Purchasing a property isn’t something one rushes into, and learning about the market is always best.
However most people miss an obvious step when property hunting, and that is knowing what lender will lend you how much.
The common assumption is that once you find a property you wish to buy then that is the time to start speaking to lenders. This is too late in a market like Tokyo as by the time you find which lender will give you the best terms, the property you like will be gone.
Ideally the bank is your first stop even before speaking to an agent. Prestia has english speakers which means clients can contact directly. However if you want alternatives then you either need to speak Japanese or work with your multilingual agent to go through a pre approval process.
This is where we can help and ideally we help at the very beginning of the process, not when we found the property you wish to buy.
When purchasing a home, most buyers have a little bit of emotion mixed in with the trade, borne from the desire to secure the perfect place.
If at this stage financing isn’t sorted then one’s feeling can drop from elation to stress as now you are faced with two tasks to tackle simultaneously; finding out if the bank will lend to you and getting that answer in a swift amount of time so that no one else buys the property.
Seller’s agents will not take a purchase application without bank pre approval seriously which means even if you submit the application then it won’t put you first in line.
Even if you are willing to sign a purchase contract and put down a deposit, the contract usually has what is a called loan clause that states should you, the buyer, not receive a satisfactory amount of financing then you can cancel the contract by a certain date with no penalties thus getting your deposit back.
Hence, sellers see no benefit even in signing a contract and thus no benefit in taking your offer seriously until you are able to prove you have pre approval from a lender.
Getting a handle on your financing without the pressure of purchasing the property you fell in love with means you are able to move faster when you wish to purchase. Also due to the decreased stress allows you to understand the term and details of your loan better as well.
Get started today by looking at our yen loan calculator to see what monthly repayments look like in different scenarios. The page also links out to various lender’s websites to outline terms and conditions for borrowing.
Of course, should you have any questions we are always an email or phone call away!
Editor’s Note: Shirley is Sales Director for Housing Japan. She has sold billions of yen of real estate and arguably has the highest client satisfaction rating in the industry. Shirley writes a weekly column for Housing Japan readers to help illustrate common challenges buyers and sellers have when trading Tokyo residential property.
