What A Share House Is

It’s not apartment. It’s not a guesthouse. It’s a share house.

A ‘share house’ is a place where two or more people live together and pay their individual rental fees according to the size of their rooms. Share houses are common setups among people living away from home or for people working abroad. Rental fees can vary depending on the size of the room and the location of the house.

Share houses are common in countries like Australia and Japan. These houses are very common in areas with a lot of employment opportunities. The usual scenario is that foreign nationals and or locals to the country but living in a different prefecture or city would transfer to the main city for job opportunities. In Tokyo, Japan alone, a big number of ‘gaijins’ or foreign nationals have flocked in. Back in 2005, Americans (18,848), Brazilians (5,300), and Chinese (123,661) foreign nationals resided in Tokyo among many other foreign nationals. This means that there’s a huge demand for Tokyo guesthouses and apartments in the area.

People in the Share House
Of course, the owner of the property does not live in the house at all. The main people in a share house are called “residents.” These are the people who are currently living together under one roof and sharing the said house. It may be that they rented a home and have separate rooms or that they are living under a dormitory style of home and then they have separate rooms with common spaces for sharing like the kitchen.

How Are Share Houses Found
These days, it’s pretty easy to find a share house. You can start by looking at your local bulletin boards because chances are you would find lots of advertisements there about people looking for someone to hire their place. Real estate is a developing business and some people actually buy and develop property for the purpose of having them rented.

However, you should be aware of the fact that a share house’s rental fees may vary greatly depending on the location. Also, if it is considered to be a fully furnished share house—meaning there are ready appliances and furniture to be used—you may find the rent to be not cheap as well but way too more practical than just getting a little studio space in a certain building. There are contracts that already include the utilities with the rental fee while most share houses would have a separate monthly billing for the utilities on top of the rental fees.
When looking for a share house abroad, it’s best to ask friends abroad. They are most likely to know about share houses than getting an expensive guesthouse like in Tokyo.

Finding Housemates
In general, you’re most likely to know your co-residents when you’ve inked the deal to stay. Because you would be living under one roof and sharing some furniture and appliances, it would be good to take time to get to know your housemate. It’s actually best if you try to have a friend ink the deal with you as well so that at least you would be comfortable with them already. But it’s really not much of a problem since you will not share a room at all, just the common areas like the living room and kitchen among others.

Rates
In Australia, the price for a single room would vary from $140 to $450. In Japan, a single room usually costs between ¥35,000 to ¥70,000. These rates would be dependent on the size of the room. But the use of the shared areas like the living room, kitchen and comfort rooms is not dependent on the rate at all. Every resident gets to share it regardless of the rate he/she is paying.

The common residents in share houses are working professionals. They’re usually the ones who just graduated from college and found job opportunities in areas outside their hometown. Most of them are not yet married. The others are usually divorced individuals. Most share houses have similar policies like not allowing married couples.