How to buy property in the U.S. as a foreign national? It is a well-traveled path — international investors do it in every major market, every year. The core of how to buy property here looks like any investor purchase. What’s different comes down to a few details: how you qualify, how you hold title, how the money crosses the border, and how you sign.
You can be here in person for the closing or handle the whole thing remotely — your call. Either way, here’s how the pieces fit together.
How to buy property, step by step
Three pieces to get right, whether you fly in or handle it from home:
Your signature. If you’re at the closing table, you sign like any other buyer. If you’re not, you have options: a power of attorney (POA) lets a trusted person or a real estate attorney in the U.S. sign the closing documents on your behalf; where it’s allowed, remote online notarization (RON) lets you sign and notarize live over video; otherwise documents can be notarized at a U.S. embassy or consulate, or notarized locally and apostilled — an international certification that makes a foreign notarization valid in the U.S.
Title and the LLC. If you’re buying through a U.S. LLC — common for foreign investors — the LLC holds title and its manager or member signs. That keeps the structure clean and the paperwork straightforward.
The money. Your down payment and closing funds move by international wire to the title company’s escrow account. Plan for the documentation here: the lender and title company will verify the source of funds as part of standard anti-money-laundering (AML) review, so keep clear records of where the money came from.
How long it takes
Plan for a bit more runway than a domestic closing. Foreign national transactions often run 30–45 days, mostly because notarization and document logistics across borders take coordination. The fix is simple: start the power of attorney and confirm your notarization method early, so the paperwork isn’t the thing holding up your closing.
A typical deal
A scenario I see often: an investor abroad finds a Florida rental, never plans to fly in, and wants to close cleanly. We set up a power of attorney with a local attorney, hold the property in a U.S. LLC, wire the funds from their home-country bank with documented source, and close remotely. They sign nothing in person and own the property at the end of it.
Ready to look at your deal?
If you’re buying from abroad, the closing logistics are a solved problem — the real question is the financing. Tell us about your deal and we’ll map it out, closing included — in English or Spanish.
By Andres Jara — Alpha Equity Lending (NMLS #1855083). 20+ years in real estate finance, an MS in Finance, and an active South Florida investor and landlord.
