Before you sell / a house with a collapsing kura or barn

When the kura or barn is collapsing before the house.
Demolish the kura alone, keep it, or let the whole property go as it stands

In Toyama the kura or barn starts to collapse before the main house. Demolish the kura alone, keep it, or let the whole property go? We buy as-is, kura included.

An earthen kura fails in order: roof, earthen wall, roof framing, walls. Up to ② it can usually be kept
Three ways. If you are letting the whole property go, do not demolish the kura first
No need to clear out the kura. You never pay demolition cost up front

A two-storey board storehouse with board walls, roof snow jutting out past the eaves (Shirakawa, Gifu) — Photo: そらみみ "Warehouses in Gassho-zukuri Minkaen Garden"(CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped

1 Just send photos of the kura's outside and roof. Leave the contents as they areFree appraisal on LINE 2 9:00–17:00, Japanese only / after 17:00: Call us

1970Founded / Yatsuo, Toyama City

Real estate + constructionA builder with both a real estate licence and a construction permit

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Toyama, Ishikawa and HidaOwners living elsewhere welcome

Kura and barns collapse before the main house

Collapse follows an order: roof maintenance stops, the earthen walls soak up rain, snow breaks the roof frame, the walls fall. Up to stage 2 the kura can usually be kept; from stage 3 it depends on what we find on site.

A kura does not collapse while the main house still stands because the kura is weak. It is because its maintenance stops first.

A Toyama farmhouse has, besides the main house, an earthen kura, a barn, a work shed and a garage. While someone lives there, the main roof gets its snow cleared and leaks get fixed. But the kura and barn stop being maintained the moment they stop being used. One tile shifts, one iron sheet lifts, and nobody notices. Once the house is vacant the main house follows the same road, but the outbuildings are often ten or twenty years further along it.

An earthen kura collapses in a set order. First roof maintenance stops, the gutters block, and water runs from the eaves into the top of the walls. A kura wall is thick earth finished with lime plaster, sturdy while dry, but once it soaks up rain it grows heavy and the plaster lifts and starts peeling. Next, the damp roof frame can no longer bear the winter's roof snow; the beams break and the roof gives way. An earthen wall without a roof often collapses in a single winter, onto the road or the neighbour's lot.

Barns and work sheds are simpler. Most are just posts, board walls and a corrugated-iron roof: when the sill rots they lean, and when they lean the roof shifts and the whole thing goes at once. There is no stage where the walls fall and the frame stands; once it leans, the danger rises.

Toyama has two areas full of kura. One is the scattered villages and farmland of Tonami, Nanto and Takaoka, where an earthen kura and barn stand beside a big-roofed Azumadachi main house ringed by a kainyo windbreak grove (Tonami, Nanto, Takaoka). The other is the machiya of Yatsuo, Takaoka's Yamachosuji and Kanayamachi, and Kanazawa, with an earthen kura behind the main house (Kanazawa, Ishikawa). A village kura has distance to the neighbours because the lot is large; a machiya kura often shares a wall with the next house, so a collapse has a completely different effect.

Is it the kura or the barn that is dangerous now? How they collapse, and how dangerous they are, differs by type

A small farm shed of board walls and corrugated-iron roof beside a rice field with snow still lying, rice straw stacked inside (Nakatsugawa, Gifu) — Photo: torao t "農小屋 - panoramio"(CC BY 3.0), cropped

"The kura is dangerous" means different things for different buildings. When we look at photos, the first thing we do is sort them into these four.

Earthen kura (white-plastered or namako-walled)A post-and-beam frame coated in thick earthen walls and finished outside with lime plaster. The frame is heavy, so even when the walls fall the frame usually stands. The dangers are plaster falling off and the earthen walls collapsing once the roof has gone. Three things to check: holes or sinking in the roof, large cracks or bulges at the top of the walls, and doors that no longer open (a sign the building has distorted).

Board storehouseA storehouse walled with thick boards rather than earth. Lighter than an earthen kura and it never soaks up rain and grows heavy, but when the boards rot it leans from the feet of the posts. If you can see it leaning, it needs quicker action than an earthen kura.

Barn or work shed (corrugated-iron roof, board walls)A building for farm machinery and rice straw, with thin posts and walls of thin boards or corrugated sheet. Once the sill rots and it starts to lean, the roof shifts and it collapses at once. Iron sheets blow off in the wind and reach the neighbours. Check whether wall and roof sheets are lifting and whether the feet of the posts have sunk into the ground.

