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Direct purchase by a company (買取) or brokerage (仲介) — how much do the net proceeds differ? Laying out everything that is deducted
Direct purchase by a company (買取) and brokerage (仲介) have to be compared on net proceeds, not on the headline price. With brokerage, brokerage remuneration arises, and until a buyer is found the costs of holding the property — management fees, the repair reserve fund, fixed asset tax and city planning tax — keep going out. Direct purchase carries a different kind of value, in that liability for non-conformity with the contract can be disclaimed; but even where a disclaimer clause is agreed, under the Civil Code (民法), Article 572 the seller cannot escape liability for facts the seller knew and did not disclose. Following the statutory text and the public notice (告示), this article lays out the items one by one: the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism public notice that sets the ceiling on brokerage remuneration, the special rule for properties priced at 8 million yen or less, the statutory basis for the holding costs, and liability after the sale. It does not state a conclusion about which of the two is better. It is written so that you can do the arithmetic with your own figures. From Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd.
Can I sell my condominium unit while management fees are still unpaid? — How the arrears pass to the buyer
Yes, you can sell a condominium unit even while management fees and repair reserve fund contributions are in arrears. The arrears, however, pass to the buyer. Article 8 of the 建物の区分所有等に関する法律 (Act on Building Unit Ownership, etc.; below, the Unit Ownership Act) provides that a claim held by the management association and others "may also be exercised against a specific successor (特定承継人) of the unit owner who is the debtor," and the Commentary to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Standard Management Bylaws explains specific succession as covering "sale and exchange and the like." The amount in arrears reaches the buyer through the explanation of important matters (Real Estate Brokerage Act (宅地建物取引業法), Article 35, paragraph 1, item 6; Enforcement Regulation of that Act, Article 16-2, items 6 and 7; and the Ministry's published interpretation and operation guidance). Even if the buyer pays, nothing in the statutory text extinguishes the seller's own obligation. A management association can apply for an auction without first obtaining a final and binding judgment (Civil Execution Act, Article 181, paragraph 1, item 2 (c)).
The title deed cannot be found. Can the property still be sold? — The three substitutes, and how long each of them takes
A title deed — today, the registration identification information (登記識別情報) — is never reissued. The Real Property Registration Act (不動産登記法), Article 21 says only that it is notified "when the registration concerned has been completed", and the Act contains no provision for issuing it a second time. You can still sell. The proviso to Article 22 of the same Act carves out the case "where there is a legitimate reason for being unable to provide it", and three substitutes are available: identity verification information (本人確認情報) prepared by a judicial scrivener (司法書士), the advance notice procedure, and authentication by a notary. Only one of the three has its period fixed by law. Under the Regulations for Real Property Registration (不動産登記規則), Article 70, paragraph 8, where the address is outside Japan the period is four weeks from the day the notice was dispatched — not from the day it arrived. On a schedule of selling within 30 days and then leaving the country, that route is almost never the one chosen. This article sets out what each of the three involves, how long each takes, and what each costs, in tables. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
What actually happens on the day of completion? — Who is checking what
On the day of completion (決済), everyone involved gathers in one room, and the money only starts to move once the judicial scrivener (司法書士) has finished checking identities and documents and has decided that "the registration can be applied for as things stand". The order is never reversed. The first thing that happens is the judicial scrivener's identity check. The Code of Conduct for Judicial Scriveners (司法書士行為規範), a rule of the Japan Federation of Judicial Scriveners' Associations, requires at Article 44 that the person, their intention and the property be confirmed, and provides at Article 47 that attendance at a real estate transaction must not be carried out by an assistant. Once receipt of the funds is confirmed, the registration is applied for the same day. That is because the Real Property Registration Act (不動産登記法), Article 4 provides that the ranking of registrations follows the order of registration, Article 19 provides that a receipt number is assigned, and the Regulations for Real Property Registration (不動産登記規則), Article 58 provide that registrations are made in the order of the receipt numbers.
