Hi, John. I watched all your videos on youtube. how long did it actually take from your offer being accepted to getting the keys? Everyone says 4–8 weeks, but I'm curious what it was really like, and what slowed things down for you?
How long does the whole process take from offer to keys?
Hi Sen! Thank you for the question, you are the first poster on this new forum.
For me it was rather quick, I booked viewing of shortlisted properties while I was still in UK, so the viewing dates were booked for the time of my next Japan visit. That saved me a lot of time getting viewing ready while still in UK.
When I arrived in Japan for that next trip, I viewed maybe 8-10 properties in the space of less than 3 weeks. I made a decision and offer pretty immediately that I wanted this current property. The view from the house won me over!
I wanted to do all the paperwork, sign the contract, and get the keys before I were to leave Japan on that particular trip, I had about 2 months.
I was lucky, from the moment I said "yes" to the agent, to getting the keys, it was just about one month! I have heard it could be a bit longer, I think 4 to 8 weeks is perhaps the norm, if there are no major problems.
Oh, and the failed bank transferred to the sellers bank (Japan Post Bank) slowed it by a few days! Basically, I had to pay the remaining main balance for the house in cash! Which meant lots and lots of daily trips to ATM to get cash, as there are daily limits on how much I could withdraw per each debit/credit card. It took me over a week to get the remaining 1.5 million yen, then the estate agent arranged a group meeting in the seller's bank branch to record the payment!
My SWIFT transfers to Japan Post Bank failed because Japan Post Bank has a lot of weird limitations that I was not aware of. For example, they reject all transfers in Yen ! It has to be USD or EURO , meaning a big loss on double currency conversion from GBP. Cash was better in that case and thankfully I was in Japan to complete the process in one visit.
If a seller has a bank account with a mainstream bank other than Japan Post Bank, then SWIFT transfers would be absolutely fine.
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