I bought a couple pieces of real estate in Japan as a foriegner, and I don't think it's too much of a bureaucratic nightmare. There is a lot of paperwork, yes,

I bought a couple pieces of real estate in Japan as a foriegner, and I don't think it's too much of a bureaucratic nightmare. There is a lot of paperwork, yes, and there are a lot of different taxes and fees involved. But your real estate agent would prepare all the paperwork for you and should be able to give a fairly precise estimate of fees in advance. All you really need to do is provide your signature/stamp of approval a bunch of times, and transfer the money. You would also need to pay real-estate taxes, as well as any income/capital gains taxes you made on the property. Japan also has "neighborhood associations" [1] that coordinate/provide services like trash pickup and snow removal that you probably should join, although I'm not sure if its's legally required. There are real-estate agents in Japan that specialize in working with international clients. Presumably they could streamline a lot of the process for you. There are also property management companies that could provide a lot of different services, such as basic maintanence, finding renters, etc. As someone who would be absent from Japan for long stretches of time, I think realistically you would need to pay for some of these services (unless you know someone who could look after the property for you). [1] https://mailmate.jp/blog/neighborhood-associations-japan https://mailmate.jp/blog/neighborhood-associations-japan