I Bought 5 Japanese Akiya Houses in One Year. Here is What I Learned.

[@shumatsuopost]

Is 2025 a good year to buy an akiya house in Japan? Apply for Akiya Income Generator: forugxcb8r8.typeform.com/to/jGIt3dJy

[@MarcoMasseria]

Dude, I think what you are doing is awesome. I'm an American with a livestock ranch in Uruguay, middle of nowhere, and I look at you and think "man! I would love to do that." Do you offer services beyond the real estate buying process? Can I come to Japan with a couple friends and we buy a house(s) with you and you (and your people) do the real estate / rental administration? I'll understand if you don't, but this would allow me to start buying properties in Japan and receive some (reduced because of your services) income from them. Thank you for these great videos!

[@ivyhu4949]

Is there a video or can you make one that explains how your programs work? I tried to apply but was confused by the minimum budget required, for both rental and vaca assists. Most houses featured in videos seemed to be way under the required budgets.

[@andrewdean8848]

You explain Japan RE better than anyone I watched. Clear and down to the point. I really enjoyed it. Thanks!

[@shumatsuopost]

Glad to hear it!

[@tarrison]

Just want to pop in and say that I really enjoy your content. I'm never going to buy a house in Japan (I'm 63, easing into retirement, and own enough real estate in the US), but I lived in Machida (Tokyo burb) and Totsuka-ku in Yokohama as a student back in the 80s and will be trying to get back to Japan as often as I can. It's fascinating to see this trend of foreigners buying Japanese real estate, and you do a great job of presenting it in an entertaining and informative way. Thanks and best wishes for a great 2025!

[@NatsuN-x7y]

Great insights and information 😊 Arigato for sharing 🎉

[@shumatsuopost]

Glad it was helpful!

[@eb1888.]

Location is more complex factor. If you plug in more variables like bus connection, neighboring home quality and ambience, grocery and restaurant access, parking space plus more you can get an evaluation closer to what a tenant will do. Each tenant adds factors personal to him/her like work location, family, etc. i think a good location analysis is an important consideration.

[@shibarmyburnz1978]

This dude has no real idea about property economics just attempting to sell and earn a commission, thus video is sure fluff and not a property insight into Japan real estate investing

[@busterbiloxi3833]

He’s a punk and a charlatan. I own properties all over and I didn’t need a father-in-law to guarantee any loans.

[@kev13nyc]

great content AGAIN Shu!!!! very informational!!!!

[@shumatsuopost]

Glad you think so!

[@joelandjapan]

Very valuable video! Thanks for sharing your wealth of information!

[@shumatsuopost]

Glad it was helpful!

[@p.c.1019]

Thanks Shu! Happy New Year, and happy Akiya hunting in 2025!!

[@mitchmonroe2152]

Congratulations on the success! And thank you for the awesome information, and for sharing your experiences. I would love to purchase and renovate an Akiya one day!

[@shumatsuopost]

Best of luck!

[@busterbiloxi3833]

Sure you would!

[@robertpatrick7137]

I always wonder long till you find tenants and how do you find them? Absolutely love those videos, keep them coming!

[@web2yt488]

Location always matters. People don't want to take more than 1 transport leg

[@mrbHanoi]

Mostly agree Definitely prefer rebuildable.

[@consulatantAi]

ive seen non rebuildable properties for sale taking years to sell as no one wants to buy them, so as an investment there would be no exit stategy. Best to purchase rebuildable at least there is a market to resell in the future if you need to sell.

[@mtwhatley3253]

Guarantor company is a genius idea!!!!

[@supersy8880]

Hi Shu, thank you for this cool video. As landlord would be interesting, to know the amount of taxes for the rent earnings, the level of costs for a management company and as non-resident also the the conditions for collecting the rents or how is this process to manage from the distance. I'm a huge fan, and I'm preparing myself for investing there. Thank you one more time for the motivating videos.

[@roshanshrestha3836]

The best advice ever. I always thought location,location, location in real estate. Thank you so much.

