Buying Real Estate in the United States as an International Buyer: What to Know Before You Begin

The United States remains one of the most accessible residential property markets in the world for foreign nationals. There is no federal law that prohibits a non-citizen from owning a home in most of the country, and buyers from Canada, Mexico, China, India, and the United Kingdom purchase U.S. residential property every year in meaningful volume.

What makes an international purchase different is not the property. It is everything attached to the property: how the money moves, how the buyer is documented, which tax authorities take an interest, and what happens to the asset when the owner is eight time zones away. Buyers who plan for those elements early tend to have quiet transactions. Buyers who discover them at the closing table tend not to.

Where International Buyers Stand in the U.S. Market

The National Association of REALTORS® tracks foreign purchases annually. In the twelve months from April 2025 through March 2026, international buyers acquired 67,100 existing U.S. homes for a total of $45.3 billion, a 14% decline in units and a 19.1% decline in dollar volume from the prior period. The median purchase price was $465,000.

That decline is worth reading carefully. NAR's chief economist attributed the pullback largely to reduced international travel to the United States rather than to affordability alone, noting that a modestly weaker dollar over the same period did not draw buyers back in. Foreign purchase activity has historically tracked physical presence: people buy where they have visited, studied, worked, or have family.

The composition of the buyer pool matters as much as the totals. Roughly 56% of these purchases were made by foreign nationals already residing in the United States as recent immigrants or visa holders, with the remaining 44% made by buyers living abroad. Canada supplied the largest share of buyers at 16%, followed by Mexico at 14%. Buyers from China accounted for 11% of purchases but the largest share of dollar volume at $7.6 billion, reflecting an average purchase price near $1 million. Florida, California, and Texas remained the top three destinations.

The motivations behind these purchases are as varied as the buyers themselves: a primary residence after relocation, a second home in a climate the buyer prefers, a property near a university where a child will study, a rental asset held for income, or diversification of wealth across currencies and jurisdictions. Each objective produces a different set of correct answers to nearly every question that follows.

Ownership Is Not Immigration Status

This distinction deserves to be stated plainly, because it is the single most common misunderstanding in cross-border residential real estate.

Owning U.S. property does not create the right to live in the United States. Immigration status is governed by federal immigration law and administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of State. It is a separate legal system from property law, and the two do not connect in the way buyers sometimes expect. Even the EB-5 immigrant investor program, which is frequently and incorrectly described as a "buy a house, get a visa" pathway, requires investment in a new commercial enterprise that creates jobs. USCIS specifies that a qualifying enterprise does not include non-commercial activity such as owning and operating a personal residence.

A buyer who intends to spend meaningful time in the property should speak with a qualified immigration attorney about visa options separately from, and ideally before, the purchase decision.

The second qualification is jurisdictional. While there is no general federal bar on foreign ownership of residential property, individual states have moved considerably in recent years. A Congressional Research Service review found that state approaches differ widely: some require only disclosure or study, while others prohibit specific transactions or require divestiture. Some restrictions apply only to agricultural land, others to property near military installations or critical infrastructure, and others to real property generally. Some target buyers from a defined list of countries; others apply to non-citizens broadly. Legal analyses tracking this legislation counted roughly three dozen states with some form of restriction on the books by the end of 2025, and several of those laws are being litigated.

These laws rarely affect a typical residential purchase, but they are not theoretical either. In Wisconsin, for example, state statute limits nonresident aliens and certain foreign-owned entities to 640 acres of land, subject to a list of exceptions including treaty rights. Illinois addresses non-citizen property ownership under its own statutory framework and maintains separate reporting requirements for foreign acquisitions of agricultural land. Buyers considering acreage, farmland, or property adjacent to sensitive sites should have counsel confirm the position in the specific state before writing an offer.

The Transaction Itself Varies by State

There is no single American closing process. Practices differ substantially across state lines, and in some cases across counties.

In some states an attorney is customarily involved in drafting or reviewing the contract; in others the transaction is handled through standardized forms and a title company. Escrow customs, earnest money handling, inspection periods, required seller disclosures, and the mechanics of closing all vary. Illinois and Wisconsin do not run identical processes despite sharing a border. A buyer who has purchased in Florida should not assume the same sequence applies in the Midwest.

