Hi Japanlife, hope you guys are having a good day.
This is a mix of japanfinance and japanlife, but I’ve decided to post it here.
I’m in the process of leasing a new apartment since my workplace is a 2 hour commute from where I live. I plan to live with my fiance and considering our household income, the rent of the place is 1/5th. However if you consider my income only, the rent slightly exceeds the 1/3 mark.
The realtor already accepted my application and made me pay the initial costs. Then started asking if I have savings. I showed them my foreign bank accounts with low 6 figures. Then the management company started asking me to bring a hefty amount of it to japan.
I told them that I could do that but wasn’t going to. Plus they wanted me to do it quick which isn’t reasonable considering how long transfers take.
I ended up depositing some of the cash I had to my bank, a low 5 figure amount, and showed them the receipts. Note that this amount covers 16 months of rent.
Then they got paranoid and asked me to get a balance certificate from the bank, which can only be issued in the branch and takes 10 days to 2 weeks to issue. Plus my work hours don’t allow me to visit the bank at all.
I’m honestly sick of doing legwork just to satisfy their paranoia and don’t plan on going along any further. The previous 2 houses I rented with similar rent had accepted my overseas savings as proof of funds.
Is there a chance that they refund my initial costs partly but keep the brokerage fee? That is what I’m worried about.
I also lost quite a bit to the exchange rate when depositing dollar->yen to the bank.
Final question; is this type of probing usual considering japanese realtors? They are being rude af.