A 30-Day Pre-Contract Due-Diligence Schedule for International Buyers

Use the schedule as a control, not a promise

Thirty days can organise a normal residential review when documents and professionals are available. It is not a guarantee that a boundary, road, unregistered alteration, tenant dispute, lender issue, overseas corporate record, or specialist inspection can be resolved in that period. Set a target contract date, then make unresolved material items explicit conditions or reasons to extend or decline.

The buyer should own one issue register. Each row needs the question, requested evidence, source, responsible reviewer, deadline, consequence, and status. Email volume is not diligence completion.

Days 1–3: define buyer, purpose, money, and authority

Fix the proposed registered owner, ownership shares, residence and entity status, intended use, total budget, finance requirement, signing location, and target settlement. Prepare identity, address, company, authority, and source-of-funds documents. Ask the judicial scrivener which overseas signature or seal evidence will be accepted.

Build the acquisition budget with price, brokerage, tax, registration, lender, inspection, translation, insurance, work, currency, and contingency. For finance, obtain a lender route tied to the borrower and intended use. For cash, confirm remittance and yen-conversion capacity.

Record foreign-exchange reporting, specially monitored area, agricultural, forest, large-land, or other location-specific checks that may apply.

Days 4–8: identify the legal and physical asset

Obtain current land and building registry records for every parcel, unit, private-road share, and ancillary right. Match seller identity and note mortgages, attachments, co-ownership, leasehold, easements, and inheritance history. Reconcile registry area, structure, use, and parcels to what exists.

For houses and land, obtain public maps, survey and boundary records, road investigation, frontage, width, setback, utilities, building-confirmation and inspection-certificate records, plans, alteration history, zoning, coverage, floor-area ratio, fire and height controls, and hazard maps.

For condominiums, obtain the unit registry, bylaws, use and renovation rules, recent meeting minutes, accounts, budget, long-term repair plan, reserve balance, fee schedule, arrears, special assessments, repair history, insurance, management agreement, parking, and known-defect information.

Days 9–14: inspect and commission focused review

Inspect the unit, building, common areas, site, road, boundaries, neighbouring conditions, noise, grade, drainage, retaining walls, and access at relevant times. Commission a qualified existing-home condition investigation where appropriate and provide the reviewer with known records and concerns.

An inspection does not prove code compliance, seismic performance, boundaries, or every concealed defect. Use findings to request structural, roof, waterproofing, services, termite, retaining-wall, environmental, renovation, or cost review. Record inaccessible areas.

For a tenant-occupied asset, review lease, amendments, payment ledger, deposits, guarantees, notices, management, repair history, and inspection limits.

Days 15–19: test value, use, finance, and operations

Build a comparable set using completed transactions and clearly separated asking evidence. Adjust for period, property type, tenure, size, area definition, age, station access, floor, condition, building management, road, and rights. For an investment, reconcile scheduled rent to effective income and line-item expenses, debt service, capital expenditure, and exit cost.

Confirm intended use against planning, building, fire, lease, condominium, lender, insurance, and local rules. Residence, long-term rental, short stay, office, renovation, and redevelopment have different evidence paths.

Submit the actual property to the lender and insurer. Replace generic estimates with a tax and fee schedule based on assessed values and buyer facts where available.

Days 20–24: review disclosure and contract drafts

Receive the draft important-matters explanation, sale contract, seller disclosure, equipment list, and special agreements. Translate the complete material provisions. Reconcile them to the evidence file rather than reading them separately.

For each unresolved item, choose: obtain evidence; require seller action; change price; add a precise condition; accept with recorded reason; or decline. Define financing, vacant possession, boundary, repair, document delivery, tenant, deposit, default, cancellation, risk, and handover terms.

Check buyer name, property schedule, price, deposit, contract date, settlement date, and signing method.

Days 25–27: challenge the decision

Ask what would make the acquisition fail after closing. Stress finance, currency, vacancy, rent reduction, major repair, special assessment, delayed possession, unregistered work, road constraint, resale finance, and management failure as relevant. Recalculate total cash and maximum price.

Have each specialist state scope and limitations. A broker, judicial scrivener, lawyer, architect, inspector, surveyor, tax adviser, lender, and insurer answer different questions. Identify gaps between them.

Prepare a one-page decision record with supported facts, unresolved risks, downside cost, contractual protection, and reasons to proceed or decline.

Days 28–30: final documents or stop

Read final Japanese and translated documents, confirm every negotiated point, verify deposit instructions, and ensure closing dependencies are achievable. Do not sign merely because the calendar reached day 30. Extend where a material answer is pending.

If proceeding, create the settlement checklist, original-document calendar, remittance plan, insurance instruction, registration package, and post-closing action list. If declining, preserve the issue record so the next search is more efficient.

Define what “complete” means

A checklist item is not complete because a request was sent. Mark it complete only when the controlling evidence has been received, reviewed by the appropriate person, reconciled to related documents, and translated enough for the buyer's decision. “Broker confirmed” remains an open item when the question concerns an authority record, structural condition, boundary, tax conclusion, or lender approval.

Use four evidence labels: verified; supported with limitation; unresolved but contractually controlled; and unresolved. The last category should carry an estimated consequence and a stop date. This makes the final decision auditable and prevents friendly verbal answers from appearing equivalent to documents.

A schedule for the buyer's own decisions

The buyer also needs deadlines. By day 3, approve the owner and funding route. By day 8, decide whether the legal and property screen justifies inspection expense. By day 19, set the evidence-supported value and maximum all-in basis. By day 24, decide which unresolved issues require price or contract protection. By day 27, approve or reject the downside case. By day 30, sign only if the final documents match those decisions.

Without buyer deadlines, technical work can finish while the commercial decision remains vague. The purpose of the schedule is to make capital conditional on evidence, not to make the evidence fit a preferred closing date.

Primary sources

• RETIO — Real-estate transaction guides and Q&A: https://www.retio.or.jp/info/index/
• MLIT — Foreign-customer transaction materials: https://www.mlit.go.jp/totikensangyo/const/totikensangyo_const_tk1_000057.html
• MLIT — Existing-home condition investigations: https://www.mlit.go.jp/tochi_fudousan_kensetsugyo/const/tochi_fudousan_kensetsugyo_const_tk3_000001_00063.html
• MLIT — Condominium repair and reserve guidance: https://www.mlit.go.jp/jutakukentiku/house/jutakukentiku_house_tk5_000052.html
• MLIT Real Estate Information Library: https://www.reinfolib.mlit.go.jp/

Reviewed against the linked sources on 23 August 2026. Complex property or cross-border issues may require more than 30 days.