Keisuke Hanaoka is a real estate salesperson from RISE Corp. Born in Kanagawa Prefecture, where the famous city of Yokohama is located, Hanaoka is Japanese and has spent some time in China learning the language. 

REthink Tokyo sat down with Keisuke Hanaoka to talk about his time in the real estate industry and about Tokyo's property market and, more specifically, how RISE is attracting Chinese buyers in Tokyo. 

Tell us a little about your experience/history and what it is that you bring to the RISE Corp. team?

After returning to Japan from China, I first worked in a Taiwanese real estate company as an agent buying and selling Japanese real estate and leasing management. I would regularly introduce Tokyo real estate to Taiwanese (and additionally mainland China and Hong Kong, etc.) customers. Through this experience, I have received many questions from overseas customers about Japanese real estate. I have been sincerely answering these questions and call on professional lawyers or accountants to assist as well. In doing so, I have accumulated a certain amount of knowledge and experience. Through my experience and Chinese language skills that I will use to help RISE Corp. explore the Chinese market.

我叫花岡啟介，是日本人，出生在知名城市橫濱所在的神奈川縣。我30嵗那年去中國北京學習了一年中文。從中國回到日本後，我先在一家台灣的不動產公司工作。主要工作内容是買賣中介以及租賃管理，大部分是介紹東京不動產給台灣（也包括中國大陸、香港等）客戶。通過這份工作我遇到很多海外客戶對日本不動產的疑問與困惑。我一個一個誠懇地解答客戶的這些問題。有時候我自己也不知道該怎麽回答好，就跟律師會計師等專業人士資訊，這樣慢慢積累了一定的知識與經驗。我的這個經驗與中文能力希望能夠幫助RISE Corp.開拓中國市場。

Why did you first start working in the property industry?

I like to communicate with people and I also like to experience different cultures. Abenomics (the Japanese government's low interest policy) and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have caused many investors to pay attention to investing in real estate. In particular, the Tokyo Olympics has attracted the attention of overseas investors. Working in real estate requires a high level of communication with people so it's a great place to leverage my Chinese and English skills. Plus, the timing is good in terms of the Japanese property market.

我喜歡與人溝通，也喜歡接觸不同文化。安倍經濟學（日本政府低利息政策）與東京奧林匹克引起很多投資者對投資不動產的關注。尤其是東京奧林匹克更吸引了海外投資者的關注。我覺得不動產這份工作既可以與人溝通，又可以用到我的中文・英文能力。當下的時機很好，所以我選擇了從事不動產行業。

Can you describe the profile and requirements of a typical Chinese property buyer in Japan?

Some people buy Japanese real estate because they have large assets and want to hold real estate in different countries for asset allocation. Some people buy Japanese real estate because they often come to Japan for work or sightseeing, so they recognise Japan's economic development and social security. Recently, some people have bought hotels in Japan. Among the foreigners who come to Japan for tourism, the number of Chinese is the largest and still growing. Those who see business opportunities here buy hotels in Japan and arrange their travel customers directly to their hotel.

Regarding the requirements, Japan currently does not restrict foreigners from buying Japanese real estate. But the part to pay attention to is the foreign exchange rate and bank loans. In China, because China has foreign exchange restrictions (50,000 US dollars over 1 year), it is usually necessary to send money to Japan through other channels or countries such as Hong Kong. In Taiwan, because there is no foreign exchange restriction, it is more convenient to transfer money to Japan. Regarding loans, the Bank of China, the Bank of Taiwan has a Tokyo branch and provides loan services. The loan policy of each bank is different, and you need to ask the bank in detail. Loan reviews usually require a tax invoice for the nearly 3 years. You cannot fully lend, the maximum amount of loan is about 50% to 70%, and the remaining 30% to 50% need to prepare in cash. In addition, there are more and more Chinese living and working in Japan now, and they will buy Japanese real estate for their own residence. If you meet the conditions such as the number of working days in Japan, you can also borrow from a Japanese bank.

有的人因爲資產規模較大，爲了資產配置想持有不同國家的不動產而購買日本不動產。有的人因爲常常來日本旅游工作，喜歡日本，認可日本的經濟發展性與社會安全性而購買日本不動產。最近的話，有的人購買日本的酒店旅館。來日本旅游的外國人當中中國人人數最多，然後越來越多。這裏看到商機的人購買日本的酒店旅館，把自己的旅游客戶直接安排到自己的酒店旅館。關於條件，日本目前沒有限制外國人購買日本不動產。但要注意的部分是海外匯款與銀行貸款。中國的話，因爲中國有海外匯款限制（1年5萬美元），所以通常需要經過香港等其他渠道或國家把購房款項匯款到日本。台灣的話，因爲沒有海外匯款限制，比較方便把錢匯到日本。關於貸款，中國系銀行台灣系銀行都有東京分店，提供貸款服務。每家銀行的貸款政策不一樣，詳細需要跟銀行詢問。貸款審查通常需要前3年的繳稅發票。無法全額貸款，貸款成數大概5成到7成，剩餘的3成到5成需要準備現金。另外，現在住在日本生活工作的中國人越來越多，他們會爲了自己居住購買日本不動產。滿足在日工作年數等條件的話，也可以跟日本系銀行貸款。

How do you best help a buyer or tenant?

