Purchase & Selling Guide
Introduction
You need to be certified as a Real Estate Transaction Specialist in order to close a sales transaction in Japan, and all real estate agencies shall retain more than one certified Real Estate Transaction Specialist for every five employees.
In aiming to protect buyers, only certified Real Estate Transaction Specialists are allowed to execute both "Explanation of important matters"and "Sales Contract", and a certified Real Estate Transaction Specialist is required to conduct an "Explanation of important matters" for buyers "face-to-face" before they enter into the contract under Real Estate Business Law.
We will cordinate the best possible closing procedure for each buyer/seller as we comply with Japanese Real Estate Buisiness Law to protect our customers.
- Purchase Guide
- Selling Guide
Selling Guide
Property Assessment
We conduct basic investigation on the real estate to be listed. You are to declare the condition of the premises and the rights in or to such real estate. Based on the property investigation, we will provide you with the estimated value of the real estate.
Brokerage Service Agreement
Once you decide to list your propery, you shall enter into the brokerage service agreement according to the Japanese Real Estate Business Law in order to appoint us as your listing agency, and we, in return, deliver you the executed agreement as a proof of such agreement.
There are three types of the agreements, which are (1) Non-Exclusive Brokerage Service Agreement, (2) Exclusive Brokerage Service Agreement and (3) Privileged and Exclusive Brokerage Service Agreement.
Property Condition Report
A sale and purchase agreement of real estate has to specify both the current condition of the listing property and the delivery condition in which the real estate is delivered to a purchaser. Therefore, the Seller is required to complete the property condition report as well as list of facilities promptly after the execution of the brokerage service agreement.
Search for Buyers
If necessary, we will have the information on the listing property to be registered in the designated information network system for real estate brokers. In addition, we will publicize the listing property on the Internet to find prospective buyers.
Negotiation with Buyer
When we receive an offer from a prospective purchaser, we will negotiate with the purchaser for you with regard to the price and other terms and conditions in a timely manner.
Sale and Purchase Contract
Once you reach an agreement, we will then prepare a sale and purchase contract to be executed between you and the Buyer. Prior to the execution of this contract, we shall conduct the "Explanation of importnant matters" not only to the Buyer but also you (as the Seller) in person to ensure that you have a clear understanding of the terms and conditions. Please note that "Explanation of important matters" shall be carried out by a licensed Real Estate Transaction Specialist.
We will also help you (the Seller) provide the Buyer with explanation of "Property condition report" and "List of facilities."
Upon execution of the contract, the Buyer shall make a deposit or key money, which will be reserved in the bank account under the name of either Escrow or us, depending on your preference.
Handover
On the handover (settlement) date, the Buyer shall pay the remaining balance of the total sales price. The Seller shall deliver to the Buyer, in return, all the documents necessary for the public registration to transfer the title of the premises as well as keys. In addition, any items that will be allocated between Buyer and Seller such as the fixed asset tax will be settled on the handover date.
The Seller shall be obligated to pay Seller's brokerage fee in accordance with the brokerage service agreement.
- 1 Seller's brokerage fee
- Seller's brokerage fee is calculated as follows.
Sales price Brokerage fee More than JPY 8,000,000 3% of the sales price ＋JPY 60,000 ＋consumption tax Less than JPY 8,000,000 JPY 300,000 ＋consumption tax - 2 Money Transfer
- Generally speaking, escrow is rarely seen in real estate transactions in Japan. To avoid having Buyer directly make a deposit into Seller's account, we propose that you employ either a bank account of the broker or a bank accout of a judicial scrivener (or lawyer) depending on your preferences.
- 3 Withholding tax on real estate sales by non-resident
- When a non-resident or any form of foreign corporation sells a property in Japan, the Buyer shall pay a withholding tax of 10.21% of the sales price to the Japanese tax authority, meaning that, on the other hand, the Seller receives 89. 79% of the sales price. In case that the withholding tax is greater than the actual capital gain tax the Seller is obligated to pay, the Seller will be able to get a refund by filing a tax return.
Please also note that the Buyer is not liable for this withholding tax if the following two conditions are met: (1) the sales price of the property is JPY100m or less, and (2) the Buyer intends to purchase the property as a residence for his/her own or for his/her family.
Please ask our agent for more details on this regard.