[@shumatsuopost]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Jus1408]

Location DOES matter as I have purchased property in Japan before. Buy in a populated city , within 10 minutes walk to station, 15 minutes max . Otherwise you're going to have a hard time renting it out. A lot of renters will tell agents right off the bat , "I want a place within 5 , 10 minute walk from station" or they put in search criteria on websites. One of my apartments is 18 minutes walk from Yokohama station but only 7 minutes by bus , however it took nearly 8 months to find a tenant. Mainly because it does not even come up on people's radar in search criterias though it is a nice apartment and neighborhood with lots of parks and amenities. So being close to a TRAIN station is more important than a bus station . If its a detached home, with carpark true it might be less important because you are probably renting to families or making into a minpaku for tourists but tourists wont want to stay in a guest house which is a 20-30 minute walk from station either.

[@hokutonojoe199x]

Location does matter. Buy an akiya in the middle of nowhere inaka, you ain't getting any money back.

[@IY3LLALOT8741]

Can you explain us more about guarantor companies in next video please?

[@cpcreit]

Congrats Shu, been almost a yr since I watched some of your episodes (adventures). Two questions: are the appreciations able to offset weakness of the Yen and the non rebuildable designated houses, can someone add a floor or room while tearing down an equivalent % of living space?

[@cd1934]

Nicely done!, next year will be a great year for everyone!.

[@shumatsuopost]

Thanks for watching!

[@ontheotherside3968]

If I understand correctly is that rent prices go up if closer to the station

[@curiosityventures1491]

Interesting perspective about the location. If it is from rental client side, who does not need a train, should be ok. But if to buy such property, than market perception about proximity to station will still influence decision quite a bit.

[@Youdude2]

Is it easy to buy and manage as a foreign investor?

[@CB-sx8xh]

Shu are your Japanese houses foreigner friendly as far as tenants? I would be interested to hear about the pros/cons.

[@ndwolfwood09]

For nonbuildable houses, can you just demolish it and make it into a parking lot for the neighborhood who don't have parking/garages? Then proceed to charge them pay by day/month? I would build a multi-level parking system like in FF Tokyo Drift.

[@PhilipDavis-x4l]

Thanks.

[@CarolFA1111]

The Free guide isn’t available?

[@sunshine5798]

He has become a fraudster now.. his newly acquired.5 houses didn't fall through the roof 😏😉

[@JetcannonM]

Indeed, selfish altruism is the way. You get something out of your effort and gain profit ofc but at the same time you do it to help families find homes to grow. And in turn this availability lessens the stress and hesitation allowing more people to plan their future together.

[@tr8d3r]

I am curious as to what sort of reasons would come up in rejecting a potential renter in Japan. Insufficient or unstable income would be an obvious one, but wondering how deep your screening goes (out of curiosity). I would assume that some of the problems one would have with tenants in the US might not be problems in Japan, but the issues would be different. I recently purchased a house in Tokyo (for my own use), but very curious about the sort of issues one may have with Japanese tenants should I invest at some point.

[@wendyon4517]

My real estate agent student (owns his own company... I'd say wealthy) sets no key money for renters of his own properties who pay a year in advance. He figures that if they can afford to pay a full year of rent right off then they are more likely to be good renters.

[@adrianm4506]

what yields can you get on these renovated akiyas?

[@alko_xo]

I would die for such an appearance that I could monetize on OF to afford to buy five (!) houses in Japan in just one year!

[@doobeedoo2]

A rent guarantor business could work in the US

[@thirumurugan4606]

Hi bro.. Your my mentor..

[@busterbiloxi3833]

You’re in big trouble if this douchebag is your mentor.

[@mike796sz]

Hello, thank you for the videos, the free guide link is not working for me.

[@PotatoBandana]

Did you miss a "chiku" in 再建築不可物件 at 2:02, or do they abbreviate the word?

