Property appraisal by the Kominka Association

Property appraisal by the Nara Kominka Association was conducted on December 21 and 22, 2018. 

The Japanese word “Kominka” means traditional Japanese houses, which are built more than 50 years ago, as a rough indication. Some foreigners, particularly from countries where the climate is generally cold and dry, may wonder why 50-year-old buildings are regarded old. However, in Japan, wooden buildings traditionally dominated, and wooden materials soon deteriorate in the warm and humid climate. So, basically, wooden Japanese folk houses reach the limit of its use within 50 to 100 years from their construction. Permanent efforts, costs, and expertise are needed for extending their lives. The Japanese people of those days enjoyed the benefit of these transitory lives, easy to scrap and build, though.

JAPAN/NARA KOMINKA ASSOCIATIONS

The Japan Kominka Association is a nationwide organization to facilitate the preservation of old Japanese folk houses for future generations. It has branches in almost all prefectures, and the Nara Kominka Association is one of them. A construction company having its advantages in old folk houses serves as a secretariat of the Nara branch. Probably the same applies to other branches.

Most regional branches seem to be engaged in similar activities:

• Offering the inspection for property condition by certified appraisers
• Developing the guideline for the renovation of old folk houses, which needs special maintenance
• Advising clients what to do exactly based on the guideline
• Providing information on attractions of old folk houses mainly for Japanese

The nationwide organization and the Nara branch don’t have English websites. I’m not sure whether the official English name of the Nara branch exists or not. No wonder, as their clients, property owners are dominantly Japanese.

For nationwide organization: http://www.g-cpc.org/about/branch
For the Nara branch: http://www.kominka-nara.org/
*Both websites are available only in Japanese.

INSPECTION PACKAGE AND COST

The full package of the appraisal consists of three inspections for: 1) basic property appraisal; 2) underfloor condition; and 3) resistance against earthquake. Different specialized institutions provide each examination, some service providers are based outside of Nara. So it was a little bit difficult to arrange the schedule, as I lived in Tokyo and all slots need to be set in during two days. After all, the inspections are arranged as below. The details of each examination are HERE.  

Friday, December 21
1 pm to 5 pm, Basic property appraisal

Saturday, December 22
10 am to 1:30 pm, Underfloor condition
1 pm to 3 pm, Resistance against earthquake

The Association is NOT a wealthy philanthropy organization, so property owners should cover the expenses: the total cost was 300,000JPY (approx. 2,800USD) including detailed technical drawings like interior elevation. That’s an appropriate but not affordable price for a private individual to pay. For reference, the annual income for women aged from 30 to 34 is 2,969,000JPY (approx. 27,825USD; 2,319USD per month) according to a statistic by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 

RESULTS AND REPORTS

I got three bound reports with expert evidence at the end of January. Usually, it takes about two weeks to arrive, but this time the Nara Kominka Assosiation needed two more weeks due to the New Year holidays. 

reports with expert evidence

They calculated appraisal value: 6,767,000JPY (approx.63,300 USD). The theoretical value isn’t equal to pricing in the market, and no one would buy the house at such a price, more's the pity.

Other results were almost the same as I heard during the inspection, but the reports indicates that the biggest challenge is the resistance against an earthquake. Like many other old houses, the house has few walls. Traditionally, rooms are often partitioned by sliding paper doors, not walls, though of course, walls are better able to support the structural weight.

Besides the technical information on earthquake resistance, the report includes the compatibility with existing regulations such as urban design, restrictions on the purpose of land use (e.g. residence, farmland), and hazard map. As for the last one, in our case, the land on which the building is located has a relatively higher risk of landslide disasters, and therefore the renovation plan needs to ensure the safe structure against possible landslides: counterfort walls, the reinforced concrete structure, at least for the bottom part and the foundation. 

Anyway, all necessary information was organized in the reports.