A hotel condominium (ホテルコンドミニアム) is a hotel room you own outright under Japan's sectional-ownership (区分所有) system. You can stay in it yourself, and when you are not using it the hotel rents it to guests. Tokyu Resort describes four parties: the owner, the developer or seller, the hotel operator (which rents the room, pays the owner and handles cleaning and repairs), and an asset management company that the owner also contracts with.
Tokyu Resort gives four steps for its units: (1) inquiry, consultation and a viewing; (2) a purchase application for a specific unit; (3) the sales contract, signed online or in person, after the legally required explanation of important matters (重要事項説明); (4) payment and handover, after which the owner can start using the hotel. If you borrow, the loan is normally paid out on handover day. Units come furnished and ready for hotel use, so furniture and appliances are usually included in the price, with some exceptions.
At signing you also sign up to a hotel lease agreement (ホテル賃貸借契約), under which the operator leases your room and pays you rent, and an asset management services agreement (資産管理業務委託契約) with a company that audits the operator's rent calculations. A blogger who studies resort hotels (resortboy) notes that Tokyu's listings say these contracts cannot be cancelled while hotel operation continues, so read them before you commit.
Budget for one-off costs on top of the price: contract stamp duty, registration fees, a lump-sum initial payment into the repair reserve, and real estate acquisition tax. A resale bought through an agent adds a brokerage fee and settlement adjustments (Tokyu Resort FAQ). For Niseko, Nisade Real Estate suggests allowing about 5% of the price for closing costs in its FAQ, and 7–10% in a separate tips article. It quotes the agent commission at 3% of the price + ¥60,000 (plus consumption tax), acquisition tax at 3–4% of the government-assessed value, and registration tax at about 1.5–2% of assessed value.
Financing is limited. Tokyu Resort says its partner loans are mainly for individuals, subject to pre-screening. For new units the cap is up to 70% of the sale price, resale limits differ, and it offers no corporate loans. Aoyama Jisho (青山地所) notes that standard home loans and Flat 35 generally cannot be used for rental-use units. Nisade says Japanese banks usually do not lend to non-residents against Niseko property, unless the buyer has permanent residency or a strong track record in Japan.
Foreigners face no legal restrictions on buying (Nisade, H2 Christie's FAQ). Nisade's typical Niseko sequence is: offer, then the sales agreement and important-matters statement, then a deposit into a solicitor's trust account (often about 10%), then a notarised power of attorney, then settlement. The whole process takes about 4–6 weeks. Joint and corporate names are allowed, and owner-use rights stay the same either way (Tokyu Resort).