Buying in the U.S. as a non-resident: how it works

A non-resident foreign national can buy and own property in Florida on the same terms as a citizen. What changes is not the right to buy but the mechanics: how you identify yourself to the tax authority, how an account gets opened, how you qualify for a loan with no local credit file, and how you sign without being in the room.

The structure comes first

Order matters. The LLC is formed before closing, because changing the owner after the deed is recorded means a second transfer, with its own documentary stamp tax and its own fees. The company is registered in Florida, obtains its federal tax identification number (an EIN) from the IRS, and that number is what the bank account is opened against.

A non-resident can obtain an EIN without holding a Social Security number. It is a known procedure and it is done on paper.

The credit, if you want it

Foreign national programs do not look at your U.S. credit history, because you do not have one. They qualify you on documented income and assets from your home country, on bank statements, and on a reference letter from your bank. In exchange they ask for a larger down payment than a local buyer would put down.

The pre-approval arrives in writing before you make an offer. That paper is what makes a seller take you seriously, and it is why we never recommend viewing property before you hold one.

The tax nobody mentions

On the way out, FIRPTA requires the buyer to withhold a percentage of the gross sale price when the seller is a foreign person. It is not an extra tax: it is a withholding against your eventual liability, recoverable when you file, but it ties up money for months if nobody planned for it. You plan for it before you buy, not on the day you sell.

Signing from your own country

The closing can run entirely remotely. Documents are signed before a notary at a U.S. consulate, or before a local notary with an apostille depending on the document, and funds are wired to the title company's escrow account.

One warning we repeat every time: wire fraud in real estate closings works by impersonating the firm and changing the account at the last moment. No wire instruction should be acted on without confirming it by phone on the published number. If instructions change by email, treat them as fraudulent until a call proves otherwise.