Sunday, 10 February 2008
Mortgage
I am on a spousal visa in Japan and will not be able to apply for permanent resident status until December. This limits my options for finding a lender.
Shinsei Bank offer mortgages to those in my situation and I intend to finance the build with them.
Currently they are offering 2.55% fixed on a 20 year term.
I tried to get approval in December but was told that my income was not sufficient. This confused me as my tax return for last year shows that I made a considerable amount. However, as I am self-employed and some of the income was classed as "occasional", it cannot be considered when they are assessing me.
This year that issue has been resolved and all income is classed as regular.
When assessing, Shinsei take the income for the last two years and average it. If it is above 3,000,000 then we can proceed. I think that for this minimum income a loan of 19 million yen is possible.
My tax return for 2007 is being submitted at the end of next week. After that I will be able to apply for the mortgage. It is another 4-6 weeks before signing a contract - in Tokyo!
Shinsei Bank offer mortgages to those in my situation and I intend to finance the build with them.
Currently they are offering 2.55% fixed on a 20 year term.
I tried to get approval in December but was told that my income was not sufficient. This confused me as my tax return for last year shows that I made a considerable amount. However, as I am self-employed and some of the income was classed as "occasional", it cannot be considered when they are assessing me.
This year that issue has been resolved and all income is classed as regular.
When assessing, Shinsei take the income for the last two years and average it. If it is above 3,000,000 then we can proceed. I think that for this minimum income a loan of 19 million yen is possible.
My tax return for 2007 is being submitted at the end of next week. After that I will be able to apply for the mortgage. It is another 4-6 weeks before signing a contract - in Tokyo!
Catch up
It's over two months since I last posted. Progress has been slow in this time.
We soon decided that sekisui Heim was not the way to go. Their "free plan" was as free as their catalogue allows. The plans they showed us were tiny for the price and were also over our budget.
In order to make a choice between Heartful and Yutaka we had Heartful make some more plans and give us a price. This took a very long time - we only got the first quote last week. In the mean time, Yutaka have been reminding us of their presence and trying to push things forward.
We were hoping to be in a position to make a comparison between builders and plans. In fact, we are pretty much there. Heartful insist on the nice looking building (long and slender, with funky angles) that doesn't allow much width in the kitchen or living areas. Yutaka have come back at us again this week with a great new plan that features a mezzanine, study area, tool shed and large deck and loft.
Always the drawback from Yutaka had been that they were unwilling to work with our ideas, but now they have adapted a plan that I gave them and made something much better. This, with their efficiency and good customer service is pushing them in front at the moment.
As for the price, Heartful were supposed to come in 20% cheaper than an OM Solar house. It is difficult to compare as their house IS slightly bigger, but I don't think it works out to 20%. It feels more like 5% or so. It must also be remembered that with OM we will get some cooling in the summer. Heartful's system cannot provide this.
I will try to get some photos up soon.
We soon decided that sekisui Heim was not the way to go. Their "free plan" was as free as their catalogue allows. The plans they showed us were tiny for the price and were also over our budget.
In order to make a choice between Heartful and Yutaka we had Heartful make some more plans and give us a price. This took a very long time - we only got the first quote last week. In the mean time, Yutaka have been reminding us of their presence and trying to push things forward.
We were hoping to be in a position to make a comparison between builders and plans. In fact, we are pretty much there. Heartful insist on the nice looking building (long and slender, with funky angles) that doesn't allow much width in the kitchen or living areas. Yutaka have come back at us again this week with a great new plan that features a mezzanine, study area, tool shed and large deck and loft.
Always the drawback from Yutaka had been that they were unwilling to work with our ideas, but now they have adapted a plan that I gave them and made something much better. This, with their efficiency and good customer service is pushing them in front at the moment.
As for the price, Heartful were supposed to come in 20% cheaper than an OM Solar house. It is difficult to compare as their house IS slightly bigger, but I don't think it works out to 20%. It feels more like 5% or so. It must also be remembered that with OM we will get some cooling in the summer. Heartful's system cannot provide this.
I will try to get some photos up soon.
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