Transcript
Speaker: Every transaction has a Yakuza article. Literally like a question like, are you Yakuza? Yes or no? And it's like, of course they're going to say no, right? Yeah, everyone says no. Everyone says no. So you've never had anyone check yes on Yakuza, right? Of course. i cannot say if you're a Yakuza member.
Speaker: But theoretically, if you help someone Yakuza boss buy in Gunma, and they come back to you said, hey, Aya, this person is Yakuza. What what the heck? Our company took that Yakuza check.
Speaker: Oh, there's Yakuza Check? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a website? Yeah, website and the name. Really? Oh, yakuzacheck.com.
Speaker: Welcome back to the buying a house in Japan podcast, the number one Akiya podcast in the world. I'm joined by my co-host Joey. Joey, how you doing? Really good.
Speaker: We have another special guest today. We have Ayana Yamaguchi. Ayana is one of our Akiya Mart exclusive agents now. We're really excited to have her live today in our Tama base camp.
Speaker: Ayana, thank you so much for being here. Yes, thank you so much for having me today. It's been a long time coming. You're a lot taller than I thought you were. I'd only seen, we'd we've been talking to Aya for maybe the past. We're eFriends. EFriends, maybe one year? Online friends. Yeah, almost one year. Almost one year.
Speaker: Since that year, I think Aya has had the most successful customer helping rate. and don't know if that was the right word. I think everyone we've sent you has been such a happy customer. So thank you for helping us the past year.
Speaker: um Zero complaints. Every single customer has been very happy with Aya. They've told us, if I'm buying a second house, I want to work with Aya. Yeah. Aya, do you mind giving us a quick intro introduction of yourself? You can also put in some Japanese. It's totally okay. Okay, so my name is Ayana Yamaguchi, and yeah I'm a real estate agent for 10 years. My career is about 40 Oh, 10 years? old okay
Speaker: Yeah. Wow. So, I'm 33 years old. Okay. How hard is the Takken test? So, how how old were you when you took the the test to become a Takken-shi, a licensed real estate agent?
Speaker: So and know before I entered this job, I took the TAKEN-SHI really hard, but about 200 hours. 200 hours?
Speaker: How much of the test material do you still use currently? Like, do you feel like the test helps you actually learn how to become a successful real estate agent? Mm-mm-mm. Really?
Speaker: Yeah. It's like a 6, 12% pass rate, 14% pass. It's like quite low percent pass rate. Yes, it is quite low. Okay. And so where do you live right now? You live in Tokyo? No, Kanagawa. Kanagawa, Yokohama area? Yeah, Yokohama area. Okay. Is that where you were originally born and raised, or...? No, I was born in the Guma. Oh, Guma.
Speaker: Oh, really? Yes. Where in Guma? Fujioka. Okay. For listeners who don't know anything about Guma, can you kind of describe the area? How far away is it from Tokyo?
Speaker: Yeah, about two hours from the train, but if you took the Shinkansen, it's about one hour from the Tokyo. Fujioka has like a race track.
Speaker: Is it famous for racing cars or something? Why do I think I know? Like Fujioka Circuit? I don't know. Fuji Speedway. might have just made that up. Fuji Speedway. Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka. Okay, okay. Mount Fuji. Zen Zen Zen Chigawa. What are the good points about Guma and bad points? a Good point? Nature.
Speaker: Rural. No people. Onsen. Hospital. Skiing? pakimon Brazilian people, right? Lots lots of Brazilians in Guma. Really? Yes, it's Oizumi town.
Speaker: What? Yeah. It's like a little, little Rio. Yes. Like the signs are in Portuguese. Is it because there's a lot of Japanese people that went to Brazil and then came back? I think so. I think there's sort of yeah, it's that it's from that historical relationship with Brazil. I think it's a lot of like Nikkei, but also just like regular, ah Brazil people that moved there.
Speaker: yeah Also, there's not a Kojo industrial company in the Guma. Also, they are working out there. Oh, okay. So, a lot of Brazilian workers. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Interesting. I know Guma is really famous for like the drift racing through the hills and stuff, right? Isn't that what I just said?
