Yes. A foreign national can buy, own and sell real estate in the United States on the same title as a citizen. What differs is not the right to buy but how you hold it, how you pay, and what happens at tax time and at resale.
This page covers the right to buy. Which building suits you is a separate question. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current position on any building we cover.
There is no federal law and no Florida law that requires a buyer of residential real estate to be a citizen, a resident, or a visa holder. A person living in Mexico City, Madrid, São Paulo or Zurich can sign a contract, wire a deposit, close on a condominium in Miami and take title in their own name or through an entity, without ever having lived in the country.
The developers who build Miami’s towers know this well. A large share of preconstruction buyers in Miami live abroad, and the sales process, the contracts and the closing agents are built for it.
The question is never whether you can buy. It is how you should hold it, and that is decided before you sign, not after.
A passport. Identity for the contract, the escrow agent and the closing. No visa is required to buy, and a tourist visa or visa waiver is enough to visit and to sign.
The money, and a clean story for it. Deposits and closings are paid by wire from a bank the escrow agent can verify. Banks and closing agents ask where funds come from; a buyer who can show the trail closes faster.
A tax identification number, in time for closing. A foreign buyer without a Social Security number obtains an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, which is needed for tax filings on the property and at sale. Counsel or a tax adviser arranges it.
A decision on how to hold it. Personal name, a US limited liability company, or a structure from your home country. The choice affects privacy, estate exposure and what happens on resale, and it is far cheaper to decide first than to restructure later.
Financing. A foreign national can borrow against a US property, but from a smaller set of lenders, with a larger down payment and without a US credit history counting for much. Many buyers from abroad pay cash on preconstruction and finance later, once the building is delivered.
Taxes while you own. Property tax is paid to the county whether or not you live in the country. If the residence is rented, the rental income is taxable in the United States, and how it is taxed depends on elections your adviser makes on your behalf.
At resale. When a foreign seller sells US property, the buyer is generally required to withhold a portion of the sale price and send it to the tax authority as an advance on the seller’s tax; the seller reclaims any excess by filing. This is the rule known as FIRPTA, and it is a cash-flow question to plan for, not a penalty.
Estate exposure. A non-resident who dies owning US property in their own name faces a US estate tax with a very small exemption. This is the single largest reason holding structure is decided before purchase. It is also the reason the desk makes the introduction to counsel before the first deposit, not after.
Buying a residence in the United States does not by itself grant a visa, residency, or a path to citizenship. Ownership and immigration status are separate systems. Some buyers combine a purchase with an investor or business visa on the advice of an immigration attorney; the purchase does not produce the visa.
Buying does not require you to be present at closing. Powers of attorney and remote closings are ordinary in Florida, and most buyers abroad close without travelling.
Buying does not open a US bank account for you. Some buyers want one for the monthly figure and for rental income; it is a separate process with its own paperwork, and the desk knows which banks are used to it.
The right to buy is settled. What is not settled, until you settle it, is the structure, the funding path and the tax position, and each of those depends on where you live and what you intend to do with the residence. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will tell you what applies to your situation, what does not, and who to speak with first.
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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 a buyer abroad that usually starts with the holding structure. Where a question is legal, tax or immigration, we introduce you to advisers who handle that properly rather than answering it ourselves.
