Yes. You can arrange a YEN LOANS mortgage on a Japanese apartment entirely from overseas, without living in Japan, traveling there or holding a Japanese bank account. You deal with the team by phone and email, sign the loan documents wherever you are, and settlement can be completed remotely, with a power of attorney if you cannot attend. A preliminary indication typically comes within 24 to 48 hours of a short intake form, and application to settlement commonly takes four to eight weeks.
In short
- You do not need to live in Japan, travel there, or hold a Japanese bank account. Eligibility is by the passport you hold, wherever you live, so you need no Japanese visa or residency unless you qualify through the Japanese Permanent Residency route.
- A preliminary indication typically arrives 24 to 48 hours after a short intake form, with no fee.
- A pre-approval letter follows an application and the two application fees. The credit decision comes in about 10 business days.
- Documents are accepted in English, Chinese or Japanese, with nothing to translate.
- Application to settlement commonly takes four to eight weeks, and settlement can be completed remotely.
Can you get a Japan mortgage without living in Japan?
Yes, with YEN LOANS. Eligibility is decided by the passport you hold, not by where you live, so a national of an eligible country or region can borrow while living anywhere. Nationals of India, Indonesia, Malaysia or Brazil qualify instead by holding Japanese Permanent Residency. You do not need a Japanese bank account, a visa, residency status, Japanese income or a Japanese company.
The property rules are the same for every borrower: a strata-titled apartment (condo) in a reinforced concrete (RC or SRC) building completed in 1990 or later, in one of five metropolitan areas. Our guide on whether foreigners can get a mortgage in Japan sets out who can borrow and on what terms, and our guide to which properties qualify covers the property.
What are the four steps, and what do you do from abroad?
A YEN LOANS mortgage moves through four steps, and none of them requires you to travel to Japan. The timings are indicative. They depend on the property, where you are, and how quickly documents move.
Inquiry and consultation
24 to 48 hoursWhat happens
We carry out a preliminary assessment and send a preliminary indication.
What you do from abroad
Contact us by phone or email and complete a short intake form, which takes about ten minutes.
Application
About 10 business days to a credit decisionWhat happens
We issue a pre-approval letter, then complete identity checks (KYC) and credit underwriting and give our credit decision.
What you do from abroad
Submit the application and documents, and pay the two application fees.
Confirmation and documentation
5 to 10 business daysWhat happens
We issue the loan offer letter, loan agreement, mortgage agreement and payment instructions.
What you do from abroad
Confirm the loan amount, then review and sign the documents where you are and return them.
Settlement
5 to 15 business daysWhat happens
Funds are exchanged through escrow, and ownership and the mortgage are registered.
What you do from abroad
Have your funds in place beforehand. You can attend, or grant a power of attorney.
Settlement takes place no sooner than five business days after the loan documents are finalized. It can follow in as little as around thirty days, and commonly takes four to eight weeks. One of our published borrower journeys follows an Australian buyer living overseas through all four steps, about eight weeks from application to settlement. The Process page sets out each step in full.
Your purchase contract
Before or after you sign a purchase contract
You can come to us before or after you sign.
If you have already signed
The property, price and completion date are fixed, which makes it a good time to apply: the application needs property details, and we plan the remaining steps with you.
If you have not signed yet
A preliminary indication tells you roughly what you can borrow before you agree a price. Selling agents often ask for evidence of financing before they accept an offer, so tell us what yours needs.
Our guide to the down payment for buying property in Japan works through the cash figures.
How the contract deposit and financing contingency work
When you sign, after the agent's formal briefing on the property (重要事項説明, jūyō jikō setsumei), two terms matter.
手付金 · tetsukekin
5% to 10%
The contract deposit. You usually pay it when you sign, commonly around 5% to 10% of the price. It counts toward the price at settlement.
ローン特約 · rōn tokuyaku
Not always included
The financing contingency. Some contracts include one. It generally lets the buyer cancel and recover the deposit if the loan does not come through by an agreed date. Whether a contract has one is agreed between buyer and seller.
Whichever stage you are at, tell us your completion date and, if your contract has a financing contingency, its date, so we can plan the application and credit decision, and confirm the settlement date, with you. If you are still negotiating, it helps if the contingency date falls after the expected credit decision, which comes about ten business days after a complete application.
Can I get pre-approved from overseas?
Yes. YEN LOANS issues a pre-approval letter once you have submitted an application and paid the commitment fee and the appraisal fee, and you can do both from overseas. Before that, with no fee, you can get a preliminary indication of how much you could borrow.
Buyers often ask for pre-approval, or to pre-qualify, before they make an offer. In Japan, a lender's preliminary review is usually called 事前審査 (jizen shinsa) or 仮審査 (kari shinsa), and the full credit review that follows is the 本審査 (hon shinsa). At YEN LOANS there are two stages before the credit decision: the preliminary indication, and then the pre-approval letter.
