International Buyer's Guide to Miami Real Estate
Buying Miami real estate from outside the United States is ordinary. What is not ordinary is the set of issues that comes with it: foreign-national financing, cross-border funds, U.S. tax exposure, FIRPTA, how title is held, condominium diligence and closing from another country.
Foreign nationals can generally purchase Florida residential real estate without U.S. citizenship or permanent residency, subject to applicable ownership restrictions and transaction-specific compliance requirements.
Can a foreigner buy real estate in Miami?
Yes. Foreign nationals can generally purchase Miami residential property without becoming U.S. residents first, and without a visa, a green card or a Social Security number. There is no general federal or Florida citizenship or residence requirement to hold title to a home. What differs is almost everything around the purchase.
Financing
Lawful U.S. residents may qualify for ordinary agency loans. A true nonresident normally needs a lender-specific foreign-national program, with different documentation and terms.
Documentation
Passports, entity papers, proof of funds, source-of-wealth explanations and translated records are commonly requested by lenders, title companies and associations.
Transferring funds
Legitimate purchase money can generally be wired into the United States, but bank compliance review, intermediary banks and documentation requests take time you have to schedule for.
Ownership structure
Individually, jointly, through an LLC, a corporation or a trust. The choice affects tax, reporting, financing, association approval, succession and the eventual sale.
U.S. tax exposure
Rental income, estate tax on U.S.-situs property and the filings that follow are separate questions from whether you may buy. They are best answered before closing, not after.
Remote closing
Purchasing without travelling to Miami is common. The execution method — remote notarization, apostille, consular notarization or a power of attorney — must be approved in advance.
FIRPTA, later
FIRPTA is principally a seller-side withholding regime. It matters to you when you eventually sell, and it can matter at purchase if your seller is a foreign person.
Immigration is separate
Owning a Miami residence does not create a visa, a green card, citizenship or permission to remain in the United States. The two systems do not touch.
One real restriction
Florida law restricts certain acquisitions by defined foreign principals. It is narrow, but it is not nothing, and it is worth checking before you sign rather than after.
"Generally permitted" is not "permitted for everyone, everywhere, in every structure." Nationality, domicile, beneficial ownership, entity chain, property location and funding source can each change the analysis. Where a buyer, an owner behind an entity, or a property location could fall within a covered category under Florida's foreign-principal provisions, that question belongs with a Florida real-estate attorney before contract execution — not after a deposit is at risk.
International purchasing is a structural part of this market.
Miami is not a market where foreign buyers are an exception to be accommodated. The transaction infrastructure here — brokerages, title companies, lenders, condominium associations — deals with cross-border purchasers routinely. The figures below come from named industry reports, each with its own geography and reporting period.
By number of purchases, Florida's leading reported source countries were Canada at 18%, Colombia at 10%, Brazil at 7%, Argentina at 6% and the United Kingdom at 5%. By dollar volume, Florida Realtors reported Canada at $1.9 billion, Colombia at $925 million, Brazil at $762 million, Argentina at $627 million and Mexico at $489 million. The South Florida picture reported by MIAMI REALTORS is differently weighted: Colombia at 15% of the foreign-buyer share, Argentina at 12%, Mexico and Brazil at 7% each, Venezuela and Canada at 5% each, Peru and Spain at 4% each, and Italy at 3%.
Two figures that look contradictory usually are not. Florida statewide data, Miami metro data, South Florida data and MIAMI REALTORS member-survey data measure different populations with different definitions. The statewide all-cash figure of roughly 60% and the South Florida figure of 51% are both accurate for what they measure. The same report series showed a 66% cash share in its 2024 edition, which is the clearest illustration of why a reporting period has to travel with a statistic. Treat any number you see about "foreign buyers in Miami" as incomplete until you know its geography, its period and who was surveyed.
Work out which buyer you are. The path changes.
Most of the confusion in international purchases comes from advice written for a different category of buyer. Documentation, lending, tax treatment and timing differ materially across these six profiles, and several buyers belong to more than one.
Cash buyer living abroad
No lender underwriting, which removes one whole layer of process. It removes nothing else: inspection, title review, condominium diligence, insurance, source-of-funds review, association approval and tax planning all remain.
Foreign-national borrower
A nonresident who lives and earns abroad. Financing here is a specialty product rather than an agency loan, and feasibility should be confirmed with a lender before any nonrefundable deposit.
Green-card holder or lawful nonpermanent resident
A materially different lending position. Fannie Mae purchases mortgages made to lawful permanent and nonpermanent residents under terms generally available to U.S. citizens, subject to lender determination of lawful presence and program requirements.
Second-home buyer
Occupancy affects loan terms, insurance and, importantly, property-tax expectations. A second home in Miami will commonly not satisfy Florida's permanent-residence requirements for homestead treatment.
Investment buyer
Rental use turns the purchase into a U.S. tax matter and a building-rules matter simultaneously. Both need to be checked before contract, because neither can be fixed afterwards.
Preconstruction buyer
Staged deposits in dollars across several years, a developer-drafted contract, and a financing and currency picture that may look nothing like today's at completion. The most demanding profile on this list.
Do you need a visa, a green card, an SSN or an ITIN?
These four questions get merged constantly, including by people who should know better. They are four separate questions with four different answers.
- Visa
- Not generally required to own property. A visa governs whether you may enter and remain in the United States, which is a question about you rather than about the house. The Department of State describes B-1 and B-2 as temporary business and tourism visitor visas; nothing about ownership changes their terms.
- Green card
- Not required to purchase. Permanent residence changes your financing options and your tax position considerably, but it is not a condition of holding title.
- Social Security number
- Not generally a condition of a cash acquisition. Financing is different: Fannie Mae requires each borrower to have a valid SSN or ITIN, which is an agency-lending requirement rather than a general rule of ownership.
- ITIN
- An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a federal tax-processing number. The IRS issues ITINs for federal tax purposes and they do not authorize employment; an ITIN is not immigration authorization and not a substitute for an SSN. You will not ordinarily need one merely to buy for cash. You may well need one afterwards — for a U.S. tax filing, for rental-income reporting, for a FIRPTA withholding certificate application, for a return connected with a sale, or because a mortgage program requires it. The correct sequence is to obtain one when you have a tax purpose for it, on your CPA's timetable.
