RetireJapan

Some background information:

I have a mortgage (I think it's a mortgage, as opposed to a loan!) through a local 信用金庫.
I borrowed 100% of the home value, to be repaid over 20 years.
The interest rate for the first five years (about to come to an end) has been 1.8%.
Every year, once a year, I get paid a small dividend (under 500 yen) and receive a fancy-looking slip of paper that looks a bit like an old-style check.
All of this was set up for me by the President of my company, who got me both my current job and this mortgage. The 信用金庫 I use is one of the banks my company (large respectable company) uses.

1) I appear to be being paid an annual dividend based on 30,000 yen I invested when I took the mortgage out. I always wondered what this 30,000 yen was for when I first got the loan. Is this arrangement normal when getting a loan from a 信用金庫? I have in fact become a shareholder?

2) I am told my interest rate is "very high", but I have never really bothered to look into it. I only borrowed 13m yen, and it wasn't a Flat-35 or other type of "standard" mortgage. Can I shop around and ask another 銀行 or 信用金庫 to take on the remainder of my loan at a lower rate?

3) Is a 信用金庫 more like an old style UK building society, as opposed to a bank?

4) Each month, when my mortgage payment leaves my bank, it says 証書貸付 as opposed to ホームローン. What is this exactly?

Do I in fact have this kind of deal ("Certificate of Deposit Loan), as opposed to a traditional mortgage?
https://www.bankrate.com/loans/personal ... nd%20more.

Any advice would be appreciated.

While 1.8% seems very high (I know Shinsei have a floating rate loan that starts @ 0.45% right now - albeit for new loans not refinancing), however if your total loan is only 13mm JPY, and you've already paid off a substantial part of it, the fees to remortgage might end up costing you more in the long run (especially if your current loan has early repayment fees/penalties?)

Most of the banks do a simulation (google shinsei home loan for results in English too), which will let you know roughly the monthly charges over the repayment period, and will give you a total cost of funds over the years (e.g., if you borrow 40mm you'll end up paying back 49mm over 30 years, etc. ) This isn't a great indicator but might help you compare like for like with your current provider.

I'll need to take a hard pass on the difference between the banks / building societies part, outta my league

JapaneseMike wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:25 am While 1.8% seems very high (I know Shinsei have a floating rate loan that starts @ 0.45% right now - albeit for new loans not refinancing), however if your total loan is only 13mm JPY, and you've already paid off a substantial part of it, the fees to remortgage might end up costing you more in the long run (especially if your current loan has early repayment fees/penalties?)

Most of the banks do a simulation (google shinsei home loan for results in English too), which will let you know roughly the monthly charges over the repayment period, and will give you a total cost of funds over the years (e.g., if you borrow 40mm you'll end up paying back 49mm over 30 years, etc. ) This isn't a great indicator but might help you compare like for like with your current provider.

I'll need to take a hard pass on the difference between the banks / building societies part, outta my league

I would venture "credit union" might be a better fit than building society.

JapaneseMike wrote: ↑Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:25 am While 1.8% seems very high (I know Shinsei have a floating rate loan that starts @ 0.45% right now - albeit for new loans not refinancing), however if your total loan is only 13mm JPY, and you've already paid off a substantial part of it, the fees to remortgage might end up costing you more in the long run (especially if your current loan has early repayment fees/penalties?)

Most of the banks do a simulation (google shinsei home loan for results in English too), which will let you know roughly the monthly charges over the repayment period, and will give you a total cost of funds over the years (e.g., if you borrow 40mm you'll end up paying back 49mm over 30 years, etc. ) This isn't a great indicator but might help you compare like for like with your current provider.

I'll need to take a hard pass on the difference between the banks / building societies part, outta my league

Thanks! Also, I have to weigh up the potential savings versus the "pain-in-the-ass" factor to put things in motion!

Old thread, but this was also a condition of my loan at a 信用金庫. Guess that is the way they do it.
Interestingly enough, the maximum I could invest was 100,000 yen, minimum 10,000 yen. Sadly the dividends has gone down from 4% to 2% over the last couple of years.