Inquiry
Preliminary indication
No fee. A planning figure, not a review result.
Application
Pre-approval letter
After the application and the two application fees. Indicative loan terms, based on the information you have provided.
About 10 business days
Credit decision
After we verify your documents and income and review the property.
Documentation
Loan agreement
Only once it is executed is there a commitment to lend.
What the preliminary indication is, and what it is not
At the inquiry stage you tell us about your plans and complete a short client intake form. You do not need a property under offer. If you have an apartment in mind, tell us about it, and we will take a first look at the property as well as your ability to service the loan.
It is
An early, indicative figure based on what you have told us. It shows whether your plans broadly fit our criteria, and roughly how much you could borrow.
It is not
A credit decision, a loan offer or a commitment to lend. We have not yet seen your documents or reviewed the property as security.
The pre-approval letter, and what you pay for it
The application asks for property details, so you apply once you have a property you intend to buy. Two fees are payable at application, the commitment fee and the appraisal fee, and once they are paid we issue the pre-approval letter, setting out indicative loan terms. The final amount depends on the credit decision and on the property's independent valuation, which can come in below the price. The remaining fees are deducted from the loan at settlement, and the Fees page lists each one.
From the application stage
What documents will I need?
Nothing beyond the intake form until you apply. From the application stage onwards, you provide the documents below. They are accepted in English, Chinese or Japanese, so you do not need to translate anything into Japanese. Offer documents are issued in English, and our team works in English, Japanese, Mandarin and Korean.
Application form
The completed YEN LOANS application.
Passport
From one of our eligible countries and regions. Nationals of India, Indonesia, Malaysia or Brazil can instead qualify by holding Japanese Permanent Residency. The list is on the Eligibility page.
Identification
Identification and proof of address.
Income evidence
Tax returns or equivalent. They do not need to be Japanese tax returns: we underwrite against documented income earned outside Japan. If you are not sure what counts as equivalent, ask at the intake stage.
Bank statements
Your recent bank statements.
Credit report
A credit report from your country of residence, dated within the past three months.
Property details
Details of the property, or its listing particulars.
How does YEN LOANS assess what you can afford?
We assess what you can afford from your verified net income after tax, less existing debt commitments that will continue, such as other mortgages, credit-card minimum payments, and personal or car finance, wherever they are. At the application stage, we check each figure against your documents.
Your assets count too
Income is not the only thing we look at. YEN LOANS assesses your full profile, which can help retirees and buyers whose wealth sits mainly in savings or investments, or who would rather borrow than sell holdings overseas. If assets are a large part of your profile, tell us at the inquiry stage, and we will tell you what evidence we need.
What can count towards what you can borrow
Your income
Net income after tax
Assets
In Japan or abroad
Pension or retirement income
Not only a salary
Rent
If you plan to let the apartment
The property sets a second limit: up to 65% of an independent valuation, or 50% for second homes, short-term rentals and loans over ¥250M, with the purchase price as a ceiling. For a first estimate, the borrowing-power calculator gives an indicative figure from your income and existing commitments. It does not take assets into account, so if they are a large part of your profile, talk to us. It is an estimate, not an offer.
Can you sign and settle without traveling to Japan?
You do not need to travel to Japan at any stage. Settlement can be completed entirely remotely. If you cannot attend in person, you may grant a power of attorney, the 委任状 (ininjō), for completion to be carried out on your behalf.
The loan documents are sent to you to review and sign where you are, and offer documents are issued in English. In one of our published borrower journeys, a digital copy arrived first and the paper documents followed by express mail, with return packages prepared.
“I planned with the YEN LOANS team fairly early to identify the due dates of all signed documents, and worked backwards from there.”
Before settlement day, from abroad
Signature certificate
署名証明 shomei shōmei
Some documents signed abroad, such as a power of attorney for registration, may need one, usually from a local notary public. Japanese nationals can also get one from a Japanese embassy or consulate. YEN LOANS' designated judicial scrivener will tell you which documents need one, so allow time for it.
Your own funds
Sent early
Have them in place before the day, allowing for international transfer times. Transfers from overseas banks can be delayed, or reduced by intermediary-bank charges, for reasons outside YEN LOANS' control, so send your funds early and allow for charges.
Property insurance
In force on the day
Make sure the policy is in force on the day of settlement.
Our guide to closing on a property in Japan explains what happens on the day.
Paying the loan from abroad
Payments are made monthly, in yen, and you do not need a Japanese bank account. Without one, this is how the payment reaches us:
From wherever you bank
You fund the account
You keep the property's management account funded.
Held by the property manager
The management account
Run by a local property manager (管理会社, kanri-gaisha), approved in advance.
