Ziv Nakajima-Magen – When Investing in Asia Listen Much More Closely

<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/japanproperty/" target= "_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Ziv Nakajima-Magen</strong></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">was born in Israel, migrated first to Australia, then finally to Japan, where he and his wife run a buyers’ agency and portfolio management company, helping foreigners invest in Japanese property and manage their investments.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>“When investing away from home, choose the right people to work with, and learn how to trust and listen to them.”</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ziv Nakajima-Magen</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <h2><strong>Worst investment ever</strong></h2> <h3><strong>Investing in Asia for the first time</strong></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When Ziv and his wife moved to Japan, having some experience with real estate property investment in Australia, he decided to get into the Japanese real estate industry. Ziv felt that he knew what property investment is all about. How to price rent for rental property, what’s a good or bad property, locations, and so forth.</span></p> <h3><strong>Cash flow investments</strong></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ziv looked for the highest rental income that they could find in areas that they were comfortable with. He found a bulk purchase of three condo units in a city not too far from Fukuoka, where the couple lives. The units came at a discounted price because the seller wanted to get rid of all three of them and was happy to discount the price if it was all to the same buyer. The tenants had been in place for like 15 years, so it was quite a good investment, tenancy wise and return was through the roof at about 15-16%.</span></p> <h3><strong>Coming in guns blazing</strong></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While doing the math, Excel sheet style, the couple realized that one of the units had slightly lower rent than the