MY FIRST OVERSEAS DEAL ZIV MAGEN
We
worked
out
worst-case
purchase
cost
scenarios, worst-case monthly expense scenarios,
worst-case vacancy and maintenance scenarios,
and knew exactly what kind of numbers we needed
to achieve in order to be able to survive those
worst-case scenarios, if they ever came to pass.
Only after all of the above had been carefully
documented and rehearsed, did we begin to
contact realtors. It took us a while to find the ones
who could wrap their heads around the outrageous
idea of selling to a foreigner. One who was armed
with
a
Japanese-interpreting
“right-hand”,
no
Japanese address, no “official identity stamp” or
other forms of local official anchors, and a gazillion
clueless questions.
Which was cool. We knew we’d be breaking
ground in this area, which was one of the main
It took a few weeks, lunches, dinners and coffees,
but the anticipated return call finally came. We had
found our realtor. He had spoken to his managers.
They were ready to do business with us. Our first
and biggest hurdle, penetrating the cultural veil,
was behind us.
reasons we chose it. Had it been easy to find slick,
professional, English-speaking real-estate agents
in these cities, prices would have been higher,
returns slimmer, and the entire strategy far less
attractive. To get those attractive numbers, we
needed to go where “no foreigner has gone
before”, in essence – and where people weren’t
used to working with foreigners, either.
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