I Became Unemployed and Decided to Buy a House: The Journey to Buying an Old Detached House with Cash
“Can I keep paying rent like this?”—I suddenly thought this after becoming unemployed. I chose to buy an old detached house with a single cash payment. After narrowing down the conditions, I ended up in Fukui. I will write about the reasons I aimed for zero rent and what I learned from doing it.
Surviving for a year on unemployment insurance after the company went bankrupt
When my company went under, I was in Osaka.
After the bankruptcy proceedings moved forward and I went to Hello Work to file the paperwork, I found out I could receive benefits for longer than I had expected. Several conditions overlapped: my long years of service, the fact that the reason for unemployment was bankruptcy rather than personal choice, and the fact that it was still just barely during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though it was coming to an end. I ended up being able to receive about a year's worth of benefits.
The phrase 'a blessing in disguise' fit perfectly.
Even so, I couldn't just relax. I had to find my next job before the unemployment insurance ran out. I registered on job change sites. There weren't many companies eager to hire a woman in her late 40s with no special skills, but I managed to get hired by one company just in the nick of time.
I was relieved. At that time, I was relieved.
But then, various things happened... I will write about these 'various things' properly once I am in a state where I can put them into words... and I ended up quitting that company too.
Before I knew it, I was unemployed again. Things like that happen.
Unemployed again, I decided to aim for 'zero rent'
With a foggy head, the only thing that still felt slowly, creeping-ly terrifying was money.
I had no income. But rent went out every month. My savings were dwindling. I couldn't sit still with that slow, creeping fear.
If I couldn't expect any income, I had no choice but to thoroughly reduce my expenses. I thought about what my biggest fixed cost was at the time. It was housing costs.
Buy a house somewhere with my mother. It could be used, it could be old. A place where we could live properly, at a price we could pay in cash. If I combined my retirement money, my savings, and my mother's savings, maybe it would work. That thought was the starting point of this story.
Where to buy? When I narrowed it down by conditions, it was the coastal area of Fukui
At first, I looked around the Osaka suburbs. But properties that met the conditions of 'spacious enough for my mother, a dog, and a cat' and 'not in too bad of a condition' didn't really appear within my budget.
When I took the plunge and expanded my search to 'areas where you can get around if you have a car,' the options increased all at once. The Hokuriku region kept coming up. Toyama, Ishikawa, Fukui. The prices and the space were completely different from the Kansai region.
But I was worried about the snow in winter in Hokuriku. My mother is with me, I can't drive yet, and snowy roads are scary. When I looked into it, I found out that the coastal areas on the Sea of Japan side have significantly less snowfall than the inland areas. When I narrowed my search to the coastal areas, my current house popped up in the search. That is the reason I came to Fukui.
There is no romance or connection. It was purely a matter of conditions.
I went to view the property, and since my mother said, 'Well, this should be fine,' I decided to buy it. That casual feeling is funny and makes me laugh when I think about it now. Even though it was a major life decision, both of us were strangely detached. I think maybe we both just didn't have the energy to hesitate anymore.
Things I realized after buying with a lump-sum cash payment
There are several things I only understood after actually buying.
My mind felt at ease once my fixed costs disappeared
Without a mortgage, my monthly fixed costs dropped drastically. This made me feel much more at ease than I had imagined. The feeling that I can at least live here, even during periods of unstable income, is directly linked to mental stability. It's not just about the numbers; it's about how I feel.
For old houses, knowing how to assess repair risks is more important than the low price
To be honest, I didn't really know what to look for during the viewing. There are tons of things I've learned since I actually started living here. I intend to write about those properly in the future.
Organizing my criteria beforehand was the right move
And it was important to decide on the range where we could operate before looking at properties. Because we listed conditions like not being able to drive, not being able to handle snowy roads, and my mother being elderly, we arrived at the coastal area of Fukui. I think organizing the conditions before the emotions was the right decision in the end.
Issues remaining before moving
Buying a house with cash in a land where I have no ties. I think it's quite a decision, even for me. But this choice felt much more right for me now than continuing to pay rent.
I hope this story is at least a little helpful to those who are also struggling with the 'buy or rent' dilemma.
—However, the fact that I still had the issue of needing to deal with being a paper driver before moving is a story for another time.
Just saying, haha.
Summary: Key points of this article
*This is a summary for those who find the Kansai dialect difficult to read
Feeling the anxiety of 'continuing to pay rent' while unemployed was the trigger for considering buying a home.
After the company went bankrupt, I job-hunted while receiving unemployment insurance and was able to receive about one year's worth of benefits (due to the combination of bankruptcy, the COVID-19 pandemic, and length of service).
I combined my retirement money, my own savings, and my mother's savings to choose to buy an old detached house with a lump-sum cash payment.
I couldn't find a property that met my criteria within my budget in the Osaka suburbs, so I expanded my search area and ended up in Fukui, in the Hokuriku region.
The reason for choosing the coastal area of Fukui was a realistic judgment based on research showing that snowfall is less than in the inland areas.
Paying in full with cash has drastically reduced my monthly fixed costs, leading to mental stability even during periods of unstable income.
For old properties, 'how you assess repair risks' is more important than 'cheapness,' and there is much you only realize after you start living there.