Ever wondered if you could get a loan to buy your own home in Japan? Been rejected by a bank for finance and wondering why? Don’t give up on the dream of buying your own home or apartment in Tokyo. Even if you do not have permanent residency or Japanese spouse, you still have a chance to obtain a mortgage in Japan.
Source: Nikkei Shimbun, June 28 2010
According to real estate information service, Tokyo Kantei, the average price of a 70sqm apartment in the Tokyo metropolitan area increased by 0.7% from April to 29.45 million Yen, making this the second month of continual price increases. The Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures have, in total, seen six continual increases for the past six months.
If you own a house or apartment in Japan as of January 1st of any given year, you are required to pay annual fixed asset and city taxes on the land and building for the previous year. The amount of tax is determined by
Currently vacant, this office building is great for investment and very well located in Shinbashi on the JR Yamanote line.
• Price: ¥188,000,000 (Negotiable)
• Estimated Gross Yield: 8%
• Estimated Gross Annual Income: ¥15,190,000
From the Nikkei Shimbun, June 15th, 2010
On June 15th, the Real Estate Economic Institute announced the results from their survey of the Tokyo apartment market for the month of May, 2010.
The overall demand for office space in Tokyo’s 5 central wards is showing signs of recovery as owners are willing to offer large cuts in rents in an attempt to attract tenants. However, according to Miki Shoji, grade A vacancy rates continued to record a minor decline in the previous quarter of this year to 8.5% but the vacancy rate rose across the market
Designed by famous architect, Tadao Ando (see Wiki page here), this designer apartment building is located just minutes from Roppongi Hills. This 2-bedroom unit is split over 2 levels with a large master bedroom on the lower floor, and a second bedroom on the upper mezzanine floor.
This 2-bedroom apartment in Mita, Meguro-ku, has just been listed on the market. The 3rd floor corner unit has 3 balconies, an island kitchen, den and a guest powderroom. The interior of the apartment was completely renovated in 2007
“I came to Tokyo about 2yrs ago and was greatly surprised how poor the housing selection was. After looking for several days at many different places using a different housing service company I finally settled on a nice apartment but the location and size was far from my expectations. I was only supposed to be in Japan for 2 years so I figured I could survive there. Then recently my company extended my stay for an additional 3 years and I knew I had to find a place to live that I liked and not just tolerated.
I decided to use a different service (Housing Japan) since my luck with the other company was not so good. Amazingly, I found a house I loved during the first day of my search due to great preparation from my agent Matsumoto-san
As the population of Japan sees itself faced with an aging crisis, many are starting to realize that old traditions are also in danger of being lost. I was pleased to see that one blogger has taken it upon herself to do something about it, by blogging in English and telling the world about kimono culture in Japan.
80% occupancy, 6 minutes from Gaienmae Station, Completed in 2008.
Autolock, Interphone with Monitor, Semi-Auto Bath, CATV
• Price: ¥770,000,000
• Estimated Gross Yield: 5.80%
• Estimated Gross Annual Income: ¥44,676,000
Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world, so it’s in your best interest to keep an eye out for sales and cheap deals. While there isn’t too much information floating around on the English-language web that will give you an advantage when you shop, venturing onto the Japanese internet will result in a more significant payoff, so to speak.
FIFA World Cup 2010 is now upon us. World Cup’s 19th tournament opens today in South Africa and marks the first time that the tournament will be hosted by an African nation and the forth time that the Japanese team has qualified. For anxious football fans in Japan
100% occupancy, 1 minute from Asakusabashi Station, High yield property.
• Price: ¥335,000,000
• Estimated Gross Yield: 9.92%
• Estimated Gross Annual Income: ¥33,262,000
100% occupancy, 8 minutes from Otsuka Station in a great area with many restaurants around.
• Price: ¥320,000,000
• Estimated Gross Yield: 6.96%
• Estimated Gross Annual Income: ¥22,278,000
100% occupancy, 4 minutes from Higashi- Shinjuku Station.
• Price: ¥696,000,000
• Estimated Gross Yield: 8.49%
• Estimated Gross Annual Income: ¥59,136,000
I have to admit that the amount of Tokyo time-lapse videos floating around on the internet on sites like Vimeo can be overwhelming at times. Most of these videos seem to follow a similar formula — shoot a video of Tokyo, speed it up, add a Radiohead soundtrack, and upload to Vimeo. Easy right?
But here’s one video that stands out among all the others. At least, it stands out to me.
¥238,000,000
185.46sqm (1,996 sqft)
Victoria Court is a high-grade apartment building located in a quiet residential area of Minamiazabu. The building was originally developed by British Airways as luxury accommodation for their high-ranking expatriate employees and families.
There are a number of ways that you can attack the problem of starting your own business in Japan. A few resources online include:
But by far one of the most thorough explanations is one recently posted by Michael Werneburg, describing in great detail how he launched the online business that he currently operates. Here’s a short excerpt: