00:00:00: the Japan real estate scene, as soon as you go a little like there.

00:00:03: The real benefit is when you go up just a little bit above the Akiya tier price range and that's where you can get actually good house.

00:00:12: That's not going to require an incredible amount of work in a better location.

00:00:16: And I think that's really the sweet spot.

00:00:18: they're around maybe eight million again.

00:00:22: Price point?

00:00:23: in the real estate market, or I guess that's like a little bit my upper bound.

00:00:28: In terms of how much cash I have as well.

00:00:31: so i think um That sort-that's this sweet spot for me and we wanted to brand to reflect on it.

00:00:35: We're no longer just Akiya.

00:00:37: More importantly No one can pronounce the word Akiyya though I feel like...I don't know if you come across as Siv but people say Aikiya Akaya.

00:00:46: You Know Any Akita any number of permutations.

00:00:51: Yeah, that's the case for any kind Japanese word.

00:00:55: I mean you should try to listen.

00:00:57: people say Fukuoka.

00:00:58: Hi

00:01:15: there folks and welcome or welcome back to Nippon Trading International's Japan Real Estate Podcast.

00:01:21: I'm your host, Ziv Nakajima again And this podcast is brought you among others by Emil Gorgies of realestate.jp.

00:01:28: He's a Tokyo real estate agent who specializes in serving international or mixed nationality families Who are looking for the perfect family home.

00:01:36: So, Emile is an Australian.

00:01:37: He's been living here in Japan for over two decades now and for about half of that time he has been buying selling and managing real estate properties In Tokyo on behalf his own family And the great many happy clients!

00:01:49: And also acts as a mortgage broker On behalf of this client.

00:01:51: so hes got dedicated loan officers Many Japanese megabanks And if you're a regular listener of the podcast, You probably already know him from our JREP The Japan Real Estate Experts Panel Sessions Which means that your all ready aware Of fact That man is an absolute fountain of wisdom on All things related to real estate in japan and In particular family homes.

00:02:13: The greater Tokyo metropolitan area and mortgages.

00:02:17: Most importantly he's incredibly generous with his time and advice which Is more than happy To provide at no cost or commitment to anyone asking.

00:02:24: So if you've been thinking about buying your home in Tokyo, but you're sitting on the fence for a while or just want to have chat with a real expert.

00:02:33: Drop him online at salesatrealestate.jp Hit it up today and start exploring.

00:02:44: Pre-registration is now open for the autumn session of The Japan Real Estate Summit, taking place at the Tokyo International Forum.

00:02:51: Fantastic venue and online on the seventeenth and eighteenth of October twenty twenty six.

00:02:56: if you go ahead and fill in the form which you'll find this episode show notes or to our website nippontradings.com You will be able secure your seriously discounted tickets either in person or via stream.

00:03:09: Most of your crowd favourites will be there of course Tracy Northcott from Tokyo Family days, Emil Gorgies from realestate.jp Blanka Kobayashi from ArcReform myself of course Akiahab Mark Drabkin from Yenloans Alicia Kinwang from Axolotl Capital Chai Kanda and the crew from Shiki Properties plus another surprise speaker or two that will be announcing very soon.

00:03:30: you'll also meet and hear form our other sponsors Mailmate Tatamono IQ and Akiya Mart.

00:03:36: Early Bird pricing is only available until the end of September.

00:03:41: Please pay attention.

00:03:41: If you're an industry participant from this session and onwards, industry attendees meaning anyone working in or representing any company that's active such as realtors, brokers agents consultants property management companies and so forth.

00:03:58: You do need to get an industry ticket which is slightly more expensive as opposed to the regular non-industry tickets.

00:04:04: those will remain priced the same as they've been on the previous event.

00:04:08: that's our main concern always to make the event affordable for anyone interested in attending And for you industry entities or non-Industry participants.

00:04:16: if you have been a part of this year It's been on for four years now, it is the biggest and most comprehensive industry event in Japan that takes place entirely in English.

00:04:26: Then you are of course very aware what a great opportunity.

00:04:32: Meet potential clients, business partners and other industry players.

00:04:36: And be part of this amazing community that's been built in these events over the past few years.

00:04:40: hands down The best gathering of Japan real estate property enthusiasts and pros without a doubt.

00:04:46: So yeah

00:04:47: hop over to our website or click the registration form link directly In this episode.

00:04:51: show notes secure your discounted tickets today.

00:04:55: We're all looking forward To seeing you in Tokyo online in the zoom room.

00:04:58: Saturday Sunday, seventeen eighteenth October Either one of these days or both, there are tickets available for full-or-one day participation in case you can't make the entire weekend.

00:05:08: All right, so speaking of Akiyama Art today's episode is a catch-up call with Joey and Takei the awesome founders of Japan's first and best comprehensive property listings engine in my opinion.

00:05:19: Which if you're not familiar with... You must be living under a rock!

00:05:22: It's THE BEST AND EASIEST TO NAVIGATE PLATFORM FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

00:05:26: JAPANESE PROPERTY LISTINGS OUT THERE Gives you access to the entire market it extremely affordable And you can use my name Ziv as a discount code or click the link in the show notes, which will make this subscription even cheaper.

00:05:39: Now they've got some big news that just rebranded The Platform and you'll hear exactly why.

00:05:43: In This Episode it's now called Moko Moko Which I personally thought was super cute.

00:05:48: And we talk not only about the rebranding and relaunch of The Platform but also everything else under the sun

00:05:55: from

00:05:56: colonoscopies and other medical procedures.

00:05:59: Don't say i didn't warn you.

00:06:00: Japan's public health system as compared to other countries our favorite watering hole here in Fukuoka City and our karaoke skills, their company history.

00:06:10: overview of the last four years as far as price trends transaction volumes.

00:06:14: The current anti-foreigner policies the rural versus urban divide in Japan.

00:06:29: The recent Japanese yen intervention by the US-Japan coalition, loan interest rates update and of course the rebranding itself.

00:06:37: Akiyama becomes Moko Moko.

00:06:38: why?

00:06:39: What does the platform offer?

00:06:40: what's in the works?

00:06:41: multi unit building investments which is one of the listing types that they're planning to add to the platform very soon.

00:06:47: how old or young should structures be on purchase if they're built from different materials?

00:06:52: um a little bit about my own personal new business venture, which has nothing to do with real estate.

00:06:57: But I will be announcing it officially anyway just for the heck of it here on The Podcast as well.

00:07:03: so a really fun conversation With the awesome Takei and Joey formerly co-founders Of Akiyama Art And from Here On Co Founder's of Moko Moko.

00:07:11: Enjoy the Conversation!

00:07:12: And i'll see you again on the other side.

00:07:13: These are these our North American problems, man I pay.

00:07:18: Obviously i'm old enough to get mine every year.

00:07:20: I paid like three hundred bucks for the back end and then the front-end.

00:07:26: Yeah

00:07:29: yeah so where did they hear about this?

00:07:31: They do good intensive comprehensive everything tests in Thailand.

00:07:38: For a

00:07:39: fraction of what everyone's paying elsewhere if you're not covered.

00:07:42: but No, I've

00:07:44: done you get in Japan.

00:07:45: What's

00:07:46: that?

00:07:47: Or Joe can't Joey Can't You Get That?

00:07:49: Those Services In Japan or no you have to like.

00:07:52: really

00:07:52: sure i'm never.

00:07:53: i've Never Heard About it in japan but Like I don't know for those listening i think we just turn on the record talking about colonoscopy Set of examinations.

00:08:03: Doctors Don't Push It But if you um If you ask your doctor then they'll Definitely do it for me.

00:08:10: I'm with a Nazi Dutch doctor and he's like, you have to do it every year.

00:08:15: And You have to this every here in that of me as i get older?

00:08:18: I appreciate that man.

00:08:19: This

00:08:20: is a dutch doctor in fukwoka.

00:08:23: Yeah, yeah phenomenal Doctori've got friends from Tokyo come in because they can't find anything As good as him up there.

00:08:29: Oh really?

00:08:30: He found Joey found his doctorate No

00:08:34: bedside

00:08:34: manners whatsoever.

00:08:36: He yell

00:08:37: at you and scolds You are two one-and-a half kilo overweight, what the hell is that?

00:08:42: That's good.

00:08:47: I had to go ahead an open another business didn't I?

00:08:50: so i'm kind of Grounded to Japan until it self sufficient enough To hire somebody.

00:08:56: I can even leave for more than a few days or a week at a time.

00:09:01: Is that different than Nipon Bridge?

00:09:02: Are you open one more business?

00:09:04: Yes, yes.

00:09:06: Oh Okay Let's let me start the podcast and I think there is so much to

00:09:11: talk about here.

00:09:26: Welcome back.

00:09:27: Joint podcast episode.

00:09:29: today, everybody won't do the traditional introduction that we share shared podcasts with none other than Ziv Nakajima again from NTI NEAPON Trading's International.

00:09:41: Ziv is an OG in this space.

00:09:43: We've learned so much from zive.

00:09:45: if anybody has any in-depth real estate In Japan questions he is the go to person in a space.

00:09:51: welcome Ziv not sure?

00:09:54: This is your podcast, this our podcast.

00:09:56: I think it's a collaboration today so welcome to you!

00:09:59: Welcome everybody!

00:09:59: It'll be everywhere.

00:10:00: yeah Yeah...I mean i feel like when we started out You guys were like yeah the market and divs The OG.

00:10:09: these days you're everywhere.

00:10:12: I'm feeling a bit humble now being on Your Podcast!

00:10:17: I've got any flashbacks?

00:10:18: Last time I saw.. I have distinct memory of you doing karaoke together a Bob Marley song in Eight Stars Bar and Foucault.

00:10:26: That was so much fun!

00:10:28: Joey is awesome, actually I did not expect that...

00:10:32: I've got the eight stars bar drink ticket.

00:10:34: still keep it in my wallet, Steve.

00:10:36: Man, man... I'm not sure if they're still

00:10:38: valid.

00:10:41: He's selling the bar.

00:10:42: by the way let's give him some free publicity.

00:10:46: he's selling The Bar wants to move on to restaurant T-Ring?

00:10:49: Is that word?

00:10:50: Interesting.

00:10:51: If you know anybody who wants a fully functioning, very highly reviewed bar guy G bar in Fukuoka city and hit me up.

00:10:58: I'll put it into touch.

00:10:59: eight stars American Bar.

00:11:01: that's Very cool.

00:11:02: is the very fun bar?

00:11:03: It was its been packed every time i've been.

00:11:05: i feel like i've Been there maybe five times In my life packed Every single Time.

00:11:09: A lot of Fun Good International Crowd That Comes Through To Its Like It'S An international crowd Like Cocktail Bar You Know In Fukuo.

00:11:19: Go A Lot Of Fun Yep

00:11:22: And karaoke, which is always a good thing.

00:11:23: right

00:11:24: Bob Marley

00:11:26: You're saying what other Japanese song?

00:11:27: What was that song Joey?

00:11:29: once I called again

00:11:31: Yeah, don't remember the name of it.

00:11:32: But it's like you could eat.

00:11:34: you could.

00:11:34: he could have

00:11:37: taken

00:11:38: Somewhere

00:11:39: only to try.

00:11:42: yeah Ziv.

00:11:44: for our audience members who have never heard of you Which is very unlikely might just give in a quick introduction or yourself.

00:11:50: Yeah, sure.

00:11:51: So my name is Ivna Kajima.

00:11:53: again.

00:11:54: I'm co-founder and CEO of Nippon Trading's International, NTI.

00:11:58: for short We've been at it for about fifteen years now And we kind of positioned ourselves from the get go... ...and i think we have done a good job with that as being The catch.

00:12:09: all experts on anything to do with Japanese real estate.

00:12:12: so when we started out It was mostly investment properties.

00:12:16: then A lot people with Akia Boom started asking for Akia commercial properties, land for development hospitality.

00:12:23: So we're not real.

00:12:25: tours were not brokers.

00:12:27: We don't have any interest in any particular property over another that we want to sell or make you buy.

00:12:32: our job is There's several layers of it.

00:12:36: now That's probably changed a bit since we first spoke but we can either do everything on your behalf will talk To all the agents available who have something?

00:12:44: Or we'll hook you up with a vetted, foreigner-friendly buyer site agent kind of similar to what you guys do.

00:12:57: And and We will be Joining joining the purchase as consultants so we'll be guiding due diligence would be telling me agent What question because You've worked with Japanese professionals?

00:13:08: He probably know They're.

00:13:11: they're super professional there by the book but they're not Strategic.

00:13:14: then I'm gonna tell you what questions to ask or raise red flags on your behalf.

00:13:18: So we just make sure that you're ticking all the boxes as you work with agents, and then post-settlement we also handle portfolio management.

00:13:29: if and when you want to sell.

00:13:30: We will be selling the property for you!

00:13:33: If it's something that we can't handle I think over the years were built a nice enough network

00:13:41: Right on for the audience members here.

00:13:43: Ziv helped us buy our first Akia back in twenty-twenty three.

00:13:50: Wow, it's been like four years.

00:13:52: if that's crazy Yeah I mean It's interesting.

00:14:00: guys want to open up with a first question Like what's changed over the past?

00:14:03: Four years is just the whole boom.

00:14:06: and then like What have you seen since?

00:14:08: actually how long have you've been doing How in the space of Japanese real estate?

00:14:12: Fifteen

00:14:15: years.

00:14:16: Yes,

00:14:16: fifteen years okay

00:14:18: yeah right after The two thousand and eight financial crisis.

00:14:21: twenty eleven is when we started.

00:14:24: at that time Most our clientele were Australian and Singaporean because everybody North America and Europe had so many foreclosure deals In their backyard they didn't need to go anywhere else.

00:14:35: And over the years as the market improved all over the world then We've been getting clients for all over the place, I think.

00:14:41: The only continent we don't have them yet is Antarctica but there's got to be somebody like a penguin or something that wants to buy real estate.

00:14:47: and what we've seen since you purchased... So i'd probably segmented into first couple of years then last couple of year.

00:15:03: so when we say for four years this right after Covid So the trends we've been seeing then is a rush of like revenge buying and revenge holiday homes.

00:15:15: Like I'd be waiting so long with this pandemic, i gotta get my place now.

00:15:19: there was huge wave that prices have been going up steadily over those fifteen years since Abbasan when the bottom end bubble burst started trending upwards again.

00:15:35: So prices have been steadily going up.

00:15:37: The Akihaboom meant that prices finally started going up in the rural areas as well, which was definitely not the case for a long time before them.

00:15:50: but then about a year ago or almost a year go now when uh...the new government and the new immigration policies started piling one after another Sentiment in Japan became very foreigner unfriendly.

00:16:10: I'm trying not to say racist, but very anti-foreigner.

00:16:15: That's put a pause on things.

00:16:17: so we haven't

00:16:18: seen

00:16:18: that trickle down two prices or Transaction volume overall.

00:16:23: But i guess will see what the end of year stats would bring.

00:16:26: And it definitely puts a lot of foreign buyers On The back for trying To figure out What exactly.

00:16:32: if the government will put in any, so two aspects.

00:16:37: Firstly whether they'll be putting in anti-foreigner property purchase related measures like Singapore Australia and a bunch of other countries.

00:16:45: that I mean Japan is the only country in Asia Pacific that didn't have any restrictions whatsoever to date.

00:16:51: So from that aspect if they do put an extra taxes or limitations They're really just playing catch up.

00:16:58: What

00:17:01: do you think the most likely scenario is?

00:17:03: I was very curious to hear your opinion on this.

00:17:04: what Do You Think The Most Likely Scenario Is If You Were To Sort Of On The

00:17:08: Real Estate Front

00:17:09: Five Years In The Future Yeah, What Do You Thank?

00:17:11: The Real estate Restriction like Headwinds Will Look Like For Foreign Buyers Purchasing Real Estate in Japan And Five Years Time.

00:17:18: if You Had To Predict

00:17:22: Optimistically If i Could

00:17:24: You

00:17:24: Know Confidently Say That I Think The Government will Do The Right Things Um, I think there would be potentially like if i was running the show.

00:17:35: I will put in some very carefully selected measures on particular hotspots right.

00:17:40: so If you want to buy in central Tokyo Central Niseko a couple of other locations that You know have been suffering from growth That's more related to speculation than any fundamentals Then I would probably put in Some cooling measures In those locations.

00:17:55: but A blanket, sweeping-blanket kind of policy all over the country will really stuff up the rural areas which is most Japan.

00:18:05: Because property prices are still at rock bottom in the rural area and nobody wants to live there except these foreigners who have dreams.

00:18:15: The population is very rapid decline.

00:18:19: Everyone's conglomerating into bigger cities.

00:18:21: We've now reached a point where You know, up until the last population census which was twenty-twenty we still saw major metropolitan centers gaining in population as the smaller townships kind of emptied out and conglomerated into them.

00:18:36: We're not even seeing that anymore.

00:18:38: so were seeing population trends within cities.

00:18:40: now it's become very granular like people are moving with this city to this ward or that ward or neighborhood but even the major prefectures have stopped gaining in populations.

00:18:51: if Japan, and that kind of ties into the immigration conversation too right?

00:18:56: If Japan continues with blanket sweeping statements on foreigners being able to move to the country do business here by properties.

00:19:04: Here I personally obviously bias because i'm a foreigner but I personally feel they'll be shooting themselves in the foot.

00:19:10: But... ...if don't have confidence in politicians thinking beyond their nearest term an office And then they could potentially be putting in some blanket statement policies.

00:19:25: I don't know, but the immigration debate is something that plays out over the long term and i think a politician who's thinking ahead to two or three turns not beyond that probably doesn't care much about how it will play after they've gone.

00:19:43: But with real estate transactions you see effects pretty quickly like within one or two financial years, if you stuff up the property market.

00:19:51: You will definitely feel it and that we'll obviously reflect on your polling on your voting results as well.

00:19:57: so I'm hoping there be a bit more careful in.

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00:22:11: Now back

00:22:24: to suffering from, you know these rapid price increases that when people talk about luxury condos in Tokyo rose.

00:22:39: You know fifty percent or I don't know the statistic but yeah i hope they don't exactly create a blanket statement or blanket policy on something like this is very specific problem to large city centers and have it affect rural areas as well?

00:22:52: That's my hope.

00:22:54: politicians have done dumb things in the past and will continue to do that.

00:22:58: So let's hope we're right,

00:23:01: I'm curious like so what you hit on this one immigration side a little bit?

00:23:04: And We don't need go too deep here.

00:23:05: but it's interesting how quickly they flip The business manager visa.

00:23:08: i'm curious Like How long were They cooking That up behind This scenes Before They Decided To Change Those

00:23:14: Shatter About It For About Three Four Months Leading Up To That?

00:23:19: That Happened In October Last Year.

00:23:26: But we don't know how.

00:23:29: Japanese press is gagged and dictated by the administration.

00:23:35: It's not like there are very few

00:23:37: actual

00:23:38: journalists in Japan, when they're out there often get slapped with gag orders.

00:23:46: I'm not sure if those three or four months were when they actually allowed them to speak about it, Or that's where we found out.

00:23:53: But i think... That came in just before the elections right?

00:24:00: So... I guess... I mean Takaiti-san is now a person of power and you know its tempting because I don't like her.

00:24:08: It's tempting me too thing she was an instigator but wasn't even Prime Minister.

00:24:14: The sentiment has been shifting for a while and sadly, again it's like self-fulfilling prophecy or I don't know what you call.

00:24:25: but population gets older means people are more conservative voters out there not to say racist.

00:24:33: And if they have been expressing this sentiment all over the place then eventually they manage echoes that or leverage to get elected, then will it get better?

00:24:47: I mean things would have been really hurting the economy for people to recognize.

00:24:53: That's a mistake and i've actually just listened to Dr Jonathan, I forget his name, he got good Asia researcher from Oxford who says that the younger generation in Japan is most anti-foreigner these days.

00:25:11: Whatever is the

00:25:11: headline, yeah.

00:25:12: The education system?

00:25:13: Yeah it's been a while that has been trickling.

00:25:16: I think...

00:25:19: Maybe not always thought but i think like again and not to get into the racism aspect of this.

00:25:26: But if you look at the stats..I think like the majority of foreign nationals in Japan And the majority people purchasing these luxury condos In Tokyo etc.

00:25:36: are China and Southeast Asian origin.

00:25:40: And I wonder, i don't know if it's an appropriate policy to start maybe restricting buyers or immigrants from certain countries.

00:25:48: But because it seems to be a lot of Chinese buyers buying these luxury condos in Tokyo.

00:25:55: What if they just added some sort of like short term capital gains tax?

00:25:59: Like, If it is people trying to flip or just get in there for buy the property and then sell it within two years or something like that why don't they add some kind of capital gains on specifically target...

00:26:10: That's been in place over a decade!

00:26:12: No no

00:26:13: but that has been placed all over the country.

