I AM 20 YEARS OLD ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY FINISHING UP MY TIME IN JAPAN GETTING READY TO FINISH MY TIME IN SERVICE ELSEWHERE. 

Alternatively, I remember moving from Japan to San Diego in 2006 with two kids - the rental market was so tight that PMs had many qualified applications to choose from on each house, so I had to write several $35 checks hoping they wouldn't all get processed and cashed at the same time... 

Japan is, well JAPAN, virtually everything s different and I can tell you know near to nothing about Japan because nobody with an iota of a clue would ever compare Japans real estate market to the US.

I'm a newer real estate agent in the Detroit area and I have a soon-to-be client who is transferring here from Japan for three years and looking for a rental home.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/29/us/flying-car-successful-test-in-japan-trnd/index.html

Hey Tomas,I'm an American so didn't have a problem setting up bank accounts (from Japan), but finding lenders was a challenge at first.

Two weeks ago I received notice from him that he would be returning home to Japan and breaking his lease at the end of September with 6 months left on the term.

It's amazing how fast stuff can be built when there are no unions involved.Remember when that bridge in Japan was destroyed in the typhoon a few years back?

Here in Japan we've been "spoiled" by close to two decades of zero appreciation (although, if you ask the big boys, they seem to speculate on this changing shortly) - we've been trained by circumstance to look for pure cashflow (10-15% pre-tax), with any possible appreciation only the icing on the cake.

As for the rate of vacancies, its hugely dependant on the area and class of properties again, and whether or not you want to deal with government supported tenants (what you call section 8 in the US)- for me, in Japan, its a no-brainer, since they're nothing like yours in the US, but if that's where you plan to invest, you'd better give this some thought - these tenants will fill up your vacancies fast, but come with a whole unique set of issues.Totally with you on the leverage front, wouldn't touch a mortgage with a ten foot pole these days, seen too many smart individuals and savvy companies (and I'm not saying this with cynicism) get very badly burned with assumptions regarding appreciation, depreciation and amortization - to think the GFC is a once in a lifetime event and will never happen again is the biggest (and dumbest) gamble of all, in my perspective.The amount of time you'll spend on each property, again, is a direct factor of the class of properties and areas you invest in, and the quality of your chosen team, in particular your property manager.