Buying property does not give you U.S. residency
Purchasing a Miami home does not, by itself, provide a visa, a green card, citizenship, U.S. tax residence or permission to remain in the United States. An owner remains subject to the exact terms of their visa, visa waiver or admission record. Property ownership and immigration status are governed by different bodies of law that do not reference each other.
EB-5 and E-2 are separate immigration programs with their own requirements. USCIS describes EB-5 as an immigrant-investor category requiring capital investment in a new commercial enterprise and job creation; buying a personal residence is not that. E-2 relates to qualifying investment in and operation of a qualifying U.S. business by nationals of treaty countries, which is also not that. If your objective includes a U.S. immigration outcome, that is a conversation with an immigration attorney before you plan a purchase around it — not a feature of the purchase.
One related point belongs to a tax adviser rather than an immigration lawyer: time physically present in the United States can have U.S. income-tax residency implications under the substantial-presence test, which is a separate test from immigration status. Owners who expect to spend significant time here should raise it with a cross-border adviser.
Florida's foreign-principal ownership restrictions
Florida statutory law contains restrictions on certain acquisitions of real property by defined "foreign principals," including persons and entities connected to specified foreign countries. This is the one area of this guide where a confident summary in either direction would be a disservice.
Two statements are both wrong: "foreigners cannot buy Florida property," and "foreigners can buy any Florida property without restriction." The provisions are narrowly targeted and most international purchasers are unaffected by them. For a buyer who is affected, they are consequential.
The analysis depends on facts that live in the current statutory text rather than in a summary — the definitions, the country designations, ownership and control thresholds, beneficial ownership, entity structure, property location and proximity rules, registration obligations and available statutory exceptions. Miami's geography makes location genuinely relevant here: the county contains ports, airports, infrastructure and military-related sites, and dense condominium development sits near much of it.
A few things follow from that. Ultimate beneficial ownership can matter even when title is taken in an entity name, so an entity is not a way around the question. Nor is it safe to conclude that the rules "do not apply to condominiums" — whether a particular acquisition is affected depends on definitions, location rules, ownership facts, exceptions and any court orders in effect at the time. And the country lists and visa-related exceptions circulating in secondary articles should not be relied on without checking the statute and litigation posture as of the day you sign.
Florida's foreign-principal provisions have been the subject of federal constitutional litigation, and the legal position has moved. We describe the framework and its dependencies rather than publishing a country-by-country conclusion, because a conclusion published today can be wrong by the time a buyer relies on it. Where a buyer, a beneficial owner behind an entity, or a specific property location could fall within a covered category, obtain a Florida real-estate attorney's review of eligibility before contract execution. Certain federal and Florida rules affecting foreign purchasers remain subject to litigation, regulatory action or future amendment; confirm current requirements for your transaction.
Cash or financing — and what each one does not solve.
Roughly half to two-thirds of international purchases in this market are all-cash, depending on which survey you read. That makes the financing question feel optional. It is not: the decision changes your timeline, your negotiating posture, your documentation burden and, if you take a rebate, the form it can take.
Paying cash
Cash removes lender underwriting, appraisal risk, loan contingencies and the condominium's eligibility for financing from your list of problems. It removes nothing else. A cash buyer still needs:
- inspection and property condition review
- title search, commitment and exception review
- condominium document and financial diligence
- insurance availability and cost review
- association approval where required
- source-of-funds documentation for the title company
- tax and ownership-structure advice
- legal review of the contract
Borrowing
The first thing to establish is which lending world you are in, because the two are not variations of each other:
- Lawful permanent and nonpermanent U.S. residents. Fannie Mae purchases and securitizes mortgages made to these borrowers under terms generally available to U.S. citizens, provided the lender determines lawful presence and represents that determination. Fannie Mae also states that non-U.S.-citizen borrowers must meet the same employment and income verification standards as citizens, and requires a valid SSN or ITIN. Freddie Mac similarly identifies lawful permanent and nonpermanent resident aliens as eligible borrowers under its guide.
- True nonresident foreign nationals. These are lender-specific portfolio, non-QM or specialty products. Underwriting may use foreign credit reports, international bank references, employment letters, translated tax records, asset statements, reserves, passport and visa documents, or debt-service coverage instead of U.S. tax returns and a U.S. credit file.
| Issue | Typical specialty-lender practice | The qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment / LTV | Materially higher than domestic owner-occupied agency financing; 25%–40% down is frequently advertised | Product, country, property type, loan size, credit, reserves and occupancy determine actual terms |
| Reserves | Several months to twelve months or more may be requested | Entirely lender-specific |
| Income | Foreign employment letters, bank statements, tax records, CPA letters, translated records or asset-based analysis | Documentation standards vary by lender and country |
| Credit | Foreign credit report, international bank reference or alternative credit may be accepted | Not all lenders accept foreign credit |
| U.S. bank account | Often helpful for closing, reserves, payments and underwriting | Usually a practical or lender condition, not a general law of ownership |
| Condominium | Building finances, insurance, litigation, reserves, rental rules and warrantability may limit financing | Property eligibility can matter as much as borrower eligibility |
| Occupancy | Second-home and investment-property requirements differ | Intended use must be stated accurately |
The honest summary. Foreign-national financing commonly requires more equity and more documentation than standard domestic owner-occupied financing, but actual terms vary substantially by lender, property and borrower. Anyone who tells you the number before reading your file is quoting an advertisement.
The property can fail financing even if you qualify
International buyers often assume a mortgage decision is about their own financial strength. In a Miami condominium, a large part of the decision is about the building. Reserve funding, insurance, pending litigation, structural condition, rental concentration, the association's financial position, project eligibility and warrantability can each restrict or eliminate conventional financing on a unit whose buyer is impeccable.
"Non-warrantable" is a lender and product determination, not a judgment about the building's quality, and a cash purchase in the same building may remain entirely possible. But if you plan to borrow, the building has to be underwritten alongside you — and that is a question to ask before a deposit goes hard, not during underwriting. Our guide to how condominium project review works in Florida sets out what to request from an association, and when.
