Ownership structure is the first real decision a foreign investor makes in Florida — and choosing between your personal name, a US LLC, or a foreign entity changes both your loan options and your FIRPTA bill when you sell. Most buyers leave the choice for the closing table, when changing it is expensive. Deciding early — with the lender and a cross-border CPA in the same conversation — keeps the purchase, the financing, and the exit aligned.
Three ways to hold Florida property
Buying in your personal name is the simplest and cheapest path: one deed, one signature, no annual filings. A Florida LLC adds liability protection and makes shared ownership with family or partners cleaner. A foreign entity — a corporation or company from your home country — keeps the asset inside structures you already run, but it drags the most US complexity behind it. Each choice works; they just work differently at the bank and at the exit.
How ownership structure shapes your financing
Lenders lend to borrowers they can underwrite. Foreign national loans close for individuals and Florida LLCs every week: the LLC file simply adds articles of organization, an operating agreement, an EIN, and a personal guaranty from the owner. A foreign entity on title is a different story — many programs decline it outright, and the rest add legal review, time, and cost. Whatever the vehicle, the DSCR math stays identical: the property’s rent must cover the full monthly payment. Test yours with our DSCR calculator before you choose a structure.
FIRPTA at the exit, structure by structure
The exit is where ownership structure earns or costs the most. In your personal name — or a single-member LLC, which the IRS disregards — FIRPTA applies directly: the default withholding is 15 percent of the gross price, and a Form 8288-B filed before closing can reduce FIRPTA withholding toward your actual tax. A multi-member LLC is taxed as a partnership and follows its own withholding rules. A foreign corporation faces withholding plus possible corporate-level taxes stacked on the same gain — often the most expensive exit, per the IRS FIRPTA rules. This article is general information, not tax advice; we coordinate with cross-border CPAs on every file.
The quick comparison
Three structures, three trade-offs:
- Personal name: cheapest to set up and finance; FIRPTA applies in full at sale; ask your CPA about estate-tax exposure.
- US LLC: the lender-friendly middle path — liability protection and routine financing; a single-member LLC is disregarded, so FIRPTA still applies.
- Foreign entity: privacy and home-country planning, but the fewest loan programs and the heaviest tax stack at exit.
The rule underneath all three: pick the ownership structure before the contract, because restructuring after closing can itself trigger taxes and lender consent issues.
A typical deal
An investor from Bogotá plans to buy a $380,000 Doral townhouse through her Colombian company. Her lender explains that almost no program will finance that entity, and her CPA adds that the corporate exit would be the costliest. So she forms a Florida LLC instead, closes a foreign national DSCR loan with 25 percent down — $2,900 market rent against a $2,450 full payment, a 1.18 DSCR — and signs everything from Colombia. Years later, at sale, the single-member LLC is disregarded: her 8288-B keeps the withholding near her real tax instead of 15 percent of the whole price.
Structuring your Florida purchase?
Alpha Equity Lending helps foreign investors match the ownership structure to the loan and the exit — personal, LLC, or entity — alongside your cross-border CPA. Tell us about your plans through our submit your deal page and we will map the financing and the FIRPTA path before you sign — 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.
