RetireJapan

Hi All,
My wife and I are both foreigners living in Japan for 10years+, we are hoping after we both get permanent residency to apply for a mortgage from a Japanese bank.
My question is which banks are the most foreign friendly when it comes to mortgages?
Should we have substantial savings with the same bank before applying for a mortgage or does this matter?
A joint account is not possible to the best of my knowledge with Japanese banks, we would be saving under one of our names.
Thanks in advance for any advice on this stressful matter!

Hi Tom

Good questions! We'll be writing a Guide to mortgages soon, but in the meantime:

PR is very important, as is income stability. You can combine your income with your spouse.

Any bank should be okay, but the smaller local ones can have better rates.

I was able to borrow 100%. I don't think they are too bothered about whether you are an existing customer.

Anyone else?

Echo all of what RetireJapan said. When I took out a mortgage it was with a bank I had never previously dealt with. Stability of income seems the most important thing (other than getting PR). You might also need a guarantor.

Good luck.

Thanks Guys for the advice.
I already done some research...it appears Shinsei is the most accessible for foreigners, although I need to have a Gurantor who's a relative in Japan, and I need to live in the bought property until the mortgage is fully repaid ( how would they implicate this?)
Neither of these works for me...seems my decision has being made for me

Shinsei is 'foreigner friendly', in that they have an English interface and will consider people without PR, but their rates tend to be higher than the best in class. Make sure you check out the national banks as well as the local ones (which often have the best deals).

Good luck!

If your real estate agent is worth their salt, they will find banks for you and talk you through the offers. As has been mentioned already, the local banks offer the better rates, And mine didn't even require a guarantor. You will lose out on some minor things though, like availability of free ATMs.

Thanks Steve, I didn't think of asking the real estate agent tbh.
Is the rule of living in the said property until the mortgage it's fully paid back really enforced?
Is it standard practice in obtaining a mortgage from a bank?
I'm not planning on being in Japan until I'm 70, maybe for another 20 years thou..
Cheers in advance

Not sure about having to live there, but if you want to rent it out you will be expected to pay back your residential mortgage and get a new to-let one with a higher interest rate.

If you rent it out and the bank finds out, they can demand you pay off the mortgage immediately.

Good to Know
Thanks.

We had 3 lenders ready to loan us the money for our apt

We ended up going with the local credit union because they had treated us fairly throughout our life here in the archipelago.

A regional bank said they would accept our loan only if we switched all our business to their bank.

It was an interesting offer but in the end we went with what we knew with the local credit union.

Some banks have loan officers available on weekends. They are made up mostly of retired former banksters who are familiar with the process. So you should ask around and see if any lenders have that option. It was great being able to show up on a Sunday afternoon and in fact we were the only people in the branch at the time. It was super easy, they helped us with the forms and made some great suggestions.