Moving money into the United States
There is no general rule preventing a lawful foreign buyer from wiring legitimate purchase funds into the United States. There is also no rule requiring a bank to move quickly, and the compliance work sits between you and a deposit deadline that will not move on your behalf.
Expect a documented process rather than a transfer. Title companies typically require a verified wire from an account acceptable to their compliance procedures, and may ask for proof of funds, account statements, entity documents, identification, an explanation of source of wealth and records of the transfer path. Banks and settlement providers review the source and path of funds for anti-money-laundering, sanctions, fraud and internal risk reasons, and they retain substantial discretion in doing so. Intermediary banks, internal transfer limits, currency conversion, document requests and a single wrong beneficiary detail all add days.
Two practical rules follow. First, confirm the title company's exact wire protocol and source-of-funds requirements before initiating any transfer, not after a wire is in flight. Second, do not send a deposit directly to a seller unless the contract and appropriate professional review expressly support that structure. Escrow exists to hold the deposit under defined conditions; bypassing it converts a documented process into an act of faith.
Verify wiring instructions by a phone number you already had
Real-estate closings are among the most targeted transactions for wire fraud, and international buyers are attractive targets because time zones, language and unfamiliar procedure make an urgent-sounding email easier to believe. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns buyers not to trust emailed wiring instructions alone, and to independently verify account details by calling trusted contacts at previously established phone numbers — not a number or link contained in an email.
The pattern to distrust is specific: a last-minute change to wiring instructions, delivered by email, with urgency attached. Legitimate closing agents do not usually change instructions at the last minute, and they will never object to you calling the number you have always used to confirm. A wire sent to a fraudulent account is frequently unrecoverable, and no one in the transaction guarantees wire safety.
Currency exposure
Exchange-rate risk is an economic issue rather than a legal barrier, but it is a real one. The contract and deposits are denominated in U.S. dollars while your wealth or income may be in euros, sterling, Canadian or Australian dollars, Swiss francs, dirhams or a Latin American currency. Four exposures behave differently:
- Purchase-price risk between offer and contract, when the dollar figure you agreed to may move against your home currency.
- Deposit risk at each contractual deadline.
- Cash-to-close risk at the end, which is usually the largest single conversion.
- Preconstruction exposure across multiple staged deposits and a completion date years away — a different order of magnitude from the others.
Costs include a provider's spread, explicit transfer fees, correspondent-bank charges and timing. Banks and specialist FX providers may offer spot conversions and risk-management products such as forward contracts, but suitability, availability, collateral requirements, regulatory treatment and tax implications are individual, and a forward contract manages a particular exposure rather than eliminating risk. We do not recommend FX providers or hedging products. Also avoid assuming a deposit may be paid in a foreign currency unless the developer or escrow agreement expressly allows it.
Do you need a U.S. bank account?
Not as a matter of property-ownership law. A U.S. account is not generally a legal requirement merely to own Florida real estate, and plenty of foreign owners close without one.
Practically, it is close to indispensable once you own. It makes deposits and closing funds simpler and smooths everything afterwards:
- mortgage servicing
- association dues and special assessments
- insurance premiums
- utilities
- property taxes
- rental operations and property management
Separately, a lender, title company or other institution may independently require one as a condition of its own process. Keep the legal question and the practical question apart: nobody can tell you that ownership requires an account, and almost everybody will tell you that ownership is easier with one.
How should an international buyer take title?
Title can be held individually, jointly, through a U.S. LLC or corporation, through a foreign corporation, or through a trust. No structure is universally best, and this guide does not recommend one. What it can do is show you what the decision touches, so that you make it deliberately and early.
- Individual ownership
- Simple title and often the most straightforward closing. It can also expose a nonresident noncitizen owner directly to the U.S.-situs estate-tax planning issues described in the next section.
- Joint ownership
- Affects survivorship, inheritance and gift-tax analysis, and control. The exact form of joint ownership should be selected under Florida and cross-border advice rather than copied from a home-country habit.
- U.S. LLC
- Used for liability, management, privacy and succession objectives. It can also create tax-reporting, beneficial-ownership, lender, association and future-sale complications. A conventional residential mortgage may require natural-person borrowers and may not permit the structure at all.
- Foreign corporation
- Sometimes considered in cross-border planning. It can produce U.S. tax, reporting, financing and administrative consequences that outlast the reason it was chosen.
- U.S. corporation
- Occasionally used in limited situations. It should not be presented as a routine estate-tax solution without specialist advice.
- Trust
- May support succession or asset-management planning. Trust taxation and reporting can be complex, particularly where the grantor, beneficiaries or trustees are foreign.
Decide how to take title before closing
Ownership can affect estate planning, income tax, gift tax, FIRPTA, reporting obligations, financing, privacy, association approval, succession and the mechanics of a future sale. A valuable foreign-owned U.S. property can create cross-border consequences that are difficult and expensive to fix after the transaction. Changing ownership after contract or before closing can create lender, title, seller, developer, association and tax problems of its own.
Three things this guide will not say, because they are not true as general statements: that an LLC avoids U.S. estate tax; that an LLC avoids FIRPTA; that an entity is an automatic solution to anything. Where a structure is under consideration, an international tax attorney — ideally one who also understands your home-country succession rules — should review it before the contract is signed.
U.S. estate-tax exposure on U.S. property
U.S. real estate owned by a nonresident noncitizen is generally U.S.-situs property for U.S. estate-tax purposes. IRS guidance identifies U.S. real estate as U.S.-situated property for this purpose, and an executor of a nonresident noncitizen's estate generally must file Form 706-NA where the decedent's U.S.-situated assets exceed $60,000 at death.
Read that threshold carefully. $60,000 is a filing threshold. It is not a universal "estate-tax exemption," and it should not be described as one without specialist confirmation. What makes it significant is the contrast: it is dramatically lower than the exemption amounts commonly discussed for U.S. citizens and domiciliaries, and most Miami property is worth a multiple of it many times over.
Three distinctions matter here and are constantly collapsed. Nationality, immigration status, federal income-tax residency and estate-tax domicile are four different concepts with four different tests. Tax treaties can materially change the analysis for residents of certain countries. And the appropriate ownership approach may depend on citizenship, domicile, residence, family arrangements, home-country succession law, other assets, intended use, financing and entity type — which is why no article, including this one, can tell you the answer.