[@nanaholic01]

Location Location Location IS true though but entirely misunderstood and misused - it's not a single point re-enforced three times to make you remember its importance and here's how I break it down: First "Location" L1 - the location of the city - you want to buy at a city/town where it is known to be a good city that's rich and vibrant eg buy Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Fukuoka etc, you don't want to buy a house in Akita cos everyone knows the population is declining there etc. Second "Location" L2 - the location of the municipality within that city - everyone knows even within the city they vary greatly eg. in Tokyo Minato-ku is where the rich buys cos it's the centre, Adachi-ku is seen as less well off as it's further out and less convenient etc, you can then break this down further into the actual town/village within the municipality Third "Location" L3 - the location of the actual house within the town/village - you want to pick a house that's on a good street with easy access to QoL elements - eg good neighbours, shops and supermarkets, and train stations, as well as how far it is relative to other important L2 locations (eg easy access if you have to commute to CBD areas) You can make slight tweaks of this list as you drill it down, but in general that's how I go about with accessing the house during my own house hunting. The ultimate dreamhouse will check all three with glowing grades, but at the very least you need L1 and L2 thoroughly checked before even getting to L3.

[@chamcham5561]

As a Japanese national are you able to get any sort of mortgages or loans for these five homes? Or do each of them need to be purchased out of pocket? Thanks & HNY!

[@geoffreychan4173]

Great video, thank you! I work for a company that has the most comprehensive tenant screening process in the US. If you need help with your US properties so you can avoid "bad tenants", please send me a DM. Keep up the great work with the videos!

[@X52370]

how many years to break even your investments? Akiya again in next 10 years, hopefully there is no major earthquakes?

[@fran.fernandez]

i bought 2 properties in japan and location , location, location. lol non rebuildable house , houses in private roads (yes, some roads are private...) take years to sell if lucky. First property is 5-8 minutes walk from 3 stations (one is JR), also 5-10 minutes walk from top 3 school and kindergarten in Osaka. Price was around 380 k us (9 years ago), now is valuated at 720-800k. A little worse location and smaller is selling for 800k Up, sold out and wait list! Even if it sounds as a good investment, selling the property won't give me enough to buy a new one with same conditions, rent value is 2k us. Second property is same area, and it costed 1.1m us (way bigger), I also hope that in 10 years it double prices. After that i may rent again and move to those cheap Inaka, but with crisis population the situation there may be a lot worse.

[@SJPajonas-Author]

Such great advice. Really enjoying all of your videos on akiyas. I know they can be a pain to renovate because of Japan’s strict rules on garbage disposal so I would love to learn more about that.

[@shumatsuopost]

Happy to help!

[@madmax8620]

He didn't give you a real answer because he doesn't have one. This is all fake to get views. Real people making real money don't waste time on friggin youtube pretending and trying to convince others

[@busterbiloxi3833]

Read up on it. This guy knows Jack Squat.

[@DavidBrown-hc3rq]

Great video, thank you!

[@shumatsuopost]

My pleasure!

[@MidnightSoulDevourer]

Awesome. Ready to buy now!

[@shumatsuopost]

Have fun!

[@ChinchillaBONK]

Is there a limit to the number of houses a foreigner can own?

[@busterbiloxi3833]

Yes. The size of his wallet.

[@TheMrZaqali]

Hi, can you buy me first home? what is commission rate?

[@renee-claudetanguay9738]

Are AirBnB a thing in Japan?

[@shumatsuopost]

It is 👍

[@renee-claudetanguay9738]

@ Even in more rural areas?

[@aquariusnelson397]

​​@renee-claudetanguay9738 Yes, just think of amenities that are in rural areas. Everyone has different interests when renting Airbnb.

[@CB-sx8xh]

​@@renee-claudetanguay9738 yes if you do a map search on Airbnb you can see listings. For example I just looked at the Myoko Kogen area.

[@CB-sx8xh]

​@@renee-claudetanguay9738 yes, I have seen listings in rural areas

[@doobeedoo2]

how much restoration work do you do for the properties?

[@busterbiloxi3833]

He won’t say because he’s a complete fraud.

