My wife and I currently live and work in Tokyo, but we are planning to move away from the city’s hustle and build a house in Komoro, Nagano.
We have already signed a purchase contract for a plot of land and received a preliminary estimate from a house builder. I know this is uncommon, but the land and the house are two completely separate purchases: the real estate agent selling the land and the house maker are two different entities. Because we have already signed the land contract, we are required to pay for it within a couple of months. However, the house construction could theoretically be delayed (although we would prefer not to, for various reasons).
This brings me to the main topic of this post: figuring out the bank loan.
My wife’s company has an agreement with りそな銀行, and she has been told that she can borrow up to 60 million yen on her own at a favorable variable interest rate (変動金利型) of 0.6%. However, because I do not yet have permanent residency, we were told that we cannot take out a pair loan (ペアローン) with りそな銀行. As far as I understand, I cannot take out a separate housing loan (住宅ローン) for the remaining 20 million yen with another bank, because only one bank can hold a mortgage lien (抵当権) on a single property.
On the other hand, I know for certain that SBI新生銀行 does lend to foreigners without permanent residency who are married to Japanese nationals. At the moment, this seems to be the only viable option. Since our choices are limited, I really want to get it right. What I would like to get from this post is advice on how to increase the chances of being approved by SBI.
In particular:
- Should my wife apply instead of me?
- Should we apply for a pair loan, or should one of us apply with income combination (収入合算)?
- Should I pay for the land in cash, or should I apply for a bridge loan (つなぎ融資)?
- Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
Before anyone suggests it, I am aware that waiting until I receive permanent residency would make things much simpler. However, that would likely take at least another year and a half, and our age and life plans cannot wait that long. I can work remotely, and my wife strongly wants (and honestly needs) to change job. Moving to Nagano and starting a family in our new home feels like the right timing for us.
Finally, here are some additional details about our situation:
Me
- Age: 36
- Nationality: Italian
- PR status: Applied in November 2025 via the points-based system
- Job: Engineer
- Years at current company: 3.5
- Company size: ~180 employees, publicly listed
- Annual income: 8.2 million yen
- Savings: about 70 million yen
- Japanese level: N1
Wife
- Age: 32
- Nationality: Japanese
- Job: R&D
- Years at current company: 7.5
- Company size: ~5000 employees, publicly listed
- Annual income: 7.5 million yen
- Savings: I am not sure but on the order of 50 million yen
Land
- Price: 70m
- Surface: ~3000m2
House
- Quote: ~700m
- Surface: ~150m2
PS
I have already asked for advice on 知恵袋, and I have been to SBIマネープラザ once. I plan to go back there on January 6th. Her,e I just would like to hear your opinion as foreigners living in Japan.
by Last-Star-Dust