Step 1 - Mortgage Presecreening

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

My wife and I would like to purchase a used detached house in Tokyo in the next 18 months. We have an area in mind, but we need to get some hard numbers before we explore more.

She has a stable government job, but has been on maternity leave and will return in April. I have steady work, but I am a hejokin, which banks do not like I am told. (I have PR, she's a Japanese citizen).

We think it is prudent to do the prescreening to get some real numbers to work with, perhaps one of the netbanks? They seem to want you to "know" what you want mortgage-wise before you begin the process.

What we "want" is to enter our data, and have them show us what option might be available. The whole range from fixed/variable. From 10% down to mortgages with reno costs packaged into the loan.

Does anyone have experience or advice with this sore of endeavor?

[Kiro]

Definitely do the prescreening, it will help when you find the property you want. When showing the seller that you already have a prescreening done and approved for X amount, it will give you an edge compared to other potential buyers who have to start from prescreening (and may not get approved).

For what you want, I'd suggest using one of the "loan plazas" in town, it's basically free consultation. I used an "SBI loan plaza" in Shibuya, but the company was called Good Mortgage and they can help you showing you your options, the fixed/variable rates, and compare with different banks.

Whether you use them or not to help you with it, you'll have to work on your financing plan and then input your budget and the rest in one (or several) of the prescreening the banks have online. The net banks usually offer the best rates, but are supposedly the hardest to get.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

Definitely do the prescreening, it will help when you find the property you want. When showing the seller that you already have a prescreening done and approved for X amount, it will give you an edge compared to other potential buyers who have to start from prescreening (and may not get approved).

For what you want, I'd suggest using one of the "loan plazas" in town, it's basically free consultation. I used an "SBI loan plaza" in Shibuya, but the company was called Good Mortgage and they can help you showing you your options, the fixed/variable rates, and compare with different banks.

Whether you use them or not to help you with it, you'll have to work on your financing plan and then input your budget and the rest in one (or several) of the prescreening the banks have online. The net banks usually offer the best rates, but are supposedly the hardest to get.

Thank you! Loan Plaza it is!

We will have a look and report back.

[sutebayashi]

Can recommend, too.

I refinanced my loan after going to a “Money plaza” in west Shinjuku (it might have closed now though). Although it’s apparently possible to do the things online, for something like a mortgage I prefer to have a human in front of me.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

SMCB Plaza Update

1. You cannot sign with SMBC unless you can read the contract natively with no translation. PR and Spousal were fine.
(I cannot read Japanese at this level).

2. If one is on maternity leave they need 3 years of tax withholding slips

3. They will give you a rough number on the phone before you come in for prescreening.

4. I am not 100% sure if they will offer a formal prescreening, without selecting a property. But it seems so. Not all banks offer this.

We are going ahead with the meeting for now. They say they can offer us the amount we are looking for my partner's salary alone. We will see. I could use a senpai here, lol. This is unknown territory.

SBMC does not have the best rates? -> https://kakaku.com/housing-loan/compan ... panyCD=010

[Kiro]

Regarding your #4, for reference, when I did my online prescreening with SBI net bank (that was even before I went to the SBI money plaza for guidance), I did not have to select a property, I only had to write about my salary, my profile, etc.

You can go with a "pair loan" 50/50 if you do not want your wife to own the full loan. If both of you take a loan you should both be able to apply for the mortgage tax rebate (depending on the type of property, your salaries and other things). If she takes 100% of it then only her will be able to receive the tax refund.

Are you leaning towards variable?
SMBC does not offer the best rates.
I'd recommend applying online to AU jibun bank and PayPay Bank, they both offer extremely competitive rates and on top of that the Danshin (group life insurance) they offer is extremely good (especially AU bank's). They're the hardest to get though.
If you/your wife are below 40 y/o, SBI money Plaza (SBI Net bank) is also really really good as the insurance they offer is also fantastic. And if you do not want to do it online you can go apply directly to a SBI Money Plaza in town.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

Regarding your #4, for reference, when I did my online prescreening with SBI net bank (that was even before I went to the SBI money plaza for guidance), I did not have to select a property, I only had to write about my salary, my profile, etc.

You can go with a "pair loan" 50/50 if you do not want your wife to own the full loan. If both of you take a loan you should both be able to apply for the mortgage tax rebate (depending on the type of property, your salaries and other things). If she takes 100% of it then only her will be able to receive the tax refund.

Are you leaning towards variable?
SMBC does not offer the best rates.
I'd recommend applying online to AU jibun bank and PayPay Bank, they both offer extremely competitive rates and on top of that the Danshin (group life insurance) they offer is extremely good (especially AU bank's). They're the hardest to get though.
If you/your wife are below 40 y/o, SBI money Plaza (SBI Net bank) is also really really good as the insurance they offer is also fantastic. And if you do not want to do it online you can go apply directly to a SBI Money Plaza in town.

Thank you for your help so far.

To your knowledge is possible to get pre-approved by multiple banks?

Is the Japanese Language requirement standard across the board? I can't achieve that level of "legal" Japanese anytime quick.

I guess we'll see what they offer! I'll report back.

[Kiro]

Yes. You would need to apply online (or via a loan plaza) to several of them. Some will give you the pre-approval, others won’t. Even if you get a pre-approval though, it is possible to fail during the main review. So you should apply to more than one.

I can’t answer your 2nd question for sure… I would think yes it is needed? A certified agent will read you the contract and has to make sure you understand everything, but either an interpreter or your Japanese wife should do the trick I think? Better to ask the agent you will be working with.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

Yes. You would need to apply online (or via a loan plaza) to several of them. Some will give you the pre-approval, others won’t. Even if you get a pre-approval though, it is possible to fail during the main review. So you should apply to more than one.

I can’t answer your 2nd question for sure… I would think yes it is needed? A certified agent will read you the contract and has to make sure you understand everything, but either an interpreter or your Japanese wife should do the trick I think? Better to ask the agent you will be working with.

Thank you!

So if you had a preapproval for X amount from say two banks (SMBC and SBI), which is our plan, then it might be time to start shopping.

We have an 18-month lead time, so we are taking things slow. We do not have an agent yet.

SMBC quoted us 70 million yen on the phone, on one partner's salary. Which is about what we were comfortable with.

We are looking for a used detached house, 4LDK ish plus a bit of yard in the Nishimagome area. It seems doable, but I think we will need 10 million in cash as well.

[Kiro]

Take your time to visit a few properties so you can compare.
About the pre-approval, it depends on the bank, but if i remember correctly it’s only valid for a certain number of months (i think SBI was 6 months then you have to reapply. For some banks it’s only 3 i think).

Once you find a property you like and are ready to make your offer, apply to a few (3+) banks so you can compare. For reference, I applied to 7 (maybe it’s a lot, i don’t know).
If you put cash on the table you may get a better rate, but you also may be able to get 100% or 108% financing (and keep your cash for other things!).