Chieko Matsuzawa began her career in the real estate industry in 2006 after a friend established a real estate company. Since then, she has built a career specialising in Tokyo's property market and now works as a sales agent for Plaza Homes.  

REthink Tokyo spoke to Chieko Matsuzawa about her experience and Tokyo's property market.

What are some of the defining moments in the Tokyo real estate/expat history?

For a few years after the Lehman shock and disaster of 2011, rent rates hit rock bottom and lots of big apartment blocks and units became vacant for expats. At that time, many office and residential contracts were cancelled or postponed. Every year since then the rate has slowly been improving, and by 2016 the rate had almost fully recovered to its original figure. Aside from these circumstances, some foreign corporate offices left Japan for Singapore due to corporate tax rate differences. As a whole, there are fewer expats in Tokyo compared to ten years ago, but their property habits remain the same. Expats will mostly settle in high-end apartments located in good areas and neighbourhoods, while long-term expats are interested in buying their homes in Tokyo and renting them out when they need to leave in future. 

Where are the key emerging markets/sectors that people should be looking to in Tokyo that you think will have upside?

Many foreign investors are interested in buying apartments to be used for Airbnb, as the Japanese government encourages Minpaku (private home-stay) to make up the lack of hotel space for the approaching Tokyo Olympics 2020. But despite the government's encouragement, it is difficult to do Minpaku in apartment buildings as the use of individual units is limited to the owner family or tenant by the buildings management regulations. To arrange Minpaku as a housing option the unit must be admitted and licensed to operate, and most residential buildings are not admitted by owner associations. If you're keen to establish a Minpaku housing arrangement, the best option is to buy a whole apartment building and license every unit. 

Currently, the property market is in great need of serviced apartments for tourists. I expect casinos will be highly active in this regard.  Also, tourists typically enjoy short trips from Tokyo to places like Hakone, Izu, and Karuizawa, which are an hour by bullet train. Recently, i house, based in Hong Kong, launched offering to sell a timeshare a high-end villa resort in Karuizawa.

Why did you first start working in the property industry?

An old friend of mine who had been in building construction established a real estate company in Hiroo in 2006 and asked me if I would be interested to join. Hiroo is one of my favourite towns and the opportunity to use English in an established business was too good an opportunity to pass up. 

How do you best help a buyer or tenant?

Listening to a buyer or tenants needs and circumstances in detail is the most important thing. By concentrating on their needs, I am able to search and find potential properties that will be suitable. The buyer/tenant is usually able to find the perfect property on the first or second viewing tour. My next mission is to negotiate price/rent conditions.

How do you best help a vendor selling / leasing their property?

The best way I am able to help a seller or leaser is to inform them of the current market, in particular advising them of similar properties and their market value. Then proceed to honour their asking price as best I can, finding a buyer or lessee that will offer as close to the asking price as possible.

What would you like to see changed in the industry in 5 years?

One of the changes I would like to see happen in the near future is the possibility to do sales contracts (explanations of important matters before signing contract) via Skype. While it is oftentimes better to organise such matters in person, it is a costly venture for buyers and sellers to travel for signing the sales contract.

Another change is the way of house viewing. Virtual reality (VR) has enabled users to view properties without visiting. As such, property presentation has been changing. Plaza Homes shoots properties with VR to provide real pictures for users, which makes it possible to see property details in real life (i.e. views, sunlight and size). Likewise, movies and VR pictures will be used more often to narrow down properties. 

What are some key opportunities in the marketplace at the moment?

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has started suggesting sellers do a professional inspection on their properties before showing to potential buyers. That is not only to protect buyers but also for sellers to assess house condition which can be appeal points. So, a new question has been added to the new standard contract document forms from this April. The form addresses issues regarding whether or not the building has been recently inspected. The government is trying to make the second-hand market more active. 

What advice do you have for people looking to buy affordable residences in Tokyo?

For affordable residences in the city, I recommend looking outside central Tokyo. There are very attractive towns that offer more reasonable price-to-size properties on local train lines that reach the city centre within 30 minutes. Other options include using bank loans combined with cash, although non-resident loan availability is limited. Lastly, if you found your favourite property was a leasehold, it's not a bad idea to buy it as the price should be 20-30% less than properties with freehold in the same criteria, although you need to pay for land rent, you won't have to pay the fixed asset tax for land.

Where is demand currently coming from, where is the interest focused at the moment? i.e what sectors/wards have the strongest interest at the moment and where are the buyers based (Locals, Foreigners etc?)

Minato-ku is in the highest demand as its land value is strong. The population in Minato-ku has been increasing since 1997 and the development of Daiba on the waterfront. In this area, it seems foreigner registrations are decreasing where foreign tourists are increasing, which means more Japanese are coming into central. 

Where do you see the Tokyo Residential market in 5 years?

Blockchain trade may enable individual investors to own and share assets more easily and benefit from the new means of asset management. A decline in the market is expected after the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, but I believe it will be a temporary issue and unused spaces will be utilised as assisted living residences, youth hostels or for other ideas. 

For more information about Tokyo's property market email Chieko Matsuzawa from Plaza Homes via the contact details listed below.