The message is narrow and worth acting on: an international buyer purchasing valuable U.S. real estate should consider cross-border estate planning before deciding how title will be held. Not after closing, and not when a family member asks a difficult question years later. We coordinate with the specialist; we do not replace them.
FIRPTA: what it is, and when it actually applies to you
The single most common misunderstanding in this area is that foreign buyers pay FIRPTA when they buy. They do not. FIRPTA is principally a seller-side regime.
FIRPTA is the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act. Internal Revenue Code section 1445 generally requires withholding on dispositions of U.S. real property interests by foreign persons. It does not impose withholding merely because a foreign person is purchasing property. It becomes your issue in two situations: when you eventually sell, and — now, at purchase — if the person selling to you is a foreign person.
That second case surprises people. The transferee, meaning the buyer, is generally the withholding agent. Closing agents and title companies commonly coordinate the process in practice, but that coordination does not automatically eliminate the buyer's statutory responsibility, and "the title company handles FIRPTA" is not a plan. Make sure responsibility for it is addressed explicitly in your closing instructions.
The rates, stated correctly
IRS instructions state the general withholding rate is 15% of the amount realized — not 15% of the seller's profit. That distinction is the difference between a manageable number and a catastrophic one on a property that has not appreciated. For residential property acquired for use as the buyer's residence, and where the purchaser meets the residence-use requirements:
- generally no withholding where the amount realized is $300,000 or less;
- generally 10% where the amount realized is more than $300,000 but not more than $1 million;
- generally 15% where the amount realized exceeds $1 million.
The buyer-occupancy exception is fact-specific. It is not simply a second-home exemption, and it should not be assumed for an investment or rental purchase. Form 8288 is used to report and transmit FIRPTA withholding, with Form 8288-A used in the process. A withholding certificate can reduce or eliminate withholding where approved or otherwise applicable, and the amount withheld is not necessarily the seller's ultimate U.S. tax liability — it is withholding against a liability that is computed separately on a return.
What this means for your own eventual sale is covered further down, under what happens when you sell. What it means today is simpler: if your seller may be a foreign person, raise FIRPTA with your closing agent and your tax adviser at contract, not at the closing table. The seller's foreign status, entity classification, certifications, your intended use, the price and the associated filings all require professional review.
Rental income creates a U.S. tax position and a building question
U.S. rental income from Miami property can create U.S. tax, withholding, reporting and recordkeeping obligations for foreign owners. Get guidance before closing rather than after the first tenant or the first booking.
The IRS states that a nonresident alien holding U.S. real property for the production of income may elect under IRC section 871(d) to treat relevant real-property income as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. A valid election generally requires a Form 1040-NR for the initial election year and for subsequent years while it remains in effect. The election can allow taxation under graduated rates with deductions, rather than default gross-income withholding concepts — but whether it is advisable, and how it is made, is fact-dependent. This is precisely the kind of decision that is cheap to make correctly at the start and expensive to correct later.
You will also see the claim that "foreign owners pay 30% tax on rent." That is a simplification of gross withholding concepts that ignores the possible effectively connected income election, treaty positions and structural variables. Depreciation, deductible expenses, property management, personal use, passive activity rules, entity ownership, treaty issues, state and local considerations and the eventual sale all require individualized analysis, and none of them should be promised in advance.
The building question is separate and can be decisive. Rental rights are building-specific. Lease terms, rental caps, lease-approval requirements, minimum lease length, the number of leases permitted annually, pet rules, move-in deposits and application fees are set by the association, and short-term rental activity may also be affected by local regulation. Not all Miami condominiums permit short-term rentals, and some permit no rentals for an initial ownership period. If rental income is part of why you are buying, verify the specific building's rules and the applicable local rules before you are under contract — a tax structure cannot rescue a purchase whose intended use the declaration prohibits.
Buying a Miami condo: what you are actually buying
You are buying a unit, a share of a corporation with a balance sheet, and a share of that corporation's future obligations. In Florida's current condominium environment, the second and third parts deserve more of your attention than the first. Building and neighborhood comparison sits in our Miami resale condo buyer guide.
Florida's post-Surfside condominium reforms materially increased the importance of milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, reserve funding, association disclosures and association financial condition. Implementation has continued through 2025 and 2026, including changes reported by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation around association digital accounts. The practical consequence for a buyer is that a building's structural and financial position is now more knowable than it used to be — and therefore that failing to look is a choice.
A cash buyer inherits every one of these exposures. A large special assessment, an underfunded reserve, a rental restriction discovered late, an insurance gap, deferred maintenance or a building that lenders will not finance are all problems that arrive with the deed, not with the mortgage.
The document set to obtain and read
- Declaration, bylaws and rules — what the building actually permits, including rental and pet rules and use restrictions.
- Budget and financial statements — how the association is funded and where it is under strain.
- Reserve information — funding levels and what they are earmarked against.
- Board minutes — often the earliest signal of an assessment, a dispute or a repair project.
- Pending litigation — both the exposure itself and its effect on financing.
- Insurance information — the master policy, its limits, exclusions and deductibles.
- Rental restrictions and application requirements — lease length, caps, approval process, fees.
- Estoppel certificate — the amounts owed and owing at closing.
- Current and proposed assessments — proposed matters as much as current ones.
- Milestone inspection materials where applicable — and the association's response to them.
- Structural integrity reserve study materials where applicable — and the funding plan behind them.
- Engineering reports — where they exist, they are usually the most informative document in the file.
Not every Miami building is subject to identical milestone or structural-integrity-reserve-study requirements; applicability depends on the statutory criteria and the specific building, and requires building-level analysis rather than assumption. And a special assessment is not synonymous with a defect or with mismanagement — assessments arise for legitimate capital, insurance, reserve and repair needs, and a building that has assessed and completed its work may be in a stronger position than one that has deferred both.
Equally, do not accept that reserve funding is "fully compliant" because an association says so. Read the study, the budget and the minutes.
Property taxes, homestead and insurance
The seller's tax bill is not your tax bill
This is the single most common budgeting error international second-home buyers make. Property taxes can change after a sale because assessed value and exemptions may not carry over to a new owner. Prior homestead status, assessed value, portability, exemptions and the change of ownership itself can all alter the post-sale bill.
Florida's Save Our Homes assessment limitation and homestead exemption are tied to permanent-residence facts. The Florida Department of Revenue defines permanent residence as the owner's true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment to which the owner intends to return; a person may have only one permanent residence, and a permanent foreign residence is presumed to continue until a change is shown. A nonresident buyer using Miami property as a second home will commonly not meet those facts.
Two things not to conclude: that foreign nationals can never receive homestead benefits — the question is whether the owner satisfies Florida's permanent-residence requirements and other applicable conditions, not their passport; and that taxes reset exactly to the purchase price — assessor practice, timing, exemptions, classifications and local millage all matter. Review your own facts with the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser or Florida counsel, and budget from a realistic post-sale estimate rather than from the listing's tax line.
Insurance is diligence, not paperwork
Obtain insurance information and quotes during the due-diligence period, not after it expires. In this market, insurance is frequently the item that changes a purchase's economics after the fact.
What to look at:
- windstorm and hurricane coverage, and the applicable deductibles
- flood position — availability and need depend on location, flood-zone status, lender requirements and the building's arrangements
- the association's master policy: limits, exclusions, replacement-cost considerations and deductibles
- your own HO-6 or homeowners policy and what it does not cover
- loss-assessment coverage, which is what responds when the association's deductible becomes your problem
- individual-unit responsibilities under the declaration
- lender requirements, which are generally specific
- pending premium increases where known
Premiums vary too much by building, location, age, construction and coverage for any published figure to be useful. Get quotes on the actual unit.
Buying Miami preconstruction from abroad
A preconstruction purchase is not a resale with a longer closing date. It is a different contract, a different risk profile and, for an international buyer, a materially longer currency and financing exposure. Our Miami preconstruction guide and the full South Florida preconstruction buyer guide cover the category in depth; this section covers what changes when the buyer is overseas.
What differs from resale
- A developer-drafted contract. It is written for the developer's risk, and it is not a standard form you can skim.
- Staged deposits in U.S. dollars, over years, on dates that do not move.
- A multi-year timeline with completion uncertainty and extension provisions.
- Currency exposure across every one of those deposits and the final balance.
- Changing financing conditions. Qualifying at reservation says nothing about qualifying at completion, when rates, programs, your income and the building's eligibility may all differ.
- Assignment restrictions that may limit your ability to exit before closing.
- Escrow provisions governing how your deposits are held and released.
- An evolving association budget that becomes real only as the building does.
- Remote closing years from now, under rules confirmed today.
Deposits, and the 15-day right
Florida Statute section 718.503 provides a 15-day buyer voidability period in specified developer condominium-sale circumstances, running from execution and receipt of the required documents. A material adverse amendment can create a further 15-day voidability right after receipt. The statutory consumer notice states that the right to void terminates at closing.
Three limits on that, all important:
- It is not a universal cooling-off period for every Florida real-estate contract. It applies in the specified developer-sale circumstances.
- A reservation agreement and an executed purchase contract are not equivalent. The signed developer contract controls.
- Preconstruction deposits are not automatically refundable. Deposit protections, escrow conditions, completion obligations, force majeure, project changes, financing contingencies, assignment rights and default remedies are contract-specific and must be read as written.
Have the developer contract reviewed by Florida counsel before signing, and calendar every deposit deadline against your own funds-transfer timeline rather than against the developer's.
Why representation should be established before you contact the developer
Developer registration systems, broker policies, procuring-cause rules, referral policies and compensation policies can affect whether an outside buyer representative can participate in a transaction, and whether buyer-agent compensation is available at all. These policies vary by developer and by project. Nobody can honestly state a universal rule about them, and this page will not.
What can be said practically: if you want independent buyer representation on a preconstruction purchase, establish that relationship before making substantive contact with the developer or registering directly with a sales gallery. Project policies vary, and early contact can affect broker participation. This is not a scare tactic and it is not our rule — it is a feature of how new-development sales are administered.
It matters more for an international buyer than a local one, because a first contact often happens at a distance and informally: a form on a project website, an inquiry from an overseas broker event, a WhatsApp exchange with a sales associate. Those can count.
On who represents whom. A developer's in-house sales team is typically engaged to market and sell for the developer. Their role is not automatically equivalent to independent buyer representation, and they should not be described as your representative. Florida brokerage relationships can include transaction-broker and single-agent relationships, each with different duties and disclosures; ask which one you are in and get it in writing. An independent buyer's broker should have a written buyer agreement defining scope, term, compensation, rebate conditions and any seller or developer compensation arrangement.
If you have already visited a sales gallery or registered, say so. It does not automatically eliminate representation — that too is project-specific — and an honest answer about what is still possible is more useful than an optimistic one.
The international buyer transaction timeline
The order matters more than the duration. Several of these steps are cheap to do early and effectively impossible to do late.
-
Define the purchase objective
Residence, second home, investment or preconstruction. Almost every later decision — financing, structure, rental rights, tax treatment — refers back to this answer.
-
Establish buyer representation
Especially before any developer registration or sales-gallery contact.
Project registration and broker policies vary, and on some projects representation cannot be established once first contact has been made. Settle it before you inquire. -
Determine cash or financing strategy
If financing, obtain a lender-specific feasibility review or pre-approval before making a nonrefundable deposit.
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Obtain cross-border tax and title advice
How title will be held, and the estate-tax and rental-income consequences of that choice, belong here — before an offer, not after a contract.
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Select the property
With the building's rental rules, financing eligibility and assessment history treated as selection criteria rather than as post-contract discoveries.
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Offer and contract
Including contingencies, deadlines and, for new development, legal review of the developer's contract.
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Deposit funds into the agreed escrow
To the contractually identified escrow holder, on verified instructions, with the wire-verification discipline described above.
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Conduct property, condominium and insurance diligence
Inspection, association documents and financials, and actual insurance quotes — all inside the due-diligence window.
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Complete financing and title review
Underwriting of both you and the building; title search, commitment, exceptions, survey, municipal lien search and estoppel.
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Coordinate international funds and closing documents
Confirm the execution method now: remote notarization, apostille, consular notarization or a power of attorney. A title insurer, closing agent and any lender must approve a POA used for deed or loan documents, and lenders may restrict them.
