>>> Item number 27003 from WRITERS LOG9403C --- (97 records) ----- <<< Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 18:35:01 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: BACKGROUND: Selling a Condo - Japanese Style About five years ago, when we were living in Tokyo, we bought a condo to live in. Then we moved to Osaka, and rented it out. Last year, we decided to sell it, and started that funny game going. Recently we finished the sale, and that's what these notes are about... We got to the Daiwa bank a few minutes early, and found the young realtor we had been working with. He's stylish - well-tailored modern suit, eager face, actually knows how to laugh and smile, and has one of the newer haircuts. I call it, privately, the "clipped porcupine" look - hair waxed or moussed or something into thick spikes, then clipped into a squarish, over-grown bush cut. Very stylish and up-to-date, as is his whole "look", which he obviously spends time on. When he showed up carrying his business black leather briefcase in one hand and a large black bag slung over his shoulder, I was surprised at the incongruity of the bag. It looked as if he was going to the gym or something after the sale. He bustled around and found the buyers, then got us all settled in a conference room. Overstuffed low chairs around a longish coffee table, very common Japanese style. He also introduced the "registerer" - like a notary public, except she has studied the papers used in real estate, passed what is said to be a difficult examination, and double-checks and certifies as correct each and every entry on every piece of paper and all the signatures and hanko stamps (the "chop" - a small carved signature, registered, which is your official signature). In our case, the "registerer" was a very dignified middle-aged Japanese woman which surprised me a bit, although my wife told me later that many single women have found that to be a good job here. I would have expected in Japan that this might not be considered a position open to women, since so many business positions are relatively closed. No problem, she seemed to know what she was doing better than I did. After introducing her, the realtor asked rhetorically if we were ready to start, then pulled that floppy black bag forward and started pulling out stacks of money. 10,000 yen bills (roughly $100). The buyers' eyes widened, my wife's eyes widened, and I'm sure mine did too. The realtor had enough cash in that bag casually carried over his shoulder for the full price of the condo - which in Tokyo is NOT cheap. Let me put it this way - after buying a "starter" house in America, moving up to another, and with a helpful chunk of money from the company, the Japanese realtors thought I might qualify for a "starter" condo in Tokyo. Part of that is that the down payment expected in Japan is a significant part of the price (30-40% is not unusual - we "got away" with about 25% on our condo), but the basic price is also extremely high. The bulk of the cost is land - construction costs were equal or lower than American when I was checking it five years ago. I found out later that this kind of cash sale is common in Japan, especially when the bank issuing the loan is a different one from the one being paid off. In this case, the buyers got their loan from Sanwa, and we had ours at Daiwa. So this cash was effectively an interbank transfer of money, and apparently most banks here prefer the real thing - CASH! The buyers were a young couple, buying their first non-rental housing with help from their mother - they didn't really have all that cash! We're not so young, but we certainly don't have all that cash either. Still, it was surprising to see it all, one brick of cash in a plastic wrapper, stacks of wrapped bundles, and some loose bills, all heaped up in front of this young man. I took pictures! Then he started splitting it up, passing stacks this way and that, and finally handing almost all of it to the two bank clerks who had turned up. Being extremely trusting, they took it all out of the wrappers, grabbing stacks and fanned them like card dealers, and counted every bit of it. Oh, yes. Somewhere in the middle of the money show, we did sign, stamp, counter-stamp, and so on all the little pieces of paper that represent the actual condo ownership. I don't think anyone except the realtor and the registration lady actually paid attention, though, because we were all too aware of all that money. My wife, incidentally, wondered about walking around alone with that much cash on your person. She and I both believe Japan is pretty safe, but this amazed us. We ended up with another entry in our bankbook (much, much less than was in those stacks) and one less string holding us here in Japan. Oh, and with some great memories of those amazing stacks of cash. I think my wife's eyes were wide for an hour afterwards. Somehow a cashier's check or certified bank check really doesn't have the same impact as fresh stacks of cash, bundled, stacked, and solid in its crackling paper glory. I think I'm beginning to understand Scrooge McDuck for the first time... tink