Developer · Tokyo, Japan · Member since 2019 · 10 posts · 2 votes
Hi everyone in the BiggerPockets community!
I'm relatively new to the real estate investment industry & was curious if anyone knows about investing overseas such as in Japan & how you can expand past the U.S. to seek these kind of opportunities & how that can become more tricky.
The reason for the question is because I'm from the U.S. but currently reside in Tokyo. I know that any foreign national can come here & purchase land & real estate, but when it comes to either flipping or turning it into a rental property, keeping it operational & functional adds another layer of challenges complicating the matter further. Has anyone tried this before & have had great results? Would love to hear about it.
Rental Property Investor · Minato-ku, Tokyo Prefecture · Member since 2017 · 42 posts · 17 votes
6y
@Robert Hartley - there are quite a few of us in Japan that invest both in Japan and the US. Where are you located? Every 3rd Thurs there is a meetup in Roppongi. Lots of lessons learned on both sides of the ocean that we can discuss. Property mgmt is the biggest issue I have in Japan. 1 is great, 1 likes to try to overcharge for everything and does the bare minimum (but dominates the local area so filled my building very quickly - trade off) and the small turnkey places are doing fine. Financing here is also very difficult after the Suruga scandal (with several others also getting in trouble).
The only flipping I have heard of regularly is the Akiya homes (abandoned homes). Some foreigners have bought condos after someone dies in their place as they can get them dirt cheap, but you will have a very difficult time renting it for the first year as you are required to tell people someone died there. But, if you rehab it in that year and maybe airbnb it (without the registration process - but beware of the local laws!) until the year is up, it could be a great flip or longer term rental.
Happy to connect and talk. Hopefully we will see you this Thurs at the meetup.
Thanks for the reply. I'm currently located in Suitengu & would love to attend the next meet up!
What time would it be this Thursday?
As I have a Japanese background & am fluent in Japanese I have seen the news & have read about the Akiya homes & am very curious about the process of flipping those homes & turning them into AirBnbs as the Tokyo Olympics are coming up & I know there are going to be many short term stays here in Japan. As for the local laws, it would be amazing to discuss about what kind of challenges lay ahead & what kind of tactics you use to break the barrier of law laid out by the Japanese government.