Garage or storage shedMostly newer buildings that rarely collapse, though a corrugated roof can come down under snow. The problem here is more often what is inside: a car, fuel, pesticide.

One thing comes before the type of building: does it face the road or a neighbour? A kura at the back of the lot that would only fall onto your own land, a kura facing the road, and a machiya kura sharing a wall with the next house call for different urgency with the same damage. If it is leaning towards the road or the neighbour, or roofing has fallen onto the road, then before any decision to sell, demolish or keep, you need to keep people away and tell the neighbour.

What can be done in an emergency is limited, but there is an order. First rope off the kura and put up a notice to keep people away. Then remove any roofing or wall fragments about to fall that are within reach. A blue tarpaulin blows away in wind and does nothing against snow, so do not rely on it to close a hole in the roof. Anything beyond that (removing only the collapsing part first, bracing a wall with props) we can arrange as a licensed builder. If the main house's roof has fallen, see A collapsed roof or a house about to fall. If the city office has sent a notice about a poorly managed vacant house, telling the department in charge that action or a sale is under way helps things move.

Demolish the kura, keep it, or sell with the main house. Three roads

The order is emergency, appraisal, decide. Do not decide on the kura's condition alone; the road depends on what you will do with the main house. If you are letting the whole property go, there is no need to demolish the kura first.

When a kura or barn is collapsing there are three roads: demolish the kura alone, keep and repair it, or let the whole property go as it stands. Which is right depends on what you will do with the main house. Decide on the kura's condition alone and you get the order wrong.

1. Demolish the kura aloneThe road when you will go on living in the main house, or rent it out, and have no use for the kura. You pay the cost yourself. Disposing of the earthen walls tends to make a kura pricier than a wooden house, and the cleared ground is simply empty land, bringing no income. Before demolishing, it is worth checking whether the fittings, old timber or contents have any value.

2. Keep and repair the kuraIf the roof frame and sill are sound, fixing the roof stops the decay. An earthen kura has a heavy frame; repaired, it serves as storage or a workshop, or can be converted to a guesthouse or shop. It costs money, but the building survives and so does the value of the lot. If you are keeping the main house, consider this road first.

3. Let the whole property go as it standsIf you are letting the main house go too, there is no need to demolish the kura first. We appraise as it stands, kura and barns included; what can be kept is considered for reuse or preservation, and anything dangerous is demolished after we take over. The seller never pays demolition cost up front, and the contents can stay where they are.

A common mistake is the order: “If we're going to sell the main house, let's demolish and tidy up the storehouse first.” Plenty of people have been told that by an estate agent. In a sale where the buyer plans to live there, a collapsing storehouse counts only against the price. And that demolition cost comes out of your own pocket, with no refund if the house doesn't sell. When you sell to us, you never have to pay the demolition cost of a collapsing storehouse upfront. For a farmhouse with a storehouse and a windbreak grove, the total demolition cost often exceeds ¥3 million. Handing it over without demolishing anything leaves you paying less out of your own pocket.

Kura that can be kept, and kura that cannot. Where we look

An earthen kura window with double doors decorated in plaster relief; the plaster around it has peeled to show the earthen wall beneath (Tonami) — Photo: Nhrdsk "千光寺の土蔵"(CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped

Many people have decided "the walls have fallen, so it is finished", but for an earthen kura that is premature. A kura's earthen walls are the finish, not the structure. The structure is the posts, beams and roof frame inside, and the sill at the feet. On site we look in this order.

Is the roof holding? Tiles or corrugated iron out of place can be fixed. If the roof frame (the beams and struts that carry the roof) has broken and the roof has sunk, the earthen walls beneath will not last long either. This is where the decision turns
The sill and the feet of the posts. The lower wall bulging, the door sill sinking, the floor sloping: these are signs that the feet have rotted and sunk. Rot at the feet alone can be repaired by splicing, but if the posts are rotten up to waist height it is a different matter
How much wall has fallen. If the plaster has lifted and only part of the earthen wall has dropped, that is damage to the finish. Even with the bamboo lath (the base of the earthen wall) showing, the kura can be kept if the frame is standing. If a whole face has fallen from top to bottom, suspect that the roof frame on that side is wet
Do the doors and windows close? A kura door or double doors that will not open or close are a sign the building has distorted. A small distortion can be pulled back upright
Is it dry inside? If you can go in and the floor is not damp, there is no strong smell of mould and no light shows through the ceiling, the roof is still doing its job. If you cannot go in, a photo of the ceiling through the gap in the door gives a fair idea

In short, if the roof frame and the sill are sound, a kura can be kept even with its walls fallen. If the roof frame has broken, the roof has gone and the earthen walls have stood in the rain for years, keeping it is hard. Photos alone cannot settle this line, so we look at the underfloor and roof space on site. Even a kura that looks difficult in photos, we will visit if you wish.

