RetireJapan

We saw a property we loved the other day, a real bargain. Met the owner, and checked the property over with an agent and a trusted architect/renovator. We made an offer on the same day, along with at least 1 other interested party. The Agent said it"s first come first serve. Whoever passes mortgage pre-approval first wins.

We applied online the same day with AU bank and SMBC (Main). We had seen someone at SMBC the months before, so we had a referral code that may give us an edge on confirmation. SMBC just requested the agents information.

So fingers crossed.

If anyone else can share their expereinces, positive or negative, it would have with the anxiety of the movenment.

Tsumitate Wrestler wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2024 3:33 am We saw a property we loved the other day, a real bargain. Met the owner, and checked the property over with an agent and a trusted architect/renovator. We made an offer on the same day, along with at least 1 other interested party. The Agent said it"s first come first serve. Whoever passes mortgage pre-approval first wins.

We applied online the same day with AU bank and SMBC (Main). We had seen someone at SMBC the months before, so we had a referral code that may give us an edge on confirmation. SMBC just requested the agents information.

So fingers crossed.

If anyone else can share their expereinces, positive or negative, it would have with the anxiety of the movenment.

when we bought our house I was making a substantial deposit using funds from various sources including some from outside Japan.
by a cash deposit, the house was being held for us for just a couple of weeks due to other interest.
Then I made a mistake with my bank account details.
So a lot of money was attempted to be sent to the wrong account. It took weeks to get it back and reattempt.
To cover this I borrowed cash off my newly retired father in law. And, I am not making this next bit up.
I visited a friend in hospital and wheeled them, in a drug addled state, from their bed, leg in one of those external exoskeleton metal frame things down to the ATM and propped them up whilst they withdrew over a million yen.
So check your digits! And drive safe folks!

what. No.
Obviously I'm not suggesting to fund the purchase by visiting drugged up strangers in Hospital.
The ATM limits are much lower now for one thing.

We put a deposit down and that secured our 'first come. first served' status. There were 2 other families who also wanted our house but we paid the deposit first.

Good luck with it.

beanhead wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2024 10:23 pm We put a deposit down and that secured our 'first come. first served' status. There were 2 other families who also wanted our house but we paid the deposit first.

Good luck with it.

This option was not available as multiple people applied on the same day. It seems in this case, securing financing is what is important. However, I am less than satisfied with our agent at present. We were told "good faith" money will come after the pre-screening.

Small things could matter, when the seller decides to select which applicant. My wife believes that SMBC proper will have more weight as a lender, while we also hedged or bets with AU, the fastest in the business.

Morale of the story - Complete pre-screening first. (We did not expect to buy until next year, but this place was a gem. Pre-screening lasts only 6 months).

I got offered a place with discounted rate but when starting the application the agent said someone "bid" the place a bit higher and offered me if I wanted to match it since I came first

It went through in the end (signing the contract soon) but I have no idea if it's actual bid or they just bait and switching me (although it's still lower than sticker price)

(oh and fwiw the same day of the application I applied for prescreening on aeon bank (online) and got approved a few minutes later. Not sure if that matters and makes me question why it was so quick. The other place I did the same day (SBI) told me it may take about a week)

SMBC called we qualify for approval BUT we must reapply through a branch connected with the agent and not through the loan plaza


Au - Approved - Passed screening - Total time (60 hours after application) Very fast.


Agent is off today. I will remain a nervous wreck.

P.S is this useful to anyone? I was hoping this might inform someone looking to make a future purchase.

For what it's worth, I'm definitely reading that thread, as I'd like to buy my own place in the not-so-distant future (one or two years).

We did not get it.

Someone who applied a few hours before us seems to have had a pre-approved mortgage lined up.

Oh well, it was learning experience.

We have to chat with AU, about what happens now that the pre-approval has gone through, but there is no house!