How to sell your home without an agent in Japan

Yes. No law requires a private owner to use a licensed real estate agent (fudosan gyosha), and a direct sale between individuals is allowed. It is uncommon in practice because the paperwork and disclosures are in Japanese and most buyers expect the agent-led process, but it is legal. The judicial scrivener (shiho shoshi) is the role that proves difficult to skip; they handle the ownership-transfer registration at the Legal Affairs Bureau. Selling privately saves the brokerage commission, which is generally capped at about 3% of the price plus 60,000 yen, plus consumption tax.

The shiho shoshi is the professional who makes the title actually move. On settlement day they verify the identities of both parties, check that your title documents are in order, confirm the property can transfer free of unexpected claims, and only then signal the buyer to pay the balance. Afterward they file the ownership-transfer registration (shoyuken iten touki) at the Legal Affairs Bureau, usually completed within one to two weeks. You are not legally forced to use one, but doing the registration yourself with a cautious buyer and a bank involved is rare; almost all sales use a shiho shoshi. The buyer customarily arranges and pays for the transfer registration work.

Japan does not put an ordinary real estate sale through a notary the way some European systems do. The contract (baibai keiyaku-sho) is a private agreement between buyer and seller, and what gives the buyer protection is registration at the Legal Affairs Bureau, arranged by the judicial scrivener. Japanese notaries (koshonin) exist but handle things like notarized wills and certain corporate documents, not standard home sales. So when people compare Japan to countries with a mandatory notary, the closest equivalent professional in a sale is the shiho shoshi at settlement.

For a sale over 4 million yen, the legal cap on a broker's commission is generally 3% of the price plus 60,000 yen, plus consumption tax, charged to each side the agent represents. On a 30 million yen home that is roughly 1,056,000 yen including tax per side. Since July 2024 a special cap of up to 330,000 yen including tax applies to low-price properties up to 8 million yen, aimed at vacant homes (akiya). Selling privately removes the commission you would otherwise pay, though you may still pay a fixed listing fee and the judicial scrivener and tax costs.

Only if you sell for more than your acquisition cost plus selling expenses. The gain is taxed as transfer income (joto shotoku), separately from your salary. As of 2026 the combined rate is generally about 39.63% if you owned the home five years or less and about 20.315% if you owned it more than five years, both measured as of 1 January of the sale year and including national income tax, the reconstruction surtax, and local inhabitant tax. For your own home, the 30 million yen residence deduction often wipes out the bill entirely. Keep your original purchase records and confirm with a tax accountant (zeirishi).

When you sell the home you actually live in, you can generally subtract up to 30,000,000 yen from the gain before tax is calculated, regardless of how long you owned it. Because most ordinary home gains are below that, many sellers owe no transfer income tax. Conditions apply: the buyer must not be a close relative, you must sell within three years of the year you moved out if it is a former home, and you cannot have used the same deduction in the prior couple of years. If you owned the home more than ten years, an additional reduced rate can apply. Confirm eligibility with a zeirishi or the National Tax Agency before relying on it.

Start with certified register copies (toki jiko shomeisho) for both the land and the building from the Legal Affairs Bureau, your title information (toki shikibetsu joho) or older title deed, your seal registration certificate (inkan toroku shomeisho) with your registered seal (jitsuin), and the fixed asset tax assessment certificate (kotei shisan-zei hyoka shomeisho). Add the floor plans and layout, any confirmed boundary survey (kakutei sokuryo-zu), and the building confirmation and inspection certificates. For a condominium, gather the management rules (kanri kiyaku) and the management and repair-reserve fee statements. If a mortgage is outstanding, get the payoff figure and discharge paperwork from your bank early.

Ownership is agreed in the contract but becomes secure against third parties when it is registered at the Legal Affairs Bureau. In practice everything happens at settlement (kessai): the buyer pays the balance, you hand over keys and documents, and the judicial scrivener immediately files the transfer. The registration itself is generally completed within one to two weeks. The whole sale, from agreeing a buyer to settlement, often runs a few weeks to a couple of months, mainly driven by the buyer arranging a mortgage and you clearing any existing loan.

The big three portals are SUUMO, LIFULL HOME'S, and at home, and that is where most buyers search. They are built mainly for licensed agents, so as a private owner you usually reach them through a fixed-fee or non-brokerage listing service, or by paying an agent for a listing only rather than full brokerage. It is also worth checking MLIT's public price tools, the Real Estate Information Library and the Land General Information System, for actual transaction prices in your area, which helps you set and defend the asking price.

Boundaries are a frequent cause of delay. If your land does not have a confirmed boundary survey agreed with neighbors, raise it early; a land surveyor (tochi kaoku chosashi) can run a confirmation survey, which takes time. For an inherited vacant house (akiya), first make sure the title is registered in your name, since inheritance registration became mandatory in April 2024 with a deadline and a possible penalty for not registering. A judicial scrivener can sort the inheritance registration before you try to sell. Prices for rural akiya are often very low, and the special low-price commission cap can apply.