This is the step most often taken last and it is the one that should be taken first. Restructuring an asset already held is slower and more expensive than holding it correctly from the start.
This page covers the process. Which building suits you is a separate question. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current position on any building we cover.
United States real property is a US situs asset. On the death of a non-resident owner it can fall within the US estate tax net, and the exemption available to a non-resident is dramatically lower than the one available to a US person.
Some countries have an estate tax treaty with the United States. The United Kingdom does. Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina do not. That single fact changes the answer for a great many buyers on this site.
A Florida LLC, on its own, does not fix this. It is frequently presented as though it does.
Estate exposure. What happens to the asset on death, and whether a treaty applies. This is the question most often ignored and the one with the largest consequences.
Privacy. Florida property records are public. An entity changes what appears in them, which matters to some buyers a great deal and to others not at all.
Income and reporting. How rental income, if any, is taxed and reported, in the United States and at home. Dual reporting obligations are common and they are the responsibility of the owner rather than the developer or the broker.
These are three different problems. A structure that solves one may do nothing for another, and the right answer differs by citizenship, residency and family circumstances.
We do not advise on structure. We are a real estate brokerage, not a law or accounting firm, and a sales gallery that answers these questions in the room is guessing.
What we do is introduce US counsel, and home country counsel where it matters, before you are under contract, and sit in the first conversation so nothing is lost between the two.
The 15 day window Florida gives you after you receive the condominium documents exists so an attorney can read the agreement. It is not enough time to design a structure from scratch, which is why the structure conversation happens earlier.
FIRPTA is the withholding regime most foreign buyers have heard of, and it applies when a foreign person sells United States property. It is an exit mechanism, not a purchase tax.
It is worth understanding at the point of purchase because it affects your eventual net on a sale, and because the holding structure interacts with it. It is not something you pay when you buy.
That is the general shape of it. The application to your circumstances is a question for a US tax adviser and we will introduce one.
The window between reservation and contract is when this is cheap to get right and after closing is when it becomes expensive. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will make the introductions in the right order.
We hold no listings and we are not the developer. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will tell you what applies to your situation, what does not, and where we would not proceed. For an entity purchase that means counsel before contract, every time. Where a question is legal, tax or structuring, we introduce you to advisers who handle that properly rather than answering it ourselves.