The Property Purchase Process

How to buy a house in Japan follows a fixed national sequence: search and viewing, a written purchase application, an Important Matters Explanation, a sales contract with an earnest deposit, mortgage approval, then same-day settlement with ownership registration.¹² The shape is orderly and well documented, but the point where your money stops being refundable arrives earlier than buyers from other markets expect.²

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). This article is general information, not legal or financial advice; for your specific case, consult a licensed takuchi-tatemono-torihikishi (takken-shi) via your brokerage and a shiho-shoshi for registration, or your lender for mortgage eligibility.

Overview

This guide covers the standard residential purchase from first viewing to keys. It applies to all buyers for the transaction skeleton, since every step sits under national statute and Legal Affairs Bureau procedure.¹²

Financing is the one step that varies by residency status. Permanent residents and spouses of Japanese nationals access near-domestic lending, work-status holders face a narrower lender pool, and non-residents are effectively cash buyers.¹ That split shapes strategy and timing, and the full lender-by-lender picture belongs to a separate financing guide.

Foreign buyers face no nationality restriction on owning land or buildings, and buying property grants no visa or residency status.¹²

Searching and Viewing

Shortlist before you offer. Decide new or used, condo or detached house, and budget first, then compare listings side by side and attend many viewings.¹ Nothing replaces seeing many layouts in person for learning which differences actually matter to you.¹

For used condos and houses, compare train access, building age, management fee and repair reserve, floor level, sunlight, ownership cost, and resale demand before applying.³ Foreign buyers unfamiliar with local price gaps need this comparison most, since identical rooms can present very differently across listings.

Portals, Agents, and Shortlisting

Agents and portal listings are the inputs, and MLIT's anonymized transaction-price data is the check. The ministry publishes past deal prices through its Real Estate Information Library and REINS成約 data so buyers can benchmark asking prices themselves.⁴

The buyer-side brokerage is a service you engage, not a fee you split. You pay your own agent and the seller pays theirs, each within the statutory cap.⁴ Mortgage eligibility detail lives outside this guide; treat pre-screening as a parallel track, not a post-offer afterthought.

Purchase Application (Kaitsuke Moushikomi)

The 買付申込書 (kaitsuke moushikomisho, "purchase application") is your written offer stating price and rough terms.² It is not a contract, and either side can still walk away at this stage.²

Some agents ask for a small good-faith payment ( 申込証拠金 (moushikomi-shoukokin, "good-faith payment attached to the application")), refundable if the deal does not proceed (as of 2026-07; confirm current handling with your brokerage).² Get the refund terms in writing before handing anything over.²

Offer Contents and Loan Contingency

A good offer states the full conditions so the seller can judge risk, not just price. Include buyer name and contact, property identifier, offered price, planned contract and settlement dates, cash or mortgage, mortgage-preparation status, loan contingency, included items or repair requests, and language-support needs.³

A financed offer reads weaker than a cash one, so completed pre-screening before applying strengthens a competitive bid.³² The pre-screening ( 事前審査 (jizen-shinsa, "loan pre-screening")) typically asks for ID such as a passport or licence, a health certificate, and annual tax receipts ( 源泉徴収票 (gensen-choshuhyo, "annual tax withholding slip"); as of 2017-08).¹

New-build applications work differently. You file a developer-form application ( 購入申込書 (kounyu-moushikomisho, "new-build purchase application")), contested units may go to lottery, and the application fee of ¥20,000 to ¥100,000 is returnable if rejected and credited toward earnest money if accepted (as of 2017-08).¹

Get pre-screening done before bidding on competitive stock

Sellers weighing two similar prices pick the buyer who can actually close. A completed pre-screening plus a realistic schedule beats a slightly higher number with vague financing.³²

Contract Signing and Earnest Deposit

The contract step is where the purchase becomes binding. You review the Important Matters Explanation, sign the 売買契約書 (baibai-keiyakusho, "sales contract"), and pay the earnest deposit.²

Earnest deposit ( 手付金 (tetsukekin, "earnest deposit paid at contract signing")) typically runs 5 to 10 percent of the purchase price, is paid at signing, and is credited toward the price at settlement (as of 2026-07; confirm current figures with your brokerage).¹³² Until the contract's stated cancellation date, either side may cancel under deposit rules (as of 2026-07).² After that date, cancellation means damages beyond the deposit, per the contract terms.²

Important Matters Explanation (Juyo-jiko-setsumei)

A licensed 宅地建物取引士 (takuchi-tatemono-torihikishi, "real estate transaction specialist") must deliver the 重要事項説明書 (juyo-jiko-setsumeisho, "disclosure document") in writing and explain it aloud before you sign.⁴¹ The session commonly takes 60 to 90 minutes.²

It covers zoning, road access and rebuild rights, easements, covenants, utilities, known defects, and for a condo the bylaws and fee structure.² This is where hidden problems surface if they are going to surface.

