Hi all,
I’m looking to help family members move to Japan from the US in the near future. I have the immigration stuff sorted (at least, the immigration lawyer in Japan and US consulate in the US say we’re good), so just looking for guidance on finances, specifically around home loan and money transfers (and taxes?).
For the home loan, I have my own place in Japan (bought with a 30 year loan through SMBC). For the home that my family will be living in (still in the searching process), I figure it will be easier for me to take on this myself as a 2nd loan since I am a citizen, already have bank accounts in Japan, a steady job, and am paying off my own place. Have people taken out 2nd home loans and do you have any tips/advice? Google search turned up this site: [https://housingloan.jp/ct\_homeloan/index27.html](https://housingloan.jp/ct_homeloan/index27.html) which recommends Aeon bank so I’m going to take a stab at the preliminary application and see how that goes.
Secondly, are there recommendations on how to regularly transfer funds from the US to Japan? My family in the US will be selling their current house and using proceeds from that to send to me which I will use to make the monthly loan payments. I see TransferWise recommended a lot, is that still the best?
Also, are there tax implications we need to consider? My family will be staying in Japan under a CoE, so will still remain US citizens. They’re retired though, so aside from savings (plus what they get from selling their current place) their only other source of income will be their pension and social security.
Thanks in advance for any advice you have.
​
by kopinewbie