*above image for illustration purposes only

What is the essential point of choosing shared house?

Rent? Common service fee? Location? Roommate?

Definitely these points are important, but you have to check other points that you usually don’t care for general rent.

That is Management Company.

Have you ever cared Management Company when you rent a house? So far from caring it, many people don’t know which company manages your house. This is because, there is another company which hold a mediating position between Management Company and us, called Real Estate Company.

On the other hand, in shared house, we usually rend a house without such an agency. So, you need to contact Management Company directly. This is the reason why you have to care about quality of service that Management Company provides.

Needless to say, Management Company is involved in contract. They help us when we throw a party and event, and deal with some troubles as well.

Role of Management Company

As I mentioned, all services concerning shared house is provided by Management Company. But how and what kind of services do they have?? I’m going to explain below.

1 Moving in, moving out

They deal with arrangements concerning moving in and moving out.
Deciding the day when people who wants to move in (tenant) visit and show them a house. Screening tenant, contracting and vacating as well. They undertake these series of arrangement.

2 Dealing with trouble

They deal with any kinds of trouble that happens between residents, resident and neighbor. Regularly, resident sent an e-mail to Management Company and they call for attention to the person or all member of house. If problem isn’t improved after, they go to that house, and give guidance directly.

3 Cleaning shared space

They clean shared house which they manages. They hire cleaning company or do by themselves. If you want to know more details, please click here.

4 Refilling equipment

They regularly refill equipment such as detergent and toilet paper. Cleaning company do that when they clean house.

5 Managing event

They regularly throw a party such as anniversary or seasonal event. On the other hand, some companies don’t throw a party because giving weight to residents private.

Complaints

Not all companies fills the role. Some of them are very friendly and care about their tenant well, others are not. If you chose later, you will dissatisfied with their service.

1 Poor attitude about e-mail and call

Didn’t get a response from company to enquiry
Ignored e-mail about trouble in shared house
Asked about vacate but didn’t give me answer soon
Took over 1 week to get a response anytime
Talked like a friend even it’s a first time to see each other (behave badly)

2 Poor service after contract

Didn’t respond when residents are in trouble
Didn’t clean house as they said
Impossible to make a communication with residents who don’t speak Japanese
Didn’t take out the trash as they said
Didn’t fix equipment

3 Visiting

Tenant visited without notice
Men staff visited women-only shared house without notice
Interview or shooting without permission
Friends stayed without permission

4 Neglect to fix staffs

There were mold on wall
Appliances didn’t work
Windows were cracked
Furniture were broken
No equipment which were on the website

5 Changing contract

Rent was rising without announcement
Men residents started to live suddenly in women-only house
Maintenance fee went up suddenly

How To Choose Good Company

As I explained, choosing Management Company is very important when you rend a room in a shared house. Next, I am going to let you know how to find out good Management Company.

1 Response

You need to check…
How long does it take to get a response, they speak appropriate language
They care about your schedule when visit house
They give you a business card, are punctual or not
They give you an enough information and details what you want to know

Management Company usually want you to decide their house after visiting. Under such a situation, if they might make your feel bad, which means that is not good company. Even if their house is good, if they cannot do what they have to do such as not coming on time or giving you a response late, they will not help you when you are in trouble.

2 Shared space

You need to check…
They keep shared space clean, put staffs in order
Residents follow the house rules
They refill equipment
They hang a photos of event on the wall

Even if staffs pretend that their service good when you visit house, they cannot change how is house like. Residents are not belong to the company, they don’t change their life style. If they are not following rule, they are going to do whatever they want when tenant visits.

House should be kept clean if company check it regularly. You can get to know the reality of Management Company from that point.

3 Residents

You need to check…
They greet a visitor
They follow house rules
Which ages they are
Japanese only or foreigners allowed
They seem neat and tidy

Management Company usually do a screening for moving in, then if they think tenants are not likely to follow rules, they will have tenants fail to pass the inspection.

4 Review

Check the name of company on line
Ask residents how they are
Ask a question on line
Visit other houses which company manages

Recently, I’ve seen information about Management Company which occurred some troubles on line. There information might be fake, but as we say” there is no smoke without fire” you can never be too careful.

5 Staff

You can ask them like…
Who are residents like?
How long has it been since constructed?
Do they have a party or an event?
Is there any episodes about house?

If they are good, they will give you an answer, because they usually care about residents and house, so they have answer. But if they do not, they might not do anything for residents after moving in.


Even though you like house or residents, if quality of service by company is bad, which will make your life environment bad and you will feel stressed.

You should check the quality of service by Management Company when you choose a shared house.

But some people misunderstand the role of Management Company. For example, ask them to get rid of insects or ask them to clean their room. That’s probably problem what management company should solve. But if residents cause this situation, for example, resident leaves foods on the table or resident did not air out their room, company don’t have responsibility for that.

It is not right to press such a responsibility on company, then residents might need to move out.

The role of Management Company is managing shared house without troubles. Do not misunderstand it.