00:26:16: If you sell within five years its double capital gains taxes

00:26:19: Okay, so I guess that's not even having an effect.

00:26:21: then or maybe they're long-term holding these for the long term.

00:26:34: The

00:26:46: department that you have to report two and they started enforcing it, but your obliged to report the bank of Japan on any non resident purchase for ages is just nobody cared even the agents in there.

00:26:59: Lawyers the judicial scriveners a lot of them didn't know about because no enforcement whatsoever we've been doing from day one.

00:27:08: I thought there must have been some collection mechanism because on the one hand they're saying, okay we are going to start collecting a nationality of these buyers.

00:27:14: But then at same time like you know seventy percent people buying condos in Tokyo is from this country.

00:27:20: so that's why it was new somehow.

00:27:23: The law wasn't placed just nobody was enforcing.

00:27:26: maybe want clear but i mean...the fact thats first thing focus and announce anything else gives me hope.

00:27:34: It's a bit more or talk than actual action.

00:27:38: I mean, again it helps them maybe boost up support for the administration without actually doing anything about just talking about.

00:27:46: Maybe we will do something out on that beware kind of thing but i'm hoping they won't.

00:27:51: But

00:27:53: like is an anger against Foreigners purchasing property in Japan or is it anger against like investors?

00:27:59: Like the same sort of thing we see in New York and you know, other main cities around the world.

00:28:03: It's like The investor class is purchasing properties and driving up home prices for people that actually want to live there.

00:28:08: Do you think it's like Anger against foreigners or is an anger against investors?

00:28:13: I don't think That's a case in japan because you move twenty minutes out of Tokyo You can already buy pretty affordable properties right?

00:28:19: It's not.

00:28:20: its Not the kind of dynamics that were seeing another countries i think And to be honest, it's just the perfect storm and a horrible combination of again voters becoming more and more elderly.

00:28:33: The huge spike in tourism... pardon my French but bloody idiots who are coming here doing all kinds of stupid things.

00:28:43: nobody differentiates right?

00:28:44: It has been like Kyoto for example since I got here.

00:28:48: I feel the cold shoulder so bad when i go to Kyoto.

00:28:53: I don't even get a chance to say, hey actually live here!

00:28:56: I know the rules... it's just fatigue right?

00:29:00: It is tourist fatigue and they are lumping in with all.

00:29:03: foreigners must be tourists.

00:29:06: So if you reminded me of that revenge travel..I totally forgot about that.

00:29:10: there was such surge after covid lockdown ended.

00:29:18: Huge surge of foreigners and tourists coming to Japan really did fatigue.

00:29:22: I think the locals said it makes sense like if you're local in Kyoto, then your like...I drove up to Kiyomizu.

00:29:29: Dead Island was just crazy!

00:29:31: And this is not- Nobody's having a good time here.

00:29:36: I

00:29:36: ain't going to Kyoto, to be honest.

00:29:38: I love going there for work and do my thing in the back alleys but tourist spots are so steer clear of.

00:29:46: it's horrible.

00:29:48: Yeah something with that revenge travel sparking this kind of tourism fatigue is really just blanketing a lot of Japan.

00:29:57: maybe that's also translating into some anti-foreigner sentiment on buying properties like PRs.

00:30:05: Yeah, and to be fair it's not like there were any actual measures or education to tourists.

00:30:11: Or education for locals who may help them understand the difference between residents in tourist.

00:30:15: I mean politicians will jump on a bandwagon... We don't like foreigners?

00:30:21: Okay let's get elected on that!

00:30:22: That is just adding fuel into fire.

00:30:25: so.. It is what it is but.... Human history.

00:30:30: overall, if we look from a macro level the pendulum swings.

00:30:33: I'm hoping that will see that changing in other parts of the world too and not just Japan.

00:30:37: The whole world is going through a bit of nationalism splurge at the moment aren't they?

00:30:41: Absolutely And i think for japan though it's like so severe In some of the... Joey and I since we've met you last We spent alot time in shikoku.

00:30:48: It was just like..we drive thru these towns and were like oh my gosh five years From now what this place gonna looks like city depopulation perspective, too.

00:30:58: Like it's just what?

00:31:00: What's going to happen?

00:31:02: that one town in Kochi was like.

00:31:04: there is one thing open want like.

00:31:06: I don't know what the town was like twenty years ago but like at night we're trying walk through trying find some somewhere to eat and it was just like One Izakaya opened.

00:31:14: everything else was pitch black lights off into every single building.

00:31:18: you know street after Street kind of abandoned.

00:31:21: yeah

00:31:21: Yeah It's pretty sad.

00:31:22: You feel I'm acutely.

00:31:25: if you need to go to the doctor clinic or hospital or find a late night convenience store for any kind of emergency.

00:31:32: If we wait for the bus like they're slowly dwindling down two like once every two hours three times that day twice today one said okay we canceling service.

00:31:43: it's just sad but now its again.

00:31:46: now is reflecting even in bigger cities.

00:31:49: so, Somebody will have to do something about it sooner or later, but yeah.

00:31:55: I guess most again politicians right like a next shift not on my shifts because you know i want to get elected against

00:32:02: Interesting.

00:32:03: well we're now going to change that.

00:32:05: What if you've been experiencing?

00:32:06: You guys have been... We'll talk about your rebranding in a minute But you'd be doing this for awhile and im assuming You're increasing in your volume of work because you started from scratch four years ago.

00:32:19: But are you feeling any down dip?

00:32:23: We try to look at seasonality and it's like a combination for us as business owners is marketing, if we push into content that drives people... with the talk of each being elected, I think that that spurt there was a dip.

00:32:43: But it's odd for us where we have no Trump

00:32:45: getting elected

00:32:47: trump getting elected

00:32:49: business coming here right?

00:32:51: So many US clients were like, I got to get out of here now.

00:32:55: Do you think me and talking?

00:32:56: We don't really have our finger on the pulse of seasonality yet.

00:32:59: Sometimes either A month will be good or a month would be bad And we're trying to retrospectively understand what we're seeing.

00:33:06: So I don't know if we fully understand the seasonality of business yet and what drives it?

00:33:12: We are seeing definitely more engagement, so I know that marketing works and I know interest is there globally...we are definitely seeing more engagement with our content but the amount to which actually translates into purchases exactly like you said went severely down after the election.

00:33:30: then its started crawling upwards..but its nowhere near.

00:33:33: where was this time last year?

00:33:35: Do you think that?

00:33:38: so I thought like, I personally don't believe that foreign buyers know that much about Japanese politics and it could be wrong here.

00:33:45: But the election, okay, Takahashi's election or more restrictions on visas

00:33:51: etc.,

00:33:53: thing of a vacation home buyer or someone buying an investment property in Japan.

00:33:58: do these things even affect them?

00:33:59: Are they aware of those things?

00:34:01: is really going to sway their purchasing decision?

00:34:05: I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

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00:34:47: now back For vacation

00:34:50: homes, no.

00:34:52: I think if you're dealing mostly with vacation homes You're probably a little bit more immune to that trend that we've been feeling.

00:35:00: But because Vacation Homes is just a small portion of what?

