10 Check List of investing into residential Condo

Investment check list for those who are interested in Condo investment in JP.

Below are the tips I learned from my past experience of analyzing 20,000 properties over 30 years.

1.Prioritize among your prifernce

This is very important as many of buyers can’t prioritize among several criteria.

To analyze efficiently the available assets, it is highly recommended.

2.Compare with figures/ numbers

Total sales price / unit size, in Japanese Senyu Menseki, then compare those figures of comparable.

Plot subject property as well as comparable on a map as we professionals have been doing. So that you can capture market price and avoid extremely over valued one.

3.Check by on-site walking inspection

You can find the area specific features by conducting such a walking inspection. In my past experience, I found psychiatric hospital or jail in the subject neighborhood.   You can also find stores/ shops/ schools in your neighborhood area and how they look like. This is very important.

4.Check both on rainy day and night time

You can find specific features of the properties and areas. Those findings are what you can’t find under the sunny days. Excess traffic we have,  the communing rout is unsafe during night time. You can learn from unusual inspections.

5.Avoid Condo developed by a relatively new developer

As I have experienced three times market cycles. Each peak, young companies were aggressive and got soon unprofitable once the bubble burst.  Common space refurbishment and other deal cost can not be compensated in that case. So be careful in buying condo developed by the young player.

6.Avoid a unit in a huge residential complex

It’s how easy for residents to re-develop the residential structure after 40-50 years from the purchase.Say, above 200 units, its hard to have the consent from the owners’ association.

7.Avoid eccentric features

Once the bubble burst, I appraised distressed assets.  I found several assets with eccentric features. They were less marketable compared withe so-called market standard. To stay on the safe side, I would suggest avoiding such eccentric ones.

8.Pay special attention to the ceiling height

In fifties, sixties, and seventies, Japan took a lot of Western living style in our residential facilities. Even though they were the most advanced but as time passes, they got old-fashioned or outdated. Functional deterioration somehow can be modified however, structural features are hard to be improved. Ceiling height is one of those crucial features. Thus check out the ceiling height before buying.

9.Think about the future image of the community

If your community has already looked like aging society, ten years from now would be much older. Its worth imaging how 10 years later your community may look like. You can figure out how much you would be fond of the area.

10.Think about the seismic risks

It has been almost ten years since we had a large earthquake in Tohoku. Arounnd that time, soil liquidation cases were appeared in central Tokyo area. Better to check beforehand, how did developers or architects assess the seismic risks.

Again, below is the checklist

Most important item is the number one

Should you have queries or doubts, please email me ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com