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Close and record
Funds disburse, the deed records, and ownership becomes a matter of public record.
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Set up post-closing systems
Tax filings and ITIN if needed, insurance, association access and payment, utilities, property management and rental compliance. Also: keep the closing file. You will need it at sale.
Before you wire money
If any line here is unresolved, the transfer is early rather than late.
- Buyer representation confirmed in a written agreement, with compensation and any rebate terms stated.
- Escrow recipient verified — you know who is holding the deposit and under what contract provision.
- Wire instructions independently verified by phoning a previously established number, never a number from an email.
- Proof and source-of-funds documents ready in the form the title company has told you it requires.
- Ownership and title structure reviewed with your tax adviser, and reflected in the contract.
- Financing pre-approval or feasibility review in hand if you are borrowing, covering the building as well as you.
- Condominium diligence underway — documents requested, with time left in the window to read them.
- Insurance availability checked and quoted on the actual unit.
- Tax and estate advice obtained where the purchase is valuable enough to warrant it, which is most of them.
- Closing method confirmed — remote notarization, apostille, consular notarization or POA, approved by title and lender.
- Currency conversion planned for each deposit and for cash-to-close, with the cost understood.
- Every contractual deadline calendared with your bank's processing time built in, not assumed away.
How the buyer rebate works for international buyers
Everything above is the work. This is how it is paid for, and why part of it can come back to you.
Florida permits a licensee to rebate part of real-estate compensation to a party to the transaction where required disclosures are made to all interested parties. Florida Realtors summarizes Florida law and FREC Rule 61J2-10.028(2) to that effect, and specifically notes that a buyer's lender needs to know, because a rebate can affect loan calculations. A buyer is a party to their own transaction, which is why the exception applies. The Florida Buyer Rebate Guide sets out that legal basis, the lender treatment and the calculation in full.
Your nationality is not the operative issue. Nothing in the structure of a rebate turns on citizenship or residence. The operative issues are the compensation actually received by the brokerage, your written buyer agreement, disclosure, lender restrictions, closing-statement treatment and any limits on credits in a financed transaction.
Eligible international buyers may receive up to 50% of the buyer-agent commission as a rebate, subject to the transaction structure, written brokerage agreement, compensation actually received, lender requirements, closing-statement treatment, applicable law and required disclosures.
Two structural points sit behind that sentence. Buyer-broker compensation is negotiated rather than fixed, and post-settlement practice changes mean offers of compensation are not communicated through the MLS, though compensation may still be negotiated off-MLS. And "50%" is calculated from compensation actually received — if a transaction makes no cooperating compensation available, there is no commission from which a rebate can be paid. A buyer agreement should address that possibility rather than leave it unstated.
Cash purchases
Generally fewer lender-related limitations, because there is no loan file, no credit approval and no loan-to-value ratio to protect. That is not the same as no requirements: the terms still belong in the written representation agreement, the arrangement still has to be disclosed to those entitled to know, and the closing agent still needs documentation to reflect it correctly on the settlement statement.
Buyers purchasing through an entity, or acquiring investment rather than residential property, should confirm the treatment with their own tax adviser.
Financed purchases
The lender must know. Loan-program rules can affect how a rebate may be credited and how much of it can be applied, particularly where a program restricts cash back, seller concessions or credits beyond closing costs and prepaids. Undisclosed contributions create real problems for a loan file.
The practical consequence is that the form a rebate takes is a lender question, decided before closing rather than after. Your lender is the authority for your transaction, and we coordinate the treatment in writing with the lender and closing agent rather than assuming it.
That a rebate is guaranteed. That it is 50% regardless of what the brokerage receives. That it is tax-free — characterization is a question for your own CPA. That it reduces the purchase price. That it is cash back regardless of the lender. Or that every international buyer qualifies. Eligibility is transaction-specific, and we confirm the applicable figure in writing before you commit.
See what a rebate could look like on your purchase.
Move the price, choose an illustrative compensation rate, and the arithmetic follows. The compensation rate is an assumption you are choosing — it is negotiated per transaction and is not fixed across the market.
Illustration only: not a quote, not an offer of a rebate, not a guarantee. Compensation varies by listing and transaction, and not every purchase makes buyer-agent compensation available. Any actual rebate depends on compensation actually received by the brokerage, your written representation agreement, your eligibility, lender approval of credits and closing terms. We confirm the figure in writing before you commit.
Looking at a new-development residence? Talk to us before you register or tour — here is why that timing matters.
The same arithmetic, at four price points.
| Purchase price | Hypothetical compensation rate | Hypothetical buyer-agent commission | Potential 50% rebate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $750,000 | 2.5% | $18,750 | $9,375 |
| $1,500,000 | 2.5% | $37,500 | $18,750 |
| $3,000,000 | 2.5% | $75,000 | $37,500 |
| $6,000,000 | 2% | $120,000 | $60,000 |
Note the last row: a lower negotiated rate on a higher price still produces a larger commission, which is why a rebate cannot be expressed as a percentage of purchase price. Any figure that is stated that way is hiding an assumption about compensation.
What happens when you eventually sell
Most guides for foreign buyers stop at the keys. The decisions made at purchase determine how complicated the sale is, which is the main reason to make them deliberately.
A foreign owner's disposition of U.S. real property is the situation FIRPTA was written for. Expect the following to be in play:
- FIRPTA withholding on the amount realized, administered through the closing, with your buyer as the withholding agent.
- U.S. tax filing and a capital-gain analysis computed separately from the amount withheld.
- Withholding certificate procedures, where a reduction or elimination may be available and approved.
- Mortgage payoff and any prepayment terms.
- Entity and title consequences flowing from the structure you chose years earlier.
- Transfer of proceeds internationally, with the same compliance review you met on the way in.
- Currency conversion on the way out, at a rate nobody can tell you today.
- Home-country tax consequences, which are frequently the decisive ones and are outside U.S. advisers' scope.
An ITIN, a tax adviser who already knows the file, and a complete closing file from the original purchase all make this materially easier. So does an ownership structure chosen with the exit in mind rather than only the entry. How you buy determines how complicated it is to own and eventually sell.
