Purchasing a Japanese Property While Living Overseas

[russturn]

I have a (another) question, this time about purchasing real estate. My wife (Japanese) and I have been living in Australia for almost 30 years and are in the process of retiring in Japan. We are currently in Australia still and have been looking at land.

We understand that if we purchase a property, at the time of settlement, we need an affidavit (宣誓供述書) to certify that we both live in our current address (in Australia) sworn to a Japanese notary (司法書士). Our estate agent thought that we may need to take this to the local Japanese Consulate to be certified.

I was wondering if anybody in the group has been through this process and if you could tell us about it.
I am sure that there is probably a thread about this, but I couldn’t find it.
Thanks in advance to anybody who can help.

[Deep Blue]

I purchased my house in Tokyo when I was living outside of Japan. It’s a fairly standard requirement to prove your identity and address for financial transactions.

I remember asking a notary public to certify a true copy of my passport and rental contract. That was good enough back in 2014. I didn’t go to a Japanese embassy or consulate.

[beanhead]

Facebook has at least one group dedicated to the process of purchasing property here from overseas.

[russturn]

Thanks for telling me about your experience, Deep Blue. Really appreciate it.

We now have to find a suitable block of land!

[russturn]

I will check out the Facebook page. Thanks!!

[no6una9a]

A bit late but maybe interesting for others: In December we bought a plot of land in rural area of northern Kyushu near by the see. We saw some nice offers their while being on holiday in April/2024. Back in Germany we got in touch with the agency selling the land and discussed some basics via e-mail. On our next trip to Japan Sept/2024 we visited the land together with the agency contact and finally told him we would like to buy it. Being back in Germany we fixed the contract completely remote. The agency sent us the contract documents and the notary the documents for the land registration. We had a quick zoom session for about 20 min. with the agency contact checking if we had any questions. Then we did the necessary signatures and sent some of the documents back. So basically, besides checking the situation of the land on site, everything related to buy the land was done remotely. And since December we are proud owners of a nice little piece of land near by the see waiting for a fine little house to be build in 2026

[Deep Blue]

Congratulations, that’s great. It is interesting to see there seems to have been a change of regulations. When I purchased from overseas I was told one document (key matters or something) needed to be explained in person by law. The estate agent actually flew out to where I was living to perform this step.

Glad to see it’s been dropped during the decade since!

Look forward to hearing about your house building adventure Ms in due course

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

A bit late but maybe interesting for others: In December we bought a plot of land in rural area of northern Kyushu near by the see. We saw some nice offers their while being on holiday in April/2024. Back in Germany we got in touch with the agency selling the land and discussed some basics via e-mail. On our next trip to Japan Sept/2024 we visited the land together with the agency contact and finally told him we would like to buy it. Being back in Germany we fixed the contract completely remote. The agency sent us the contract documents and the notary the documents for the land registration. We had a quick zoom session for about 20 min. with the agency contact checking if we had any questions. Then we did the necessary signatures and sent some of the documents back. So basically, besides checking the situation of the land on site, everything related to buy the land was done remotely. And since December we are proud owners of a nice little piece of land near by the see waiting for a fine little house to be build in 2026

Not Kitakyushu by any chance?

[no6una9a]

Hello, maybe a nearby neighbor? Going straight west from Kitakyushu for about 30 km you will come to Kanezaki where we will reside in about 2 years time.

[no6una9a]

Congratulations, that’s great. It is interesting to see there seems to have been a change of regulations. When I purchased from overseas I was told one document (key matters or something) needed to be explained in person by law. The estate agent actually flew out to where I was living to perform this step.

Glad to see it’s been dropped during the decade since!

Look forward to hearing about your house building adventure Ms in due course

Yes, I was prepared for some "obstacles", traveling back and forth, sitting in planes to Japan for about 20 hours oneway just agreeing to some paragraphs and signing papers. But the most difficult task was: The notary insisted in sending him a digital scan of my passport (which is no problem) but he stated a few times that the quality is too bad. I mean - thats obvious because passports are MADE that way to be no digitally faked that easy. Finally with the third copy he was satisfied and everything else went smoothly.

Indeed the next adventure will be organizing the house-build - looking forward to it