Speaker: No, no. It's different. Like, Initial D, I think, is based in Guma. So, Initial D. Okay, yeah. Okay. My brother likes. Oh, really? Does your brother do... does your brother What kind of car does your brother have? You know? Does he have a drifting car? No, no, no, no. Okay. ohm like ah Okay, I'm big initial defense. have You ever watched initially I watched like the first episode okay ghosts of Mount Akina Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: Anyways, how did you decide you wanted to become a real estate agent? So because that I want to make money. Okay. There we go. There we go. The straightforward answer. Nice.
Speaker: Sorry, straight. So, but I want to money. And you kind of felt like that was the best way to make money or were you considering many different types? But I don't have any skills about that like programming. Okay. ah so Real estate skills. So that's why I choose real estate because I can get the license. see.
Speaker: Not easy, but not you no and not impossible. Yeah, yeah but not possible. Just learning, just study. yeah so so What is your favorite part about real estate in Japan? Helping people yeah in Japan and also helping the clients in the overseas.
Speaker: Because they're stoked. They get a vacation home. like They're just so excited by the space themselves. We noticed that too with ah clients that we're helping. you know It's different when it's someone who's looking at it from an ROI perspective. They want to make returns on the house. When you're helping someone buy a vacation home, they're just so excited to get the house and to see the the dream coming alive. Over the past 10 years, when did you switch to helping foreigners buy?
Speaker: Was it from the beginning or? From the beginning. Oh, really? Yes. Oh, was that scary for your first couple of transactions? Yeah, it was scary. Yeah, I'm careful. Careful, okay. awesome Extra careful. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So already check, check, check, check.
Speaker: And then over the past 10 years, how many foreigners have you helped purchase? No, every month about five projects. Five, okay. So it's 60 a year.
Speaker: Yeah. So 600 maybe. Yeah, or more. Okay. That's a lot. Yeah, that's a lot. Really? Yeah. Do you feel like it's very easy for you or do you feel like there's still, it's very challenging for this, the transaction process?
Speaker: Not so easy, but that not so challenging. What's the hard parts? The hard part is now yeah translate the agreement. Okay. Can't you use to AI for that one now? Yes, of course. I always use that. Okay. So so you're really happy when you can start. Before you were manually translating or how did you translate it before? Manually. Oh, really? Yeah.
Speaker: Where do you think clients, um, like what, what steps in the process do you think that clients get most confused by or need a little extra, uh, handholding through any like difficult parts of the process you think for the foreign client?
Speaker: difficult part, maybe the beginning about the property search. So because Japan's house is really they are different and tekito is in Japanese but rough.
Speaker: rough rent like as a so for example if I understand what you're saying like sometimes we've noticed like boundaries the property lines you know especially with these older cheaper homes like no one's really sure is that is that the sort of things you mean by tekito yeah I was on about the ground yeah Recently, we on in ja Japan, when we build a house, we do the ground survey always. Like the soil composite test or like li liquid, with is that the same thing clay, sand, that type of stuff. and
Speaker: But before the 2000 year, they didn't do that. It's not so much common. So you're saying maybe houses built 1980 90, the ground could be really risky Yeah, risky, they didn't survey. So we are not sure the ground conditions. So if you purchase the old the house, some house tilting. Yeah. Your house is tilting. Yeah.
Speaker: So I'd like to hear from your perspective on the like, okay, Older homes don't have these ground surveys done. I know that 1981 seems to be a year. um a lot of people point to for the earthquake building code.
Speaker: Do you believe that it's safer to be in a house built after 1981? How old is your house? Or ah do you live in a mansion or house or? Currently, live in the house. I purchased the house. How old? What year? 2018. Okay. Very good. Very nice. other Aspects on that was changed in the 2000 years. Okay. yeah Mika said the same thing to me. So the year 2000 is more important than 1981? Yeah. Okay.
