Buying a condo in Japan is not like buying one in New York, London, or Singapore. The contract structure is different. The disclosure culture is different. The repair-fund math is different. And most foreign buyers sign before they have actually checked the things that matter.
This is the checklist we run at RE : public before we tell a client whether a Tokyo condo deserves a second look. Use it. Print it. Bring it to the showroom.
1. Confirm the legal and ownership basics
Before you talk about price, confirm what you are actually buying.
In Japan, most condos (マンション) are sold as sectional ownership (区分所有) under the Act on Building Unit Ownership (建物の区分所有等に関する法律). You own your unit's interior space and a fractional share of the land and common areas. That fractional share is what shows up in the registry (登記簿).
Check these items in the property registry (登記事項証明書) issued by the Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局):
- Land rights type: freehold (所有権) or leasehold (借地権). Leasehold condos trade at a discount but carry renewal and ground-rent risk.
- Ownership share ratio (敷地権の割合). Confirm it matches the sales brochure.
- Mortgages or liens (抵当権) registered against the unit. These should be cleared at settlement, but you want to see them in writing.
- Seller identity. The registered owner and the contract seller should match. If not, ask why.
If any of this looks inconsistent with what the agent told you verbally, treat that as a signal, not a paperwork issue.
2. Read the Important Matters Explanation — twice
The Important Matters Explanation (重要事項説明書, often shortened to 重説) is the legally required disclosure document delivered before contract signing. A licensed real estate transaction specialist (宅地建物取引士) must read it to you.
For a foreign buyer, this is the single most information-dense document in the transaction. Do not let the agent rush through it. Ask for it in advance — at least 48 hours before the signing date — and read it cold.
What to flag:
- Restrictions on use (用途制限). Some condos restrict short-term rentals (民泊), home offices, or pets.
- Common-area rules (管理規約) and bylaws (使用細則). Renovation limits, balcony rules, flooring sound-grade requirements (LL-45 etc.).
- Pending special assessments (一時金) or planned rule changes.
- Defects disclosed by the seller (告知事項). Past leaks, suicides, fires, organized-crime incidents nearby — these must be disclosed if known.
- Boundary and earthquake hazard zone information. Especially flood (浸水) and liquefaction (液状化) hazard map references.
If your Japanese is not strong, ask RE : public or a bilingual professional to walk you through it line by line. A translated summary from the brokerage is helpful but not a substitute.
3. Audit the building's repair fund — the number most buyers ignore
This is where most foreign buyers underprice their risk.
Every condo collects two monthly fees:
- Management fee (管理費): pays for daily operations, cleaning, the front desk.
- Repair reserve fund (修繕積立金): pays for the long-term repair plan (長期修繕計画), typically a 30-year cycle covering exterior walls, waterproofing, elevators, piping.
Ask the seller's agent for:
- The long-term repair plan document.
- The current balance of the repair reserve fund (修繕積立金残高).
- The scheduled fee increases over the next 10 years.
- Minutes from the last 2–3 management association meetings (管理組合総会議事録).
What healthy looks like
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省) publishes guideline figures for repair reserve adequacy. As a rough reference, a reserve fund per square meter of unit floor area below roughly ¥200/㎡/month is often a tendency toward underfunding for mid-rise buildings. Tower condos (タワーマンション) typically need more.
Red flags:
- Reserve fund balance well below the long-term plan's required level.
- A pattern of postponed large-scale repairs (大規模修繕).
- Recent or upcoming lump-sum special assessments to cover shortfalls.
- Management association meeting attendance consistently below quorum.
A cheap unit in an underfunded building is not cheap. You inherit the shortfall.
4. Check the building's age, structure, and earthquake standard
Japan revised its seismic building code in June 1981. The shorthand:
- Old standard (旧耐震): building permit filed before June 1981. Higher seismic risk, harder to finance, smaller buyer pool on resale.
- New standard (新耐震): June 1981 onward. Standard for most lending.
- Post-2000 revision: further refinements to wood and mid-rise rules.
For any pre-1981 building, ask whether a seismic retrofit (耐震改修) has been completed and whether a seismic diagnosis certificate (耐震診断書) exists.
Also check:
- Structure type: reinforced concrete (RC), steel-reinforced concrete (SRC), or steel (S). RC and SRC are standard for condos.
- Building inspection report (建築確認済証, 検査済証). The inspection-completion certificate matters; a missing one complicates resale and refinancing.
- Asbestos and PCB surveys for buildings constructed before the mid-2000s.
5. Run the location risk layer
Tokyo is not uniformly risky, and it is not uniformly safe. Pull the public hazard data yourself — it is free.