Request the document in advance and read it before the session, with a translator competent in legal vocabulary if needed.² Online video delivery ( IT重説 (IT-jusetsu, "online Important Matters Explanation")) has been legally available since the May 2022 revision; in-person delivery remains available and you choose in consultation with your agent.⁴²

Read the explanation document before the explanation session

The session moves too fast to meet a 60-page disclosure for the first time. Ask for the papers days early and bring written questions, or bring a translator who handles legal terms.²

Earnest Deposit Mechanics

Until the contract's deadline, cancellation follows 手付解除 (tetsuke-kaijo, "deposit-based cancellation"): you walk away and forfeit the deposit, or the seller cancels and returns double (as of 2026-07).²

The financing contingency decides whether a refused loan costs you money. The 融資特約 (yushi-tokuyaku, "financing contingency clause") lets you cancel and recover the deposit if the loan is refused, but only within its deadline (as of 2026-07).³² Without that clause, a loan refusal costs the deposit.³²

Seller defect liability now runs under contract non-conformity rules. Since the 2020 Civil Code reform, 契約不適合責任 replaced the old defect-warranty regime, and individual sellers commonly exclude or limit it, so note how long the seller's liability runs in your contract.²

Where the seller is itself a licensed brokerage, statute requires deposit-protection measures before it may receive deposits above 5 percent of price (10 percent post-completion) or ¥10M; below those lines no measure is required.⁴

Mortgage Application and Approval

Formal application follows contract signing once pre-screening is passed. The process is document-heavy and averages about two months to complete (as of 2017-08; confirm current timelines with your lender).¹

After the contract the bank runs the full review ( 本審査 (hon-shinsa, "formal full loan review")), then prepares the loan agreement (as of 2026-07).² Expect roughly one month between contract and settlement, longer for foreign applicants or unusual properties (as of 2026-07; confirm current timelines with your lender).²

Lenders generally cap repayments at no more than 25 percent of annual gross income (as of 2017-08).¹ The loan and mortgage documents typically form one package, and interest accrues from drawdown rather than signing.¹

Use the gap before settlement for the final physical re-check. After the balance is paid, unwinding the transaction is very hard, so this is the last cheap moment to confirm you are buying what you intended.¹

Settlement and Ownership-Transfer Registration

Settlement happens on one day, usually in a lender-branch meeting room with buyer, seller, both agents, bank staff, and the judicial scrivener present.¹² The loan draws down, the balance goes to the seller, commissions and the scrivener fee are paid, taxes and building fees are prorated to the day, and you get the keys; the registration filing follows within days.²

Ownership-transfer registration ( 所有権移転登記 (shoyu-ken-iten-touki, "ownership-transfer registration")) is a joint seller-buyer application at the Legal Affairs Bureau.⁵ In practice the scrivener present at handover files it as agent after the transaction closes.⁵ Without this registration you cannot assert ownership against third parties even after paying.⁵ The new registry certificate arrives about one to two weeks after filing (as of 2026-03).⁵

Roles at the Settlement Table

Role	What they do on the day
Buyer's agent	Represents your side through contract and settlement paperwork12
Seller's agent	Prepared the disclosure document and represents the seller's side1
司法書士 (shiho-shoshi, "judicial scrivener")	Verifies identity and documents, confirms no surprise encumbrances, files the title transfer1
Lender	Draws down the loan and takes its mortgage security12

The scrivener protects the registration, not your bargaining position

The judicial scrivener verifies identity and documents and files a clean title transfer on the seller's authorization while confirming the buyer's registration interest.¹ Price, contingency, and defect terms are your agent's territory, settled before this day.

