Buying My First House – Why a Construction Professional Decided to Buy an Old Home in Kyoto
tsujikenzai
Kotaro Tsuji – writer
Nice to meet you.
My name is Kotaro Tsuji, and I run a construction and renovation business in Kyoto.
While continuing our family construction business, I recently started a renovation service specialized in foreign-language support, mainly in English.
My father and uncle are still very active on site, working on waterproofing and roof repair projects every day.
Today, I’d like to share a story.
This is about buying our first house.
I started offering renovation services in English in 2023.
As I gradually updated our website, I began receiving inquiries sooner than expected.
On-site inspection with one of our first foreign clients in Kyoto
This was one of the first renovation projects I handled for an overseas client.
Standing inside an old Kyoto house and discussing renovation plans in English
was the moment this new direction became real.
Many inquiries were from foreign property owners who had purchased old houses in Kyoto and wanted to fully renovate them.
That was when I truly realized how many vacant houses exist in Kyoto—and how much potential they have.
In many cases, the building itself is considered to have almost zero value, and the property is priced mainly based on the land.
However, with the right knowledge and experience, these houses can be transformed into valuable assets once again.
I felt that Kyoto’s vacant house market still has a lot of untapped potential.
At the same time, I came to clearly understand how complex full renovations really are.
They require careful judgment, experience, and many decisions along the way.
Although our company has been involved in construction in Kyoto for over 100 years,
we had never purchased a vacant house ourselves for business purposes.
That led me to one simple question:
Why don’t we buy one ourselves?
By purchasing a vacant house, renovating it with our own hands, struggling through real problems, and making real decisions,
we could turn the project into a living showroom—one that allows us to make truly practical and honest proposals to our clients.
That idea became the reason we decided to buy the house.
Our core expertise has always been the repair and renovation of old buildings—
waterproofing, roof repairs, and structural maintenance.
Because of that background, taking on a vacant house renovation didn’t feel like a risky leap into the unknown.
It felt like a natural extension of what we already do best.
There was also another reason.
By owning a property ourselves,
I felt we could better understand the mindset of people who are about to buy a vacant house,
as well as investors who are already managing real estate.
Sharing that same perspective matters.
This story is just the beginning.
In the next article, I’ll write about the key criteria I use when searching for property listings,
and how I decide whether a house is worth visiting in person.
