Buying a rental property in japan

[patsensei]

Hi. I have been in Japan sometime now and I'm considering buying a used apartment in Tokyo. I purchased one about 2 years ago and we're currently living in it. I would like to buy another for an investment. One of the reasons is because education in Japan is so expensive and with an apartment in a good location in Tokyo my kids could go to very good public schools. I'm very aware of the price of private school education in Japan. Some schools may charge over a million yen entrance fee and then a monthly fee of around 40,000 yen per month or more. I figure I would be able to rent out my current apartment at the sametime.
I have no experience doing this kind of thing and don't know the ins and outs of investment property. I'm sure there must be many pros and cons of doing this over here and would be interested to hear your opinion.

[homesweethome]

Hi. I have been in Japan sometime now and I'm considering buying a used apartment in Tokyo. I purchased one about 2 years ago and we're currently living in it. I would like to buy another for an investment. One of the reasons is because education in Japan is so expensive and with an apartment in a good location in Tokyo my kids could go to very good public schools. I'm very aware of the price of private school education in Japan. Some schools may charge over a million yen entrance fee and then a monthly fee of around 40,000 yen per month or more. I figure I would be able to rent out my current apartment at the sametime.
I have no experience doing this kind of thing and don't know the ins and outs of investment property. I'm sure there must be many pros and cons of doing this over here and would be interested to hear your opinion.

Taro Jump in here anytime, I would say off the cuff do your research. What you know and don't know, I don't know, but a good place to start would be asking the right questions, there really isn't that much more to it. By doing your research, I mean you may want visit some local real estate agents in your area that have some hands on knowledge of what you have and what can be gotten for it in your area. Talk to them a little bit. That may be a place to start. If you are shooting for the stars (I mean want big money for something that really isn't worth it) go for the FG's with bucks.

[Mulboyne]

Since you have already bought property, Would you want to know more about what is involved in renting a place out (taxes, tenant law, insurance etc) rather than how to buy ?

[GomiGirl]

Also find out if the property has land rights or not.. if you are just buying an apartment in a block that could be torn down in 10 years you will the proud owner of a mortgage and no property.

Make sure the income from the rental exceeds the repayments as I don't think there is any tax benefit to gearing like in other countries.

Alternatively, buy a wooden building so that it falls under the sweet little tax loophole (the wooden house) that you can claim the depreciation on your personal taxes.

Mulboyne - he has one property and is looking to buy a second one as an investment.

[homesweethome]

Make sure the income from the rental exceeds the repayments as I don't think there is any tax benefit to gearing like in other countries.

Alternatively, buy a wooden building so that it falls under the sweet little tax loophole (the wooden house) that you can claim the depreciation on your personal taxes.

I am not sure what you mean by 'gearing' but if you mean ' accelerated depreciation' and using it as a tax right-off, there is plenty to be taken advantage of, as long as you take it off your 'personal taxes' which you are right on about.

There are lots of ways to do that. Wooden houses with bad roofs are just the start.

[patsensei]

Yeah. I will probably have to go into a realestate agents and ask a few questions for sure. Especially land ownership and tax benefits. Would anyone know of any website with this kind of info available in English or Japanese? What your thoughts on my logic about instead of paying big bucks for education on your kids buy a property in good area with excellent public schools. Then when it's time to go rent it out?