This job involves introducing and selling detached houses and condominiums for housing to customers. You will introduce attractive properties that only Open House can offer, and provide local guides while asking your customers about their preferences and conditions. Your job involves making proposals to such customers, signing sales contracts, and making the customers satisfied. Getting a contract requires steady effort, but the transaction amount can be tens of millions of yen, and it is a very rewarding job.
Even large companies in the real estate industry have a small market share, and there are no overwhelmingly big players, which is a major difference from other industries. On the other hand, as seen in the 2023 acquisition of Sanei Architecture Planning Co., Ltd. (currently MELDIA Co., Ltd.), companies are gradually consolidating into major companies, and the superiority and inferiority in the industry are becoming clear.
In this case, uniqueness becomes important. Due to the declining birthrate, the market is expected to shrink nationwide, but the population in urban areas, where Open House specializes, is expected to continue to grow for the time being, and the market size is expanding. Taking these changes as an opportunity, Open House will further accelerate its business development and growth in regional core cities.
We purchase real estate such as tenant buildings that generate profits on a regular basis, undergo renovation, etc. to further enhance the value of real estate, and sell it to customers as investment properties. We regularly visit many other real estate companies to gather information on those who wish to sell or purchase properties. Based on that information, we put together a project plan on how to increase the value of the property and how much money and how long it will take to sell it, and we purchase properties or sell properties that our in-house specialist team has commercialized.
The revenue-generating real estate field is susceptible to financial and real estate market conditions, and companies are experiencing repeated growth and decline. On the other hand, there is still a great attraction for urban real estate in Japan, and there is still a great deal of room to expand the business, not only for investors in Tokyo, but also for the needs of regional and overseas investors, demand for private accommodation, and approaches to increasingly complex customer and social issues, such as inheritance and business succession.
Open House, which has been taking on new business challenges, continues to take on the challenge of further consolidating its existing model and creating the next foundation for growth in response to new market needs.
This job involves purchasing land suitable for "the housing chosen by the customer." Open House handles the entire process in-house, from the purchase of land that fits our plans, such as "near a central station for easy commuting," to the construction of the building and its sale to the customer. Land purchase sales, which is the upstream of our greatest strength, "Manufacturing and Sales Integration," plays an extremely important role in generating profits for the company. We routinely visit real estate companies to obtain information on new land that is requested for sale. After that, we select the information obtained, conduct a survey based on the characteristics of the area and customer needs, and purchase land.
We have already supplied the largest number of condominiums in the 23 wards of Tokyo, and as with our detached house business, we are currently expanding into regional core cities. We have already achieved results in Nagoya and have started expansion in Fukuoka.
As a new challenge, we are also eagerly working on large properties with more than 100 units, and have already supplied large properties in popular areas such as Shinjuku and Hiroo. In addition to the rareness of "condominiums" in an area where large properties are hard to find, we will achieve solid results by leveraging our price competitiveness.
As an investment product for high-net-worth customers in Japan, you carefully select, purchase, and sell real estate in U.S. regions where real estate values are rising, and support your customers through the process of selling their properties, thereby contributing to the generation of investment income. Your job involves providing customers with an opportunity to negotiate, explaining the appeal of US real estate, creating simulations of financial plans, and providing asset management consulting. This is a relatively new division within Open House's core business, starting in 2017, and allows you to work with a more venture-like sense of speed.
The U.S. real estate market, which has unlimited potential. Having made a smooth start to business development there, Open House continues to take on challenges with an overwhelming sense of speed while taking advantage of its unique advantages.
In the shift from savings to investment, if we can offer more attractive financial products, we should be able to stimulate the potential investment needs of our customers. In the future, we aim to further accelerate our high-net-worth customer business by developing new products centered on real estate finance, and leveraging know-how we have cultivated in our U.S. real estate business.
