House hacking a Japanese multiunit apartment to obtain a primary residence loan.

[Dan Baker]

obtaining a investment loan from a japanese bank is nearly impossible, especially to foreigners.  But getting a primary residence loan is so much easier.  It is posable to get a 107% (value plus closing) loan for the property, at 1-2% interest for 35 years. But this is of course if you can meet all their criteria,  one of which is having  a primary residency. The process itself as a former is very complicated and not easily obtained in general. I'm looking to have a multiunit apartment building with 6 to 10 units each, at approximately 25 m²  per unit. These types of studio apartments are designed to have only one occupant, generally rent for $500-$700 per door, and are increasing in demand.  

Small case study...there are many similar examples out there but here is some one I know personally. 

A friend of mine owns a six unit apartment building similar to the description above. It is currently worth approximately ¥60 million which converts to about $480,000. She says her cap rate after tax's and expenses are 8%. I know her and her family manage the property independently, and I'm guessing she owns the property out right. In general I was amazed to hear that she gets about $500 per door after expenses.

For those who don't know about the Japanese market, The building generally doesn't hold a value, it's the land, and building itself depreciates by 60% over 20 years. However my understanding is that this is slowly beginning to change. Current trends suggest people are now buying and renovateing, where this was not common practice in the past. 

The questions:

Has anyone tried to obtain a personal residence loan As a former living in Japan?

More specifically has anyone tried to house hacking a building like this to obtain a personal residence loan?

What alternative options would I have for funding and investment like this?