If I sell while the tenant is still living there, what happens to the security deposit? — What carries over in a sale with a tenant in place (オーナーチェンジ)
Even if you sell a rented property while the tenant is still living in it, the obligation to return the security deposit (敷金) passes to the buyer automatically as a matter of law. This is because the Civil Code (民法), Article 605-2, paragraph 4 provides that when the position of lessor is transferred, the obligation relating to the return of the security deposit is assumed by the transferee. The tenant's consent is not required either. However, you can only assert this against the tenant once the registration of transfer of ownership has been made, and there is no provision anywhere that governs how the money equivalent to the security deposit is to be passed from the seller to the buyer. Whether it is deducted from the purchase price or remitted separately is settled by contract between the parties. Following the statutory text, this article separates what transfers automatically when you sell a property that is currently rented out from what has to be settled by contract. It is written for owners who are leaving Japan and disposing of a property they have been renting out, and for owners who already live overseas. From Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd.
Can a foreign resident register a seal in Japan on the same day? — What trips people up is not the seal but the spelling of the name
Yes, the same day. Go to the ward office in person with your residence card and the seal registration is done on the spot, with the certificate of registered seal issued that day. What trips people up is not the seal itself but the spelling of the name. In Bunkyo-ku, the only seals that can be registered are those showing "the surname, given name, full name or alias recorded in the Basic Resident Register". If you are a foreign national and want to register in Latin letters, kanji, an alias or katakana, that form of your name must already be on your residence record (juminhyo). If your residence card is in Latin letters and you turn up with a kanji or katakana seal, it cannot be registered there and then: the additional entry on the residence record has to be made first. A certificate of registered seal is essential for the registration of transfer of ownership at completion, so if your departure date is fixed, check early. This page is based on how Bunkyo-ku does it, and practice varies between municipalities. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
When your Business Manager visa becomes hard to renew, how do you wind up the company and the property? — Do not get the order wrong
Sell the property first, and wind up the company afterwards. Do it the other way round and you are stuck. Once a company is dissolved, the company in liquidation must give public notice in the Official Gazette to the effect that creditors should state their claims within a specified period, and that period may not be less than two months (Companies Act, Article 499, paragraph 1, proviso). Winding up a company therefore takes two months at the very least. And once the liquidation has been completed and the corporate legal personality extinguished, property in that company's name can no longer be moved. Your status of residence, meanwhile, has an expiry date. The amendment that came into force on 16 October 2025 raised the guideline for capital in the Business Manager category from JPY 5 million to JPY 30 million, and some people now expect their renewal not to go through. The day your status of residence expires, the day the company is finally wound up, and the completion date for the property: this article sets out how to line those three up. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
You have decided to sell after you leave Japan. What should you do now? — The things you can only do before you close your residence record
If you have chosen to sell after you leave, there are things that can only be done while you are still in Japan. Close your residence record and your seal registration ends with it, so no certificate of registered seal can be issued. The substitute is a signature certificate from a Japanese embassy or consulate abroad, which takes an appointment and a journey. If the address on the register is still an old one, the documents for the change of registration are easier to assemble while you are here. If the contract of sale from when you bought cannot be found, the acquisition cost becomes 5% of the sale price, which can move the tax by millions of yen. A Japanese bank account is needed both to receive the proceeds and to pay the tax. And if you file notification of your tax agent by the day you leave, you have not made a "departure" for tax purposes and your return is due on the ordinary deadline the following year. This article sets out, in order, what can be done in your last few weeks in Japan. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
How do you tell whether a real estate company is licensed? — Ask for the number, then check it on the spot
Ask "could you tell me your real estate brokerage licence number?", then check that number on a government site. For a company with an office in Tokyo, the Bureau of Housing Policy of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government runs the 宅地建物取引業者免許情報提供サービス (Real Estate Brokerage Licence Information Service), which covers both Governor-licensed and Minister-licensed companies. Nationwide, there is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's 建設業者・宅建業者等企業情報検索システム (Corporate Information Search System for Construction and Real Estate Brokerage Businesses). Carrying on a real estate brokerage business without a licence is unlawful (Real Estate Brokerage Act, Articles 3 and 12), and an unlicensed operator is outside both supervision and the guarantee scheme. The figure in brackets in a licence number is the number of renewals, and a licence runs for five years. A higher figure means a longer trading history, but being new is not in itself a bad thing. This article sets out what to look at, and what not to. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
Why Japanese Land Value Depends on Floor Area Ratio — And Why Nearby Sale Prices Cannot Be Applied Directly
In Japan, the price at which a nearby plot sold cannot be applied directly to your own plot. Land is divided into use districts under city planning, and each district has a cap on how much floor area may be built — the floor area ratio (*yosekiritsu*). That cap drives land value. In practice, the difference in floor area ratio is adjusted for before any comparison is made. This page sets out what Japanese brokers actually look at when estimating land value. It is written for practitioners involved in Japanese real estate transactions. It does not address the valuation of any specific property.
