Should I buy now or later?

[SML]

I'm in my 6th year in Japan and recently been advised

I still got 4 years until PR, so I decided to start my research now because I have no experience in real estate.

My whole 6 years I've been living in the same apartment because I find it to actually be my dream location and been reluctant to change that, even though I'm living in a tiny space but I've learnt to appreciate what I have. The problem is ideally I'd like to buy an apartment around the same location as me, but as of now my current budget is too low to afford an apartment in my area with my conditions (defs want to live in a 2LDK one day lol).

Currently I'm exploring 3 options but I'm not sure which would be best for my situation

1. Wait, work hard and save up for 4 years until I have PR and buy my apartment then
- I'm currently spending 93,300 a month for rent, I've calculated for 10 years that means 1100万+ spent on rent.

2. Buy an apartment within my current budget and rent it out while I live in my current rented apart (because of location)
- Not sure if this is a good idea because I'll still be spending on rent + I heard rent income is not worth it?

3. Just buy an apartment now, put up with the location change and later down the line potentially sell the apartment for an upgrade.
- I just really don't want to give up my location lol.

I would appreciate any insight, thanks in advance!

Edit:
- Single, late 20s, no family
- my current rent takes about 7% and been so for a year, but without my freelance income it can go up to 30%

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

I'm in my 6th year in Japan and recently been advised

I still got 4 years until PR, so I decided to start my research now because I have no experience in real estate.

My whole 6 years I've been living in the same apartment because I find it to actually be my dream location and been reluctant to change that, even though I'm living in a tiny space but I've learnt to appreciate what I have. The problem is ideally I'd like to buy an apartment around the same location as me, but as of now my current budget is too low to afford an apartment in my area with my conditions (defs want to live in a 2LDK one day lol).

Currently I'm exploring 3 options but I'm not sure which would be best for my situation

1. Wait, work hard and save up for 4 years until I have PR and buy my apartment then
- I'm currently spending 93,300 a month for rent, I've calculated for 10 years that means 1100万+ spent on rent.

2. Buy an apartment within my current budget and rent it out while I live in my current rented apart (because of location)
- Not sure if this is a good idea because I'll still be spending on rent + I heard rent income is not worth it?

3. Just buy an apartment now, put up with the location change and later down the line potentially sell the apartment for an upgrade.
- I just really don't want to give up my location lol.

I would appreciate any insight, thanks in advance!

Do you have a family? What % of your income is your rent?

I'd probably keep renting if I was single. More flexibility.

[SML]

Do you have a family? What % of your income is your rent?

I'd probably keep renting if I was single. More flexibility.

Single and no family. My current rent is about 7% of my total income but since I do freelance it can be up to 30%

What do you mean by more flexibility? I defs want to stay in my location just because theres more benefit meeting people in the centre of tokyo, but apart from that I’m not very adventurous in moving around.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

Do you have a family? What % of your income is your rent?

I'd probably keep renting if I was single. More flexibility.

Single and no family. My current rent is about 7% of my total income but since I do freelance it can be up to 30%

What do you mean by more flexibility? I defs want to stay in my location just because theres more benefit meeting people in the centre of tokyo, but apart from that I’m not very adventurous in moving around.

Keep renting. Keep saving and investing. Do not chain yourself down.

[adamu]

1. PR
If you pay 93k/month and that’s 7% of your income (and all is taxed properly in Japan), then thats 15m JPY/year, you can apply for PR right away

I think what JohKun is referring to here is applying via the Highly Skilled Professional scheme, where you need to have had 70 points for the last 3 years, or 80 for the last year. It might not be as simple as he says if most of your income is from freelancing rather than regular salary from a single employer.

https://retirewiki.jp/wiki/Permanent_residency

[beanhead]

Keep renting. Keep saving and investing. Do not chain yourself down.

Agree 100%.

[SML]

1. PR
If you pay 93k/month and that’s 7% of your income (and all is taxed properly in Japan), then thats 15m JPY/year, you can apply for PR right away

I think what JohKun is referring to here is applying via the Highly Skilled Professional scheme, where you need to have had 70 points for the last 3 years, or 80 for the last year. It might not be as simple as he says if most of your income is from freelancing rather than regular salary from a single employer.

https://retirewiki.jp/wiki/Permanent_residency

Thanks for the clarification. I've already tried to apply but unfortunately I needed to be able to maintain that status for a certain amount of time (forgot if it was 1 or two years). I only managed to hit this level of income only this last year. Also I have no JLPT qualifications and will turn 30 next year which decreases the points.