00:35:04: We don't mean it's a big portion but It's just one off many channels that we service people on.

00:35:11: So investors are definitely cautious Because they've seen other countries.

00:35:15: when anti-foreigner governments come in They suddenly And we need to educate them if they're not familiar with Japan and just investors looking at numbers, then hey this is a first world country.

00:35:26: No one's gonna be like confiscating your properties from you.

00:35:29: that's never going happen here.

00:35:32: but there are cautious about what might potentially happened If the government goes down that route.

00:35:38: people who want to move here definitely very well aware of visa issues.

00:35:43: so First thing that happened right after the business manager visa was like everybody with Airbnb in their countryside dream just dried off and peeled away, it's not a thing anymore.

00:35:56: We are getting a lot more serious investors now.

00:35:59: so people who are setting up asset management companies or opening a branch of an asset management company they have overseas purchasing something.

00:36:08: I mean if somebody is going to buy multi-unit investment building multifamily what they call in the USA multifamily, then.

00:36:15: They know that there would have been investing at least thirty million probably more like fifty-sixty million and a minimum anyway just for listeners or another where we're talking yens.

00:36:25: so that's like three hundred thousand US dollars were not about like thirty million us.

00:36:30: but um...they knew that they are going to invest somewhere from three to four hundred thousand U.S.

00:36:36: anyways.

00:36:37: So for them things haven't changed as much.

00:36:39: their just little bit more cautious you see today will bring Similarly, people who are buying land for development.

00:36:47: Right?

00:36:47: So people were buying land to sit on and hopefully land bank can gain in value if it's particularly popular area or people who're planning to construct something in the near or medium future.

00:37:01: they also a bit more cautious because maybe that land I've purchased will suddenly change the zoning and not allow me build anything not just on the foreigner front, but on everything overall.

00:37:13: So we're not feeling it deep in the holiday home shoppers, but definitely on the other channels here?

00:37:22: Yeah that makes sense.

00:37:23: I feel like we've mostly have been working with vacation home.

00:37:27: you know Aussie skiers looking for a vacation home type.

00:37:33: Oh, no.

00:37:33: Those people are still there in force?

00:37:35: Yeah.

00:37:36: so that's why I was kind of like hmmm...I'm not sure i believe the hypothesis of politics but yeah makes sense for all those other types of clients.

00:37:42: I think from a global perspective at least Western housing prices just keep going up and to the right where it is like.

00:37:50: For me in California The hope on owning gets smaller every trip into Japan.

00:37:57: And see the vacation home dream.

00:38:02: It's a little bit of that pressure from the Western countries, I think too.

00:38:06: That are also bringing some folks to look at Japan.

00:38:11: One more topic on economics in Japan and i don't know if any of us are an expert.

00:38:17: maybe you know better than we do but Let's say, okay.

00:38:20: So the Yen... The Week Yen is definitely like on top of minds for politicians here.

00:38:24: they tried some sort of joint action with United States to solve that.

00:38:28: I feel- That

00:38:29: was a two day thing wasn't

00:38:33: it?

00:38:34: It didn't work.

00:38:35: so i think their only last option..I heard some rumors that they might try and do something in the bond market.

00:38:40: but I think They're trying avoid raising interest rates And I Feel Like Their Going To Back Themselves Into A Corner Where Thats Like The Only Thing They Can Do if they raise interest rates.

00:38:48: immigration

00:38:49: raises GDP guys.

00:38:52: Yeah, well sorry yeah there are definitely other options but maybe it's not considering that except I wonder what will happen to the housing market?

00:39:01: If They Raise Interest Rates.

00:39:02: i believe most Japanese aren't variable rate mortgages.

00:39:06: um and you know probably a lot of oji chan soba chance That Maybe Cannot Afford An Interest Rate Hike Like What

00:39:13: They Have Been Creeping Upwards which you know, to people in the West sounds ridiculous what?

00:39:19: You went from like zero point five percent two one point.

00:39:22: One percent but with when your money buys less and less every year because cost of living keeps going up.

00:39:30: that's a major difference right?

00:39:31: it's big is a big big difference.

00:39:33: But again It's I don't know man, it's like band-aids on cancer.

00:39:39: It's like hey half of the workforce namely women are being completely misutilized.

00:39:46: you're not helping them contribute to the economy in any way whatsoever because of tradition and The other half which is foreigners cannot get into the country and work here Because again oh my god scary foreigners the people that they're pushing out.

00:40:02: to be honest perfectly frank like cards on the table, I myself have been rejected for permanent residency twice already.

00:40:10: First time fair enough because you know we applied On The Ten Year Mark and then We were still You Know as people do?

00:40:17: We weren't minimizing taxes As much as we can.

00:40:19: so we bought the house under the company name office.

00:40:22: Under the Company Name we claimed this many expenses.

00:40:24: So i guess my income wasn't sufficient to what the standards Were at that Time.

00:40:30: Second time they rejected me, which was just last year.

00:40:33: It's like two and a half years ago.

00:40:36: you were late on the pension payment

00:40:39: And then when

00:40:41: you moved house You didn't inform the immigration department directly that he moved house He only informed the world office.

00:40:48: So maybe it is all very vague Like even immigration lawyers can penetrate.

00:40:54: Maybe if you apply in July this year, when?

00:40:58: You'll have three years of non-delayed pension payments.

00:41:01: It might work we don't know.

00:41:02: We don't process it here.

00:41:03: and for coca it goes to wherever.

00:41:06: And now they're talking about like when you apply you need to show that he will be paying pension For thirty years.

00:41:11: I'm fifty two man i'm not gonna be

00:41:14: sure that on linkedin.

00:41:16: yeah That's crazy

00:41:17: okay but the thing is that people are actually pushing out of permanency like me and some friends that I've been talking to are exactly the people they want here, right?

00:41:29: And we have options man.

00:41:31: Australia is a good place for them but I ran their business from Australia before we moved there who are like, you know we went from thinking about should we apply for a mortgage and buy a house to maybe were better back off in Taiwan where we came before.

00:41:49: We came here And these are professional working people paying a lot of taxes like ourselves.

00:41:55: so hey yeah do what ya gotta do man.

00:41:59: I see that sort of line-up reasoning People going through people's heads right now, too.

00:42:04: Like Japan is saying okay Well we need to kind of raise our immigration Set up to be the you know on par with other countries But then they're not on par in Singapore In terms of income

00:42:15: and

00:42:16: yeah Yeah never worse.

00:42:17: so they're trying to like raise The costs and the burden as if They were as attractive as Singapore isn't Hiring, you know the

00:42:25: business here.

00:42:25: You know how difficult it is to even get anyone To help you open a bank account and I mean upon bridge entire premises because The infrastructure were stuffed up way before these immigration laws where we're made like.

00:42:39: It was hard enough And the payoff was low enough Before all of this came into effect Like wake-up call your not Singapore?

00:42:48: The infrastructure is not here.

00:42:50: The English support does not hear.

00:42:52: the earning capacity for professionals is not here.

00:42:55: The people who move to Japan, they love Japan because it's a career move or fantastic place on comfort level right?