Speaker: For the wooden house. so For the wooden house. So a wooden house built in 1995. Do you believe it's dangerous? Monday. Monday. Eh, some house has money because the old Japan house after 30 years, they think about rebuilding, reconstruction.
Speaker: So if the house is the older than 30 years, so maybe a bit. That's a good time. Yeah, some trouble or some problems. Do you think 30 years is too old? No, I don't think so. Almost same year.
Speaker: hey exactly Yeah, exactly. Same age as us. Exactly, still young. Okay, so 19, what, when you work with customers, what do you recommend on age?
Speaker: You know, a lot of people want Akira in the 1980s. Do you say, no, that's not a good idea? Or what kind of advice do you give people? Yeah, honestly, I would the client to buy a new one. Okay. Yeah, like the 2000. 2000. it more work as a real estate agent to help someone buy an older, let's say 6,000, like 1 million yen house in Niigata? Like, are there, in general, more problems and more work you need to do? Like documents are missing or boundary lines aren't clear? Like, The older the house, the cheaper in general, more work or not, not true.
Speaker: Yes. Yes. Honestly, the newer house has a lot of hazards. Easy. Easy. They have documents and they don't have problems. Okay. but yeah, abandoned house is a bit difficult because we cannot take the, we don't have any enough material.
Speaker: What happens if you don't know boundary lines? You have to go to the city office and you ask them or... The boundary line? Yeah. No, no, just take that onside. Okay, you go onside, you see where the stone are. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What if the stone is missing?
Speaker: Yeah, so if you want a new store, you have to ask the grand, that's the house. But you can buy the house with the boundary unknown, right? Just generally the house and the land is like this. Like you don't need to have that accurate record to purchase the the land, right? Yeah, ideally they have the boundary every spot. But yeah, in Japan almost house doesn't have the boundary mark.
Speaker: So, so to to make this, if the house doesn't have the boundary marks, do you need to fix that before someone can buy it or no? No. No. Yeah. No. So you can purchase. You can purchase it, but that's the risk you're taking on that. you' You're not clear.
Speaker: man Not so much risk, but because it's really common in ja Japan. Okay. Yeah. Also, there are those pens or block wall in the house. Okay. So in Japan, the explanation of important matters is a document and and meeting you get with a licensed real estate agent and they go over...
Speaker: Pretty much everything they came up with, it's the due diligence document where they're like, you know, you're in the landslide zone or, you know, there's a... For one of our houses, there's like an archaeological site, like 200 meters that way, they told us about in the Explanation of Important Matters doc. Have you ever had this situation where a client purchased a house and they...
Speaker: came back to you and complained, hey, this this is broken or this is wrong or something like that. And it wasn't in, it they didn't capture it in the due diligence explanation of important matters.
Speaker: ah so I never. Never had that. Yeah, never had that. So quite thorough, these documents are. Okay. That's good to hear. and Yeah. So recently, I think you actually went up to Ieyama for one of our our clients here.
Speaker: So it sounds like in the Inaka areas, the sellers are also much more traditional, right? So they made you go. So typically you could do it online or. yeah Yeah. But they wanted you to go this time to Ieyama, right? Yes. So in this situation, you physically had to drive there maybe three hours, four hours away for the settlement meeting. Our Shihoshoshi also had to come from Nagoya all the way up there just to sit in a room and listen and then sign. Yes. Right? Yes. And that doesn't need to happen, right? That's only if the seller requests it. Like, hey, I will not sell you this property unless you are here. Yes. Okay. Okay. So overall, helping people buy these Akiya and Inaka are way more mendokusai and difficult than buying a new house in Tokyo.
Speaker: Yes. Okay. Sorry. No, no, no. This is just a fact. And this is this is why we we do have extra fees to try to incentivize our agents to to go far away and help people because it's more work.