What happens to the tax if you cannot find the contract from when you bought? — The wall at 5% of the sale price
Where the acquisition cost is not known, an amount equivalent to 5% of the sale price may be taken as the acquisition cost (National Tax Agency, Taxanswer No.3258; Income Tax Act, Articles 33 and 38; Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation, Article 31-4, and the circular on that Act, 31-4-1). Turned the other way round, that means that if you cannot find the contract of sale from when you bought, the remaining 95% can fall to be taxed. Sell for JPY 50 million with the acquisition cost unknown and the acquisition cost is JPY 2.5 million, giving capital gains of JPY 47.5 million. Even at the long-term rate (income tax of 15.315% for a non-resident), the tax comes to over JPY 7 million. A single contract moves millions of yen. That is why the contract of sale from when you bought is the first thing we would have you look for as you prepare to leave. This article sets out what to gather instead if it cannot be found, and how far those materials are accepted. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
When do you become a "non-resident"? — The contract date, the date of delivery, or the date you leave?
Whether you are a non-resident for Japanese tax purposes is not decided by the date you leave Japan, nor by the date of the contract. For consideration on the transfer of land, the date on which payment falls due is ordinarily the date of delivery of the property, so it is the seller's status on that date, resident or non-resident, that decides whether withholding at source applies (National Tax Agency, question-and-answer examples; Basic Circular on the Income Tax Act, 36-12). The National Tax Agency has answered that withholding was required even where the seller had returned to Japan and become a resident again by the time the money was paid, because delivery had taken place while they were a non-resident. Getting the contract signed before you leave is therefore not enough: delivery has to be completed as well. This article also sets out the definitions of resident and non-resident (Income Tax Act, Article 2, paragraph 1, items 3 and 4), domicile as the centre of one's life, and the presumption as to domicile where a person has an occupation that ordinarily requires them to live abroad continuously for a year or more (Order for Enforcement of the Income Tax Act, Article 15).
If you are handing over a power of attorney and going home, what should it say? — Blank and limited powers of attorney
A power of attorney is a piece of paper that counts as your own word. A manifestation of intention made by an agent within the scope of their authority, indicating that it is made on behalf of the principal, takes effect directly in relation to the principal (Civil Code, Article 99, paragraph 1). Hand one over without writing down the scope, and even where the agent acts outside that authority you may be held responsible, provided the other party had reasonable grounds to believe the authority was there (Article 110). So you write it narrowly: the matters delegated, the buyer, the floor price, the account the money is paid into, a prohibition on sub-agents (Article 104), an expiry date, and the date of execution. A mandate may be terminated at any time (Article 651, paragraph 1), but terminating it is not enough on its own, because you may still be answerable to a party who does not know the authority has ended (Article 112). Plan on recovering the document and notifying the other side as well. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
What happens if the address on the register is still your old one? — It became compulsory in April 2026
Where the surname, name or address of a property owner changes, an application to register the change must be made within two years of the day of the change (Real Property Registration Act, Article 76-5). The rule came into force on 1 April Reiwa 8 (2026). Neglecting the application without justification carries a non-penal fine of up to JPY 50,000 (same Act, Article 164, paragraph 2). Addresses that changed before the commencement date are covered too, and must be registered by 31 March Reiwa 10 (2028). When you sell, you end up putting it right first for a separate reason: the registration of transfer of ownership will not be accepted unless the address on the register matches the address on your seal registration certificate. If you have decided to leave Japan, check this before you close your residence record. Once you have moved out, the change of registration becomes a good deal more troublesome. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
Does a tax agent in Japan need a qualification, and can a company act as one? — The notification you file by the day you leave