Every month, in yen
Your loan payment
Collected from the property's management account.
A property manager approved in advance is required if you have no Japanese account, or if the property is not your residence. If you do not already have a manager, YEN LOANS introduces one before your first payment falls due. The manager's fee is agreed with them directly and is not a YEN LOANS charge. With a Japanese bank account, payments are collected from it by arrangement.
What can slow things down?
The timeline depends on more than the credit assessment. It is shaped by the completion date agreed for your purchase, the property, your jurisdiction, document turnaround and scheduling.
Document turnaround
Incomplete or unclear documents usually lead to follow-up questions. Have your recent tax filings and bank statements to hand before you apply, and reply to requests promptly.
Scheduling
Signing from abroad takes planning. Know where you will be when the loan documents are ready, and allow for time zones and delivery times.
The completion date
The date agreed in your purchase contract sets the pace. If you are still agreeing it, aim for at least eight weeks after you expect to apply: applications commonly take four to eight weeks to reach settlement, and the longer end leaves room for follow-up questions and signing from abroad. Before you agree a date, check it with us, so we can confirm it works for the loan.
Answers to other common questions are on our FAQ page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Japan mortgage take from overseas?
A preliminary indication typically takes 24 to 48 hours after a short intake form. The credit decision follows a full application, in about ten business days. Settlement can follow in as little as around thirty days, and commonly takes four to eight weeks. The completion date in your purchase contract usually sets the pace, so, if you can, agree one at least eight weeks after you expect to apply, and check it with us first.
Do I need to have chosen a property before I contact YEN LOANS?
No. You can get a preliminary indication without a property under offer. If you have an apartment in mind, tell us about it, because the indication also takes a first look at the property. The full application needs property details, so you apply once you have a property you intend to buy.
How much does it cost to apply?
Nothing until you apply. There is no fee for the inquiry or the preliminary indication. At application you pay two YEN LOANS fees, a commitment fee of ¥220,000 and an appraisal fee of ¥110,000, after which the pre-approval letter is issued. The rest are deducted from the loan at settlement, together about 4% of the loan, depending on the term and rate, so there is nothing separate to pay YEN LOANS on the day. The Fees page lists each amount.
Can a Japanese citizen living abroad get a mortgage from YEN LOANS?
Yes. Japan is on our list of eligible countries, so a Japanese passport meets the nationality test wherever you live. You do not need to live in Japan or have Japanese income: we assess the income you earn abroad, and documents are accepted in Japanese, English or Chinese. The property must qualify in the same way as for any borrower. Our guide for US citizens buying in Japan includes a section for Japanese nationals living in the US.
Japanese terms in this guide
- 事前審査jizen shinsa
- A lender's preliminary review, often called pre-approval in English. Also called 仮審査 (kari shinsa). YEN LOANS' first step is a preliminary indication, which is a guide and not a review result. It issues a pre-approval letter after an application and the two application fees, before the full credit review is complete.
- 本審査hon shinsa
- The full credit review after a complete application. At YEN LOANS, the full application leads to the credit decision.
- ローン特約rōn tokuyaku
- A financing contingency in a purchase contract. It generally lets the buyer cancel and recover the contract deposit if the loan does not come through by an agreed date.
- 手付金tetsukekin
- The contract deposit a buyer pays when signing the sale contract. It is normally counted toward the price at settlement.
- 重要事項説明jūyō jikō setsumei
- The formal explanation of important matters about a property, given by a licensed real estate agent before the contract is signed.
- 署名証明shomei shōmei
- A signature certificate, used in place of a registered seal certificate by a person who has no registered seal in Japan. Foreign nationals usually get one from a notary public; Japanese nationals abroad can also get one from a Japanese embassy or consulate.
- 委任状ininjō
- A power of attorney: a document that authorizes another person to act for you, for example at settlement.
Written by Kyle Steele · Reviewed by Mark T. Drabkin, Representative Director & CEO · Last reviewed .
YEN LOANS K.K. is a money lender registered with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government under the Money Lending Business Act (MLBA), license Governor of Tokyo (1) No. 31998. This article is general information, not financial advice, and is not an offer of finance. Worked examples are illustrative. Rates are indicative, reset monthly, and subject to credit assessment and security review. Effective annual rate (実質年率) within 14.6%, calculated on the principal net of fees; late-payment charge up to 20.0% p.a. All loans are full recourse to the borrower. Applications are subject to careful review and may be declined. Please check the terms of your agreement and borrow within your means. 慎重な審査の結果、お申込みの意に沿えない場合がございます。ご契約内容をご確認のうえ、ご利用は計画的に。 Full product terms are set out under Loan terms, all costs under Fees, and the approved Japanese disclosure under 貸付条件の表示.