I'm also in Japan, and there several of us floating around BP.

The framing is most likely rough cut so the drywall will need to be floated, when the walls come down you need to upgrade the electrical since I can also bet the electrical is not properly insulated, you need GFCI by sink, you have to have an arc fault breaker on the bathroom outlets and switches and those need to be on their own breaker by code. 

This is an off-topic questions and would like to see what your thoughts are.I work for a company that offers "Floating Holidays" each quarter.

There is also the option to get a fixed-rate home equity loan (2nd mortgage), however if rates go down you would have to refinance to take advantage of the lower rates, as with the HELOC it will float down automatically. 

I have $5k in available cash, $20k in available credit, a very respectable salary, a credit score floating around 800, and no debt but a car and house payment.  

The click-lock floating LVP planks cannot just be removed from the middle of a room.

because in America these are almost always credit challenged and they just never get their act together.. you live in a bubble In CA that's why your default rate on mortgages is next to nothing.. just drive through any inner city in America urban core area and you will get the drift.

There's still a lot of horror stories floating around still...tough to dispel them.  

I have to jump in - sink or float. 

You will need to have some "float" money in your account to cover paying your general contractor or paying for materials while you wait for draws to be reimbursed.Once you get really experienced you can get into a groove where the GC does the work, asks for $, then you ask your lender, then as soon as your lender funds you can pay your GC.