MY FIRST OVERSEAS DEAL ZIV MAGEN
And so it went.
The bottom line, of course, was that everything was fine, as predicted. I was simply having a severe but to-beexpected case of “First Deal Paranoia”. A healthy condition, really, and a natural response to the foreign
environment, which would have saved many a beginner from making severe mistakes, such as signing away
their entire investment budgets over to a lawyer, “buyers’ agent”, realtor or other suspicious “professional”, on
what is, essentially, a “lemon” in the better cases , or outright fraud in the worst ones.
But I wasn’t in this category. My fears, although natural and understandable, were unjustified. I had done my
homework. I had a good (great, spectacular, gorgeous) business partner. And I was operating in a land where
everything is documented, transparent, has a paper trail a mile long, and where, until not long ago, people were
committing ritual suicide for failing to perform their duties to the max.
Everything was fine.
Until I started mucking things up post-purchase, of course. But more on that next time!
Author: Ziv Magen
Ziv Magen is an Australian, and has been deeply immersed in Japan's culture and business
environment for the past decade. In 2003, he forsake his career as in IT corporate project
manager, wishing to spend more time with his family and secure their financial future. Having
made the transition to real-estate investment and successfully building his own portfolio, he
subsequently established Nippon Tradings International (NTI) together with his Japanese
partner, assisting others in capitalizing on Japan's vast and lucrative property market.