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Buying property in Florida as a foreign buyer
You do not need citizenship, a green card or even a visa to own property in the United States. What you do need is to know which questions change because you are buying from another country — financing, signing, moving money, tax, and one Florida law that catches people out.
Can you buy without citizenship or a green card?
Yes. Owning property in the United States does not require citizenship, a green card, or even a visa. There is no federal rule that limits who may hold title, and buying property gives you no immigration status in return — the two things are unrelated in both directions.
What does change with your status is the practical side: which lenders will work with you, how you sign, and how you are taxed. Those are the real questions, and the rest of this page is about them.
The Florida restriction almost nobody warns you about
Since July 2023 Florida law limits property purchases by people it calls “foreign principals”. Chapter 692 of the Florida Statutes names seven countries of concern: China, the Russian Federation, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, the Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro and Syria. Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the rest are not on that list.
A “foreign principal” includes a person domiciled in one of those countries who is not a US citizen and not a lawful permanent resident. If you hold citizenship or a green card, the restriction does not apply to you at all.
For everyone else it bites in a place people do not expect: the law bars purchases within ten miles of any military installation or critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure includes seaports and airports. Draw ten-mile circles around Miami International, Fort Lauderdale, PortMiami and Port Everglades and you have covered most of the coast people actually want to buy on.
There is one exemption. A natural person may buy a single residential property of up to two acres if the parcel is not within five miles of a military installation, and if they hold a current verified US visa that is not limited to tourist travel, or asylum documentation. A tourist visa does not qualify. The purchase must be in the name of the person holding that visa.
Property that must be registered and is not carries a civil penalty of $1,000 for every day the registration is late.
This is orientation, not legal advice, and “domicile” is a legal term that is not the same as your passport. Before you make an offer we check the specific parcel and send you to an attorney if there is any doubt. Finding this out after a contract is signed is the expensive way to learn it.
The section on Florida's restriction is written from the statute itself — Chapter 692 of the Florida Statutes, sections 692.201–692.205, on the Florida Legislature's own site. It is orientation, not legal advice.
Buying without flying in
Remote purchases are routine here. You can see the property on video, sign electronically where the law allows it, and give a power of attorney for the closing itself. Documents that must be notarised are handled at a US consulate, by an approved remote online notary, or by a notary in your country with an apostille — which one applies depends on the document and the title company.
The part that surprises people is timing, not paperwork: consular appointments and apostilles take weeks, not days. We start that early rather than at the end, because a contract has deadlines and they do not move for a stamp.
What you will be asked for
A passport, and a second form of identification. Proof of funds — a bank statement showing the money exists. And, separately, source of funds: where the money came from. The second question is the one people are not ready for, and it is asked seriously.
If you will rent the property out or sell it later, you will need an ITIN, a taxpayer number for people without a social security number. It is not needed to buy, but it is needed to file, and applying for it early saves a scramble later. A CPA files that application, not a realtor.
Financing without a US credit history
Foreign national loans exist and are a normal product. They do not require a US credit history or a social security number. What they do require is a larger down payment than a resident would put down, and the lender will want to see income and assets documented from your own country, often translated.
Terms move with the market and differ sharply between lenders, so I will not print numbers that go stale. Ask me and I will get you current quotes from lenders who actually do these loans — that last part matters, because many banks simply do not.
Moving the money
Funds go by wire into the escrow account of a title company or an attorney — never to a private account, and never to an address that arrived by email without a phone call to confirm it. Wire fraud in real estate is common, and the fake instructions look perfect.
Expect questions about where the money came from, and expect to answer them with documents rather than explanations. Sanctions and anti-money-laundering checks apply to the buyer, the source of funds and sometimes the bank in between. Starting this before you find a property is the difference between a smooth closing and a dead deal.
Taxes, and why you need a CPA
Three things catch foreign owners out. Rental income is taxable in the United States and there is a choice of how it is taxed that must be made correctly and early. When you sell, a portion of the sale price is withheld at closing under a federal rule called FIRPTA and refunded later if too much was taken. And US estate tax treats non-residents very differently from residents, which is why ownership structure — personally, through a company, through a trust — is a decision with consequences.
None of this is my field, and a realtor who tells you otherwise is doing you harm. What I do is raise these questions before they become expensive and introduce you to a CPA who works with foreign owners. Bring them in before you buy, not at your first tax return.
After the purchase: managing and renting it
A property you do not live in still needs someone on the ground: to let contractors in, to deal with the association, to notice a leak before the ceiling below does. Management companies charge a share of the rent for long-term tenancies and more for short-term ones.
Before you count on rental income, check what the building actually allows. Many condominiums set a minimum lease term, cap how many times a year you may rent, and require the board to approve your tenant for a fee. A unit bought for short-term rental in a building that forbids it is an expensive mistake, and it is entirely preventable — we read those rules before the offer, not after.
Ask before you commit
Half an hour on Zoom, free, and no obligation. Tell me where you are buying from and what you are looking at, and I will tell you what applies to your situation — including, plainly, when a question belongs to a lawyer or an accountant rather than to me.