RetireJapan

Basic question: Is home ownership always in a single name, or can spouses purchase jointly? If in a single name, can all household income be taken into consideration?

Home ownership is always named after 1 person.
Yes, household income can be taken into consideration for the loan.

Thanks.

Must the purchaser/mortgage borrower be the head of the household? I imagine ordinarily it would be. In my circumstances, perhaps the most mortgageworthy of the couple is NOT currently the head of the household. Of course that could be changed (but with associated cost and hassle).

I'm trying to align things to buy in the the next 1-5 years and will probably have a series of basic questions like these. Thanks in advance.

OkiBum wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 1:37 am Home ownership is always named after 1 person.
Yes, household income can be taken into consideration for the loan.

I don’t think the first part is correct, we bought last year and the house is in both our names. Amongst the myriad of paperwork we had to indicate the proportion of funds provided by each spouse, which was 50/50. We bought with cash so not sure how having a loan affects things.

kuma wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 3:02 am Thanks.

Must the purchaser/mortgage borrower be the head of the household? I imagine ordinarily it would be. In my circumstances, perhaps the most mortgageworthy of the couple is NOT currently the head of the household. Of course that could be changed (but with associated cost and hassle).

I'm trying to align things to buy in the the next 1-5 years and will probably have a series of basic questions like these. Thanks in advance.

No, not necessarily.

Beaglehound wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 3:28 am

OkiBum wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 1:37 am Home ownership is always named after 1 person.
Yes, household income can be taken into consideration for the loan.

I don’t think the first part is correct, we bought last year and the house is in both our names. Amongst the myriad of paperwork we had to indicate the proportion of funds provided by each spouse, which was 50/50. We bought with cash so not sure how having a loan affects things.

So when my parents bought their home they wanted to get a joint loan. They were told that cannot be done however the household income would be considered in order for the loan to be approved. You also need to get an insurance for cancer etc. and in that just 1 person's name is listed which is the person who technically is the owner of the house. You could both contribute 50/50 that's no problem but if you are to look at the technical aspect of it, the house only has one owner.

Same for bank accounts in Japan, you cannot have a joint account. Other countries allow for joint accounts where both partners are signatories and have full access to the bank account but Japan does not allow that.

OkLah! wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:30 am For me too bought cash and they asked us what percentage we each get. We decided 50/50. It is written in the documents.

We were told it would impact tax if one of us dies. Basically the survivor pays less.

So is this not true? How do I know then whose name it is?

Did you have to get insurance when you purchased your house? Who's name is that under?

kuma wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 3:02 am Must the purchaser/mortgage borrower be the head of the household? I

Doesn't matter at all.

Wrt to joint ownership, there is not so much sense in it if you are thinking about property division in case of a divorce, because in Japan courts (almost) always split it 50/50 anyway, disregarding of spouses income differences and other circumstances. In worst/best case they might split it 30/70, but I was told that it's extremely rare.

Inheritance tax limits for spouses and for property you are living in are pretty generous in Japan.

I think this is a two-part question.
1. Can the ownership be registered under more than one person?
--> A clear "YES". I too have personal experience with this, I have an apartment (bought in cash) with an 80/20 split ownership.

2. Can a mortgage be obtained jointly under more than one name?
--> Unsure on this point.

Home and land ownership can both be joint. My wife and I are currently building a house, while the land loan is in my name, my wife paid cash upfront to be put down as a part owner, for the house it's almost 50/50. We both have separate loans (although called a "pair loan" by the bank), and both of us have insurance to cover our debt should we die.