Storage is one of the most important factors being considered when looking for housing. Renovating a Japanese-styled wardrobe into modern closet, installing shelves and organizers to make storage more useful are ways to improve apartments’ value.
However, for rooms that are too small or with unique shapes preventing them from installing storage space can consider placing storage ”outside”.
Japanese Style Closet
Modern Closet
Rental Storage at Common Area
Following the rules of land-to-building ratio, it is possible to utilize the empty space in your property to install ”rental storage”.
For instance, it costs 500,000JPY to install five 1 m2 storage. Ideally, with the additional value of storage, owners can expect an increase of monthly rent by 2,000JPY from each tenant. In this case, annual profit increases by 120,000JPY and the break-even point will be after 4 years approximately.
On the other hand, even if monthly rent was not increased, the installation of storage contributes to tenant retention and prevents value deflation of the property.
Cloud Storage
Storage Warehouse
If pysical aspects of your apartment do not allow you to install extra storage, ”cloud storage” is the solution.
Cloud storage is a service that users store their belongings at provider’s warehouse. Users can manage their belongings via smart phone application, and derive specific items when needed.
Fee varies depending on the provider but usually costs around 200~300JPY each month for one box.
For instance, owners can bear the cost of cloud storage (ex. up to 1,000JPY) providing extra storage to tenants. This can reinforce the value of the property and may lead to monthly rent increase.
The lack of storage in apartments is an obstacle to many; it may be a good idea to consider the above options.
