I originally posted this on reddit and and am pasting it here to see if any Retire Japan posters can help:
We’re entering the home loan phase of our house building and are looking for a mortgage.
I have an unusual financial situation due to owning a foreign (USA) company (yes, I have professionals both here and there doing my taxes) and am having trouble getting past the pre-screening. The reason multiple banks have told me is because on my Japanese tax returns my income is shown as 配当. I'm discussing with my J-acct about whether this can be changed for last year and this year as I believe going by the definitions at the tax agency, simply putting it as business income is more appropriate.
I have PR and am married to a Japanese national, have multiple years of tax returns in both countries, and plan to put down about 20%. We already bought the land last year and paid in cash. I've never been in debt here or abroad nor have ever had any loans. Credit cards paid in full each month.
Do any mortgage brokers exist in Japan? I’m looking for a company that can help us connect with banks. Frankly, we’ll take any loan that meets our desired amount. We’re far from picky given our circumstances. I'm even planning on contacting Mitsui Sumitomo Trust Loan & Finance next week and if their 4.4% is the only option, we'll even take that.
Alternatively, if anyone here works at a J-bank (rare, but who knows?) or is on good terms with theirs and think they’d like to get a new client, I’d be very open to that kind of help too.
Also, since some people may say to just ask the builder, I should note we're using a very local one that only really has a connection to one bank that didn't work out for us.
Thank you!