From the archive
Is this the solution to Japan's glut of empty homes? - FT.com
It was once a treasured family home, but by the time Katsutoshi Arai bought it the house was empty - a rubbish-strewn, fly-infested blight on a small Japanese neighbourhood. "It was overflowing with garbage - it made you want to vomit," says Arai, president of the estate agency Katitas, as he recounts what his staff went through to fix it up.
Discussion
I was once planning to buy a vacant house, and waiting for one to go vacant in the village I chose. It's pretty bad when you are certain to get a couple of vacant housesin a village per year, but it happens.