Run a furnished rental in Tokyo? Rent it to HalfKey instead.
The home is furnished, listed, and earning. You did that part. HalfKey leases it from you, runs the rental, and pays you every month, occupied or not.
Run a furnished rental in Tokyo? Rent it to HalfKey instead.
The home is furnished, listed, and earning. You did that part. HalfKey leases it from you, runs the rental, and pays you every month, occupied or not.
The arrangement
HalfKey becomes your tenant
With a traditional rental, the resident rents from you and the resident risk sits with you. With HalfKey, you lease the home to us and we handle the residents.
The usual way
The resident rents from you. An agent or manager may help, but the resident risk still sits with you.
Resident risk sits with you
With HalfKey
HalfKey rents the home from you, pays you every month and handles the residents. The resident risk sits with us.
Handled by HalfKey
Resident risk sits with us
You never pay us. We pay you.
What the listing price doesn’t show
A higher monthly rate can still leave you with less
Running your home as a furnished monthly rental can seem like the better option—the advertised rent is higher, after all. But empty months and running costs can make a big difference to what you actually receive over the year.
You rent it out monthly
What a resident pays in an occupied month
Based on 10 months occupied each year
8% of the rent actually collected
Included in the resident’s monthly rent
An allowance for wear, replacements and refreshes
You lease it to HalfKey
Every month, whether the home is occupied or not
What reaches you
¥180,000
average per month over the year
What reaches you
¥200,000
per month, every month
Illustrative example based on the assumptions shown.
Who lives in your home
Every resident, carefully selected
Your residents
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Working professionals
Relocating to Tokyo for a new role
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People on corporate assignments
Sent to Tokyo by their employer
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Visiting researchers
Working at Tokyo’s universities and institutes
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Long-stay professionals
Living and working in Tokyo for several months or longer
- 30 days or longer
- No nightly stays and no anonymous bookings. A furnished residential lease, not minpaku or a hotel.
- Identity verified
- Every resident completes a government ID check before move-in.
- A named agreement for every stay
- Each stay is documented with HalfKey, under the resident’s own name.
- Building rules carry through
- Residents follow the property's management and use rules.
- Residents contact us, not you
- Questions, incidents, and everyday needs come to our team.
Property care
How we care for your home
Professional turnover cleaning before each move‑in, followed by regular care throughout every stay.
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Monthly cleaning
Cleaning is arranged once a month during every stay, keeping us regularly involved and helping us notice changes in the home's condition early.
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Maintenance and resident-caused damage
Residents contact HalfKey directly. We arrange day-to-day maintenance and take responsibility for damage caused by our residents.
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Two layers of insurance
HalfKey maintains business cover for the home, and separate tenant home insurance is arranged for every resident before move‑in.
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Structural damage and major repairs
We alert you promptly if we identify structural damage or a major repair, and coordinate the next steps with you.
The term
A lease built around your plans
Whether you need flexibility for the near future or certainty for several years, choose a lease term that suits you.
Lease starts
Home comes back
24 months of steady rent. One simple agreement.
Choose a shorter lease to keep your options open, or a longer one for more years of steady, hands-off rent.
Your month
Keep one month a year for yourself
If you’d like to stay in your home when you visit Tokyo, we can write one month of your own use each year into the lease. We agree the dates in advance and handle the calendar and handover. Rent simply pauses for the time you stay.
Homes with HalfKey
Homes already leased to HalfKey
A few of the furnished homes owners have leased to us across Tokyo.
Yotsuya
Nakameguro
Shirokane
Chitose-Funabashi
The handover
From a running rental to one rent a month
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1
Tell us about the home
Enter the address and a few details below. You get a rent range straight away and can book a visit from there.
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2
We visit
We come see the home at a time that works for you.
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3
Receive our offer
The rent, the lease length, and the start date, in writing.
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4
Sign the lease
We set the start date for after your last guest checks out, so your current bookings finish as planned.
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5
Hand over the keys
The furniture stays. We sign an inventory together and fill any gaps at our own cost. From then on we run the home, and the rent arrives every month.
Find out what your home could earn with HalfKey
Enter your address and a few details to get your estimate.
Step 1 of 3
Step 1 of 3 Step 2 of 3 Step 3 of 3Where is your home?
Start by entering the property address.
Tell us about the home
This helps us understand the home. It does not change the estimate.
Different situation? Leaving Tokyo
FAQ
Common questions
Can't I make more running it myself?
In a good month, yes. Over a year, the empty weeks, management fees, and running costs usually close the gap. The comparison above already gives running it yourself a good year: ten of twelve months booked. Put your real twelve months next to it, and if your year beats our number, keep running it.
What does it cost me?
Nothing. No fees, no commission, no setup charge. The rent we agree on is the amount that arrives, because the day-to-day costs move to us: utilities, wifi, cleaning, furniture, everyday repairs. Property tax and building fees stay yours, the same as with any way of renting out a home.
Is the rent the same every month?
Yes. The rent we agree goes into the lease and arrives every month for the whole term, whether the home is occupied or not. It doesn't go down, and nothing is taken out of it. To see what that number could be for your home, try the estimate above.
What about my current guests and bookings?
They finish exactly as planned. The lease begins once your last booking checks out, so nothing gets cancelled and nobody gets moved. Every yen of those final bookings is still yours.
What happens to my furniture?
Nothing. It stays, listed in an inventory we both sign. We use it, look after it, and replace worn pieces at our own cost. Damage by a resident is ours to fix too, and every lease requires us to carry liability insurance on the home. Anything you'd rather keep, set it aside before we start.
Who would live in my home?
Working professionals on assignment or relocating to Tokyo, screened before they move in. They sign with HalfKey, not with you, and they pay HalfKey, so a missed payment is our problem, not yours. There are no nightly stays.
How long do residents stay?
Months, not nights. Most residents stay three to six months, and some stay a full year. The home changes hands only a few times a year, and we handle every move-in and move-out ourselves, so you are never involved.
Can I see the home during the lease?
Yes. Whenever a resident has checked out, you can ask to see the home and we'll walk it together. It's written into the lease.
When do I get the home back?
On the date in the lease. You choose the length, one to five years, before signing. The home comes back professionally cleaned, aircon serviced at our cost, with your furniture checked against the inventory we signed on day one.
Do I need to be in Japan?
No. The lease, the visit, and the monthly payments all work with you abroad. If someone holds a key for you in Tokyo, that covers the visit.
Free, about a minute, no commitment.