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Last updated: 2026-07-12  ·  TokyoEstate Guides

How to Buy Property in Japan as a Foreigner: A Step-by-Step Guide

Buying property in Japan follows a fairly fixed sequence, regardless of who is buying: a search phase, a written statement of intent, a legally mandated disclosure briefing, a binding contract with a deposit, financing confirmation, settlement, and finally registration of ownership. What changes for a foreign buyer — particularly one without a Japan address — is not the order of these steps but the documentation required at a couple of them. This guide walks through the sequence stage by stage, with the points where foreign buyers most often lose time flagged along the way.

Step 1: Search the market and engage a licensed agent

Most property searches in Japan run through listing portals and, before long, a licensed real estate agent (宅建士). Foreign buyers can and do work with agents who operate in English, though the number of firms offering full bilingual support in Tokyo is still limited outside a handful of specialist brokerages. Because a licensed brokerage handles most transactions here, choosing an agent early is not just a convenience — it shapes which properties you are shown and how quickly you can move once you find one worth pursuing. At this stage, ask directly whether the agent is bilingual, whether they have experience with non-resident buyers, and how they intend to handle communication once the deal reaches its legally binding stages later on.

Step 2: Submit a letter of intent (買付証明書)

Once you have identified a property, the next step is typically a Purchase Application, commonly called a letter of intent or 買付証明書. This is a written statement — usually a short form — declaring your intention to buy at a proposed price, and often noting how you intend to finance the purchase. In most cases this document is not legally binding; it functions as a way of reserving the property and opening formal negotiation with the seller, rather than committing either party to the deal. Sellers use it to gauge how serious an offer is, and agents commonly ask for it in writing even at an early, informal stage. Because it is not a contract, its non-binding status is not a reason to treat it casually — a letter of intent still sets the terms the seller will expect to see carried through into the actual contract.

Step 3: The Explanation of Important Matters (重要事項説明)

Before any sales contract can be signed, Japanese law requires that a licensed 宅地建物取引士 deliver an Explanation of Important Matters (重要事項説明) to the buyer, in writing. This is a statutory duty under Article 35 of the 宅地建物取引業法 (the Building Lots and Buildings Transaction Business Act), not a step an agent can skip to save time. The 宅建士 delivering the explanation is required to present their license when doing so, and the document itself covers a fixed set of statutory categories: the zoning and legal status of the land, the building's legal and structural status, ownership type, the condominium management association's rules where applicable, and the conditions under which either party can cancel. Read it slowly, and if your Japanese is not strong enough to follow the technical vocabulary, arrange for a translator or a bilingual agent to walk through it with you before the signing appointment, not during it.

What the main costs are and when they fall due

The purchase process involves several distinct payments spread across different stages, with different payees and different implications if the deal falls through. Specific amounts vary by transaction and are not something a general guide can responsibly state — your agent, lender, and judicial scrivener will confirm the figures applicable to your purchase — but the sequence of what is paid, and to whom, is worth understanding in advance.

Step 4: Sign the sales contract and pay the deposit

Signing the Sales Contract (売買契約) is the point at which the purchase becomes legally binding for both parties. The buyer pays a deposit (手付金) at this point; the amount varies by transaction, and any figure discussed informally before the contract stage should be treated as provisional until it appears in the signed document. The contract also sets out the conditions under which either party can cancel and what happens to the deposit if that occurs — ask your agent or a lawyer to walk through these terms specifically rather than assuming a standard figure applies, since practice varies by transaction. Read the full contract before signing, and request any unclear term in writing.

Step 5: Finalize financing

If you are financing the purchase with a mortgage, this is typically when loan approval is finalized. Lenders generally want the sales contract in place before finalizing a loan, so the contract and financing stages tend to overlap in practice rather than proceed in strict sequence. It is common practice for the sales contract to include a loan-contingency clause, allowing the buyer to withdraw from the purchase if financing ultimately falls through. Confirm with your lender early — ideally before submitting a letter of intent — whether your residency status, visa type, and income situation meet their lending criteria, since eligibility varies materially by institution and this is one of the areas where foreign buyers most often lose time mid-transaction.

