Are you looking to immigrate to Japan via the Startup visa or the Business Manager visa? Are you in the market to purchase property in Japan? Interested in purchasing an ‘akiya’ abandoned house, and bringing it back to life? You’re not the only one! At this point, we’re getting contacted every day, by people looking to set out on these adventures, and many of them are asking us for some guidance. We’re happy to help, and love the opportunity to connect with y’all!
Real estate and translation assistance has been (by far) our biggest request. So after a lot of thought and careful planning, along with the encouragement and guidance of our local realtor, we’ve come up with a number of services that you can mix and match, based on your needs. If you need help finding a property within certain criteria, we can dig through websites and listings for you. If you’ve already found a property, but don’t speak Japanese, we can help you communicate. If you found a property, but the pictures on the listing leave you with a lot of questions, we can go in person to take a look more closely.
While I try to share as much information as I can via our Photo Journal and YouTube channel, there are still inevitably many questions unique to each person’s situation. The first place to start would be with a video consultation, so we can answer your questions, give you a general overview of the process, and offer guidance about various difficulties. After that, you can determine which additional services would be most helpful for you:
- Immigration Overview Video Consultation: $200
- Answer your initial questions, for up to 90 minutes
- Discuss general Startup Visa or Business Manager Visa logistics
- Share all of our experience, to help you avoid potential pitfalls
- Point you in the direction of other professional guidance
- Real Estate Video Consultation (the first step): $200
- Answer your initial questions, for up to 90 minutes
- Develop an initial understanding of your specific situation
- Discuss general Japanese real estate logistics
- Discuss the properties you’re interested in
- Discuss any specific difficulties (farmland, inheritance, etc.)
- Discuss what documents you will need, based on residency
- Create strategy for your next steps
- Real Estate Representation and Translation (the second step; the complete process): $800
- Emails and Phone Calls with Realtor or other Japanese professional
- May include 1 or 2 in-person meetings (generally this is the initial site tour and/or closing)
- A La Carte: Live Video Tour + Photography: $250
- Live video tour (up to 60 minutes)
- Photo gallery delivered within 48 hours
- Clients can view, share, and download high-resolution images
- A La Carte: Representation and Translation (in-person meeting): $250
- Meeting a Realtor or other Japanese professional on your behalf, or along with you
- May include email and/or phone calls to arrange the meeting time
- A La Carte: Representation of Buyer as their “Domestic Contact” within Japan: $200
- It is now required for non-residents of Japan to delegate an official contact person within Japan, when purchasing property. In the event that Japan’s government could not reach you, we would be responsible for helping them to get in contact with you.
- A La Carte: Local Utility Bill Payment: $200 per utility company setup + $100 per year
- If you purchase property in the Shimanami Kaido area, but you will not be in Japan to pay your utilities, we can make arrangements for you. Please ask about further details.
- House-Hunting: Rate negotiable
- Searching 20+ real estate sites, based on your specifications
- Provide you with links to all listings that meet your criteria
- Please note: Most of the websites are in Japanese
Rates listed are for locations within the Shimanami Kaido area. Tolls and travel time are included between Onomichi, Hiroshima and Imabari, Ehime. For travel outside of this area, our rate is negotiable, based on distance and availability.
Rates are listed in US Dollar amount for your reference. If paying in Japanese Yen, which is preferred, but not obligatory, the rate would be based on the exchange rate at that time.
Note about purchasing property in Japan: Foreigners can purchase property in Japan, with or without Japanese residency. We purchased our first ‘akiya’ house while in Japan as tourists, and our second ‘akiya’ house after receiving Japanese visas and residency, so we’re familiar with both situations.
For those of you looking to buy a home in the Shimanami Kaido area: We’re happy to work alongside local realtor Shimanami Property, to assist his English-speaking foreign buyers. We’d love to have you as a new neighbor in the Shimanami Kaido area!
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