Real estate service in English for non-Japanese speakers
Real estate brokerage / Support in English
We offer an extensive portfolio of Japanese property for residential, investment, and other purposes, as well as supporting non-Japanese speakers in buying property.
We offer our service to non-residents and those holding a Certificate of Residence in Japan but who do not have permanent residency status.
For property owners planning to sell their property but who do not speak Japanese, we will explain in English the process and know-how of selling property in Japan.
We will first establish your needs in English, find properties that meet them, and provide you with property information in English with photos.
There is plenty of information available, including on popular properties.
You will then be shown your properties of interest by English-speaking sales staff, who will explain their locations, characteristics, facility specifications, etc.
Having made a decision on what to buy, you can then make an offer.
We will negotiate with the seller on your behalf regarding the purchase price, contract terms, and other conditions.
We will explain to you in English the contracts, the Property Disclosure Statement of Important Issue, costs, and taxes.
If you are thinking of applying for a loan, we will introduce you to a financial institution that may help with your finance.
A procedure to settle the remaining funds will be conducted at a financial institution, or elsewhere, in the presence of judicial scriveners. Related costs (e.g., property tax, administrative costs) will also be settled.
The buyer and seller will then sign the confirmation in order to exchange keys and complete the transfer of ownership.
We provide support in English, from finding tenants for your property and concluding lease contracts, to managing properties.
We also issue management reports in English for the purpose of assuring our overseas customers that we maintain the buildings and carry out property management.
We will first ask for any requests prior to valuing your property in consideration of its state and other concluded cases in your neighborhood.
Our experienced real estate trading staff will explain the selling process and related costs in English.
On receiving your instruction to sell the property, we will link you to real buyers from our extensive client database and through our unique promotional activity in both English and Japanese.
On receiving an offer, we will negotiate with the buyer on your behalf regarding the selling price, contract terms, and other conditions, prior to the conclusion of the sales contracts. We also provide support in creating the necessary reports on the status of the property and incidental facilities, and we explain in English the contracts, related documents, necessary registration procedures, costs, etc.
You will then receive the remaining funds to transfer the ownership at either a bank, judicial scrivener’s office, or elsewhere.
There are several reasons for recommending Japanese real estate, as follows.
The Japanese real estate market is the second biggest in the world, and it still has room for further expansion.
Even as the market cooled following the Great Recession, income from Japanese real estate remained steady.
In addition to Japan being politically stable, there are no differences in its application system between domestic and oversea investors for real estate transactions.
As shown in the figure below, Tokyo was ranked the safest city in the world in 2015.
Real estate prices in Japan showed a rising trend until 2008.
After the Lehman Brothers shock, however, they fell precipitously. And prices remained low for a while.
Real estate prices began rising slowly following the Japanese ABENOMICS policies, with prices and values nowadays maintaining a high level.
Additionally, the Tokyo Olympics are set for 2020.
So the price of real estate in the Tokyo market is expected to remain at current levels or to continue rising until after the Tokyo Olympics.
There has been a recent increase in real estate purchases by foreigners in Japan due to the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 and the falling Japanese yen.
Foreigners from many countries, including from Europe, America, Asia, and Oceania, have bought Japanese real estate for either investment purposes or their own use.
Foreigners are increasingly becoming the owners of real estate such as condominiums and the commercial buildings in Central Tokyo.
Gather property information, then, based on your requirements, arrange by priority – price, yield rate, location, scale of the building, etc.
Where possible, go and see the potential properties in their locations.
However, if you are unable to go to Japan, we can provide whatever information you require.
Review the information you have gathered and decide whether to buy.
At this step, determine your price and purchase requirements.
Set your price and requirements and indicate your intent to purchase.
Negotiations with the owner can now commence.
Popular properties will sometimes attract multiple offers at once.
If taking out a loan, try and obtain a preliminary review from a financial institution.
The extent of your ability to negotiate will vary depending on the property.
Try to elicit the seller’s circumstances as far as possible in order to proceed in good form.
Any defects to the property will be identified in the “Property Disclosure Statement of Important Issue” submitted by a licensed real estate broker.
An Engineer Report and Market Report are not usually needed.
The Date of Contract and Date of Closing are usually different. A 10-20% deposit is customarily required when the PSA is executed, with the final payment made at closing.
Individuals and general companies will use recourse loans and therefore avoid detailed due diligence procedures, while professional investors will use non-recourse loans.