2. If all agents in Japan are sharing the same properties, why should we choose your company rather than any other agents?

Since all agents have access to the same properties anyway, what makes a huge difference is the kind of services we provide that none of our competitors can compete with us. Here are our strengths: 1) Custom-made services: A good realtor is very similar to a good tailor. Most real estate agents simply want to sell you what their bosses want them to sell. Their focus is on their own profits rather than your needs. How likely do you think they can find you a perfect property if they only focus on what is profitable for them? Here is what we do differently: We have a very detailed discussion with you in the office (like a tailor who takes your measurements), show you different options on our computer (like a tailor who shows you different suits in the shop), learn about your preferences (like a tailor who tries to figure out what colors, designs and materials that you like and dislike), and then go view your favorite properties on the same day (like a tailor who starts making a suit for you). Forget about spending hours, days or even weeks looking up properties online by yourself. With our custom-made services, we will find you what exactly you are looking for within about 5 hours on average if it’s a rental property. 2) Top brand: RE/MAX is the number 1 brand name in real estate in the world. We are in 118 countries and have more than 130,000 agents in the world. Even if you don’t know much about real estate, you have seen our balloon somewhere. 3) Licensed agency and licensed agents: To operate a real estate business in Japan legally, two kinds of real estate licenses are required. One is an agency license for the company (takken gyosha license), and the other one is an agent license for an individual (takkenshi license). By law, an agency license (takken gyosha license) is required for all real estate agencies, and at least one of every 5 staff members in a real estate agency must be a licensed agent (takkenshi). There are certain procedures that are allowed to be done by only licensed agents. Legally speaking, the person in charge is required to show you their agent license before they start to explain about the details of a property. Many other agencies, especially those who mainly serve foreigners, have no licensed agents at all. Some don’t even have an agency license and are operating their business in the grey zone. If you have ever been to a suspicious one, try to ask them to show you their licenses and you will be surprised. 4) Transparency: We will tell you all the pros and cons directly without hesitation whereas many other agents will tell you only the pros and try to hide the cons. 5) No hidden fees: For rental properties, all we charge is an agent fee of 1 month’s rent plus tax whereas many other agents add hidden fees when clients don’t notice. For buying and selling properties, we charge the standard 3% plus 60,000 yen for properties over 4M yen. Agents at other real estate agencies often have a monthly quota, so their focus is on whether or not they can reach their monthly quota rather than their clients’ needs. If you go there at the end of a month, they are even more aggressive and want your money now. In contrast, our focus is always on the clients’ needs. We will be equally happy if you rent or buy a property this month or next month. 6) Speedy responses: Our reply is always fast unless the company is closed whereas some other agents can take ages to reply a simple email. 7) Easy process: The application process for a private apartment in Japan can be very complicated. However, we always take care of all the difficult parts and make the process as easy as possible for our clients. Many other agents make things way too complicated for their clients. 8) Services in your language: We speak 5 languages – English, Japanese, German, Cantonese and Mandarin. Besides the languages, we also understand your culture. We have served clients from more than 50 countries. 9) Being able to look at properties from clients’ perspective: All of us have moved many times, so we are all experienced clients ourselves. We always look at properties from clients’ perspective whereas many other agents look at properties from agents’ perspective and only focus on their profits. 10) Evening viewings available: Clients like viewing properties during the day, but if you are a person who is always busy during the day, we are happy to show you properties in the evening instead. Many other agencies are closed at 6 or 7pm. 11) Free utility setup: We always go the extra mile and set up utilities for our clients whereas many other agents only give you the phone numbers of utility companies and tell you to call them by yourself. 12) Ongoing support: We will always be there to assist you after you move in whereas many other agents won’t even remember your name after you’ve made your payment. In fact, we have become friends with more than 90% of our clients. We still keep in touch even after years.

POST : 2018.11.23