- Flood hazard map (洪水ハザードマップ): each ward publishes one. Check expected inundation depth.
- Liquefaction risk map (液状化マップ): published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (東京都).
- Earthquake risk ranking (地震に関する地域危険度測定調査): Tokyo's 5-tier ranking for every neighborhood, updated roughly every five years.
- Landslide warning zones (土砂災害警戒区域) for hilly areas in western Tokyo and parts of Yokohama.
A unit on the 12th floor in a flood-zone-3 neighborhood is not the same risk as a ground-floor unit in the same building. Read the maps with the unit in mind, not just the address.
6. Verify the price against analysis, not against the brochure
The asking price reflects what the seller wants. It does not reflect what the unit is worth.
Reference data sources you can use yourself:
- Land General Information System (土地総合情報システム) by MLIT — actual transaction prices, anonymized, by district.
- REINS Market Information (レインズ・マーケット・インフォメーション) — closed-deal prices for condos, by area and station.
- Public land price (公示地価) and standard land price (基準地価) for the underlying land trend.
Build a reference estimate by comparing:
- Price per square meter (㎡単価) of the subject unit.
- Same-building recent sales, if any.
- Same-station, same-age, same-size cohort of recent closes.
If the asking price sits more than ~10% above the cohort median without a clear reason (top floor, corner unit, recently renovated, rare layout), that is a negotiation starting point — or a pass.
This is the analysis layer RE : public produces as a second opinion. We are not the agent. We do not earn commission on the deal closing. That changes what we are willing to tell you.
7. Stress-test the financing
If you are using a Japanese mortgage as a foreign resident, the lender pool is narrower than for citizens. Permanent residency (永住権), spouse visa, or long employment history at a Japanese entity widen your options materially.
Run these numbers before signing:
- Loan-to-value ratio the lender will offer on this specific building. Some lenders cap LTV on leasehold or pre-1981 properties.
- Variable vs. fixed rate scenarios. Stress-test your monthly payment at +1.5% and +3.0%.
- Total monthly outflow: mortgage + management fee + repair reserve + property tax (固定資産税) + city planning tax (都市計画税) + fire insurance + earthquake insurance.
- Exit math: if you sold in year 5 at a 10% price decline, what is your net position after agent fees (typically 3% + ¥60,000 + tax) and remaining loan balance?
If the exit math only works in a flat-or-rising market, you are taking directional risk, not housing risk.
8. Inspect the unit — yes, even new builds
Pre-owned units: hire a qualified home inspector (ホームインスペクター, also called 既存住宅状況調査技術者). Standard inspection runs ¥50,000–¥80,000 and covers visible structural, plumbing, and moisture issues.
New builds: do a buyer walkthrough (内覧会) before key handover. Bring a checklist. Common issues:
- Door and window alignment.
- Floor levelness (a marble works).
- Water pressure and drainage in every fixture.
- Ventilation and 24-hour airflow systems (24時間換気).
- Visible scratches, gaps in caulking, paint defects.
Defects flagged at the walkthrough are far easier to get fixed than defects flagged after move-in.
9. Understand the taxes and one-time costs
Budget for closing costs at roughly 6–8% of the purchase price for pre-owned condos, somewhat less for new builds.
Major line items:
- Real estate acquisition tax (不動産取得税): one-time, paid 3–6 months after acquisition.
- Registration and license tax (登録免許税).
- Stamp duty (印紙税) on the contract.
- Judicial scrivener fees (司法書士報酬) for registration.
- Brokerage commission (仲介手数料): up to 3% + ¥60,000 + consumption tax for pre-owned.
- Fire and earthquake insurance (火災保険・地震保険), typically 5- or 10-year prepaid.
Ongoing annually:
- Fixed asset tax (固定資産税) and city planning tax (都市計画税), assessed on the official value, billed by the municipality.
Foreign buyers without a Japanese tax address may also need a tax representative (納税管理人).
10. Run the second-opinion pass before you sign
The Japanese contract process is fast once you commit. Earnest money (手付金) is typically 5–10% of the price and is forfeited if you walk away after the cooling-off window closes. The window for changing your mind is shorter than most foreign buyers expect.
Before signing:
- Sleep on it. One night minimum.
- Re-read the Important Matters Explanation.
- Confirm the repair-fund and management-association documents are in your hands.
- Get an independent reference estimate. Not from the listing brokerage.
That last point is what RE : public exists for. We give you an independent analysis result on the price, the building's financial health, and the location risk layer — without a stake in whether you buy.
This is not investment advice. The final decision is yours.
RE : public — second-opinion analysis for condo buyers in Japan