Investor · Surrey, British Columbia · Member since 2016 · 18 posts · 2 votes
Hi BiggerPockets community!
Elias here. Originally from Calgary, AB. Living in Japan for the last 8 years. Relocating back to Canada with plans to settle in Vancouver, BC area in 2017.
I'm serious about getting into real estate investment in properties within and surrounding Vancouver, BC and Calgary, AB, and hope to connect and network with people in those areas with a similar mindset and willingness to share ideas with each other in the future.
Ideally I would like to find something near Tokyo, but I know it'll be hard to find something that'll cash flow. Not really interested in flipping. I'm still trying to narrow down my criteria, but I think I'll probably focus on the other population centers, possibly on reinforced concrete buildings. Trying to figure out if I can take advantage of the residents loan in some kind of apartment building here in Tokyo that has an owners unit. It would be Nice to take advantage of the 1% owner occupier loan. There is a meeting in ropunggi on Thursday night, there are some good people there.
Location is obviously key if you are looking at other areas (closeness to station, shopping, schools) etc.
In addition, in more rural areas, people tend to rent units for families rather than for single occupants.
Last, I hear it is really a nightmare to attract tenants. Some friends have told me about paying 2 or 3 months of rent to a PM company just to get them to find a tenant. In addition, the quality of PM companies can be pretty bad (just as in any market), and the language & cultural barrier can be a real challenge in you managing them. Some things to keep in mind when looking outside of Tokyo!
About the meeting you mentioned, can I ask the name? Even though I am not seriously looking at Japan right now, it's always great to network and hear ideas from similar minded people!
Yeah I herd a lot of that info too. Apparently 200-300% is standard for the good management company's.
The names if the meetup are yokosuka Tokyo meetup, and I can't remember the name of the entire titles. I'm sure if you type meet up and Tokyo together you'll get it.
When I get home I'll try to remember to tag you in the posts.