00:43:02: So yeah I don't know again over my pay grade.

00:43:07: i'm no politician but we'll see what happens in few financial years.

00:43:16: hard.

00:43:18: I mean, very so difficult.

00:43:19: maybe it's a rumor still but

00:43:25: they are definitely want to pass this law.

00:43:27: whether Do we

00:43:32: just try to sign up for the JLP T?

00:43:33: talk us through that process?

00:43:35: I also got the textbook for the jail PT and two is hard.

00:43:38: I thought it was like not bad.

00:43:40: Like I lived here for six years a long time ago, I thought if my Japanese was okay.

00:43:43: But it's quite difficult.

00:43:44: And not only is it difficult they're quiet.

00:43:47: They tried to trick you with the questions.

00:43:48: so It's multiple choice, but for all four of it.

00:43:51: Not like you can eliminate two of the answers right away because they're obviously wrong.

00:43:54: No no.

00:43:55: All four are very close to the right answer so I do believe that.

00:44:00: yeah i do believe its a tricky test is not an easy multiple choice um But then just uh Yeah.

00:44:06: So I went through this sign up process The other day and now Its interesting.

00:44:09: They make another requirement For I think A few visas PR Etc And I want To Sign Up The Other Day on the website.

00:44:16: Like I was there at midnight when applications were supposed to be open and this site was crashing, it's crashing like you know... It was trying get concert tickets.

00:44:24: so i stayed up for two hours midnight till two a.m.. Refreshing!

00:44:27: Why do think

00:44:28: why?

00:44:29: Do you think that is happening because people are suddenly scrambling together end-to-end

00:44:33: certificate

00:44:34: for any potential visa application?

00:44:36: That what I think yeah.

00:44:38: That just fraction of their requirements though There're many other things hard come by now

00:44:43: I was skeptical.

00:44:43: It's like, how many people are in the similar position as me where they think okay?

00:44:48: So iIwas applying for current residents of Japan.

00:44:52: so it is like How many current residents Of japan Are seeing their writing on a wall and are like Okay!

00:44:58: I need to get into this test slot because we only do it twice A year etc.. So under the assumption that wouldn't be That bad but... I'm still seeing People who were like.

00:45:07: So then set my alarm for fifty AM thinking, okay.

00:45:11: A lot of people will set the five

00:45:12: a.m.,

00:45:12: I'll do like getting

00:45:13: concert tickets

00:45:16: and so I was able to get in.

00:45:17: but i'm still seeing people talking on forums on Reddit.

00:45:19: um uh Like it's still crashing for them.

00:45:22: So I'm not sure what's up?

00:45:25: They did also scheduled maintenance!

00:45:27: The night before It opened from ten PM till midnight, the midnight when the applications open.

00:45:34: They're doing a scheduled maintenance.

00:45:35: I'm not sure why they schedule maintenance like right before their set there expecting to site get a lot of traffic.

00:45:40: but Like i don't understand Why this site is crashing so much?

00:45:43: II agree with you!

00:45:44: I Don't think There's too many people trying To use the site at The same time.

00:45:47: how Is This Site Messing up So Bad?

00:45:50: is this in...I don't want to believe it was intentional But May- I don't know.

00:45:54: maybe It's just another way Of Introducing Friction.

00:45:58: You're being very kind to Japanese websites.

00:46:00: I think that's a whole different episode of the different podcast.

00:46:04: maybe too do be doing on Japanese website design, but um i Think like the real thing for me is okay.

00:46:12: So i'm married and even if one day i would get divorced then i've got businesses here That can sponsor or work visa?

00:46:19: For me obviously it will be easy.

00:46:20: The business exists profitable easy enough to prove that they need Me Here.

00:46:25: But Then what happens when A, my wife passes away before me.

00:46:30: If that... I mean she's Japanese.

00:46:32: She is probably not going to pass away.

00:46:34: for me.

00:46:34: They're a lot healthier than I am.

00:46:35: but if she passes away accidentally God forbid it befor me or if we get divorced one day and decide i want sell the business And retire There are no retirement path in Japan That'it they close the doors.

00:46:54: So to plan ahead for retirement that will not be here right.

00:47:00: so i would be moving assets elsewhere.

00:47:03: i'll be redirecting investments elsewhere.

00:47:06: are we making sure did?

00:47:07: I've got the cushy retirement but I thought was going to be in Japan elsewhere.

00:47:11: so.

00:47:12: Any aspect they look at it if you take myself as an example and I think a lot of people aren't similar situation anyway look at japan loses financially economically which is exactly what they were trying to avoid.

00:47:23: I thought,

00:47:27: I do agree with you there.

00:47:28: Yeah, yeah don't see these policies as overly helpful again.

00:47:32: i think it like It goes back to the misguided note Like oh they're helpful

00:47:36: for the kaiji san?

00:47:38: Yeah!

00:47:38: I Agree.

00:47:39: well..I Do...i Think its a populist policy but i DO think Its like Again not To speak For The Japanese Population.

00:47:47: But i think that There's A little bit of They.

00:47:50: On One Side they think that all tourists are currently living here and there's too many residents of Japan.

00:47:56: And we need to do something to restrict the residents of japan, then at the same time I think that they want to increase tourism for you know because it means more cash coming into the economy.

00:48:05: so i think its like thats sort of like...

00:48:08: They need the labor agricultural medical elderly care needs the labour but.. ..I think can probably write in that respect cause ive been doing this for decades.

00:48:21: temporary working schemes set up another seven eleven training facility overseas, whatever the case may be to bring people here and make sure that they cannot stay long term.

00:48:32: Yes

00:48:32: repeat bringing a new cycle of workers.

00:48:34: do buy

00:48:35: strategy?

00:48:37: Yeah yeah And I've been doing it with Brazilians in the past Nepalese these days.

00:48:43: They'll just keep on doing it.

00:48:44: wherever there's cheap labor force to be had then they will kick off an initiative Doing That.

00:48:50: How long will that last?

00:48:51: I don't know.

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00:49:26: I want to see one of

00:49:45: the documentary on those training facilities.

00:49:52: folks, like go to the specific training facility or learn.

00:49:54: The Japanese you need for combini kind of type work and there was some documentary on it.

00:50:00: but I think that's really interesting.

00:50:01: how they have those kinda Like...I don't know what They look like But i've heard about It a couple times

00:50:07: Jonathan Tam!

00:50:08: I just looked On YouTube while You were speaking.

00:50:10: Dr.JonathanTam Has A Really Good Youtube Channel That Covers Asia Pacific Economics With Plenty Of Episodes On Japan That Are Really Eyeopening.

00:50:21: I highly recommend anyone subscribe to that one.

00:50:24: It explains a lot of stuff, Jonathan Tamm.

00:50:27: Explains all the staff didn't even think about like.

00:50:29: oh wow this is why it's happening so... Highly recommended but can we only have fifteen minutes left or something?

00:50:37: Can you talk about rebranding?

00:50:42: Akia Mart

00:50:44: no more!

00:50:46: Business history where you were just focused on a key out or like because it definitely for us And that's what the name cut and initially came from we were focussed.

