RetireJapan

Hello fellow users,

Lately I have been thinking that due to not possessing PR yet, it was maybe a good idea to buy a plot in cash and then build later with a loan once I obtain PR a couple of years later.

From what I see it’s most likely that construction companies accept this arrangement but they tie you to build with them later on. I will go inquiry about these details next week.
Also there will be taxes on the land for every year.

Alternative is to invest that money in the meantime and with R take a full loan for both house and land, but not sure how land prices will hold.

Thoughts on this? I’m thinking it might be a crazy idea after all.

entdark wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:35 pm
Alternative is to invest that money in the meantime and with R take a full loan for both house and land, but not sure how land prices will hold.

It depends where the land is.
Many places in the countryside, land prices are falling. If desirable, inner-city near a convenient train station, then your guess that prices will go up is probably spot on.

beanhead wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 1:36 pm

entdark wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 12:35 pm
Alternative is to invest that money in the meantime and with R take a full loan for both house and land, but not sure how land prices will hold.

It depends where the land is.
Many places in the countryside, land prices are falling. If desirable, inner-city near a convenient train station, then your guess that prices will go up is probably spot on.

it's for personal housing not for REIT. I checked https://tochidai.info/ and the area looks indeed negative overall, so it should stay that way I guess

Land with nothing on it pays a higher property tax rate. This is why many people put car parks on their temporarily unused land.

Or you can buy a plot of land next to your current house, and treat the plot as an extension of your current house.
That's what we did. Our property tax went up, but it certainly didn't double even though we more than doubled the total space of our plot.

Well, I went and asked around about this crazy idea. It turns out that if I go to a company like ふじ住宅, they are able to sell plots for building later. There are catches to this though:

• If you are not buying to build them, there is a steep increase on the land price.
• Even if you are buying with them later, that has to be done in less than 3 months.

I also asked about second-hand homes for later reforms, but they weren't very receptive of anything aside from changing the kitchen furniture Will postpone my search for at least a year and see how the market goes...

DragonAsh wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 4:22 pm Or you can buy a plot of land next to your current house, and treat the plot as an extension of your current house.
That's what we did. Our property tax went up, but it certainly didn't double even though we more than doubled the total space of our plot.

There are no plots near my current housing spot. That said I would prefer not to continue in this area long term, too narrow and too much traffic. I don't mind cars etc, but it clogs and walking is a gymkhana.

DragonAsh wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 4:22 pm Or you can buy a plot of land next to your current house, and treat the plot as an extension of your current house.
That's what we did. Our property tax went up, but it certainly didn't double even though we more than doubled the total space of our plot.

Just curious, but did you combine the new plot with your existing plot, or are you just keeping them separate? I suppose there are pros/cons to either approach...

mighty58 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 14, 2022 4:08 am

DragonAsh wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 4:22 pm Or you can buy a plot of land next to your current house, and treat the plot as an extension of your current house.
That's what we did. Our property tax went up, but it certainly didn't double even though we more than doubled the total space of our plot.

Just curious, but did you combine the new plot with your existing plot, or are you just keeping them separate? I suppose there are pros/cons to either approach...

Nope, it's combined with the existing plot - basically a big ol' yard. Of the various things I never expected to do in Japan, 'mowing the lawn' was high on the list...We bought the lot, tore down the house and spent the last couple of years putting down grass, flower beds etc.

Property tax for the one big lot (house plus garden) is cheaper than the property tax would have been for the two lots separate.

Pretty sweet idea if it's a dream location/land spot I think.

The build process sounds like a wedding x 1000 though in terms of choices and decisions over the course of 2+ years. One anecdote I have heard from a friend of a friend is that the lady ended up just saying "I'll take whatever you recommend for the garden."

7-seasons.com wrote: ↑Wed Jan 11, 2023 1:39 am The build process sounds like a wedding x 1000 though in terms of choices and decisions over the course of 2+ years. One anecdote I have heard from a friend of a friend is that the lady ended up just saying "I'll take whatever you recommend for the garden."

I hated this for our renovation of my wife's parents place. It was literally hundreds of hours of meetings about wallpaper and kitchen fittings and electrical sockets and bathroom designs and...

The thing is, you need to do all of it or you will end up paying much more than you want, or end up with a home that isn't quite designed right.

In no hurry to go through that ever again.