How to know gaijin house reputation?

Hi,
Since renting apartments in Japan seems rather hard and pricy (key money, guarantors, etc) I'd been looking at so called gaijin houses.

First off however, are all non-gaijin houses (regular japanese apartments) demanding key money and guarantors? Are there other options than gaijin houses or is it hotels / hostels that is the only option?

Anyway. I have heard that gaijin houses can have a rather bad reputation. Probably because of young and unconcerned tenants, partying and so and not caring about other guests and the neighborhood.

Is it really that bad today? Strange question but is there any way to determine whether it is a good or bad gaijin house?

Since I will be staying there for 2 or 3 months I'd rather not want to feel bad.

most regular apartments require both key money and a guarantor (including a guarantor company), and a large portion of them will refuse to rent to non-japanese tenants. if you are living with a japanese person (spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend/etc.) then you can sometime get in anyway because one of you can speak japanese, but alone, you will probably not have much luck.

i assume by "gaijin" houses, you are referring to sharehouses and social apartments? many of my friends have lived in these places, and they have never had more than 50% of tenants as non-japanese. many young japanese people also live in sharehouses. honestly, none of them have ever complained about noise or anything like that. i recommend social apartments as it gives you the chance to meet a lot of people. however, these were in the suburbs of tokyo - perhaps it's different if you are trying to live in the heart of the city. or if you are referring to something other than social apartments, my apologies.

if you are living with a japanese person (spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend/etc.) then you can sometime get in anyway because one of you can speak japanese

Heaven forbid that a foreigner can speak Japanese...

Regular Japanese apartments usually come completely unfurnished, need to have utilities turned on in your name, and the contracts come in two year terms so guest houses will be easier to deal with.

Firas: Come again??

Heaven forbid that a foreigner can speak Japanese...

Language problems are usually just the first stopping block, but there are other issues that often come up that make it difficult for foreigners to rent apartments even if they are completely fluent in Japanese. For example lack of a guarantor, credit, etc. There are solutions to pretty much any of these issues, but rental agencies may just decide its not worth the extra effort.

firas, i agree with you - but i know multiple friends who speak fluent japanese who have been turned down for apartments because, and i quote, "the landlord does not speak english", despite having a ten minute conversation in japanese with the agency. perhaps i did not explain the way i wanted to, which is definitely possible, but what i meant was "having a japanese national makes it easier to get an apartment no matter your own japanese ability level".

A lot of apartments ban foreign tenants, even with a guarantor. On one hand it's discriminatory, on the other hand, a lot of foreigners do like to disappear without turning off utilities and officially terminating their stay...