Speaker: um what typical problems do you think customers face when trying to buy these inaka and akiya's in inaka areas yeah and not nothing nothing yeah i think so okay everyone hasn't had any complaints with you so i i feel like maybe i'm not sure it's too good too good here we never had what kind of advice do you give them typically Otherwise, ah so that area the some property is inside the red zone. Okay, so like landslides, so you look at the hazard maps. Yes, okay also cloud area. How bad is a red zone landslide?
Speaker: Red zone? We're looking at a house in zone. We're looking at a property in Shikoku in red zone. Pretty dangerous? and Depends on the house. Depends on the house? Yeah, always. Like a retaining wall. Okay.
Speaker: Okay, has a retaining wall. Yeah. Although my dad was like, that's not going to stop a landslide. Okay, so red zone pretty bad. Red zone is not so bad. And then banks will not give you loans on red zone. Yeah, I think so.
Speaker: When you are writing this, you know, doing the checking for the red zone or yellow zone for the explanation of important matters document, is there like a checklist? Like you always look for a tsunami zone, you always look for landslide zone, or is it kind of depends on the the specifics of the property? Yeah, yeah we have the format. so Format. Yeah, we have to fill out that this format.
Speaker: What is the like the the mafia, the Yakuza clause and all these documents? What is that? Could you explain that to us? Like... Has it ever stopped anybody or? Yeah, every trans transaction has a Yakuza article because we are in Japan, yeah, we, the Japanese government want it.
Speaker: Do you think even if you're Yakuza, you'd be like, yes. Yeah. with the Yes. yuk yeah by yourbye it's ah it's It's literally like a question. Like, are you Yakuza? Yes or no. And it's like, has Yakuza, like, would, like, why would, like, of course they're going to say no. Right. Yeah. Everyone says no. Everyone says no. They make you do that on, uh, in the U S there's like global entry. They're like, are you terrorists? Like, Like, what should I do? are you part of any Are you affiliated with any terrorist groups? Like, nah.
Speaker: So you've never had anyone check yes on Yakuza? Of course. i cannot say if you're Yakuza member. who So, like, I guess, like, let's say, hypothetically, you helped a Yakuza member purchase a property. Could you lose your license if the government found that out? Or, like, who gets in trouble? Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Yakuza, I can never meet this situation. But theoretically, if you help someone, Yakuza boss by in Gunma, and they come back to you said, hey, Aya, this person is Yakuza. what What the heck? Like who would come back Could you lose your license? Yeah.
Speaker: yeah I'm not sure, but maybe the government says something to that. Yeah, but yeah like our company takes the Yakuza check. Oh, there's Yakuza check? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like website? Yeah, website and the name. Oh, yakuzacheck.com. Yeah, yeah. Really? If the ah no client in the overseas, we put the name and...
Speaker: Oh, so so every customer you put Yakuza check? Yeah, background check. Yeah. Okay. oh Yeah. Well, if Dasera is a company, we take also the Yakuza check. If you knew a client was Yakuza, would you still help them or no? No, no, no. No? Okay. Of course no Okay. i have eye Of course not. Have you ever helped someone buy a ya ex Yakuza property?
Speaker: Never. Okay. Okay. So no no no interaction with Yakuza. Yeah. But ah in the case of the renter, in the previous company, I did a rental management role as well. Yeah. And the tenant was not Yakuza, but the criminal. Okay.
Speaker: So... well um Could be, yu yeah yeah. Yeah. So he came up on the background check, like criminal record. Sorted trash wrong three times in a row. So we have to submit the, don't know, guarantee supply. I would like, we would like the tenant to join the guarantee supply company to rental guarantee. So when I submitted this form, application form to guarantee supply company, but they declined.
Speaker: Oh, because they did a background check? Yeah. And they're like, oh, okay. So I didn't know the why, but if I put... Google. Yeah, Google his name.
Speaker: You can find it. Yeah. Okay, so if you have a criminal record in Japan, difficult to rent an apartment. Yeah. When doing rent, shifting gears a little bit, when you do rentals, there's always a guarantor company in the middle, right? So it's the renter, guarantor company, and then the owner or seller, right?
