Leaving Tokyo? Keep your home earning.
HalfKey rents your furnished home from you and runs the home while you’re away.
Leaving Tokyo? Keep your home earning.
HalfKey rents your furnished home from you and runs the home while you’re away.
The usual options
Renting out your home usually comes with a trade-off
You’ll be away, so either way you’d be hiring a property manager.
Another option
Rent it to HalfKey
Option 01
Rent it out unfurnished
- Your furniture
- You store it, sell it, or clear it out
- Finding residents
- The manager finds them, and the letting costs are yours
- Running the home
- The manager handles the day to day, and bills you
- Months it sits empty
- No rent comes in
- What you pay
- Management fees, letting fees, storage, and furnishing again when you return
Option 02
Rent it out furnished
- Your furniture
- It stays, but repairs and replacements are billed to you
- Finding residents
- The manager finds them, and the letting costs are yours
- Running the home
- The manager handles the day to day, and bills you
- Months it sits empty
- No rent comes in
- What you pay
- Management fees, every month
Another option
Rent it to HalfKey
- Your furniture
- It stays, and we cover repairs and replacements
- Finding residents
- We find them, at our own cost
- Running the home
- We run the home day to day, at our cost
- Months it sits empty
- Your rent arrives just the same
- What you pay
- No fees to HalfKey
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.
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.
Your things
Leave with your suitcases, not your furniture
You don’t need to sell, store or dispose of your furniture before you leave. Keep the home furnished, take the things you want with you, and we’ll take it from there.
Your furniture stays in the home
Beds, sofas, tables, appliances and other furnishings can stay where they are. We agree an inventory with you before the lease begins and look after everything throughout the lease.
Take what’s personal with you
Pack your clothes, valuables and personal belongings. If there are things you don’t want to take or leave in the home, we’ll agree what to do with them before the lease starts.
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.
The return
Your return is planned before you leave
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1
Your return date is agreed before you leave
You choose a lease of one to five years before signing. It is a fixed-term lease (定期借家), ending on the date written in the agreement. It can only be extended if you choose to sign a new agreement.
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2
You can check on the home while you’re away
If you’d like to see the home, we can arrange a walkthrough with you between residents.
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3
We prepare it for your return
Before your return date, we professionally clean the home and service the air conditioning at our cost.
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4
We hand it back together
We check the furniture against the inventory agreed at the start of the lease, then hand the keys back to you.
Free, about a minute, no commitment.
Homes with HalfKey
Homes already leased to HalfKey
A few of the homes owners have leased to us across Tokyo.
Yotsuya
Nakameguro
Shirokane
Chitose-Funabashi
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? Furnished rental operators
FAQ
Common questions
What does it cost me?
Nothing. No fees, no commission, no setup charge. 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.
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.
What about my personal belongings?
Take what you want with you. Anything you would rather not leave in the home, we can put in storage for you. We agree what goes in before the lease starts.
Can I stay in the home when I visit?
Yes. If you want it, we write one month a year of your own use into the lease, agreed in advance. We handle the calendar and the handover. Rent pauses for the time you stay.
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.
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.
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.
Who lives in the 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. Most stay three to six months, and there are no nightly stays.
Can the lease start when I leave?
Yes. We time the start around your moving day, so there is no gap before the rent starts.
How much would HalfKey pay for my home?
Every home is different, so the quickest way to find out is the estimate above. Enter your address and a few details and you'll have a range in about a minute. If you like what you see, book a free visit and we'll put the exact figure in writing. Nothing is deducted from it.
Do I still receive rent when the home is empty?
Yes. You are renting to HalfKey, not to the resident, so your rent does not depend on whether anyone is living there at the time. The months between residents are our cost, not yours.
What happens if something is damaged?
We put it right. Damage caused by a resident is ours to fix, not yours to chase. HalfKey carries liability insurance on the home for the life of the lease, and each resident holds their own home insurance, arranged before they move in.
What repairs do I still pay for?
Everyday repairs inside the home and the furniture are ours. The building itself stays with you, as under any tenancy, along with property tax and building fees.
Free, about a minute, no commitment.