Reply #16: Never heard of such a thing here...

[Yollam]

...they may have existed at the peak of the real estate bubble in the late 80s, but most mortgages here are in the 25~35 year range. And outside of Tokyo-Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya, housing prices are much more reasonable here than in America's overinflated markets (granted, you get less land here for your money, but you can buy a decent older house in the outskirts of my city, Fukuoka, for $78,000 US, and even less when you get out into the boonies. For people who can telecommute like I do, there are bargains out there. When we were living in San Francisco, the inflated prices were not just in the city, but extended 100 miles in any direction. The closest place with houses anywhere near affordable was Lake County.