Ms. Liu, who came to Japan from China to attend university, has been living in Japan for 10 years. She is currently working as deputy manager in the Overseas Sales Department, which is responsible for selling investment properties mainly to Chinese investors, making the most of her language skills. We asked her why she chose to join Open House and why Open House has an advantage in selling properties to overseas investors compared to other companies. (Interviewed in August 2023)
Born in China. She came to Japan 10 years ago and studied at a Japanese language school for a year and a half, and then entered a Japanese university. After graduating, she joined Open House in 2019 as a new graduate. She currently works in the Overseas Sales Department of the Solutions Business Division. This year, she was appointed deputy manager and is working hard to achieve the team's sales goals while focusing on training new employees and managing the team.
-Ms. Liu, you came to Japan upon entering university to work for a Japanese company. Why did you choose to join the real estate industry, and Open House?
I thought, "If I'm going to work in Japan, I want to work where I can make the most money." I focused my job search on the real estate industry from the beginning because the amount of money handled in the real estate industry is large and the rewards are high. I compared Open House with a number of other companies in the same industry, but none of them offered the same performance-based approach and allowed women to be active as Open House did. Having been born and raised in China, I had a strong image of Japanese companies as being dominated by male and senior employees, but as I went through the selection process at Open House, I realized that there is absolutely no difference between male and female at Open House, and that they are an organization that only looks at and evaluates results.
When I actually joined the company, I was surprised that women were more active than I expected. I am evaluated equally regardless of age, so I am motivated to do my best.
-What do you think you have grown the most since you joined the company?
I definitely feel that I have grown since having subordinates. The first time I had a subordinate was when I became a section chief before I became a deputy manager, and my perspective became much broader and I began to think about the entire department.
Now, I have a desire to make the Overseas Sales Department even bigger, and I am making various proposals to my supervisor. For example, our expansion into the Kansai area. So far, we have only handled properties in Tokyo, but foreign investors are paying attention to Kansai as well. Based on this need, I made a proposal to my supervisor, who approved my sales and seminars to intermediary companies in the Kansai region. In the future, I would like to establish a Kansai branch office. I would like to hold a seminar in China in the future.
-What are the "good sides" of the Open House from your point of view, Ms. Liu?
I think it is the speed of work and the positive attitude of all employees. The president and other employees with decision-making authority make decisions very quickly, sometimes taking only three days to make decisions that would take one to two months at other companies. Of course, as a customer, it is better to be able to purchase a property as soon as possible. I think the strength of Open House lies in the fact that we put the customer first and do the best we can. Besides, even when sales are slow, no one is depressed or looking down. It is a pleasant environment where we can encourage each other, saying, "Don't worry, let's do our best next time!"
-What kind of person do you think is the best suited to work at Open House?
I think it is the person who has a positive attitude and the ability to keep things going. I believe the difference between those who can keep going and those who can't is whether or not they blame others when things go wrong. People who do not continue to work tend to put the blame outside of themselves, saying, "I wasn't the right fit for this job," or "It's not my fault. It's the company's fault." When things go wrong, those who can think, "I might be able to do it if I try harder," or "I'll try harder," will be able to continue and the results will naturally follow.
I am the type of person who thinks, "It's uncool to run away; even if I quit, I want to leave some kind of scratch marks." That's why I think I can stick to it without giving up even when the results are not good.
-Please give a message to those who are considering joining Open House.
There may be people who are interested in the real estate industry, but are hesitant because they are women. However, at Open House, the evaluation never changes based on gender. There are many opportunities to be more active than men, depending on yourself. So don't be afraid to jump in before you try it!
Open House's Overseas Sales Department has an outstanding presence in the rapidly growing area of real estate investment by overseas investors. It is clear that our unique structure and know-how attracts clients. Ms. Liu says that regardless of gender or nationality, she is able to work hard because as long as she produces results, she is evaluated equally. We look forward to her future success.
We are looking for people who want to work beyond their limits, without borders and boundaries.
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Job offer