RetireJapan

I have a property in the UK. I bought it outright and my parents live in it. I don't charge them any rent but it really doesn't cost me anything apart from insurance. Of course it could be a good income stream but I don't need it as an income source, and it is appreciating in value. As Deep Blue sai...

No guarantor for mortgage, I don't think. For a house I rented, I think I used my wife's uncle. Never heard of that co-owner thing in the OP and suspect it is nonsense. Certainly nobody I know in Japan who has bought a house has had any co-owner listed.

Mercari - I've sold quite a few on there and you get much better prices than taking to Book-Off etc - typically 500 - 800 yen for a paperback novel.

Don't sell it, the Japanese tax office will really go after you especially if you have been reporting it in your yearly tax return with depreciation. Although you probably will be able to subtract the capital gains tax you paid in the UK from anything owed in capital gains in Japan. I'm not plannin...

Don't sell it, the Japanese tax office will really go after you especially if you have been reporting it in your yearly tax return with depreciation. Although you probably will be able to subtract the capital gains tax you paid in the UK from anything owed in capital gains in Japan. I'm not plannin...

Hi. I bought a flat in the UK some years ago. Paid cash so no mortgage. At the time the yen rate against the pound was very favourable so now, even if the flat hadn't increased in value, it would be worth a lot more than it was in yen terms. I am not thinking of selling any time soon but my question...

I don't think we have ever claimed but I have had students fall off chairs more times than I can remember and one once managed to smash a lower pane of glass in a sliding door when she did so. Luckily nobody was injured. Also had a car bump into the wall of the car park, and a few kids fall in the g...

We have juku hoken and I think it is based on how many students we have. Have never had to make a claim, thankfully, but think it is worth having.

One thing that doesn't appear to be very common in Japan, but we insisted on was a full survey. If you are buying a new house it shoudl be ok to skip but we went for a 30+ year old home so I wanted to make sure there were no nasties down the line. The surveryors went into all the crawlways, up in t...

I flew at Christmas and took the view that it was worth paying a bit more for a ticket that could be cancelled just in case. I booked with Emirates on their website, from Narita to Dubai To Glasgow. As it happens my wife did have to cancel and getting the refund for her was incredibly easy and painl...