Speaker: Or owner of the building? Yes, right. Or the real estate company. Oh, yes. then Yeah. Yeah. ah So, ah no tenant. You know. Tenant has the guarantor company. Okay, tenant has the guarantor company. Got it.
Speaker: And then the owner has the real estate company. Yeah. Okay. And then the guarantor company, they just guarantee that you can pay they'll pay rent. They take a risk. like they What is their purpose? I i don't really understand. Oh, really? So, ah sorry. The guarantor company is hired by the management company. Okay, yeah. Render management company. Okay. So...
Speaker: ah My previous company hired a grantor company and they grant that rent. So if you if you miss rent and you you didn't pay the rent, you know that couple of grant that company will pay the owner. rent Okay. Yeah.
Speaker: That's why when you're when you're the tenant, you need to pay to guarantor company like one to two months rent. Yes. Okay. That's like insurance insurance for the landlord rent insurance what the landlord Who's the insurance for it the landlord or for the broke who's on the hook to pay the landlord?
Speaker: Landlord. Okay, sos so it's insurance for the landlord. Yeah, yeah. So make sure as a landlord you get paid even if your tenant is bad. e But the what the guarantor company charges the premium on the tenant to make sure, yeah, to take the risk.
Speaker: Yes. Can you ever go direct no guarantor company and just go directly to owner? I saw some agreement like this, but it's not usual recently.
Speaker: It's the landlord saying that I'm only going to rent to someone that has a guarantor company, right? The landlord is saying that I i want the insurance, right? Yeah, yeah. So if you're a owner, I strongly recommend that you should use the guarantor supply company. Okay. We are owner.
Speaker: We are. But she pays on time so far. We haven't we don't use a guarantor company for our kitakushis, right? Yeah, no guarantor. Okay, risky. risky oh you yeah for kitakiyushi property i think we're just renting it directly the tenant but our our rent is like it's pretty pretty low government support the tenant don't know could be could be don't know yeah if the tenant is a government support pay and rent paid by the local government oh Oh, they did say that the brokerage that was helping were the they said, put the rent price here. And then I think for government support, because I think we were asking for Yon Maung.
Speaker: And he was like, lower it by 1,000 yen. And you'll a lot of people on government support will qualify. Okay, that might be what do you Interesting. What areas of Japan are you, you think are going up or like are becoming popular amongst foreigners and and and domestic buyers?
Speaker: Like where would you buy a house if if you want a vacation home in Japan? There's two questions actually there. for Foreigners, where is it becoming, where are you seeing popularity for the foreigners buying right now?
Speaker: Myoko. Yes. Myoko. Iiyama. Nozawa.
Speaker: know that one Nozawa is a ski area. Okay. Also, Hokkaido. Okay. Is Niseko still possible or no? Niseko is too high. Too high? Okay, where are people going in? Otaru?
Speaker: Yeah, Otaru. This country I heard Furano. Okay. but i so but I heard Furano is really good actually too. don't know. i know Never anybody Okinawa. We never have any Okinawa clients. Okinawa. Never. Never. What's your feeling on Okinawa? Buying a house. If Joey wants to buy a house in Okinawa, would you say good, bad?
Speaker: Good. and Typhoon. ah know Be careful. that Okay. Just won't be there during tyoon Typhoon. Typhoon 22 right now. Typhoon 22. There's so many Typhoons, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So many Typhoon in the Okinawa area.
Speaker: Not a lot of waves though. Good to know. And then you yourself, let's say you had a million Ichioku. Where would you buy a house Japan? in Tokyo. Outside Yeah, Tokyo. Tokyo. Tokyo. No, no, no. no. No, no. no. No,
Speaker: No, No, no. no. no. No, No, no. No, no. no. No, No, No, no. No, no. No, No, No, No, no. No, no. No, no. No, No, No, no. No, no. no. No, No, no. No, no. No, no. No, no. No, no. No, no. no. No, No, no. no. no. No, No, no. No, No, No, no. No, yu pepper no. no. No, No, No, No, no.