00:50:54: I'm not yet Like just initially.

00:50:55: so okay, so i guess You are always uh broader real estate?

00:51:03: We didn't have to rebrand Because at the time we were The only ones doing this kind of thing nationwide.

00:51:07: i mean there was.

00:51:08: There were pockets of you know agents Doing stuff in particular cities but we weren't the Only company That covered nation-wide.

00:51:14: At the times We were fielding all of the AKR requests because there was nobody else.

00:51:19: So for us, it wasn't even a pivot.

00:51:21: It was just like yeah sure we'll do that too.

00:51:23: Yeah For Like a lot of people who first start hearing about real estate in Japan, it's like the ultra cheap prices that like first catches your eye and peaks.

00:51:34: You're interested you know.

00:51:35: house for five thousand dollars.

00:51:38: Yeah free yeah free house.

00:51:39: japan has given away free houses like.

00:51:40: That's definitely the entry point For most People And we were no different from that.

00:51:44: so We are excited About that space where The name came From.

00:51:48: Quickly I think that the Japan Real Estate scene as soon As you go A little like the real benefit is when Just a little bit above the Akia tier price range and that's where you can get actually A good house.

00:52:02: That's not going to require like an incredible amount of work in a better location.

00:52:06: And I think that's really this sweet spot there, you know The up around maybe eight million yen price point?

00:52:12: I think thats Where i find uh most value In real estate market or i guess Thats my upper bound in terms Of how much cash i have as well.

00:52:21: I think that's the sweet spot for me.

00:52:23: And so we wanted to brand, too reflect that were no longer just Akia.

00:52:27: more importantly, No one can pronounce the word Akia though?

00:52:38: Any number of permutations.

00:52:41: Yeah, that's the case for any kind of Japanese word.

00:52:45: I mean you should try to listen people say Fukuoka like the amount of mispronunciations we get.

00:52:53: but Akiya is a global term now isn't

00:52:56: it?

00:52:56: yeah i think its a global terms at this point and actually tried buy the domain name long time ago.

00:53:02: Akiha.com Didn't

00:53:07: even got a response.

00:53:09: Yeah,

00:53:09: yeah But zip actually you gave us this advice like a couple times and I appreciate it.

00:53:14: Like we started out with the Akia's Joey was just kind of scraping those And then quickly we started scraping entire database pretty much of Japanese real estate And you had told us a couple of times like, Hey guys.

00:53:24: You got to change your messaging a little bit and changed your name so appreciate calling that out.

00:53:30: We were we had in the back of our minds but just took So long To figure something That we could do

00:53:36: everything right?

00:53:36: Like you're The first and I think still the best platform that actually scrapes Everything whatever is available on the market.

00:53:43: Yeah investment properties houses condos buildings.

00:53:48: When I first started recommending your services to people, they're like oh Akiyamaard.

00:53:54: They thought only do Akia's.

00:53:55: Like yeah no-no-no!

00:53:57: Just go on

00:53:57: there.".

00:53:58: That was another reason that misconception.

00:54:00: in fact someone just wrote us the other day saying hey now that i see you guys brought condos onto the website...I want to talk about XYZ and we've been condo for years kind of thing.

00:54:12: uh okay again on the Akiya term.

00:54:14: so I feel like different conversations around Japan with If I speak to a Japanese, you know maybe usually a little bit older than me like uh i don't know.

00:54:25: I'm somewhere with somebody and they ask what I do for work?

00:54:27: And I kind of explain the business and say Akiya Mart as the name...I feel it's a little but-like..i dont see a lot positive reaction when use the word Akiha or when im speaking to like a japanese person .

00:54:40: I think its a net negative term in alot of japanese people minds.

00:54:43: Do have u noticed that ?

00:54:46: Disagree, or do you have any thoughts on how a Japanese person reacts to the word Akiya and like someone building a business around that?

00:54:54: It really depends on the person.

00:54:55: So when you speak to a Japanese property investor unless they're specifically in the Akia space Then yes That's an negative term because oh, that's headaches right?

00:55:08: yeah I'm buying it something that's gonna be a pain-in-the-ass.

00:55:10: but if we talk your average Japanese person who's a bit more creative, artistic thinking about rural living has the good experience of you know experiencing life in their hometown or somewhere that they live.

00:55:24: And no Akiya is positive but it's like way to get into market cheaply.

00:55:28: and if you're the DIY type there are more and more of these still not as much trends as this one in western countries buy and DIY and flip whatever.

00:55:37: But theres definitely trend for people want to move to the countryside and not necessarily live off of land, but leave a bit more peaceful life.

00:55:48: For those people Akiah is popular thing right?

00:55:52: And for old people yeah like ghost house.

00:55:56: Yeah it's talking about abandoned houses in their neighborhood.

00:55:59: I love that there are so many abandoned homes where you live!

00:56:03: Yeah, we're here to look at.

00:56:06: So the new brand is

00:56:12: Moco Moco.

00:56:13: so moco moco dot com.

00:56:14: Yep!

00:56:15: So M-O-K-O M O K-O dot com.

00:56:18: Joey and I love

00:56:19: Audemars Spell when you are typing in.

00:56:20: then Akia too.

00:56:21: Exactly yeah.

00:56:23: And kind of to Joey's point We wanted to build a brand an unbranded term.

00:56:29: You know as you can see In the Akia space there just so many Akia dash or Akiya X Dot Com Akia Blank Dot Com that we It kind of goes, you know we got a lot of feedback too that like You guys are making the wrong decision going away from Akia.

00:56:41: it's definitely The harder route but We want That challenge.

00:56:44: actually I'm trying to make our company off an unbranded term A little bit.

00:56:49: so if you search mocha mocha There is not Too much stuff.

00:56:52: So were taking Like we say one step back for two steps forward And Mocha moca Doesn't have any direct correlation with real estate.

00:57:00: But we just found out was easy pronounceable.

00:57:02: We liked Japanese onomatopoeias and i think Whatever word we make, we're gonna try to make it work and we will.

00:57:08: Make It work We hope

00:57:09: okay?

00:57:10: And on the on these scraping front.

00:57:15: I remember when you started doing condos for one reason or another there were not that many of them That showed up in the website but that's changed now right.

00:57:23: its a filtered.

00:57:24: It's a filter thing and people can actually see whatever is on the market.

00:57:27: Right.

00:57:29: Yeah so far like a technical reason that like I don't know was probably too boring to talk about There was like The database was having issues when I showed condos and houses at the same time as the default.

00:57:41: just know there's like this This obscure database issue that was preventing that And finally fixed that issue.

00:57:47: So now, As a default on the map we show both Houses & Condos At the Same Time.

00:57:53: If you want to exclude condos Now You have To Go And Like Expecly Go And Turn It Off.

00:57:56: Before it Was The Default Only houses were showing and you had to turn condos on.

00:58:01: And now I just changed the default, but there was like an obscure technical reason why that wasn't.

00:58:06: Do we already have a filter?

00:58:07: do We already

00:58:08: Have a filter for land only and for multi-unit buildings only?

00:58:14: No would love would love to bring in Lantt and Multi unit buildings.