Twelve mistakes we see international buyers make
None of these are exotic. All of them are avoidable at the start and expensive later.
Assuming a purchase creates residency
Ownership and immigration status are separate systems. Buying does not create a visa, a green card, citizenship or permission to remain.
Choosing a structure without cross-border advice
An LLC copied from a friend's transaction can create tax, reporting, lender and succession consequences that outlast the reason it was used.
Contacting a developer before understanding representation
Registration and procuring-cause policies vary by project, and early contact can affect whether an outside buyer representative can participate.
Waiting until after contract to investigate financing
Feasibility belongs before a nonrefundable deposit — and the building has to qualify too, not only the borrower.
Assuming cash eliminates diligence
Cash removes lender underwriting. It leaves inspection, title, condominium, insurance, association, legal and tax diligence entirely intact.
Wiring funds without independent verification
Emailed instructions, especially last-minute changes, are the standard fraud vector. Verify by a phone number you already had.
Ignoring currency exposure
A dollar contract funded from another currency over months or years is an economic position, whether or not it is managed as one.
Budgeting from the seller's tax bill
Assessed value and exemptions may not carry over. The seller's line item is not a forecast of yours.
Ignoring reserves, assessments and insurance
In Florida's current condominium environment, these three items move a building's true carrying cost more than the listing price does.
Assuming short-term rentals are permitted
Rental rights are building-specific and may also be affected by local regulation. Verify before contract, not after.
Misunderstanding FIRPTA
It is not 15% of profit, it is not paid because you are a foreign buyer, and it does not disappear because a title company is involved.
Ignoring estate-planning exposure
U.S. real estate held by a nonresident noncitizen is generally U.S.-situs property, with a $60,000 Form 706-NA filing threshold behind it.
Build your international buyer team
We provide buyer representation. We are not tax advisers, immigration advisers, attorneys, lenders or insurers, and a guide that pretended otherwise would be less useful, not more. Here is who does what, and when to bring them in.
Florida real-estate attorney
Foreign-principal eligibility, developer contracts and preconstruction rights, remote closing and power-of-attorney language, brokerage relationship questions, short-term rental rights. Engage before contract execution.
International tax attorney
Estate-tax exposure, treaty position, domicile analysis, title and entity structures, FIRPTA planning and cross-border ownership. Engage before you decide how title is held.
CPA
ITIN timing, rental-income reporting, the section 871(d) election, depreciation and deductions, tax treatment of a rebate or closing credit, and coordination with home-country filings.
Immigration attorney
Anything touching visa status, permitted time in the United States, E-2 or EB-5, or how property ownership interacts with an immigration application. Never inferred from a real-estate page.
Mortgage professional
Foreign-national program availability and terms, down payment and reserves, SSN or ITIN requirements, condominium eligibility, POA limits, and how a rebate may be treated on a financed purchase.
Title and closing professional
FIRPTA administration, entity and beneficial-owner documentation, AML/KYC and source-of-funds requirements, foreign wire acceptance, and the acceptable remote notarization or POA process for your closing.
We coordinate these specialists inside a transaction and tell you when one is needed. Bringing the right person in early is usually cheaper than the problem they would otherwise be asked to fix.
Independent buyer representation, from search to closing.
Enrique Jordan and Alejandro Jordan have participated in more than $1 billion in real-estate transactions and have over 30 years of combined experience representing buyers, sellers, investors and developers in South Florida. Our office is in Coral Gables, at 121 Alhambra Plaza.
On transactions we take under this program we act for the buyer — not the seller, the listing brokerage or the developer — in English and Spanish, from the first shortlist through closing. The specific Florida brokerage relationship, and the duties that come with it, are set out in your written buyer-representation agreement. The work includes comparable analysis and offer strategy, negotiation, coordination of inspections and specialists, association and reserve diligence, new-development registration, and management of the transaction through to closing — along with returning up to 50% of our buyer-agent commission to eligible buyers.
Alejandro's background in real-estate law and title informs how we approach transaction risk and closing coordination. It does not make the brokerage a law firm, it does not mean the relationship includes legal representation, and nothing we provide is legal advice. Contract-specific and other legal questions should be directed to qualified Florida counsel, and we will tell you when a transaction has reached that point. More about Enrique and Alejandro.
Twenty-four questions international buyers actually ask.
Can foreigners buy property in Miami?
Do I need a U.S. visa to buy?
Do I need a green card?
Do I need a Social Security number?
Do I need an ITIN?
Can I buy Miami real estate without traveling to the United States?
Do I need a U.S. bank account?
Can a foreign national get a U.S. mortgage?
How much down payment does a foreign buyer need?
Can I buy through an LLC?
Does buying Miami property give me U.S. residency?
What is FIRPTA?
Do foreign buyers pay FIRPTA when purchasing?
What happens under FIRPTA when I eventually sell?
Can I rent my Miami condo?
Can I buy preconstruction from overseas?
Are preconstruction deposits protected?
Can I close remotely?
How should I transfer purchase funds safely?
Can an international buyer receive a buyer-agent commission rebate?
Does financing affect my rebate?
What U.S. tax issues should I discuss before buying?
What Miami condo documents should I review?
Should I obtain insurance information before the due-diligence period expires?
Buying Miami real estate from outside the United States?
Whether you are purchasing a resale condominium, new construction, a second home or an investment property, establish your representation before you make commitments that can affect your options. Tell us the market, the building or simply the budget and the timeline, and we will tell you what representation would look like on that purchase and whether buyer-agent compensation appears to be available — in writing, before you commit.
(786) 550-6294- Buying from abroad? We will map the funding, closing and documentation path for your country and timeline.
- Looking at new development? Contact us before you register or visit a sales gallery.
- Already spoken with someone? Tell us what happened and when, and we will tell you honestly what is still possible.
No cost and no obligation for the conversation. We will also tell you when no rebate is available on a transaction. We are buyer representatives, not tax, legal or immigration advisers.
What this guide rests on.
Where this page states something legal, tax, lending or regulatory, it rests on a primary source. Where we did not have one, the page says so or says nothing. Research current through August 14, 2026.
