I'd like to buy a house in Okinawa...

[sumo4life]

Re: Okinawa Land

Thanks for the prompt response. We love the Awase area, but over the years we anticipated having to give up the idea in favor of someplace more affordable. We also like the Gushikawa (Uruma) area and would settle for something in the Yomitan area. Do you have any idea what the avg. cost per tsubo would be in those areas? That's about as far north as we have thought about thus far. Thanks again for your input. Talk to you soon.

 

[DoctorP]

I'm no expert, but I would expect Yomitan to be fairly expensive. That is the best area for expansion on the island and most people are probably holding out for resorts. I would also expect that Ali Villa and the Renasance (sp?) and the other resorts out at Zanpa would have a hand in any transactions out there. With that said, there are some people developing out near the Renasance towards the end of Rt. 6.

Gushikawa (Uruma) would probably be cheaper, but that would depend upon where. I'm in Ishikawa which is also part of Uruma. You just have to keep your eye out. Like I said, we just happened across a sign one day and bam...there it was. I'll keep an eye out though.

 

[BBRyukyu]

This is a very informative thread, and has given me a lot to think about. My wife and I live in Naha and here parents live in Tomigusuku, so we would like to stay in this general area. How do property taxes work, are they the same for the whole Island or do they differ from city to city?

 

[Hermit Crab]

Very good information here! I really appreciate everyone sharing so much.

I am personally more interested in buying or building in Shimajiri. If anyone has any experience or information, please pass on what you can. If you happen to know anything about Ginowan and Urasoe, I'm considering those areas too, but nothing any further north.

 

[DoctorP]

From my experience, land in Ginowan or Urasoe is going to be extremely expensive. Probably around Y2,000,000/tsubo. I spoke to someone today that is selling some land in Gushikawa at Y1,100,000/tsubo. He hasn't divided up the plots yet, so it's open game for how much you want to buy....50 tsubo, 70tsubo, 100tsubo...up to you. He owns the housing company that is building my home.

 

[oyajikun]

Very informative thread.

My wife and I recently found a beautiful 200 tsubo home in southern Okinawa that we dearly wanted to buy. I submitted a mortgage application to my bank in Tokyo, (Shinsei). Unfortunately my application was denied….. Shinsei of course refuses to divulge any information to me as to why our dreams were shattered.

I guess I will move my banking locally to either Ryukyu or Okinawa Ginko in hopes that it helps our chances next time. With that, I ask, where did you have luck getting your home loans? Local or mainland?

 

[DoctorP]

My loan is with Ryukyu as are two of my friends.

 

[oyajikun]

I just got word from Okigin that they will alow me to apply for the loan without PR. Wish me luck!

 

[oyajikun]

So has anyone else bought in Yaese-cho?

 

[Hermit Crab]

I'm interested to hear about your dream home, the area, and the loan experience at The Bank of Okinawa. I like the south island region a lot.

 

[oyajikun]

I'm interested to hear about your dream home, the area, and the loan experience at The Bank of Okinawa. I like the south island region a lot.

It's a 10yo, 6 LDK house, sitting on 200 tsubo of land in Gushikami, Yaese-co. The building was designed by the owner from the ground up. (Apparently this is the 2nd home he has built, getting ready to build his 3rd after the sale.) It has a beautifully maintained backyard/garden, with a huge vine covering the back patio. The house itself is surrounded by farm land. Very secluded, and only a 15 min bicycle ride to the beach. The downside is that it's a 10 min drive to the nearest grocer. But I'm willing to live with that.

Still waiting to hear back from the bank.. should get an answer by Feb 8th.

 

[DoctorP]

I just found a 10yr old 6LDK about 1km from where I am now. Nice house actually, except for the kitchen. 64tsubos of land, quiet, 39 tsubo house. I would love to get this, but I've already started construction of the new place. Showed it to a friend today, hopefully he and his wife will get it!

 

[oyajikun]

Bank loan denied.. and the reason was the same as before. No PR. Why it took them close to 3 weeks to come to that decision, who knows...

I'm eligible for PR in 10 months, hopefully my house is still on the market then.

 

[Hermit Crab]

Bank loan denied.. and the reason was the same as before. No PR. Why it took them close to 3 weeks to come to that decision, who knows...
I'm eligible for PR in 10 months, hopefully my house is still on the market then.

