RetireJapan

Does anyone have experience of living in one location but buying property in another? If so, what was your work situation and how did mortgage lenders look upon this? Sorry, we can’t take your 10m Tokyo salary into consideration since you’re buying in Aomori...?

For background, I'm not ready to buy, but aspire to be ready in the medium-term. I'm weighing up staying put in A when my current rental contract expires or moving to B, where I'd be more likely to buy in the future. I may be employed, self-employed or both in the future... so my query really is very general and am reaching out to hear people's experiences about what may or may not be possible re long-distance purchasing.

I'm probably 2-3 renewals away from being ready to buy so this really is no immediate biggie/panic, and other factors will probably be the deciding factors re renewal/non-renewal this time around, but I would like to be more informed and would value the input of people on the forum.

I only have indirect experience with this, but in general, the location of the property itself is irrelevant to your salary etc.
Whether you are going to live in the property, however, can have a big impact on whether you're going to be approved for a loan or what interest rate the bank will charge.

If you're living in Tokyo but buying property in Aomori, for obvious reasons you won't be able to get a home loan.
If the bank thinks you're purchasing purely as an investment, they may charge up to 6% interest (or higher), which is obviously insane.

All things equal, I'd continue to save and just pay as much up front as you can in B when you're ready to move. No rush - and in general, owning property that's not close by is usually a Horrible Idea; too many things that can go wrong when it will be hard, expensive and time-consuming to deal with if you're living hours away.