Who is Katoh Property Management? An introduction from Takahiro Katoh

What kind of company is Katoh Property Management?

In short: a family-run, licensed real estate brokerage based in Musashikosugi that handles rentals and sales across Kawasaki, Yokohama and the greater Tokyo area. Brokerage fees are half the standard rate for both rentals and sales. No office visit is needed: consultations and paperwork are handled via form, LINE and online meetings, and viewings take place on site.

Hello, I am Takahiro Katoh, a managing member of Katoh Property Management LLC. For the first article on this blog, let me introduce the company and myself.

We are a small company run by my family: my parents, my wife and me. My parents have run a separate real estate company in Yokohama and Kawasaki for more than 40 years. This company is my way of carrying that experience and local knowledge forward in a new form.

• Company: Katoh Property Management LLC (合同会社加藤プロパティマネジメント)
• License: Real estate broker, Kanagawa Prefecture Governor (2) No. 30531
• Address: 4-51-1 Kizuki, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 211-0025, Japan
• Managing members: Yoshie Katoh, Takahiro Katoh (family-run)
• Service area: Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama. Home ground: Musashikosugi, Kawasaki and Yokohama
• Brokerage fees: rentals, half a month’s rent (0.5 months plus tax); sales, half the legal maximum (1.5% of the sale price plus ¥30,000, plus tax)

Who is Takahiro Katoh?

In short: a managing member who grew up in a family that has run a real estate business in Yokohama and Kawasaki for over 40 years, hosts the travel YouTube channel “Katoh Travel” (350,000 subscribers), was born in Yokohama and lives in Kawasaki.

Most of my time goes into making travel videos for Katoh Travel on YouTube. I show my face there, and I do the same in real estate. When a transaction involves as much money as a home does, knowing exactly who is behind the company matters more than anything else.

Real estate has been part of my life since childhood. My parents have run a separate real estate company in Yokohama and Kawasaki for more than 40 years. The representative named on our brokerage license is my mother. I handle most of the day-to-day communication with clients, and my parents and my wife are all involved in running the company.

I was born in Yokohama and now live in Kawasaki. My grandparents’ home was also in Kawasaki, so I have known this area since I was a child. For the Tokyu Toyoko line neighborhoods of Musashikosugi, Motosumiyoshi and Shinmaruko, and for the tower condominiums of Kawasaki and Yokohama, I can speak from the perspective of someone who has actually lived here.

How can the brokerage fee be half price?

In short: we have no shopfront. The office is home-based and consultations and paperwork run online, which keeps fixed costs and advertising costs low.

A typical agency pays for a shop near the station, shop staff and listings on portal sites, and recovers those costs through brokerage fees. We have none of them. Consultations come in by form and LINE, interviews and contracts are handled online, and viewings are arranged on site. That structure is what makes a half-price fee workable.

The numbers are the same everywhere on this site.

A fee is charged only when a contract is concluded. Nothing is charged for consultations or estimates.

Which areas and which transactions?

In short: Musashikosugi, Kawasaki and Yokohama are our home ground, and we handle both rentals and sales anywhere in the greater Tokyo area.

• Rentals (tenant side): from the search and viewings to the lease contract, across Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama
• Sales: buying and selling land, condominiums and houses, across Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama
• Landlord listings (tenant recruitment): we take on properties from landlords only in Nakahara-ku, Saiwai-ku and Kawasaki-ku in Kawasaki City. Keeping this close to home lets us handle viewings and management properly
• Areas: Kanagawa (Musashikosugi, Kawasaki, Yokohama) first, plus Tokyo, Chiba and Saitama

For the tower condominiums of Kawasaki and Yokohama, this blog will publish a quarterly review of transaction prices based on the public data released by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, with sources cited.

How does the process work?

In short: contact us by form or LINE, then an interview, property proposals, viewings on site, and the contract. No office visit needed.

1. Contact: send a message through the form on this site or via LINE
2. Interview: area, budget, timing and conditions, discussed online
3. Proposals: we shortlist several properties that match
4. Viewings: we meet you on site and visit the properties together
5. Contract and handover: half-price brokerage fee for rentals and sales

We work in English as well as Japanese. In Japan the Japanese contract and the Japanese explanation of important matters are the legally binding documents. We provide English translations for reference and explain every document in English. Please confirm the legal treatment for your own transaction before signing.

What will this blog cover?

In short: questions and answers about real estate in the greater Tokyo area, centered on Kawasaki and Yokohama.

Every heading is a question, and the answer comes first, so you reach what you need with the least reading. Planned topics:

• How brokerage fees work in Japan and how to keep them low
• A quarterly review of tower-condominium transaction prices in Kawasaki and Yokohama, based on public data
• Comparing neighborhoods in Kawasaki and Yokohama such as Musashikosugi, Motosumiyoshi and Shinmaruko
• How to think about renting, buying and selling a home in the greater Tokyo area, including Tokyo, Chiba and Saitama
• Renting and buying in Japan as a non-Japanese resident: the process step by step

If you are looking for a place or thinking about selling, get in touch through the form or LINE.