A tatami room before renovation (our project, main house) Kominka turned into a guesthouse: the tatami room before renovation

Beams exposed, now a guesthouse Kominka opened as a minpaku guesthouse: the stairwell with exposed beams (after)

A kominka main house we repaired. The ceiling was removed to expose the beams over the stairwell, and it opened as a minpaku. Four months, ¥9 million in construction cost. → More on this project

A kura that can be kept has uses. After buying, we consider three: use it as it is for storage or a workshop, open it with the main house as a guesthouse, or make it a shop. With thick walls and a stable temperature, an earthen kura suits a guesthouse annexe or a small shop with goods and a café. The thick beams and the design of the kura door and double doors cannot be made new today. Because we ourselves turn the houses we buy into guesthouses and convert them into shops, we can see a kura as a usable building rather than a demolition cost. In areas where people walk streets of kura-style buildings, such as Yamachosuji in Takaoka, that is especially clear.

What to know if you demolish the kura alone

If you will keep the main house and the kura turns out not to be keepable, you will be demolishing the kura alone. We are a builder that does not assume demolition, but so that those who decide to demolish do not lose out, here is what to know in general terms.

An earthen kura tends to cost more than a wooden houseThe reason is the earthen walls. A kura's walls are layer on layer of thick clay mixed with straw: a lot of it, and heavy. It has to be disposed of separately from wood waste and tiles, and the sorting and hauling take labour. On top of that, a kura usually stands at the back of the lot where machinery cannot easily reach. More demolition by hand means more labour cost. That is why the quote for an earthen kura comes out higher than for a barn of the same floor area. Guide figures are in Demolition costs: outbuildings such as a kura, barn or garage from several hundred thousand yen each, with an earthen kura at the upper end.

Unregistered outbuildings are not unusualFarmhouses whose kura and barn were never registered are not unusual in Toyama. Demolition itself needs no registration, but when a registered building is demolished, a registration of loss is required. If the building is on the property tax roll, the municipality's tax department must also be notified. Which applies is shown in the breakdown on the property tax notice.

Above a certain size, notification is requiredUnder the Construction Recycling Act, demolition of a building of 80 m² or more of floor area must be notified to the prefectural governor (or the city) at least seven days before work starts (Act on Recycling of Construction Materials, e-Gov law search). A single kura is usually below the threshold, but demolishing it together with the main house goes over. The duty to notify lies with the client (the owner), but in practice the demolition contractor usually does it on their behalf.

Asbestos surveyAn asbestos survey is required, in principle, for every demolition or renovation job. On top of that, demolition of 80 ㎡ or more of floor area, and renovation costing ¥1 million or more, carry a duty to report the survey results. Since October 2023, only a qualified person may carry out the survey (Ministry of the Environment: asbestos pre-survey reporting system). Some old barns have corrugated slate sheeting containing asbestos, so check whether a survey is included when you get a quote.

Check the parts and contents before demolishingA kura, its fittings and old timber can have value. Demolished, it is zero; kept, it counts. The kura door, double doors, lattices, thick beams and sashigamoi lintels, zelkova board doors. Before telling the demolition contractor to go ahead, take photos and show them to us or to a reclaimed-timber dealer. The same goes for the contents, covered in the next section.

One more point, about afterwards. The kura stands on the same lot as the main house, so demolishing the kura alone does not normally end the residential-land relief on property tax (demolishing the main house and clearing the lot does). But the site becomes empty ground and the mowing grows. Deciding how you will use that spot before demolishing means fewer regrets.

What to do with the contents: farm tools, old implements, papers, antiques

For many heirs the contents of the kura weigh heavier than the contents of the main house. You do not know what is in there. It has not been opened for decades. Even opened, you cannot tell what is valuable and what is just old. We do not need you to clear out the kura. We buy with the household goods and family altar still in place and dispose of them ourselves. The same goes for the kura and the barn. The order of things when the main house is piled high is in Selling a cluttered family home without clearing it.

With that settled, sorting the contents into four groups helps clear the mind.

