopter port. The house has been for sale for around 10 years, the same amount of time the previous yakuza loan shark owner has been in jail. Someone forget to tell the old man the yakuza guy is getting out this year.

We decided to call in the big guns and put it up with the real estate agents. Next month some surfers from Kobe and Osaka are gonna check it out so hopefully they can close the deal for us.

My site I set up trying to sell the house http://www.flickr.com/photos/englishuchiumi/

Some 360 camera views http://www.miyazaki-jutaku.com/web_openhouse/31017/

With the awesome exchange rate we're looking at making a nice profit. Something we might rollover into a house in town or more optimistically thinking, a place to call home in Hawaii.

Sumo and Family Visit

Zion had his first Sumo Taikai this May and was pushed out in the 1st round with the classic Oshidashi move. He'll be training hard and eating lots of rice for some revenge next year.

Check out the video...

Bubble time at the park.

Zion did his best Cookie Monster impersonation with a Starbuck's chocolate cookie.

While my parents were visiting, we noticed this rare sight in the sky. In Japanese it's called "The Moon's Earring" and I'm not sure if it was a star or planet. After taking the picture I set the camera down and forgot it... luckily I'm in Japan and it was returned to the front desk at the hotel.

Golden Week

Here are some pics from our Golden Week a few months ago. Zion loves his colors and building... I think he said the yellow one was a giraffe and the rest were all trees.

We went to the Miyazaki Phoenix Zoo with the cousins but all the kids wanted to play with the toys and go on the rides.

Zion's outdoor favorites... bubbles and climbing.

The end of Golden Week was capped off with a Boy's Day party. Good eats, good fun and lots of Zion's spit.

Chicken Pox

Zion got the chicken pox about a month ago and turned our lives upside down for a week because he couldn't attend school. The trip to the hospital down the road and the medicine was only ￥350 thanks to Japan's great medical benefits for young children.

When I got the chicken pox as a child I seem to remember it being not so bad... just lot's of attention and cool body paint. Same goes for my wife and Zion's cousins in Japan. Naturally, his case was rather mild and he enjoyed his time off from school.

A few pics of the damage

One battle scar remains a month after and it's right on his nose.

The home remedies we are trying to get rid of the scar.
Honey, Vitamin E Oil, Sandalwood Oil and Lemon

Twice a day for 2 months and I hope it fades completely.

Day 1

So... I decided to start a blog to let family and friends see what's going on with the Freeburgs in Japan

ALOHA