When Can I Raise My Tenant’s Rent? When can you raise your tenant’s rent? Is it even legally possible to do so? What are the laws regarding raising a tenant’s rent? First, two scenarios: James vs. Haruto James is a landlord, and Haruto is his tenant. They have a Regular Lease Agreement. In the past, [...]
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Does Japanese real estate decrease in value? Well, it’s complicated. Some parts of Japanese real estate are likely to decrease in value, while others are likely to increase. Furthermore, the statement “Japanese real estate decreases in value” is a loaded one. It assumes that in other popular investment destinations, real estate doesn’t (or won’t in [...]
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Click here to Take Me Back To Part One to find out how the system works... Previously, we learned that by law, those who live and work in Japan must join government insurance schemes. Most employees get ”Social Insurance”, which includes Health Insurance and Pension. Social Insurance is a fixed percentage and comes [...]
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By law in Japan every person must pay into the government health insurance and pension scheme unless exempted. These are arguably large financial obligations. They cost a typical worker hundreds of thousands of yen per year, and the premiums are increasing. During Fiscal Years 2013-2017, premiums for Social Insurance (including health care and pension) increased, [...]
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Take Me Back To "Things To Avoid In Japanese Real Estate, Part I". A Floorplan That Is Odd or Unusual Not every home is rectangular. Some have “eccentric” designers who design them to look like a shuriken, a sausage, or an eyeball. Are the toilets, or is the kitchen, in a disconcerting place? Are [...]
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Japanese real estate can be very lucrative. For example, take the current average return on investment (ROI) in the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo. Using this average ROI, for every $100,000 you invest, you’ll get $5,500 per year in passive income. This number goes up to $6,500 in the outlying areas of Tokyo. It soars [...]
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What exactly are owners’ associations and management companies? When you buy a house things are simple. The building and the land are yours to do with as you please. However, when you buy a unit in a building, things get more complicated. If buying a unit in a larger building, you decide what to do [...]
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Owning a house can be different from owning an apartment because apartments always have common areas. Common areas often include hallways, stairs, a laundry area, a front entrance, gardens, parking, etc. These common areas belong to all the unit owners collectively. Managing these common areas is the responsibility of the whole community, not just any [...]
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You might think: “To make and maximise a property listing isn’t my job. It’s my real estate agent’s job”. In Japan, recruitment of tenants is the job of real estate agents, property managers, etc., after all. They are responsible for creating the listings that go on popular websites such as “at home”, “Suumo,” and “LIFULL [...]
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The Japanese tax system allows taxpayers to reduce their taxes with deductions. This allows them to save more money for the things that matter. For example, imagine that your income is ¥10,000,000 (the 33% tax bracket). Normally, with no deductions, if you make ¥10,000, you will pay ¥3,300 tax on it: ¥10,000 × 33% [...]
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