Things to take home. Memorial tablets, photographs, letters, title deeds, bankbooks, seals, pension and insurance papers. These alone we check for and hand to you before handover. If the kura cannot be entered, we go in and look. "There may be papers in the chest at the back" is enough to go on
Things of unknown value. Hanging scrolls, ceramics, lacquerware, old kimono, old coins, calligraphy and paintings. We are not in a position to price them, so we never rush you. You are welcome to take time to have a trusted dealer look before selling, and if you leave them, we sometimes use them in the restored house or guesthouse
Things that can pass to the next user. Farm machinery, threshers, winnowers, hoes and sickles, rice-straw tools. They can be valuable to the farmer who takes over the fields, and sometimes pass on with the barn. The procedure for a house with rice fields or farmland is in Selling a family home with rice fields or forest
Things to dispose of. Everything else we dispose of after we take over. Only for fertiliser, pesticide and fuel cans, tell us the type and quantity with photos beforehand; the disposal method differs

Fittings and old timber are treated separately from the contents: the kura door, double doors, zelkova board doors, lattices, thick beams. Because our policy is to repair what we buy and hand it to the next occupant, we use them as they are if the kura is kept, and even when it cannot be kept, removable fittings and old timber go into restoration work. Sometimes a kura's fittings are moved into the main house's tatami room. Talk to us before demolishing, and there are several things in a kura that need not go to zero. How beams and posts are taken out and passed on to the next house is covered in Old timber sales and salvage demolition.

One thing to watch, on the subject of the contents. If you're considering renouncing an inheritance (filing with the family court to receive neither assets nor debts), talk to a judicial scrivener before you sell or dispose of anything in the storehouse. Selling or throwing away items from the storehouse can be treated as accepting the inheritance in full, which can make you unable to renounce it afterwards. Details are in Renouncing an inheritance doesn't make the house disappear. Our appraisal can be done without touching the contents at all.

How we appraise a house with a kura

The same kura lands on a different side. Assuming demolition, every kura is a deduction; we split them, counting a collapsed kura as demolition cost at our expense and a keepable kura as reuse value.

Appraise a house with a storehouse on a brokerage or demolition basis, and the storehouse is seen purely as “a building that adds to the demolition cost.” The cost of demolishing the storehouse and barn is added on top of demolishing the main house. If there's a windbreak grove, the cost of felling the trees is added too, and the whole total is subtracted from the land price (felling costs for a windbreak grove, and the option of letting go of the trees with the property, are covered in Trees left unchecked and a complaint from the neighbours). Demolishing a wooden house in Toyama runs at roughly ¥30,000–50,000 per tsubo (3.3 ㎡), and outbuildings like a storehouse, barn or garage start from a few hundred thousand yen each; add a windbreak grove and the total often exceeds ¥3 million. In the outskirts of Toyama, the land can be worth less than this demolition cost, in which case the appraisal comes out at ¥0 or negative. Much of what we hear as “another company said it's worth nothing” comes down to this arithmetic. The difference between a demolition-based appraisal and ours, not limited to storehouses, is set out in The difference between an appraisal that assumes demolition and one that doesn't.

Our appraisal starts from a different premise. We add the value of the main house (posts, beams, layout) to the land price, and we look at the storehouse separately, splitting it into collapsed and salvageable. A collapsed storehouse or barn that can't be saved is demolished by us after we take the property, so we factor that cost in as ours to carry — never something for the seller to pay upfront. A storehouse that can be saved can be used for storage, a workshop, a guesthouse or a shop, and we count that as a reason to raise the price, not lower it. From there we subtract the repair cost and the risk of it going unsold. That is the purchase price. We don't deduct the cost of clearing out the contents.

Our purchase price is lower than a brokered sale would fetch, because we as the buyer take on the repair cost, the risk of not selling and the work of clearing. But a house with a collapsing kura struggles to find a buyer through brokerage, and tends to end up on the road of paying to demolish the kura first. Put the zero of the demolition-based appraisal, our figure and the net from brokerage on one table and compare. Our free appraisal can give you both the as-is price and a rough figure for the demolition route.

One real example. Mr and Mrs S of Takaoka, Toyama (in their sixties) had held a 90-year-old former farmhouse and its kura vacant for ten years. Getting older, they had decided to move out of a house that was too big, but the one thing they wanted to avoid was demolishing the house they had inherited in order to sell. We told them we would pass it on to the next user without demolishing, and took it as it stood, kura included. In Mr S's words, "Knowing the house would survive was more of a relief than I expected" (direct purchase page, client voices). While you think "once the kura is demolished, once it is cleared", the kura deteriorates with every winter.

