$12,000 to sign an apartment lease

Today I signed a lease for my apartment. Found a cute Japanese "mansion" (aka concrete apartment) about 15 minutes from work. Slightly under $3000/mo for a 1300 sq ft 2B/1B newly remodeled apartment. They weren't kidding about the high housing prices in Japan. In the real estate heydey of the 80's, the land value of the Imperial Palace Grounds in Tokyo was supposedly higher than all of California combined together. I guess Deniz and I are going to have to fight over the bathroom. Last time I tried to claim the bathroom against Deniz' will, I ended up in the hospital with a debilitating back injury, walking around like the hunchback of Notre Dame. Hopefully I'll fare better this time around.

Anyway, to be allowed the priviledge of signing the lease, I had to "offer" ~$12,000 in cash at the lease signing. Yes, $12,000. No, I didn't accidentally add an extra 0 onto that sum. I payed ~$3000 to thank the realtor who helped me find the place, ~$3000 to thank the landlord for letting me rent the apartment, ~$3000 for the first month's rent, and a ~$3000 security deposit.

Unfortunately, there wasn't $12,000 hidden in the matress in my room at the Navy Lodge (yes, I checked). So I tried withdrawing it from my bank account in Bank of America. But wait. There's no Bank of America in Japan. Aren't we a country of colonists? Christopher Columbus would have been so disappointed. My beloved Bank of America also apparently has a $1000 ATM withdrawl limit. Another disappointment. I was so looking forward to inconspicuously concealing 1,200 ten-thousand yen notes spewing out of the ATM machine. Electronic funds transfer was also a no-go. $1000 limit unless you sign up for SafePass. I triggered 3 fraud alerts before discovering that you can't sign up for SafePass outside of the country.

I next tried withdrawling $12,000 from the Bank of Yokohama. Yokohama and San Diego are sister cities and my bank account is in San Diego, so no problem, right? I still have skid marks on my face from being hurled out the door.

In the end, my parents saved the day. Wired the money to my Navy Federal Credit Union account. Navy FCU wouldn't accept my $12,000 check from Bank of America without a 10 day hold, but they were more than glad to move my parents money faster than you can say "getting cash in Japan is easier than milking a frog." Apparently my parents' money has special powers. Thanks again, Dad and Mom.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end. The $12,000 had to be exchanged into Yen. So I crammed 1,200 $100 bills in my backpack and desperately ran 1 mile to the Bank of Yokohama trying to get in the door before they closed. They let me in despite the earlier withdrawl attempt, but after 15 minutes of counting and recounting the 1,200 bills, they decided to reject several of them because they had marks on them. They told me to go to the Post Office and exchange the rogue US dollar bills for proper ones.

In all, I lost $500 to the Bank of Yokohama in exchange rate fees in the transaction. Now I know why my coworkers check the exchange rates every morning when they wake up. But hey, in the end, it was worth it. You can't put a price on an apartment with an electronically operated space age toilet.

Article that Deniz found in the local newspaper