The law lays down no qualification for a tax agent in Japan (nozei kanrinin). Anyone with an address or a place of residence in Japan who is conveniently placed to handle the work may serve — an individual or a company (Act on General Rules for National Taxes, Article 117, paragraph 1; National Tax Agency, Taxanswer No.1923). File by the day you leave. The Income Tax Act defines "departure from Japan" as ceasing to have an address and a place of residence in Japan without having filed notification of a tax agent, so if you file, you have not made a "departure" for tax purposes and your final tax return for capital gains is due on the ordinary deadline, 16 February to 15 March of the following year. If you do not file, that year's return has to be completed by the time you leave — and the tax office can go further and designate your spouse, a relative or a business counterparty as your tax agent (a designated tax agent). A company may serve, but Yotsuba Real Estate does not take this role; we introduce you to a licensed tax accountant. This article explains why, and sets out what it is likely to cost. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
Should you not simply instruct the company that gives the highest appraisal figure? — An appraisal and a bid are different things
An appraisal figure is an opinion — that the property would sell at this price — and not a promise to buy. The Real Estate Brokerage Act provides that where a real estate broker states an opinion on the price or the valuation, the broker must disclose the basis for that opinion (Article 34-2, paragraph 2). Asking for that basis is the client's right. A bid is a different thing: it is the figure a buying company puts its hand up with — "we will buy at this price" — and it is not an opinion. Where the days remaining before you leave Japan are limited, there is no time to wait for appraisal reports, so what we collect is bids. You instruct the company that gave the highest appraisal figure, and the price is brought down afterwards. This article sets out, through the provisions themselves, the shape of the oldest problem in this industry and what to check before you sign a brokerage agreement — the term, registration with the designated distribution organisation, and reporting on the progress of the work. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku — five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station.
How long does unpaid Japanese tax follow you after you leave? — Additional taxes, seizure, and your next visa application
Leaving Japan does not end your tax obligations. Fall behind, and delinquent tax (2.8% a year in Reiwa 8 (2026), 9.1% after two months) and additional tax for failure to file (5–30%; 40% heavy additional tax for concealment) are added on top, while deposits and property left in Japan can be seized. The heaviest consequence comes later: Immigration Services Agency guidelines evaluate unfulfilled tax obligations as a negative factor in extensions of stay, changes of status, and permanent residence. Kohinata, Bunkyo-ku; 5 minutes from Myogadani Station.
Selling an Inherited Vacant Home with the 30-Million-Yen Deduction: Counting Back from 31 December of Year Three
Japan’s 30-million-yen special deduction for an inherited vacant home must be used by 31 December of the year in which three years pass from the date of inheritance. The first constraint is not tax but how the property is used: renting it out even briefly, or letting an heir move in, disqualifies the deduction. The 2024 reform lets the buyer complete seismic retrofitting or demolition by 15 February of the following year, so contract design now affects the tax outcome directly.
Health Department Requirements to Verify Before Signing a Takeover Property Agreement – Avoiding "We Signed the Contract, But Permission Was Denied"
A second-hand ("inuki") restaurant space does not come with the previous operator’s food business licence. Since 13 December 2023 a transferee may succeed to the licence by notification, but only when the entire business is transferred; leasing the premises alone requires a new licence. This guide covers the facility standards under the Tokyo Food Sanitation Enforcement Ordinance, the relaxations for simple operations, and the filing deadlines with the fire department and police.
Ten Moves for Overseas Postings and Returns — What Helped Most, and a Real Estate Agent in Bangkok
Counting a company-sponsored study abroad, I have moved ten times for overseas postings and returns to Japan. Honestly, most of them were miserable. But once, in Bangkok, something happened that I have never forgotten.
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