November 15, 2026 Why I Haven't Bought a Home Yet

Hello to all our visionary investors, global families, and brave pioneers! Magandang araw po! It is Vianne, your VIP concierge and property management specialist at Anhome. Welcome to another Healing Sunday with us!

I work in real estate. I help foreign families think through the process of purchasing a home in Japan. And right now, for my own situation, not owning a home is the right choice.

I live with my cousin's family. My current circumstances make this arrangement the most practical one. That may change in the future if I have my own family one day, buying a home is something I would want to do. But that is a different situation from my present one, and I try to be honest about the difference.

I share this not to discourage anyone from buying, but because I think it is a useful thing to say at this time of year.

The end of the year brings a particular kind of urgency around home purchases. Year-end move-in is a real goal for many families, and the articles on this blog including this week's have walked through what that timeline looks like and what it requires.

But not every family is at the same point. Some are mid-process and on track. Some have realised the year-end timeline will not work and are planning a post-New Year move instead. And some are still in the earlier stages still figuring out whether now is the right time to buy at all.

The question of when to buy is not one with a single answer. For some families, the circumstances align now the finances are in order, the visa situation supports a long-term commitment, the area they want to live in has properties that fit their needs. For others, one or more of those conditions is still forming.

Acting before those conditions are genuinely in place tends to create complications that show up later. The year-end buying season is a real thing but so is the option of being in a better position to act well in six months, or a year, than to act under pressure now.

What I have found in my work is that the families who make good decisions about timing are usually the ones who are honest about where they stand not where they think they should be by now, or where someone else's timeline says they should be.

If your situation is one where buying makes sense right now, this is a good time to move. If it is not, that is a legitimate conclusion, and it is better to reach it clearly than to push through despite it.

If you are a global family trying to work out which of those descriptions fits you, I am happy to have that conversation.

Sometimes the most useful conversation is the one that helps you figure out whether now is the right time — or what would need to be in place before it is.

Phone: 072-489-5661

— Vianne

Anhome (Follow-Up Inc.)