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Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2018 8:24 am
by gonbechan
i thought the same about the wallpaper.. Money does not impart one with automatically good taste, I suppose.

The pool though, that would take a week of cleaning and conditioning, or need a complete water change and clean. Hard to say which would cost more.

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 2:59 pm
by LeeB
And now for something different in Japan: a mansion that doesn't own all the land in the property.

First one of these things that I've seen in Japan. I've seen houses with owned land and then a parcel of land - usually rented farm land that often comes with the house on a long term lease, but so far this is the first mansion.

These types of properties are common in Hawaii and are still found with many condo's there. Some of them have the ability to convert the leased land into owned land at a future date based on the current market value. Others don't.

(In Kahala, Oahu, Hawaii on the beach there is a famous building that has a very short lease left and no ability to convert. The lease rent is thousands a month and the value of the apartments plummeted from the millions to around the $100,000 area when a court case resulted in the ability of the owners of the land to terminated the leases as structured in the original documents.)

When I owned my place in Oahu I was given the 'opportunity' to purchase the land 'under' my unit, but instead sold it rather than being stuck with another loan for 30 years. After I sold the place I've never checked to see how much the price of the condo went up..........)

Anyway here is the mansion:

https://myhome.nifty.com/chuko/mansion/ ... _90358720/

And if you look under the property details you can see the information. The lease rent fee is included in the 管理費:

土地権利: 一部賃借権(普)、借地期間残存28年10ヶ月、借地権割合60%

管理費に含む
90358720_0001.jpg

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 5:58 am
by Zasso Nouka
Nice view of Mount Fuji from the apartment.

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:36 am
by LeeB
A couple of properties.

First a house out in the middle of ................nowhere:

https://www.athome.co.jp/kodate/1036826 ... ist_simple

For the amazing price of 1,200万円 you can pick up this 5SLDK on 2,011.74 square meters of land. I can't post the photos of the property, but the house appears to have a really nice view (photo 5) and I have no idea what the inside of the place looks like.

Next up is a mansion:

https://www.athome.co.jp/mansion/102155 ... ist_simple

Interesting description of the property caught my eye:

専有面積約125平米・4LDK+家事室 ○ テラス・専用庭付

All for 1,380万円. Of course you have the usual fees which aren't that bad for this property: 管理費等 - 12,117円; 修繕積立金 - 13,343円.

The mansion is of course, on the ground floor which saves lots of up and down and problems if there is a big earthquake..............assuming that the building is still standing!

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:45 pm
by Chris64
What are the prices? Google translates the second house price as 13 million yen...

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 6:10 am
by LeeB
The house price is 13 million yen or in US$ at today's exchange rate is about US$117,000.

The mansion price is a little more at US$124,000.

Of course, when you buy there are all sorts of add on costs. The first which may surprise many people and unlike in the USA or Australia is that in many cases the buyer and seller both pay fees to the RE agent as a commission. This may be subject to negotiation depending on if the RE agent has the listing in house (already included in the price ???) and how bad the sellers want to get rid of the property.

Next are the transaction taxes on the value of the property to the government. (Transaction tax and registration tax). Stamp duty on the sales contract too. If you get a bank loan for the property there is stamp duty also payable on the value of the mortgage and again other fees and costs to the bank - that is if you are able to get a loan as a foreigner. Almost impossible when I lived in Japan, but barely possible once you get PR and also depends on your age.

Loans are generally quite cheap in Japan and the cost of buying and paying off a loan can be much cheaper than renting if you buy in a second tier city or semi-rural area. And with a house you have the land which should retain some value, but with mansions in Japan in most areas other than big cities, they are generally a depreciating asset. (One of the biggest reasons never to buy a mansion in Japan!!!)

A rough estimate is that if you use a bank loan the cost would be between 7 and 10% of the property value. Without a bank loan you would save a bundle.

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:37 pm
by Shizuman
LeeB wrote:


Loans are generally quite cheap in Japan and the cost of buying and paying off a loan can be much cheaper than renting if you buy in a second tier city or semi-rural area. And with a house you have the land which should retain some value

A rough estimate is that if you use a bank loan the cost would be between 7 and 10% of the property value. Without a bank loan you would save a bundle.
Thats really cool to hear you say that im looking at get a place soonish and sort of agonizing over either renting or buying, but if the loan repayments on an older place are cheaper than renting it might be worth looking into cheers mate! Im definitely in a more rural area.

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:33 am
by LeeB
I guess times have really changed in Japan in the area of banks lending to foreigners since I lived there.

When I got married we considered buying a small place. I had 50% of the price in cash and needed a loan for the rest. No PR meant no loan despite having a Japanese wife and the FIL willing to cosign. I also considered just buying a parking lot with the cash I had.

Of course, later the bubble took off and the price of the place zoomed up to triple what it would have cost me. Don't know what the price is now though.

As far as loans are concerned, IMO the most important is to have PR. If you don't have that I don't know of any 'bank' that will lend you money.

And now there are so many places you can go to - even Rakuten will lend money for RE!!!

But just be careful with all the fees and charges the banks may want to charge which would push up the cost of the loan. Many also require that you take out a a packaged life insurance product with the loan..................

Go fixed rate for the life of the loan.

If I were still in Japan and the relatives had a bunch of cash I know where I would borrow the money if I needed it. If you go that route make sure you have it all documented.

Do the figures and while the traditional rent versus buy argument may still be spouted, as a foreigner in Japan I think it is more important to have a place (house) that you own - rent money in Japan for a foreigner is basically dead money.

The other consideration which you don't face is that as you are in Japan, the value of the Yen won't impact on the purchase. The A$ has tanked against the yen which has pushed up the price of RE in Australian dollars.

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 11:20 am
by Shizuman
Looks like some good advice that, thanks.
Unfortunately Im still a couple of years away from PR even with the new criteria. Ive looked at a couple of the lenders and they are becoming less strict, there are a few major banks that will loan the money if you have a reasonable yearly income but the PR issue crops up alot.
I dont match any yet so maybe another few years wait but its time spent saving so its not wasted.
This is just my gut feeling and i haven't looked into it but im from Melbourne and it seems to me that house ownership is far far more achievable in Japan than back home but in Aus alot of people talk about it being an investment while here i can only see house prices depreciate.

Re: Interesting Properties in Japan

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:13 pm
by LeeB
Well I live in a decent area in the Melbourne suburbs and am lucky that I bought the house when I did. There is no way I could afford to buy it now. That being said, the suburb I live in didn't/hasn't seen the wild appreciation in value in many other areas around the city. So I hope that we'll avoid most of the problems other areas are having. The area is in demand with houses that do come on market being sold reasonably quickly and for decent prices. We'll sell when we can no longer physically take care of the property.

We have considered moving back to Japan several times, but with all the changes to taxes and pensions in both countries the move just isn't feasible. Maybe if i was 30 years younger we would do it.

We were looking at buying two houses - one in either Shiga or Chiba and the other in Hokkaido. One for most of the year and one to escape to during summer.

Regarding PR: - It doesn't matter what the 'rules' are.......................

If you know somebody or have good connections those 'rules' can and will be relaxed....................