{"id":141106,"date":"2024-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=141106"},"modified":"2024-04-01T10:29:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T10:29:17","slug":"usag-japan-holds-first-ever-forum-to-expand-local-housing-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=141106","title":{"rendered":"USAG Japan holds first-ever forum to expand local housing options"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Nearly 30 realtors from agencies in the surrounding community joined U.S. Army Garrison Japan’s first-ever conference with Japanese realtors at Camp Zama, Japan, March 28, 2024, as part of an effort to increase off-post housing options.
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CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 U.S. Army Garrison Japan held its first-ever conference with Japanese realtors Thursday as part of an effort to increase housing options outside the gate.<\/p>\n

Nearly 30 realtors from agencies in the surrounding community, and as far away as Kyoto, joined the forum inside Kizuna Hall here while garrison staff discussed upcoming renovation projects to on-post housing.<\/p>\n

Garrison leaders also showed their gratitude to the realtors by presenting them certificates of appreciation for their years of partnership with Camp Zama.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, we want to say thank you for supporting the U.S. Army in Japan’s mission,\u201d said Command Sgt. Maj. David A. Rio, the garrison\u2019s senior enlisted leader. \u201cYou provide an integral and essential service to our military, civilians, and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Directorate of Public Works Housing Office spoke to the realtors about the current and future state of its housing as well as some of the challenges it faces with off-post housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur presentation today aims to ask for your assistance in increasing the availability of off-post housing in the local communities,\u201d Rio told the audience. \u201cYour knowledge and expertise are valuable and necessary to help us find sufficient off-post housing in the local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is currently mandatory for all U.S. military service members to live on post unless the occupancy rate is 95% or higher, depending on their grade and family size.<\/p>\n

The Housing Office, which has about 300 active leases in the local community, offers a long list of rentals to assist community members in their search for off-post homes.<\/p>\n

Every month, the garrison injects roughly $1.2 million into the local real estate market through private rentals and home purchases. And before a community member moves into a property, the Housing Office will inspect it to ensure it meets Department of Defense adequacy standards.<\/p>\n

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\n Command Sgt. Maj. David A. Rio, senior enlisted leader for U.S. Army Garrison Japan, speaks during an off-post housing realtors conference at Camp Zama, Japan, March 28, 2024. The garrison held the forum to strengthen its partnership with Japanese realtors in an effort to increase housing options outside the gate.
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\n Perry Cannon, chief of the U.S. Army Garrison Japan Housing Office\u2019s Housing Operations Branch, speaks during an off-post housing realtors conference at Camp Zama, Japan, March 28, 2024. The garrison held the forum to strengthen its partnership with Japanese realtors in an effort to increase housing options outside the gate.
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In fiscal years 2024-26, the garrison plans to renovate at least 135 Army family homes, and then two unaccompanied housing buildings in fiscal 2025-26.<\/p>\n

Additional renovations are scheduled for fiscal 2027 and beyond, which will include more than 70 homes and one unaccompanied housing building.<\/p>\n

As these projects temporarily decrease the supply of on-post housing, Jenifer L. Peterson, deputy garrison commander, said she believed Thursday\u2019s forum will assist the garrison in finding more landlords interested in accepting military-friendly leases.<\/p>\n

Because of their years of experience, Peterson said the realtors know the market better and their input will be critical in moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur DPW team came up with this idea and I\u2019ve never seen it before,\u201d she said of the forum. \u201cI think we couldn\u2019t have thought of a better way to recognize the support we get from our realtors and to also listen to them and get their feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watabe Yoshifumi, a realtor with the Daiei Shoji agency in Yamato, also thanked the garrison for hosting the forum and for their ongoing support.<\/p>\n

Yoshifumi said the role of realtors is to ensure both the homeowner and renter are satisfied.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll realtors are thinking they will do their best to support renters and owners,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yoshifumi has already found some success with a landlord who was willing to allow U.S. military personnel to have a pet inside their property.<\/p>\n

He said he was able to lower the landlord\u2019s risk by having both parties agree for the renter to pay an additional month for a pet deposit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI negotiated with the homeowner and the customer was allowed to keep a pet,\u201d he said. \u201c[Now] the homeowner doesn’t have to feel worried about any damage from them when they move out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry Cannon, chief of the Housing Office\u2019s Housing Operations Branch, said the face-to-face communication during the forum allowed his team to strengthen relationships with the realtors.<\/p>\n

He said the feedback from the realtors was positive as they appreciated the garrison for inviting them and for the opportunity to voice their concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need that interaction to build a partnership,\u201d Cannon said, \u201cand for them to understand our needs and for us to understand their issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

U.S. Army Garrison Japan news<\/a><\/p>\n

USAG Japan official website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly 30 realtors from agencies in the surrounding community joined U.S. Army Garrison Japan’s first-ever conference with Japanese realtors at Camp Zama, Japan, March 28, 2024, as part of an effort to increase off-post housing options. (Photo Credit: Sean Kimmons) VIEW ORIGINAL CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 U.S. Army Garrison Japan held its first-ever conference with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141108,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141106"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141112,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141106\/revisions\/141112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/141108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}