Agency Fees and Settlement Costs

Brokerage commission is a success fee due only when the sales contract concludes (as of 2026; confirm current figures with MLIT's consumer guidance).⁴ Each side pays its own agent within the statutory cap, and the same agent handling both sides collects from each.⁴

Item	Amount	As of	Notes
Agency fee cap, property over ¥4M (per side)	price x 3% + ¥60,000 + consumption tax	2026	MLIT速算式; ¥10M example caps at ¥396,000 tax-included4
Agency fee cap, property ¥8M or below (per side)	¥300,000 + tax (¥330,000 tax-included)	2026	Low-price special since 2024-07-014
Agency fee example, ¥30M property	¥1,056,000 tax-included	2026-07	¥960,000 + 10% tax2
Registration tax, sale transfer (standard)	2.0% of fixed-asset valuation	2026-03	Land reduction to 1.5% ran through 2026-03-31; confirm current reductions5
Scrivener remuneration, sale transfer	roughly ¥50,000–100,000	2024-03	Fees freely set per office; federation 2024-03 survey is the benchmark65
Ancillary costs, used property	6–10% of price	2026-07	Commission, registration tax, stamps, acquisition tax, insurance, prorations2
Registry certificate	¥600 counter / ¥480–500 online	2026-03	Per copy5

The fee is customarily split half at contract and half at handover (as of 2026).⁴ Agree the amount within the cap when you engage the brokerage, not at settlement.⁴

Taxes alone add roughly 6 to 7 percent to the purchase price at the acquisition planning stage (as of 2017-08).¹ Note the acquisition tax arrives as a prefectural bill months after move-in, so buyers who spend their reserve on furniture feel it as a surprise (as of 2026-07).²

Timeline from Offer to Keys

Practitioner timelines from accepted application to keys run four to eight weeks for a cash purchase and six to ten weeks with a mortgage (as of 2026-07; confirm current timelines with your brokerage).² The bank is the usual stretcher, plus whatever the Important Matters document surfaces about road access and rebuild rights.²

Plan buffers for the two known stretchers. Foreign-applicant loan review and older-property document issues extend the mortgage band beyond the headline range.² Overseas buyers add lead time for identity confirmation, fund-transfer checks, and seal or signature handling.³

Good to know

Walking Away After the Purchase Application Costs Nothing, Walking Away After the Contract Costs the Deposit

The application stage binds neither side, so a change of mind before the contract costs nothing beyond goodwill.² The deposit becomes serious money only at signing, forfeitable by the buyer or double-refundable by the seller before the contract deadline.²

A Low Earnest Deposit Weakens Perceived Commitment on Competitive Bids

The 5 to 10 percent band is negotiable, but high-value Tokyo sellers read the deposit as a commitment signal (as of 2026-07).³² Confirm amount, timing, custody, settlement crediting, and forfeit conditions in English before contract day rather than discovering them at the table.³

Loan Contingency Wording Decides Whether a Rejected Mortgage Means a Refund

The contingency must name its deadline and its refund consequence, and foreign screening makes this clause load-bearing: residency, PR status, income source, employment type, language ability, and property type all feed the bank's decision.³² A refusal without the clause costs the deposit.³²

Settlement Day Fails Without Fund-Transfer and Document Lead Time

Same-day drawdown, balance payment, fee payments, proration, and key handover all assume transfers cleared and seal or signature, ID, address, and financing documents ready.¹³ Overseas buyers need extra planning for identity confirmation and remittance checks, so tell the agent early if you cannot attend in person.³

See also

• Fire Insurance and the Carrier-Substitution Trick
• Signing Day: What Actually Happens
• Mortgages for Foreign Residents
• Can Foreigners Buy Property in Japan?

References

Footnotes

1. Real Estate Japan (GPlusMedia). "Guide to Buying a Home in Japan." 2017-08-31. https://resources.realestate.co.jp/buy/guide-to-buying-a-home-in-japan ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²²

2. Buy Houses Japan. "Buying Property in Japan, Step by Step: From Offer to Keys." 2026-07-22. https://buyhouses.jp/blog/japan-property-purchase-timeline ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²² ↩²³ ↩²⁴ ↩²⁵ ↩²⁶ ↩²⁷ ↩²⁸ ↩²⁹ ↩³⁰ ↩³¹ ↩³² ↩³³ ↩³⁴ ↩³⁵ ↩³⁶ ↩³⁷ ↩³⁸ ↩³⁹ ↩⁴⁰

3. Aonissin. "Purchase Application and Earnest Money in Japan: Guide for Foreign Buyers." 2026-07-14. https://realestateguide.jp/purchase-application-earnest-money-japan-foreign-buyers/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

4. 国土交通省 (MLIT). 「消費者の皆様向け不動産取引に関するお知らせ」. https://www.mlit.go.jp/totikensangyo/const/1_6_bf_000013.html ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

5. スムナラ (Sumnara), 熊田貴行. 「所有権移転登記の費用はいくらかかる？」. 2026-03-24. https://journal.sumnara.jp/sell/2681/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

6. 日本司法書士会連合会. 「司法書士の報酬」 (2024-11 remuneration survey PDFs). https://www.shiho-shoshi.or.jp/about/remuneration/ ↩