JJapan Finance

Better to buy a new house through a real estate agent, directly from the builder, or by hiring a judicial scrivener?

  • November 8, 2025

I live in Nagoya, and there are six new houses being built just five minutes from where I live. They’re still under construction and not yet advertised (no signs or websites yet). I pass by daily, so I’ll know as soon as they go on sale.

Once they’re listed, I’m wondering what the best way to buy would be: using a real estate agent, buying directly from the builder, or hiring a judicial scrivener.

I’d need help with contracts, registration, and legal formalities. Negotiating the price isn’t a big concern, but it would be nice to reduce or avoid paying agent commissions.

Is it common (or smart) to buy directly from builders in Japan without an agent? Would a judicial scrivener alone be enough to handle the legal side? Any downsides I’m not considering?

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

by kinn73

2 comments

  1. A judicial scrivener will be involved regardless if you hire one or not, and they can’t take care of the whole purchasing flow by themselves. Keep in mind that sometimes the seller would wants to use their own Judicial scrivener. What you might save from buying “directly from the builder” is the brokerage fee. If you know the builder already you can definitely start inquiring, the property is probably already for sale (or already sold), just not advertised yet.

    You don’t want to take shortcuts, it’s – I suppose – an important purchase and you want to make sure everything is in order and clear, that’s why having a trusted real estate agent representing you is worth the price in my opinion, they will review the contract and all the documents, potentially suggest adding clauses, modifications, and explain you all the details.

    If you are very confident about your Japanese and the understanding of contractual matters, buying directly from the builder might be an option to save a little bit of money.

  2. I bought directly from the builder as they have a real estate license, no need to wait until they are completed to approach them.

    For the scrivener that’s the last step and mostly a formality (registering the titles, etc.)

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