My parents both are Japanese, and I have no experience growing up abroad as a child, so my Chinese and English skills are limited in expression and fluency. However, first, just because I grew up in Japan as a Japanese, I can share my real estate insights from the Japanese perspective with my clients. Second, just because I am Japanese, Japanese is a native language and I understand Japanese trading habits, so I can have a good relationship with Japanese sellers. Sellers are sometimes reluctant to sell to foreigners. Some sellers do not have experience in dealing with foreigners. They feel that language barriers can cause trouble and there is no need to sell to foreigners. When this happens, I will answer the seller's questions and confusion one by one, and rule out their worries. I hope that my foreign clients understand the characteristics of Japanese real estate and are able to buy the Japanese real estate they want to buy, just like the locals.

我爸媽都是日本人，我也沒有小時候在國外長大的經驗，所以我的中文・英文能力在表達上以及流暢度上都有限。但是，第一，正因爲我是日本人從小在日本長大，可以與客戶分享從日本人的角度來看的不動產見解。第二，正因爲我是日本人，日語為母語並且瞭解日本人的交易習慣，可以跟日本的賣方中介搞好關係。好的不動產爭先恐後，賣方有時候不太願意賣給外國人。有的賣方沒有跟外國人交易的經驗，覺得語言不通會造成麻煩，不用非得要賣給外國人。出現這種情況的時候，我會一一解答賣方的疑問與困惑，排除他們的後顧之憂。我希望我的客戶在瞭解日本不動產特徵的同時可以跟日本人一樣買到他們想買的日本不動產。

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

In addition to the agent of buying and selling, I have also worked in leasing management. I think that it is very important for the work of leasing management to treat the customer's house as if it were my own house and cherish it and understand it. First of all, let me briefly explain the Japanese renting process.

The landlord entrusts the leasing management company. The leasing management company places the rent advertisement on the Reins network platform.
This Reins platform is a platform shared with other real estate agencies. Each real estate agency introduces information from the Reins platform to customers based on customer needs.
When the real estate agent takes the customer to see the house, they contact the leasing management company to arrange a viewing.
After the customer of the real estate agency has finished viewing and wants to rent that house, the leasing management company prepares a lease contract.

I remember that once there was a house in the centre of Tokyo that was very close to the Imperial Palace, many people came to see the house. However, no one submitted a rental application. The main reason is that it lacked the convenience of a supermarket close by to the house, and there are other buildings in front of the house that makes its view through the windows bad and have a sense of oppression.

When I received the contact from the agency that wanted to bring a customer to see the house, I told them that although the house is nearest to exit-A of the subway, there is a supermarket under construction near exit-B. And I also asked the agency to explain to their customers in advance that the house has no great views so they knew what to expect and only inspect if that was okay with this. In this way, when the customer actually sees the house, the degree of acceptance for no view becomes high. The very important thing in leasing management is to understand the characteristics of the house, and then to understand how to express the characteristics to the people who are looking for a house to rent, so that can help the landlord find the lessee smoothly.

我除了買賣中介以外，也有做過租賃管理的工作。我覺得租賃管理的工作是以把客戶的房子看待成自己的房子一樣珍惜・瞭解的心態做事情很重要。首先簡單説明一下日本的招租流程。房東委托租賃管理公司。承租方退租，重新招租的時候，租賃管理公司把招租廣告放在Reins網絡平台上。這個Reins平台是跟其他不動產中介公司共享的平台。每家中介公司按照客戶需求從Reins平台上搜索訊息介紹給客戶。中介公司帶客戶去看房時要跟該租賃管理公司聯係安排看房事宜。中介公司的客戶看完後，想租房的話，該租賃管理公司準備租賃合約書再進行簽約動作。記得有一次，有一個位於東京中心地離皇居很近的地方的房子，有很多人都來看房。不過，沒有人提交租房申請書。主要原因是由於房子周邊沒有超市等不太方便，而且房子前面有其他建築物眺望不好很有壓抑感。當我接到中介公司想帶客戶看房的聯絡的時候，我就跟他們說：雖然從地鐵A號出口出來離房子最近，可是B號出口出來去看房的話，路上可以看到有超市正在蓋，不久將來有了超市就很方便。還有，請中介公司事先跟他們客戶説這套房子沒有眺望，讓客戶有心裏準備。這樣的話，實際看房的時候落差不大，接受程度變高。租賃管理最重要的是要瞭解房子的特徵，再要瞭解怎麽把特徵傳達好，這樣才能幫房東順利找到承租方。

For more information about the Tokyo property market email Keisuke Hanaoka from RISE Corp. via the contact details below.

We look forward to bringing you Part 2 of this interview in Jan 2019.

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