Creating Japan Property Central...
How did Japan Property first start?
We started as a blog, actually. I first came to Japan back in the end of 2006, just after graduating from university. I lived here for about 5 years, before I moved back to Australia just before the big earthquake in 2011. During that time I had worked at several real-estate companies including a company that specialized in renting share houses to expats and a Japanese company that focused on selling property.
So eventually you decided to startup your own company? You must have faced some challenges setting up your own business.
That’s putting it lightly. (Laughs) First I had to set up a real-estate company before I could get a business visa, and to do that you need an office. I know from my real-estate experience that if you want a commercial space you’re looking at a 12-month down payment, and they won’t even consider you if you don’t have a proper company with history and turnover. On top of that, being a foreigner without a residence in Japan made it even more difficult, so I didn’t even consider that option. That left me with Servcorp or one of your major competitors. Everyone has heard of Servcorp in Australia, they are quite big in Brisbane and Sydney, and the competitors’ properties were a little dingy, so I decided to look into office space with Servcorp.
What was the first year of being a legitimate company and not just a blog like?
It was really stressful; starting a new business, trying to get clients, and the market was really starting to heat up at that point. You would have several offices competing on one property. So we would have some clients who lived overseas and would say “I want to see this apartment. I’ll be there on Friday.” And the night before an offer would come in from a Japanese buyer and it would have sold. The longer a property was on the market the price would go up instead of down. So the first year or two was difficult but we have settled into a good position now and business is already looking good for next year.
Bringing in Clients & the Servcorp Advantage...
Has the blog helped stabilize business and bring in clients?
Yes, I would say maybe half of our clients come through the website. Of course we also get referrals and people who have been recommended by previous clients or people I’ve met day to day. We have even started getting some Japanese clients this year which has been interesting. Some of them are Nikkei, like Japanese-American, and are living in the U.S. but they come here and want someplace to open up their business. They only speak English so it’s kind of funny, because during the inspection the Japanese agent is trying to talk to them in Japanese and I end up being the one translating. (Laughs)
Do you often meet with your clients at your Servcorp office?
Actually most of my client interaction takes place outside of the office. We usually meet up at the property. So it’s maybe once a year that I use this meeting room, which is perfect because if I’m not using it every month then there’s no need for my own meeting room. It’s great that you can rent this space when you need it. And it’s flash too.
Do you use any of our Telephone services like Intercept?
Yes, the front desk will answer calls under my company name and then forward it to my mobile. I had one old coworker who started his own business and he called me up to chat one day and he said that whoever answered the phone has really polite Japanese, they are very well-spoken. (Laughs)