Speaker: No, No, no. No, no. No, no. no, So you mean that 1 million? You have 1 oku and you have to spend it outside of Tokyo. No, 1 million dollars. what Okay, 1 million dollars. 1 million so? i mean You cannot buy in Tokyo. Everything in Tokyo is a no.
Speaker: They just changed the rules. Everything in Tokyo is 5 million. And you have 1 million. Hokkaido. Okay. Where in Hokkaido? Sapporo. Sapporo. Okay, okay. Why? why yeah Yeah, because it's too hot.
Speaker: Okay. Country in Japan. Yeah. That's true. and like I like Isaiah. It's just real straight, straight, straight forward here. Yeah, or maybe Guma as well. Oh, okay. Sorry, sorry, Guma. Okay. Where in Guma?
Speaker: Takasaki. Takasaki. Why Takasaki? Because the Shinkansen stop, they have Shinkansen station. Okay. Yeah, also easy to go to Tokyo. was just about to send you back to Tokyo quick. How far is Shinkansen? Like you two hours?
Speaker: Yeah, Shinkansen one hour. Okay. From Tokyo to Takasaki. Where in Tokyo do you like? If you were to rent rent an apartment in Tokyo, like brand new, you've got the $1 million. Minatoku.
Speaker: minatu Minatoku. Where Minatoku? What neighborhood? Akasaka. Aoyama. Okay, good. Rich areas. Aoyama is popular, eh? Not seaside. What about like Ebisu you like Ebisu Hiro.
Speaker: Okay. Do you think the prices in Tokyo are going to keep going up? yeah I think so. Okay. What do you think about it? I think so. I think so. Tokyo is like such a safe place to park.
Speaker: car Yeah, I think you you park cash. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like always going to go up. Everyone in Japan just keeps going to Tokyo. Yes. I mean, that's what they say that to get into politics real quick. That's what they say. You know, a lot of fingers are being pointed at Chinese investors that are trying to park their money outside of China and they're choosing Tokyo and condos to park their money. So, there you know, people are doing it. Okay. Let's talk. Let's talk about politics here.
Speaker: for foreign buyers should they be concerned you think or not yet i don't think so okay but if you want to purchase in the investment property in tokyo or i'm not sure or city center center area i'm not sure about the maybe the role because chiyota ward i know chiyota ward you can't resell under five years you have to hold it for five years or so or you get taxed something crazy i think and then also in osaka they removed the special minpaku law recently so it does feel like city centers are changing laws um aimed at people investing in on real estate
Speaker: Maybe law will change in the future and I'm not sure if the overseas client can buy the investment property. Oh, they might not let you buy. I'm not sure, but maybe the government want to sell the property in a rural area like Akiya or Avanahas.
Speaker: but not in cities. Yeah, but I don't think it's applied to the city. So yeah, you're saying that maybe you need to be uh, have some sort of immigration visa or a permanent residence as a foreigner. If you want to buy an investment property in a city center.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure about if the government's that does some restriction to obtain the, um, yeah. What do you think?
Speaker: Good law? Heavy handed? What's your opinion? well Good or bad. It's okay. i mean, bad. kindna bad kindna Yeah. I mean, it's interesting. Everyone's just coming to Tokyo, right? Yes. Tokyo, Fukuoka.
Speaker: What is going to happen to the Inaka areas? mean that guy to you It's a big problem, right? Like everyone's so old, there's so many Akiya. I feel like every Japanese person knows it's a problem, but there's no solution.
Speaker: No solution, yeah. It's just gonna happen, right? Shogunai. Shogunai can't be helped. What's gonna happen to you? are you optimistic about the future of Japan? Next 30, 50 years?
Speaker: Yeah, um them weized could go either way, you're we nice get Yeah, but I'm not sure about the rural area.
Speaker: The rural area is just like, there's no so there's no solution, I believe. like One, immigration is getting harder, so even if foreigners want to, foreigners can buy, but they might not be able to stay in the Inaka area with the business manager visa getting harder, the politics pushing kind of against anti-foreigner.