You should go to immigration and talk to the people at the information desk. They will be able to advise you as to when is the best time to apply. While there are rules & guidelines in place for PR, the immigration officials do have a lot of leeway allowed. In many cases it all depends on who is working on your case. If they give you the green light for application, it would be best to start right away. Processing times can take from 3-6 months (in some cases a little shorter or longer).

 

[oyajikun]

You should go to immigration and talk to the people at the information desk. They will be able to advise you as to when is the best time to apply. While there are rules & guidelines in place for PR, the immigration officials do have a lot of leeway allowed. In many cases it all depends on who is working on your case. If they give you the green light for application, it would be best to start right away. Processing times can take from 3-6 months (in some cases a little shorter or longer).

Yes, I plan to go into the office tomorrow and please my case. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Shouganai]

I would look for foreclosed property

Not sure there would be any available in such an 'idyllic' (???) place, but worth a look.

 

[Darican]

This thread kind of ended. I just found it and got a lot of good info. Is there anything else any one can share about buying a house or land or both in Okinawa?

 

[oyajikun]

After our last attempt to buy a house failed, I became extremely discouraged. I drug my feet around for a few months and grumbled excessively about being a foreigner in Japan etc.. As fun as that was, my wife and I decided to keep looking.

I guess the old adage that every cloud has a silver lining rings true. As we recently found a beautiful piece of land near the ocean that we can afford to buy and hopefully build our family home on.

Now I need info on local builders. Panahome and Daiwa are out, as the design I have in mind has 3 floors, and apparently only concrete can be built that high in Okinawa. Besides that, they look like doll houses.

I had some concerns about concrete not lasting very long (there are lots of good examples of this in Okinawa), but I have been told that the concrete houses of present are much stronger than the houses from 20-30 years ago.

Can anyone recommend any builders? I know there are a few that specialize in building American style homes for the military to rent out. I would really like to find some more info on them..

Thanks in advance!

 

[Darican]

I can't speak as an expert, but I do know that I come from a tropical island much like Okinawa. In Puerto Rico, concrete is the best material due to the hurricanes and humidity. Wood doesn't cut it. However, that said between 15 to 20 years later the house does show wear and tear. And when it comes time to fix the house, concrete is more expensive. I have been asking around, and in Okinawa seems to be just as true. Plus let's not forget termites…

On the flip side, wood and steal houses are cheaper to build and the permits from the government are faster to get.

I've been on this a while, but finally got serious about trying to get one… Hope this helps, 'cause this forum did get me some good info…

 

[kurisuti]

Wow this topic has been really helpful!!
If prices in the Ginowan area are 1-2 million yen/tsubo, isn't that still pretty cheap in comparison to houses in the US? Everything in my area is about 5 million yen/tsubo ^^;;
Anyway, does anyone know of good sites to use to find realty in Okinawa? I'm still in the US, but looking for some property in the Ginowan or Yomitan area.

 

[oyajikun]

Seems that I'm unable to post URLS here..

Google search ' 沖縄 不動産 ' and check out the sites ' e-uchina.net ' & ' sumai-ism.jp ' (lots of used properties and parcels updated at these 2 sites every day.)

Study the kanji for the various town names. Use google traslator whenever you are unsure 'translate.google.com/translate_t'

I hope this helps!

 

[kurisuti]

Wow!! Thanks very much ^^

The first looks easy enough to use and very Okinawa oriented, especially with a domain name like that :9 I know intermediate Japanese so hopefully won't have to use translators too much, they just make things more confusing usually >,<;; Thanks again though for the resources!!

 

[Darican]

So has anyone still in the military been able to get a loan from a Japanese bank for a house? Running into that situation right now... Any sugestions?

 

[DoctorP]

So has anyone still in the military been able to get a loan from a Japanese bank for a house? Running into that situation right now... Any sugestions?

Your situation is differnet than most here. If you are still active duty, take your wife and visit Tokuzato housing. If she has a job, or someone is willing to say that she works for them, then you can get them to build for you. You will be able to use your housing allowance to pay it off as well.

Go talk to them, and if you have more questions, then come back.

 

[Darican]

Doc,
When you say they can build me a house, do you mean american style or willing to build an military person a house? I ask because I really don't care to have an american style house, specially if it saves me a few dollars,... er, yen. Except for the toillet, though. I really care to have an american style toilet...