The general arc, however, is consistent. A buyer defines the objective, selects a market, engages representation, searches, and makes a written offer. If accepted, earnest money is typically deposited. A due diligence period follows, during which the buyer inspects the property, reviews disclosures and any association documents, and finalizes financing or produces proof of funds. Title work is completed, and the transaction closes with the execution and recording of documents and the transfer of funds.

One recent practice change is worth knowing before the first showing. Since August 17, 2024, real estate professionals working with buyers through a multiple listing service are generally required to enter into a written buyer agreement before touring a home, in person or by live virtual tour. These agreements set out the services to be provided and how the agent is compensated, and their terms are negotiable. For an international buyer, this is a useful document rather than an obstacle, because it puts the scope of representation in writing at the outset.

Cash, Financing, and Proving the Money

International buyers complete a higher share of cash purchases than the market at large. In the most recent NAR period, 48% of foreign buyers paid cash, compared with 28% of all existing-home buyers.

That gap reflects practical friction rather than preference. U.S. mortgage underwriting is built around domestic credit history, verifiable U.S.-format income documentation, and taxpayer identification. A buyer with no U.S. credit file and income earned abroad in another currency does not fit the standard template. Financing is nonetheless available. Some lenders operate dedicated foreign national programs, some international banks lend against U.S. property for existing relationship clients, and portfolio lenders take a case-by-case view. Terms commonly differ from those offered to domestic borrowers, often through larger down payment requirements and more extensive documentation.

Buyers who will file U.S. tax returns but are not eligible for a Social Security number will generally need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number from the IRS. ITINs are issued regardless of immigration status, and it is worth being precise about what they are: a tax processing number. An ITIN does not change immigration status and does not confer the right to work in the United States.

Cash buyers face their own documentation reality. Since March 1, 2026, a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rule requires certain professionals involved in residential closings to report non-financed transfers of residential property to legal entities and trusts, including beneficial ownership information. The obligation falls on closing professionals rather than on buyers directly, but it changes how entity purchases are documented, and buyers acquiring through a company or trust should expect to supply information that would not previously have been requested.

Currency and the Timing of Funds

Exchange-rate movement can change the effective price of a property between offer and closing without a single term of the contract changing. On a purchase in the mid six figures, a modest move in the rate is not a rounding error.

This is a question for a qualified banking or foreign-exchange professional, not for a real estate agent, and certainly not for speculation. What belongs in the transaction plan is timing. International wires can require several business days and may pass through intermediary institutions. Banks on both sides will ask for documentation of the source of funds. Domestic account limits, holiday calendars in the sending country, and compliance review can all add days. Funds that are theoretically available are not the same as funds cleared and sitting with the closing agent on the morning of closing.

A related point deserves emphasis. Real estate closings are a persistent target for wire fraud. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported $3.046 billion in business email compromise losses in 2025 alone, and its case examples include buyers who received fraudulent wire instructions in messages impersonating their title company or attorney. Wire instructions should always be confirmed by voice with a known number obtained independently, never with a number supplied in an email. Buyers operating across time zones and in a second language are more exposed here, not less.

Taxes and Ownership Structure Are a Before Question

How title is taken is one of the few decisions in a transaction that is difficult and expensive to reverse. It should be settled before the offer, not at closing.

U.S. ownership can create obligations at several levels. Property taxes are assessed locally and vary enormously by state and municipality. Rental income from U.S. property generally creates a U.S. filing obligation. Gain on sale may be taxable, and on disposition by a foreign person, the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act generally requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the amount realized and remit it to the IRS, subject to exceptions. That withholding is a deposit against liability rather than the tax itself, but it affects the seller's net proceeds at closing and is often a surprise to owners who did not plan for it.

Estate exposure is the item most frequently missed. For a deceased nonresident who was not a U.S. citizen, an estate tax return is generally required if the fair market value of U.S.-situated assets at death exceeds $60,000. A single condominium can cross that threshold several times over. The home country's tax system and any applicable treaty may also apply.

None of this argues for any particular structure. Individual ownership, joint ownership, a trust, or an entity each carry different consequences across income tax, estate exposure, liability, financing eligibility, reporting obligations, and home-country treatment. The right answer depends entirely on the buyer's citizenship, residency, family situation, and intended use. International purchasers should discuss the tax consequences and ownership structure appropriate to their circumstances with qualified U.S. tax and legal professionals, and with home-country advisers where relevant, before committing to a purchase.

Title, Due Diligence, and Closing

The purpose of due diligence is to confirm that the buyer is receiving what the contract describes, free of undisclosed claims.

