Be wary of apartments advertised by celebs
One real estate expert is suggesting that buyers be cautious of buying into new developments that use actors, musicians and sports stars to advertise their apartments.
According to journalist Atsushi Sakaki, if a condominium is in a good location and priced in line with the market then it shouldn't need a fancy marketing campaign to appeal to buyers.
A glitzy and flash marketing campaign may sometimes be used to draw attention away from some of the drawbacks of the development. Eg. it may be in a less desirable area, priced too high or too large in scale to achieve strong sales. Read more
Cheats and tricks in real estate advertising
Japan has rules that regulate real estate advertising to consumers, but they are self regulated by nine organizations across the country. One of those organizations is the Real Estate Fair Trade Council of greater Tokyo. According to the Council, the number of illegal advertising tricks by real estate companies is increasing online. The most common of these tricks is bait-and-switch and misleading advertisements.Read more
Chunk of concrete falls off building in Ikebukuro
A 20 centimeter piece of concrete fell from the top of a 10-storey apartment in Ikebukuro yesterday, smashing onto the pavement below. No one was injured.
The incident occurred at about 8am when a fragment from the rooftop of the building came loose. Another 4 meter long piece of concrete was left dangling, but was later removed by workers.
The apartment building is over 40 years old and the police headquarters said the deterioration of the building was to blame.Read more
Yakuza member lies in order to buy apartment
A member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest criminal organization, was arrested Kyoto on June 18 for the fraudulent purchase of an apartment.
According to the Kyoto Prefectural Police, the accused signed a contract on an apartment on December 20, 2011. The signing took place at a real estate agency in Kyoto's Nagakyo-ku. The property in question was a secondhand apartment priced at 16,750,000 Yen, which was to be used for the buyer's personal residence.Read more
Earthquake-resistance checks on old apartments not progressing
Of Japan's apartment buildings built prior to 1970 to older and less stringent earthquake standards, only 16% have been inspected to see whether they can withstand a large earthquake.
In February, the Condominium Management Companies Association conducted a survey of 2100 pre-1970 apartment buildings nationwide. From the individual management companies that responded, only 16% reported that a building inspection was carried out to assess their building's earthquake resistance, and almost all were found not to meet current standards. Only 3% of the surveyed buildings had actually carried out any earthquake reinforcing work.Read more
Foreign buyers pipped at the post on land purchases in Hokkaido
Hokkaido Prefecture will be introducing support measures that will provide funding to local cities, towns and villages so that they may purchase tracts of land that foreign investors are planning to buy.
The measures are being introduced in response to growing concern over acquisition of forestry and water sources by foreign investors with unclear motives.Read more