[@doobeedoo2]

@busterbiloxi3833 what makes you say that

[@Lori-db8vl]

Great info. 👍

[@shumatsuopost]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JovesJapanJams]

On the one hand, I don't understand the "non-rebuildable house"? Are you saying you buy both the land and the house------and if the house becomes unlivable due to some kind of structural damage, you're stuck with a piece of land upon which a house can NEVER be built-----and even if after paying to demolish the house, you sell the empty plot of land to a new owner, the new owner CANNOT build a house there either? Which means it's not like a "shakuchi"------aka a house built on leased land-----where after paying to demolish the house, you can make a tidy profit by selling the land you DON'T own back to the landowner who can then build a new house on the land he's always owned? On the other hand, the individual guarantor-----aka "hoshonin"------has NEVER been worth the paper upon which your individual guarantor affixed his red-inked seal because your individual guarantor is under ZERO legal obligation to pay for your unpaid bills, damages or anything else. I learned that decades ago from a Japanese company president who was once my guarantor-----and that truth was confirmed by the daughter of a big real estate tycoon in Hyogo-ken I used to know. Meaning as the landlord, all you can do is try to get the bad tenant out as soon as you can while taking the losses so you can get a new tenant in that much sooner who will hopefully be a good tenant. Now that's not to say individual guarantors won't cover what you owe because there's always the Japanese "sense of obligation" and/or the individual guarantor believing he has an legal obligation. But I did notice something called "Hoshonin Hoken" start to appear about 15~20 years ago?

[@mrbbkk]

Buying the land old house is firewood. Rebuild it 95%.

[@LesliePeter]

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. It’s unlikely to find cheap properties in Japan without a catch. People should consider that the Fukushima nuclear disaster, leaks into the sea and surounding and typhoons may be contributing factors.

[@TheMadisonHang]

Personally, my only fear about moving into any of these, are Japanese ghosts 👻. Maybe Luwigi is hanging around

[@In_love_with_japan]

@shumatsuopost what's your house goal for 2025 how many are you planning to buy

[@mrbbkk]

Obsessed with Tokyo Yokohama retirees can drive dont need jobs Fukuoka Toyama Okayama Morioka Nagano all ok with me I can drive 30 to 60 minutes. Build my own parking garage.

[@gerhard589]

Click bait thumbnail "location doesn't matter"... Ok > buys Akiya in flood zone next to a river

[@phongphanhuy186]

Thank you so much

[@shumatsuopost]

Thanks for watching!

[@JoeCamarillo]

Lesson #3 - when kids get bigger, apt/mansion gets smaller.

[@Dencell]

Just buy Bitcoin dude.

[@くらきき]

Nah, he'd win

[@sunshine5798]

UNFOLLOWING YOU for evidently you are no longer that honest, candid, selfless blogger and have now become a self seeking, hard boiled businessman, something that doesn't really attract to your posts as they did before. Add to that hilarious, grandiloquent label in your introduction CEO.....😁😆🤣😂

[@svn_ysrk]

I don't know, "by far the farthest" is a stretch. We are talking 7 minutes difference from the second farthest here. If it would have been like 60+ minutes you'd have a point, but 22 vs 15 minutes? Nah, hardly anyone cares if the rest fits.

[@busterbiloxi3833]

This guy inherited family money and his Japanese squeeze calls the shits. Daddy-In-Law provides the finance.

[@gracewalsh4908]

How can I find Onsen for sale? I know what kind of amenities I want nearby, but open on location, who do I contact? Thank you!

[@le_th_]

