Appendix — What we do, and what we don't

Who we are

RESIDE JAPAN is a licensed real estate brokerage based in Kyoto, working with buyers from outside Japan.

Our licence number is displayed on our website and can be verified against the prefectural register.

We act as a buyer's agent. That means we represent the person buying, not the person selling.

What we do

We answer. Chapter 5 explained why enquiries from overseas buyers so often go unanswered. We contact listing agents on your behalf, in Japanese, broker to broker.

We check what the listing does not say. Road frontage, rebuild eligibility, boundary status, zoning, hazard designation, seismic standard, private road burden. Before you offer, not after.

We explain the Important Matters Explanation. In English, properly, with time to ask questions.

We negotiate on your instructions. Price, timing, what stays, who clears the property, who pays for what.

We make remote purchase work. The affidavit, the power of attorney, coordinating the judicial scrivener, timing the transfer so funds land on settlement day.

We stay after handover. Utilities, tax representative arrangements, receiving your post, settling the bills you cannot pay from abroad.

We manage properties. Long-term letting and short-term letting, under our own licence. If the house is going to earn, we can run it — and if you would rather use somebody else, we will say so plainly when they are the better fit.

What we charge

The statutory brokerage commission: 3% of the purchase price + ¥60,000 + 10% consumption tax, or ¥330,000 including tax for property at or below ¥8,000,000.

Payable on completion. If you do not buy, you do not pay.

As Chapter 5 explained, this is the same amount you would pay the listing agent if you approached them directly. It is not an additional cost. It is the same cost, paid to someone who works for you.

What we do not do

We are not lawyers. We do not give legal advice. Title, registration and complex ownership questions go to a judicial scrivener or a lawyer.

We are not tax advisers. We can tell you which taxes exist and roughly when they arrive. Your actual position — particularly across two countries — requires a qualified adviser in each.

We do not give immigration advice. Chapter 3 explains why property and visas are separate problems. For the visa, use a gyōsei shoshi or a lawyer.

We do not lend, and we cannot get you a mortgage you would not otherwise qualify for. We can tell you honestly whether financing is realistic in your circumstances. Usually, for non-residents, it is not.

We are not a construction company. We can introduce builders and inspectors, and we can manage a renovation project for you. We do not carry out the work ourselves.

We do not sell you a yield projection. Rental and short-term letting numbers depend on the specific address, the zoning, and the municipal ordinance. We will tell you what we can verify and we will tell you what we cannot.

What we will tell you that you may not want to hear

That the property has a problem which makes it a bad purchase for you specifically.

That your short-term letting plan will not work at that address.

That you will not get a mortgage.

That the renovation will cost more than the house.

That you should not buy this one.

A broker who says none of these things is not being helpful. Japanese property has real complications, and the ones you need to hear about are the ones that make your particular purchase harder.

If you want to work with us

Send us a message. Tell us roughly what you are looking for — budget, area, what you want to do with it, and when.

We will send you a short buyer profile to complete. It takes three to five minutes and covers your budget, area, intended use, timeline and requirements, and we use it to filter properties before we send them, so you receive things that fit rather than everything that exists.

If you do not

The book is yours regardless. Everything in it works whether you use us or anyone else.

If you take one thing from it, take this: the fee you pay to a broker in Japan is the same whether that broker works for you or for the person selling to you.

Choose deliberately.