Note that the ¥30 million special deduction for an inherited vacant house applies to transfers up to the end of December 2027, and can be used on a sale to us if the requirements are met. How it is used changes depending on whether the main house is demolished, so check before deciding on demolition. The full sale procedure is in Guide to selling an inherited family home, and how to do it from outside the prefecture in Selling without going back.

FAQ

I want to demolish the kura first and sell the main house later.＋−

The other way round costs you less. We appraise the property as it stands, kura and barns included; a kura that can be kept is considered for reuse or preservation, and anything dangerous is demolished by us after we take over. If you demolish first, that cost never comes back. Before demolishing, check the appraisal with the kura included. If it is about to fall onto the road or a neighbour's land and cannot wait, we start with emergency work to remove only the collapsing part.

The kura is leaning towards the neighbour's house. What should I do right away?＋−

First tell the neighbour, and put up a rope or a notice so nobody goes near the kura. Then send a photo of the leaning side and one of the kura roof, and we judge whether it can be shored up or whether the collapsing part should be removed first. As a licensed construction company we can arrange the emergency work ourselves. If the city office has sent a notice, tell the department in charge that a sale or other action is under way.

Can I sell just the kura?＋−

Splitting off the kura and selling it alone usually is not practical, because the lot would need subdividing, boundaries confirming and access securing. The quicker road is to talk to us about the main house and the lot together. That said, the kura's fittings, old timber and the old tools inside can have value, and that can only be saved before the kura is demolished. Our appraisal covers whether to keep the kura or reuse its parts in restoration.

There is farm machinery and fertiliser left in the barn. Do I have to dispose of it before you will look?＋−

Leave it as it is. We buy with the contents in place and dispose of them ourselves. Farm machinery can be valuable to the farmer who takes over the fields, and sometimes the barn and its contents pass to a user together. If there is fertiliser, pesticide or fuel cans, tell us the type and quantity with photos. The procedure when rice fields or farmland come with the house is in "Selling a family home with rice fields or forest".

Is there a subsidy for demolishing a kura?＋−

Municipalities have schemes to support removing dilapidated, dangerous vacant houses: Toyama City's subsidy for removing dilapidated dangerous vacant houses, Nanto City's subsidy for removing dilapidated dangerous vacant houses, Kanazawa City's subsidy for demolishing (removing) dangerous vacant houses, and so on. But most are aimed at the main house, and whether a kura or barn alone qualifies differs by municipality. Terms and budgets change each fiscal year and most require applying before work starts, so check with each city's building department and its official guidance. With our as-is purchase, the seller pays no demolition cost.

The kura and barn are unregistered. Do they need registering to sell?＋−

Farmhouses with unregistered outbuildings are not unusual. We take unregistered kura and barns as they stand. Inheritance registration of the main house is needed by handover, and we introduce a partner judicial scrivener. Whether the outbuildings need registering, and to what extent, is checked with the scrivener before we proceed.

I don't know what is inside the kura. What happens to antiques and papers?＋−

You need not even open it. We check on site, and anything clearly important, such as memorial tablets, photographs, title deeds, bankbooks, seals and letters, is handed to you before handover. We never rush you to decide about old tools or antiques of unknown value. Things you leave are sometimes used as they are in the restored house or guesthouse.

→ All 49 questions on selling and renovation

This page explains the general approach. Whether a kura or barn can be kept is decided on site from the state of the roof frame and sill. Demolition rules and subsidy schemes change by municipality and fiscal year, and the official guidance for each scheme takes precedence on legal detail. For a building in a dangerous state needing emergency action, first keep people away, and also consult the municipality's department in charge.

Before a demolition quote, a price with the kura included.

Photos of the kura's outside and roof and of the main house are enough. Contents as they are, before registration, from outside the prefecture. Appraisal is free, and declining costs nothing.

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By phone (Japanese only) 9:00 - 17:00 After 17:00, site manager (Japanese only)

If the main house is damaged too.

Leaks, a fallen roof, piles of household goods, farmland and the windbreak grove. The main house and lot beyond the outbuildings are covered here.

We buy damaged houses: how to tell one that can be fixed → A collapsed roof or a house about to fall → Selling a family home with rice fields or forest → Demolition costs, and before you demolish →

Written by Tatsumasa Nakamura, Hokuriku Homes Updated 2026-10-10

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When the kura or barn is collapsing before the house.Demolish the kura alone, keep it, or let the whole property go as it stands