We sign the lease!

Today we sign the lease for our house! Finally! At 2pm we meet with our landlord and the Navy Housing Agency and exchange money and sign our lease!! I can't wait! Maybe we'll even get our keys??

We will be signing what is known as a Navy lease. This provides us such guarantees as: we only have to give 10 days notice when we move out, we can use the Navy legal system as recourse for any rental problems we may have, and our lease has no renewal requirements. It also means our rent is a lot higher than a native Japanese person. Additionally, a Japanese lease requires renewal every two years. A bonus equal to one month's rent must be paid to the landlord each time the lease is renewed. We don't have to do this under a Navy lease.

They provided us a copy of the lease to read over before we sign it and here are some notable notes:

1 - "Quiet Enjoyment" clause - Guarantees us the right to live in the home without intrusion of the landlord.

2 - "Floor Loading" - The tenant is responsible for any damage done by "exceptionally heavy" furniture.

3 - "Foot Wear" - The wearing of shoes is prohibited inside rental premises.

4 - "Nails and Tacks" - written approval must be received before we drive nails and tacks into the walls.

Interesting, huh?

Through the magic of exchange, we turned $11k into 870,500 yen.