00:58:18: currently we don't have those actually

00:58:21: Okay.

00:58:21: So if i want To see multi unit building.

00:58:23: should i be looking For houses or condos Or both?

00:58:28: If You Want to See Multi Unit Buildings I don't think we have any of those properties.

00:58:34: there might be something that is like.

00:58:36: Essentially, like a real estate agent uploading something to sumo or whatever like mislabeled some thing and we pulled it in but were not currently sourcing those listings.

00:58:46: if you go to Sumo usually they're like You know he can do like equal that day or like condos, or buildings are offices right.

00:58:53: Right now we're just taking the used secondhand homes and they use second hand condos.

00:58:58: those are exposed to the only two things that

00:59:01: were aware of them.

00:59:02: okay yeah so we do want to increase their catalog.

00:59:05: I think like brand new condos would be cool to bring in like brand-new homes.

00:59:08: i think it'd be cool too bring on as well.

00:59:10: um buildings.

00:59:11: that's interesting and definitely land.

00:59:13: I know Take has wanted land for a long time, buildings is interesting.

00:59:17: actually we haven't thought about that too much but i believe like you are see those clients a lot more.

00:59:23: then we do as if so.

00:59:24: potentially that is something.

00:59:26: Again

00:59:27: with the new business manager visa regulations, The only people who could potentially leverage a property investment into a Visa are People Who Are Buying Entire Building or A Very Large Portfolio of Condos Or Houses But That's very.

00:59:39: I mean If Somebody Has That Kind Of Budget They Prefer To Buy A Building.

00:59:43: So We Were Talking A Little Bit Back And i Think That'll Probably Be Ready to Deploy Soon.

00:59:51: but We've been working, another business partner and I have been working on an AI deal analysis system that will be able to throw a listing into.

01:00:03: You can already do that but we're now trying to expand it to vacant properties as well which is what people are normally looking for.

01:00:09: so you'll be able.

01:00:18: And most of what we see when we're playtesting it with live users is they are putting in buildings.

01:00:25: This

01:00:28: was actually really impressive, that model.

01:00:32: you had done a demo for us couple months ago.

01:00:34: so hopefully integrating at some point or even using ourselves.

01:00:38: I think Joey and I have personally talked about buying the building At some point, you know it's crazy to think actually we would never have thought this but like.

01:00:46: We're slowly working our way up that maybe reinforced concrete

01:00:50: listeners

01:00:51: probably

01:00:51: pointed out.

01:00:52: they started about three hundred thousand us Like its the price of half a house in California.

01:00:58: wherever he lives.

01:01:00: I was just about ask what is minimum to get into buying building?

01:01:03: Three hundred thousand US.

01:01:04: okay

01:01:05: A good quality building in a decent location that's not going to be coming apart at the seams, I'd say starts around three.

01:01:11: As the yen goes lower it'll probably get lower but at moment is three hundred thousand.

01:01:15: Would that be like four units?

01:01:20: Four

01:01:20: or two eight depending on location and age?

01:01:24: there are still some very decent cities where you can buy larger buildings for that amount of money.

01:01:29: Um, build if it's a wooden or steel frame wood then we would advise to make it twenty years and younger on purchase because It still wouldn't structure not concrete

01:01:39: And I did just want to ask on that.

01:01:40: Just cause i have um...I'm Not part of this world.

01:01:43: If I did buy like let's say A concrete building may be built in the eighties for example How do I know if its structurally sound?

01:01:50: Or how Do I Know Like Is it getting dangerous For people living here?

01:01:54: Because This is much bigger than a house?

01:01:57: Okay so you get.

01:01:57: So there are inspectors specifically for these buildings, I'm assuming.

01:02:01: Okay good to know there

01:02:02: are yeah they're much more expensive inspections obviously and And i would personally not go For anything that's older than thirty years on purchase because if you think about your resale path.

01:02:12: If in when?

01:02:13: You want to offload that you'll be selling it To an investor.

01:02:17: nobody is going to buy It.

01:02:18: then live In all the units themselves right maybe some party producers or what.

01:02:22: but normally Your buyer Would Be An Investor And they know that the maintenance goes up significantly once they hit about forty years of age.

01:02:31: So unless you're buying it with intention to completely repurpose and renovate, which is going to be very expensive when your planning to ride until a drops value wise I would go for something that you could resell before it hits forty okay concrete an if its wood by as close as he can two twenty years in younger and consider reselling as at approaches thirty years.

01:02:56: So with a couple minutes left at the beginning of podcast you're hinted.

01:03:00: What's what's next for?

01:03:00: You sounds like there is another company on The Horizon or in the works right now

01:03:05: More like in addition to, right?

01:03:06: It's not that I'm hopping between companies.

01:03:09: They're still all very active!

01:03:11: Yeah.

01:03:12: so with NTI now almost complete...I mean i still do the consulting aspect of the company but the ongoing management is Chikako and her team hands.

01:03:22: there are ten of us now.

01:03:24: The PON Bridge also doing quite well requires less-and-less my day today.

01:03:30: involvement Another business partner.

01:03:34: Oh, there's the AI deal analysis system that I'm doing with Bob which is kind of tied into real estate as well.

01:03:41: we'll see how that goes.

01:03:42: and With another business partner i've launched not promoting yet but launched a e-commerce website.

01:03:48: so Japanese e-Commerce websites will be traveling the world picking products That We Like That We Think Might Do Well in Japan.

01:04:00: uh, sending up distribution channels and promoting them on our website.

01:04:03: So

01:04:04: the website is

01:04:05: out there really?

01:04:07: No opposite I want to just specifically wanna find good incense and export it from Japan because i like japanese incense.

01:04:15: Oh nice!

01:04:17: Yeah, so I mean the website is up and running but i'm gonna promote it on the podcast yet because we're still waiting for their shipping bags to come in from China.

01:04:26: We've only just finalized the Shopify payment channels.

01:04:29: there's a whole new learning curve there for me.

01:04:32: But uh yeah All

01:04:35: right, we'll look forward to it once.

01:04:37: Once you do will get your back on the podcast when they e-commerce site is up and running because

01:04:42: so related to Akia's in real estate.

01:04:44: yet

01:04:46: It's fun You know I think being been building this business ourselves Is just kind of we've been following our nose And i think that's where We find success and like keep Keep building onto Our existing product?

01:04:56: And if you're doing The exact same and kind Of leading the path here.

01:04:58: So Ziv Like really appreciate you guiding us through these.

01:05:02: you Know getting a started Kind of believing Us through that these past couple of years, I think Moco Moco in part is here because you know.

01:05:10: You started and helped us buy a spot.

01:05:15: It's great to see what you guys have been up so can't wait to see What's next?

01:05:19: Right on.

01:05:20: Well thank you So much for being on our podcast.

01:05:22: or we're on your podcast this cool.

01:05:25: This is a fun collab episode.

01:05:26: We'll have to do another one again soon.

01:05:29: Hell yeah Thank you All

01:05:30: right.

01:05:41: So there you have it.

01:05:42: Mokomoko.

01:05:42: ladies and gentlemen,

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