I found a small retreat w/onsen just by looking at vacation homes in a hot springs area. Find the hot springs area you want to be in and start looking there. Reach out to a commercial realtor, too. I was *not* looking to buy an onsen, but it was so affordable the thought really began to cross my mind. The hot springs had already been plumbed (they refer to it as being "brought" to the building) into the building so all that would have had to have been done is to pay to transfer the name/rights and then pay the monthly fee for the water (which allows you a certain amount of hot spring water). I believe the fee was something like 2 or 3 M yen to change the name, which was about half the cost of the small onsen? The land area is 284 sq meters and the structure is 192 sq meters. It is considered a 4DK (read: 4 rooms plus dining room and kitchen). Built in May of 1988. It has a very warm, welcoming but a bit dated (as in not contemporary trends) vibe, and the tile in the bath area appears impeccable and it looks out onto a lush, heavily treed area. To give you an idea of how long it has been empty, the indoor photos were taken in November of 2020. Most individual homes in these hot spring areas all seem to have their own private onsen for 2-6 people, depending on how large the resort home is. NOTE: I do *not* know what happened to this onsen and why it was on the market? It may have gone out of business during CoVid? The owner may have passed away or retired? It could be that the area was too remote for tourists, and since most of the homes were resort homes that already had their own hot spring water and onsen tub that there was not enough business. All important things to consider when starting a business. Believe it or not, this onsen was listed right along with all the resort homes right on SUUMO's website. I wasn't looking in any special area, or for commercial properties, I was just looking for what they call (in English) "buying a detached house" and I was in the "second hand" section, not "new construction". SUUMO's website is a *wealth* of information if you sit down and really take time to read all the information it provides. They really seem to have a culturally different attitude to setting people up to succeed in purchasing in Japan. I'm guessing because they have so many empty homes and businesses. I have found other business properties, as well, on SUUMO, like a storefront with a storehouse, a sushi restaurant in one of the wards in Tokyo w/living space above it, and business storefront in one of the wards of Tokyo with a living space above it. I can't even begin to tell you how many business properties I've come across in several different prefectures. If you are curious, I was looking at vacation homes in Jiromaru Shinkoji Village, which is outside of Nagano City in Niigata Prefecture. The small retreat only cost Y6M, it had a 33 tatami mat room on the second floor, and the onsen bath could hold up to 6 people at one time. It only had one onsen bath, but I remember thinking what a great day-spa it could be. It is still available, but it is likely much smaller than what you are looking for. There is a 1 year warranty on all repairs, though, which I found very appealing (unlimited repairs!! should anything go wrong). From the photos, it appears set up and ready to go (after some basic, light cleaning and adding personal touches for guests). Actually, the more I talk about this place again, the more I want to buy it. That unlimited repairs for a year is just an amazing thing for a business just starting out. It gives a small business owner some breathing room to get going without fear of a HUGE capital investment in that first year should something critical (like roof, foundation, plumbing, HVAC) goes wrong. NOTE: It does have a 100& repair amount limit, and I'm not sure if that is for each repair or all repairs, which is salient to know. I would imagine it would make a good Airbnb for families to rent when they want to get away. I'm not sure of it's viability as a true full-time onsen since it's relatively small. Anyway, I hope this helps give you an idea of how to get started looking, and what might be out there. A large onsen is most likely going to be found through a commercial realtor who knows what is available in the area where you are interested. Best of luck to you!

[@gracewalsh4908]

@le_th_ thank you so much for the wealth of information! 👍🏻🙏

[@heythave]

Sell all the houses and buy Tesla stock instead.

[@typerightseesight]

Thurd

[@simpetcla12]

He’s lying. It completely matters. Japan is facing a terminal population and economic decline. Outside of Tokyo every single area and city is declining. He’s just trying to sell rural rubbish that you will be stuck with. 😂

[@loqol5874]

agree that he is trying to sell but everything else you said BS

[@Sinnehh]

he basically said that major cities seeing growth only. so yeah tokyo prices are up, rest country outside maybe 4 to 5 cities = losing money. ID bet Oska/Nagoya also work but tokyo likely safer bet for some out outside of industry.

[@CB-sx8xh]

I think it depends, eg Benton Homestead bought in Shimanami kaido area on a start up business manager visa.

[@c4ptainsimian]

He seems to mostly be buying in Yokohama which is within commute distance if you work in Tokyo. It’s also the second largest city in Japan.

[@samhk009]

Second 😂

[@chunblue]

First

[@busterbiloxi3833]

Every situation is different. I have a number of rental properties and there are many variables involved. Who is this guy? Some Hawaiian fake American?

[@skoog5600]

Click bait and silly!