Making an Offer

All offers are made to the agent and these are reported to the vendor. When a price is agreed by both parties, you will sign a Commitment to Purchase and the vendor signs a Commitment of Sale. The property is taken off the market.

Preparing Documents

The Sales Contract and the Statement of Important Matters are prepared by Yamazanmai and sent to the respective parties for review. All documents are in English and Japanese. The English is for translation purposes only.

Timeframe: one week.

Executing Documents and Deposit Payment

When the documents are signed by all parties, you will send the deposit, the solicitor fees and 50% of the agent fee to our secure holding account. Under standard Japanese real estate contracts, the deposit is usually released to the vendor at this time.

Timeframe: one week.

Preparing for Title Transfer

After the contracts are signed you will need to prepare a Statutory Declaration and a Power of Attorney for the solicitor to register the title change, and send all remaining funds to our holding account at least one week prior to settlement. We provide an introduction to an English-speaking solicitor and they prepare all the registration documents in English.

Settlement and Transfer of Ownership

On the settlement day, the solicitor checks the title is clear of encumbrances. Following this, Yamazanmai releases the funds to the vendor and the solicitor registers the transfer of title at the Sapporo Bureau of Legal Affairs. A few days later the new title deed is ready and the solicitor couriers the new title deed to you. Congratulations!

Timeframe: settlement usually occurs three to four weeks after deposit payment. The entire process usually takes between four to six weeks.

Agent Fees

Agent fees are 3% of the purchase price plus 60,000 yen. This fee is subject to 10% sales consumption tax. E.g. the agent fee for a 10,000,000 yen acquisition is 396,000 yen.

Related taxes

After purchase, you will need to pay a one-time acquisition tax. Following this, there is a yearly fixed asset tax payment due in May each year. These figures are based on the council’s evaluation of the property. If you are not resident in Japan, you will need to appoint a tax proxy. Yamazanmai can assist with this, and make tax payments on your behalf.

Other Costs

You will need to pay solicitor registration fees, pro-rata fixed asset tax for the year of purchase, based on the settlement date, and cover all international and domestic bank charges.

Property and Asset Management

Our license holder Yasuhiko Yamamoto runs a management company for standalone houses and we can make an introduction where necessary. For many properties, there is already a property management company taking care of the asset. For land asset management, fixed asset tax, etc. we can provide a yearly service to take care of your payments.

Design and Construction

With plenty of great plots of land for sale, building in Niseko is an exciting and unique process. Yamazanmai can provide impartial advice on all aspects of construction and can provide plenty of feedback on suitable buildings for the cold and snowy environment.

Time to Relax

You’ve settled on the property, the title deed is in the safe, the property is in the safe hands of a property management company. What’s next? Time to relax, enjoy the sensational snow, fine cuisine, unique nightlife, hot springs and beautiful summers of Niseko with a glass of wine or two.

Get in touch to discuss your opportunities in Niseko. Or browse our Niseko listings.