| Acquiring
Property in Japan
Anyone can acquire real estate. However it
is recommendable to possess a long-term visa (working, spouse,
investor...), or even better, a permanent visa. There are
two reasons for this:
It is very
difficult to get a loan from a Japanese bank nowadays, even
for Japanese people. Needless to say that it is almost impossible
without a proper visa and a stable job. However, if you
have enough money to buy your property without having to
borrow, then the problem is solved. Otherwise proceed to
the "how to obtain a loan" section.
The risk of
not to be able to stay in Japan eventhough owning a house
or apartment/flat there. Report to the visa section for
more information.
How much is it going to cost?
That really depends on the region in which you want to invest.
Tokyo is by far the most expensive, but, as a rule, prices
decrease progressively as the distance to the center and/or
nearest station increases. Besides, old building (30 years
old is old by Japanese standard, as houses are constantly
rebuilt because of earthquakes or optimization) are substantially
cheaper than new ones (less than 5 years). Remote regions
like the Tohoku, Hokkaido or prefectures such as Shimane
and Yamaguchi, can be particularily cheap. In some areas
where depopulation is a problem, the local government has
been seen to offer land for free to people who accepted
to settle there for a number of years.
The easiest and most effective way to get an idea of prices
is to check nation-wide real estate search engines such
as :
Yahoo
Japan Real Estate
Goo Real Estate
In the current economic situation, this has become quite
difficult for the Japanese themselves. Needless to say that
foreigners in Japan will have an even tougher time. It is
vital to have a (Japanese) guarantor, financially apt to
repay your loan on your behalf in case you defaulted.
Foreign residents probably have higher chances of getting
a loan if they have been living in Japan for some time (a
few years) and can speak Japanese.
they have family in Japan. Being married to a Japanese or
having children attending Japanese schools, for instance,
they have a stable job in Japan, which they are likely to
continue for a long period (at least as long as the term
of the loan) they have a good credit history.
they have no intention to return to their country before
they can pay off their loan (although difficult to prove)
they have good reasons to want to stay in Japan, are confortable
with and well-adapted to Japanese lifestyle, etc.
Instead of banks, it may be easier to obtain a loan at a
("juutaku kinyuu kouko", i.e. a Public Housing
Loan Corporation), which specialise in mortgages. However,
their interest rates are a bit higher than banks.
Japan is a earthquake-prone country. As no region can really
be qualified as safe, buying a house or apartment/flat is
always risky, as it could be destroyed any time in the future.
The safest bet is to buy land, which can be profitable in
big cities when rented as parking space. In central Tokyo,
a parking space for a single car costs about 50.000yen/month.
There is nevertheless a serious drawback to any form of
investment in big Japanese cities especially. Since the
the burst of the financial bubble in 1990-91, real estate
prices have plummeted by 50% for residential and 80% for
commercial land in Tokyo and Osaka. Even though there is
a chance that prices may once again increase in future,
it is still risky to invest in real estate in Japan.
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