Currency Mortgage
Imagine getting a mortgage at the low rate of ½ of a percent. That is the rate of a Japanese yen mortgage. If the mortgage is a currency mortgage, then the loan will be interest only for thirty years. Is there risk? If you live in another country, there is the currency risk. For example, if you earn money in dollars and dollars depreciate against the yen, then paying back the Japanese mortgage will cost you more money.
Some companies claim that they can manage the currency risk and that they can actually pay off the principle balance of the mortgage in less than 30 years.
To summarize, you can potentially save thousands of dollars by getting a currency mortgage. The idea is to borrow at a very low interest rate and manage the currency risk well.
The only problem with the scenario is finding someone to lend you the money. Most currency mortgages use Hong Kong dollars, the Euro or Pound, and Dollars. As of yet, I have not seen a company to offer a Japanese Mortgage Internationally. Then, most companies that offer the loans tack on interest rates to make it more profitable for them. By the time you pay the added interest, it is not much different than a conventional mortgage. If you want some currency to play around with, it might be a solution for you.
If anyone could get the Japanese to lend to them and manage the risk well, it would be a way to make millions.
Some of the largest US banks offer the currency mortgage, but reserve it for the wealthiest and best clients. You might get someone like Goldman Sachs to pull this off for you, but again, they only work for wealthy people.
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