A title search examines the ownership history for liens, easements, unpaid taxes, boundary issues, and other encumbrances. Title insurance, where used, protects against defects that the search did not reveal. Inspection assesses physical condition, and depending on the property may extend to well and septic systems, radon, wood-destroying insects, or environmental review. Seller disclosure requirements are set by state law and differ in scope.

Where a property sits within a condominium or homeowners association, the governing documents deserve real attention. Assessments, reserve funding, pending special assessments, and restrictions on leasing can materially affect both carrying cost and the viability of an investment strategy. Short-term rental rules in particular have changed rapidly in many U.S. municipalities, and a property that supported nightly rentals two years ago may not today.

Insurance should be arranged early rather than late. Availability and pricing have shifted significantly in some regions, and a buyer who assumes coverage is routine can lose time at a point in the transaction when there is none to spare.

Owning From a Distance

An owner who is not present is still responsible for a property that continues to require attention.

Practical questions worth answering before closing rather than after: who holds keys and access, who responds when a pipe fails at two in the morning, how utilities are held and paid, how association dues and property taxes are paid on time from a foreign account, who handles seasonal maintenance, and what the reporting calendar looks like for any rental income. A professional property manager solves most of this, but management quality varies and the relationship should be selected with the same care as any other.

For second-home owners, the calculation is different from that of investors but no less real. A property used six weeks a year still incurs fifty-two weeks of cost, and the ownership experience is largely determined by the quality of the people looking after it in the buyer's absence.

The Part That Is Not Legal or Financial

Cross-border transactions fail on communication more often than on law.

Terminology does not translate cleanly. "Escrow," "earnest money," "contingency," and "closing" carry specific meanings in the U.S. context that do not map neatly onto equivalents elsewhere. Representation models differ from country to country, and a buyer accustomed to a system where the agent works for the seller alone may not immediately understand what buyer representation involves. Negotiation customs vary in pace, directness, and expectation. Timelines that seem normal to a U.S. participant can feel abrupt or unaccountably slow to someone working from another commercial culture.

None of this is about any particular nationality, and it is not a matter of one approach being correct. It is a matter of two parties operating from different default assumptions and neither one saying so. The practical remedy is unglamorous: confirm understanding rather than assume it, explain each step before it happens rather than while it happens, put timelines in writing, and allow room in the schedule for questions and for the time-zone lag that follows them.

Build the Team Before You Need It

An international purchase typically requires coordinated input from several professionals, each working inside their own licensed field.

That usually includes a real estate professional, a real estate attorney where the state or the transaction calls for one, a U.S. tax professional and, where relevant, a home-country adviser, a mortgage professional if the purchase is financed, a title or closing professional, an insurance professional, a property manager for a property that will not be owner-occupied, an immigration attorney where any question of status exists, and a qualified banking or foreign-exchange professional for the movement of funds.

The value is in the coordination. A tax adviser who learns about the purchase after closing cannot advise on how title should have been taken. A lender brought in during the inspection period cannot always deliver by the contract date. Assembling the team early, and making sure its members are talking to one another, is what separates a straightforward international transaction from a difficult one.

Start With the Objective

The most useful work happens before any property is viewed.

A buyer relocating for work needs proximity, school quality, and a closing timeline that matches a start date. An investor needs rental demand, management infrastructure, and a clear view of carrying costs and rental restrictions. A second-home buyer needs accessibility, seasonal practicality, and a realistic assessment of how the property will actually be used. A family purchasing near a university has a defined holding period and should be thinking about eventual resale from the outset.

These objectives lead to different markets, different property types, different price points, and different ownership structures. Defining the objective first turns a broad and expensive search into a specific and manageable one.

Working With Javen

Javen Rands is a REALTOR® with Dickerson & Nieman Realtors, licensed in Illinois and Wisconsin, a member of FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation, and holds the Resort & Second-Home Property Specialist (RSPS) designation.

His work with international buyers focuses on the real estate component of the transaction: understanding the objective, identifying markets and properties that fit it, representing the buyer through offer, due diligence, and closing, and coordinating with the attorneys, tax professionals, lenders, title professionals, and property managers whose input the transaction requires. He does not provide legal, tax, immigration, financial, or currency advice, and works alongside the licensed professionals who do.

For markets outside Illinois and Wisconsin, he works through professional referral networks to connect buyers with qualified local practitioners while remaining involved in the coordination.