These three houses were recently built by a company named Open House. The company, while it doesn't have the best reputation is a major sponsor for a local B league basketball team known as the Craine Thunders. They even sponsored the building of a brand new world class basketball arena in the town.
To the point though, the company is buying up land and building houses faster than the economy can absorb. In the picture above, these three houses were built almost a year ago and so far, only one has sold. If you look closely at the house to the left, upfront in the picture, you can see a make shift garbage station. This is a common practice across Japan. It saves time in the collection of garbage by city workers. When you think about it, it makes sense as the city workers only need to stop at one location in a block/ or area. I don't know how it is in your country but in Jamaica, in my neighborhood, each house has their own garbage bin outside of their homes, so the city workers have to stop at each house and collect the trash. Not exactly time efficient.
Culturally, looking at the house in the picture with the garbage station right beside, I think it will be the last to be sold. My reasoning is, most buyers wont want to live right beside the garbage station as it harbors pests such as roaches and crows. In Japan, each area has 2 designated garbage disposal days. So the sight of trash outside the house will only be visible twice a week.The cleaning of the station is another thing. While the duties are shared by the community, the house closest to the station would be the only hose available to use. I have heard of a personal experience in which a neighbor used another's hose to clean the station without giving the owner a heads up. And they did this in the middle of the night. The owner thought it was a thief and almost called the police. Luckily they realized it was their neighbor but it has left their relationship sore.
The house that sold is the furthest from the garbage station and can be seen to the extreme right of the photo. I think that the reason is, it is the furthest from the main street and the garbage station. I could be wrong, but that is my reasoning. On the other hand, some would find being closer to the garbage station an advantage as they only have to walk a short distance to dispose of their household trash. It all depends on the home buyer's perspective, but in general, I think most people would try to avoid the house closest to the garbage station. What do you think?- I believe the next house to be sold will be the one in the middle, leaving the house closest to the garbage station to sit on the market for sometime or discounted.