Step 6: Settlement and handover (決済・引渡し)

Settlement, usually called 決済 or 引渡し, generally takes place at the buyer's bank. On this day the buyer pays the remaining balance of the purchase price, and the related adjustments are settled at the same time: fixed-asset tax and, for condominiums, management fees are typically prorated between buyer and seller based on the handover date, and the agent's commission is paid. In exchange, the buyer receives the keys and the documents needed to take possession. Because several parties — buyer, seller, agents, lender, and judicial scrivener — are usually present or represented at settlement, this appointment is scheduled well in advance and is not the moment to be resolving open questions about the contract or the property's condition; those should already be settled by this point.

Step 7: Ownership registration (登記)

Ownership of Japanese real estate is formally transferred through registration (登記) at the Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局), handled by a judicial scrivener (司法書士) rather than by the buyer directly. The scrivener typically files the ownership-transfer registration at or immediately following settlement, and also apportions the registration-related costs and taxes associated with the filing. Because the scrivener verifies identity documents as part of this filing, this is one of the two points in the process — along with the Important Matters Explanation — where the paperwork required from a foreign buyer diverges most from what is required of a Japan resident, covered below.

After settlement: the Real Estate Acquisition Tax

Registration completes the ownership transfer, but one further cost arrives later: the Real Estate Acquisition Tax (不動産取得税), a one-time tax billed separately by the prefectural government some months after the purchase, rather than collected at settlement. The exact timing and amount vary by prefecture, and because the bill arrives well after the transaction otherwise feels finished, it is easy for a first-time buyer — foreign or otherwise — to forget it is coming. Confirm with your agent or tax accountant (税理士) roughly when to expect it and where it will be sent, particularly if your registered mailing address will change after the purchase.

Where the process differs for non-resident foreign buyers

Everything above describes the same sequence a Japan-resident buyer follows. What changes for a foreign buyer without a Japan address is the documentation substituted at a couple of specific points, not the order of the steps themselves.

A Japan resident typically provides a Certificate of Residence (住民票) together with a registered personal seal (実印) and a Seal Registration Certificate (印鑑登録証明書) at the points in the process — chiefly the contract and registration stages — where identity and intent need to be formally verified. A non-resident foreign buyer, who has no Japan address and therefore no resident registration or registered seal, generally substitutes two documents instead: an official certificate of address issued by their home country, and a notarized Signature Certificate or sworn affidavit (宣誓供述書) confirming their signature, obtained from a notary public, a relevant home-country authority, or a Japanese consulate or embassy.

Because these substitute documents typically involve notarization, and sometimes translation, in your home country, they take longer to prepare than the equivalent Japan-side paperwork, and the process cannot be rushed once it is already underway. This is the most common reason a foreign buyer's timeline runs longer than a resident buyer's for an otherwise identical purchase — not because any step in the sequence is different, but because one input to it starts from further away.

None of the individual stages above is unusual by international standards; what trips up foreign buyers is usually timing — starting the documentation process late, or assuming a step can be skipped because it wasn't required in a previous country's transaction. Engaging a licensed agent and a judicial scrivener early, and asking each of them directly what they need from you and by when, generally keeps the sequence moving at the pace described above.

References

• e-Gov Japan, 宅地建物取引業法 (Building Lots and Buildings Transaction Business Act), full text. laws.e-gov.go.jp. Accessed 2026-06-26.
• Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Investing in Japan. jetro.go.jp/en/invest. Accessed 2026-06-26.

This guide describes the general purchase sequence used in Japan and is not a substitute for professional advice. Before acting on any step above, verify the current requirements with a licensed real estate agent (宅建士) handling your transaction and a judicial scrivener (司法書士) handling your registration.