Speaker: population is declining like i think that's that's one part of this overall trend in japan right now and i don't know i don't think there's been i was reading some article the other day i don't think there's been a single country that has been able to increase the birth rate do you think there's anything japan could do you how do you how do we how does japan convince people to have families yeah well No solution.
Speaker: maybe so Maybe no solution. here What is the government doing on the Akiya front? They have, ah you know, each city's got their Akiya banks, but it doesn't seem like they're doing anything. Yeah. Have you ever worked with Akiya bank?
Speaker: I never worked with Akiya bank. Okay. Yeah, but in the some clients, they They'll send you Akiya Bank, but the problem with that is you need they need to live there full-time, right?
Speaker: A lot of times there's an interview or something like that? Yeah, and but it depends on that city. the city yeah okay In the Myoko, it's... It's okay. yeah Oh, really? Yeah, second house is a supply. We should maybe be, yeah. Miyoko Akiya Bank is yeah free for all.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay. Good to know. We were looking at a property on Akiya Bank in Yakushima and they said the same thing. They're no, no, no. You have to like, maybe if you lived here for three years, then we would consider you kind of thing. So it's not even like move there and then buy. You need to move there and live for a little bit of time. yeah Yeah. and Depends on the city and depends on the house at all.
Speaker: We have a couple more questions for you. I guess the biggest one are many of our listeners want to buy an Akiya in Japan. You know, they want to go through the process. They're very eager. They're listening to the podcast to learn.
Speaker: What kind of advice do you have for someone who's just starting to look at moving to or buy a house in Japan? My advice is, so if you want to purchase Akiya in Japan, I think you should do the renovation work.
Speaker: You should expect to do renovation or you should be able to do yourself. I don't expect the innovation work. But I think the cost of innovation in Japan is a bit higher than other countries. I'm not sure. i mean i think the U.S. is much higher. Really?
Speaker: Yeah. It's not cheap, I think. I agree with you. But yeah, some customer, or some client was surprised the cost of the renovation after the purchase.
Speaker: For our first property in Beppu, we put about 100% of the purchase price. We bought it for $40,000 US, like 600万. We put another 600万, $40,000 into renovation. So I do think like expect to kind of double your budget when you're buying a property that needs renovation. Because yeah, it it you know it it it really does add up.
Speaker: so source What's a good budget for someone to come in and start thinking about buying? what's the yeah Good budget if they want Inaka. Inaka? Inaka is okay with Inaka.
Speaker: Okay being far away from the train station. What's a good starting budget you think for a buyer for the by including the renovation cost or just just total like i have this much money i want to buy a house in japan how much would you recommend they they have saved before they start thinking about this well five million five million at least okay at least five million ye yeah 35 000 us yeah thirty five thousand u s yeah I would say close. My gut is probably 8 to 10 million yen. Yeah, I would probably say 8 million. Yeah, yeah. Well, 8 to 10 is good. Good? Good. Okay. okay
Speaker: Thanks for joining us on the podcast, Aya. Thank you. Thank you so much, Aya. You've been a great agent with us. We will be sending this podcast to people who are interested in purchasing with us. a Quick plug, we have a program called Akiyamard Direct where we set you up to...
Speaker: Work with agents like AYA if you're interested in buying in Japan. But AYA, thank you so much for your help and thanks for being here today. Thank you so much. how you got the with
Speaker: Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Buying a House in Japan. If you find the show helpful or at least entertaining, give us a five-star rating. Takes five seconds and really goes a long way. If you or someone you know is looking for a Japanese home, check out Akiyamart.com, our English-friendly site that lets you browse over half a million listings. That's A-K-I-Y-A-M-A-R-T.com to find your dream home in Japan.
Speaker: If you've got questions or feedback, drop us a line, email contact at akiamart.com. You can also find us on Instagram as well as TikTok, where we post properties, tips on the home buying process, and updates on our own purchases and renovations. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.