- IRS — FIRPTA withholding — Form 8288 instructions (January 2026) for the withholding process, the general 15% of amount realized rule, residence-use thresholds and forms; IRC section 1445 for the withholding requirement on dispositions by foreign persons; IRS Publication 515 for nonresident withholding context; withholding certificate procedures. Used in the FIRPTA and sale sections. Paraphrased throughout.
- IRS — nonresident real-property income — guidance on the IRC section 871(d) election to treat real-property income as effectively connected, and the associated Form 1040-NR filing. Used in the rental section.
- IRS — ITIN guidance — who requires an ITIN for a federal tax purpose, and the statement that ITINs are issued for federal tax purposes and do not authorize employment. Used in the documents and FAQ sections.
- IRS — estate tax for nonresidents not citizens — U.S. real estate as U.S.-situated property, and the general Form 706-NA filing requirement where U.S.-situated assets exceed $60,000 at death. Used in the estate-tax section, described as a filing threshold rather than an exemption.
- USCIS and U.S. Department of State — EB-5 policy guidance and questions and answers on qualifying investment, new commercial enterprise and job creation; Department of State materials on B-1 and B-2 visitor visas and on E treaty trader and investor visas. Used to separate property ownership from immigration status.
- FinCEN — the Residential Real Estate Rule page and FAQs, and the BOI reporting page. Used for the dated regulatory note below. Status re-checked on the publication date.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — mortgage-closing scam guidance advising buyers not to rely on emailed wiring instructions and to verify by previously established contact details. Used in the wire-fraud warning.
- Florida Statutes — Chapter 692 for foreign-principal provisions; Chapter 718 for condominium law, including section 718.503 developer disclosure and the specified 15-day voidability right; Chapter 475 for real-estate licensing and escrow context. Statutes should be read in their current codified form.
- Florida Department of Revenue — homestead and permanent-residence guidance, including the definition of permanent residence and the presumption that a permanent foreign residence continues until a change is shown. Used in the property-tax section.
- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — Fannie Mae Selling Guide provisions on non-U.S.-citizen borrower eligibility, general borrower eligibility including the valid SSN or ITIN requirement, and the general income section stating that non-U.S.-citizen borrowers meet the same employment and income verification standards as citizens (updated March 4, 2026); Freddie Mac Guide section 5103.2 on eligible borrowers. Used in the financing section to separate agency eligibility from foreign-national programs.
- Florida Realtors — compensation and commission library guidance summarizing Florida law and FREC Rule 61J2-10.028(2) on rebates to a party to the transaction with required disclosures, including the point that the buyer's lender needs to know; guidance on communicating offers of compensation following the practice changes; and the January 2026 combined compensation form release. Used in the rebate section.
- Florida Realtors and MIAMI REALTORS market data — the Florida international home buyers and sellers profile for the metro share, all-cash share and country rankings in the reported 2025 data; the MIAMI REALTORS 2025 international report for the South Florida median purchase price, cash share and country shares. Reported separately because they measure different populations.
- Specialty lender materials — used only to characterize advertised market practice on foreign-national down payments and reserves. Labelled as market practice, not as a standard or a rule.
FinCEN Residential Real Estate Rule. Reporting for covered non-financed residential transfers was scheduled to begin March 1, 2026 following a postponement announced in September 2025. A federal district court vacated the rule on March 19, 2026, and FinCEN states that reporting persons are not currently required to file Real Estate Reports while that order remains in force; FinCEN and the Department of Justice appealed. This is neither permanently resolved nor currently in force, and it should not be described either way. Separately, Corporate Transparency Act beneficial-ownership reporting obligations have changed repeatedly and should be confirmed against FinCEN's live guidance. Independently of all of this, banks, title companies, escrow agents, lenders and developers continue to run their own AML, KYC, sanctions and source-of-funds procedures, and an entity purchase should not be assumed to be anonymous or free from beneficial-owner disclosure.
Florida foreign-principal restrictions. Subject to ongoing litigation and possible amendment; see the restrictions section above. Certain federal and Florida rules affecting foreign purchasers remain subject to litigation, regulatory action or future amendment. Buyers should confirm current requirements for their transaction.
What we deliberately do not claim
Four things are absent because we could not support them to the same standard as the rest of the page: a country-by-country conclusion on Florida's foreign-principal restrictions; any statement of specific foreign-national loan terms as though they were rules; any conclusion about the tax characterization of a rebate, which belongs to your own CPA; and any assessment of an individual building's compliance with milestone or reserve-study requirements, which requires building-level analysis. A guide that stops where its sources stop is more useful than one that fills the gap with confidence.
Read this alongside the rest of the page.
Educational purpose. This page provides general educational information about buying Miami real estate as an international purchaser. It is not legal, tax, immigration, lending, investment, title or insurance advice, and it does not create a brokerage, advisory or fiduciary relationship. It is not a complete statement of any law, regulation, lender guideline or tax authority referenced, and those sources change.
Buyer representation only. TheBuyerRebate.com is operated by Jordan Real Estate and provides buyer representation. We are not attorneys, tax advisers, immigration advisers, lenders, insurers or title underwriters. Where a matter requires one of those professionals, this page says so, and in a transaction we say so directly.
The rebate is not guaranteed. Eligibility is transaction-specific. A rebate is possible only where our brokerage actually receives buyer-agent compensation and a rebate is permitted under your written representation agreement and applicable law and disclosure requirements. Not every purchase makes buyer-agent compensation available, and compensation is negotiated rather than fixed.
Conditions that can affect it. Lender requirements, closing structure and documentation, seller and contract terms, developer registration and cooperation, the timing of your representative's involvement, and applicable Florida rules can all affect whether a rebate is available and what form it takes. If a transaction does not close, no rebate arises.
Illustrations are not offers. The calculator, the worked examples and every figure on this page are arithmetic illustrations based on stated assumptions. They are not quotes, offers of a rebate or guarantees of any amount. We confirm the applicable figure in writing before you commit.
Fact-specific matters. Florida's foreign-principal restrictions, remote closing and notarization methods, preconstruction contract rights, condominium inspection and reserve obligations, homestead eligibility, financing terms, rental rights and cross-border tax treatment all depend on facts we cannot assess from a web page. Confirm current requirements for your transaction with the appropriate professional before relying on anything here.