How to buy a home in Florida as a foreigner

First things first: ownership does not depend on your immigration status

This is the question I get most, and the answer is short: owning property in the United States has nothing to do with having permission to live in the United States. They are two separate systems. The property is recorded in the county where the home sits, and all that record needs is to identify the person or company buying.

With a valid passport you can already sign. No visa is required, no Social Security number is required, and no US address is required. If you finance, the lender will ask for more documents, but that is the bank's requirement, not the law's.

The three ways to pay

Almost all of my clients from abroad come in through one of these three paths. The one you choose changes the cash you need on hand and the length of the process.

An honest warning about rates: a foreign national loan always costs more than a resident's, because the bank cannot verify your credit in the systems here. That spread is the price of entering without a history, and it is only partly negotiable.

How much cash you need on hand

The down payment is not the only money leaving your pocket. Here is the real math on a 350,000 dollar home, which is the midrange of the communities I work in around Orlando.

Figures in dollars, estimated for Central Florida and current as of November 2026. They are for planning, not a quote. Closing costs depend on the county, the lender and the builder incentives in force.

The process, step by step

The documents you will be asked for

• A valid passport. It is the base document for the whole transaction.
• Proof of address in your country. A recent utility bill works.
• Source of funds. Statements for the last two or three months showing where the money came from. This is not pointless paperwork: the title company is required by law to trace the source.
• Proof of income. Only if you finance. Tax returns from your country, letters from your accountant or your employer.
• International bank references. Two or three letters from banks where you hold accounts, which stand in for US credit history.
• An ITIN. Not needed to buy, but needed to report income if you rent the home out. It is worth applying for during the process.

Buying a home does not get you a visa. Full stop.

I repeat it because the opposite still circulates: buying property in the United States grants no visa of any kind, no residency, and does not make one easier to obtain. There is no such thing as a visa for buying real estate. What property can do is support the financial case in a tourist visa application, but that is very different from a right.

If someone sells you a house saying it comes with papers, that person is not talking about real estate. They are lying.

What changes when the home is new

I work only with new construction, and for a buyer from abroad that solves three problems at once. First, there is no haggling with a private seller: the price is the list price and the rules are the same for everyone, which keeps you from being treated differently for being far away. Second, the home comes with the builder's written warranty, so you inherit no hidden defects. Third, the agent's commission is paid by the builder, not by you.

The mistakes I see over and over

• Wiring money before you have written instructions. Wire fraud is the most common crime in US real estate. Always confirm the details by phone with the title company, never by email alone.
• Calculating the monthly cost without the CDD. Many Central Florida communities carry an infrastructure assessment that sits inside the property tax bill for 20 or 30 years. Two homes at the same price can differ by hundreds of dollars a month.
• Assuming you can rent by the night. Short-term rental of the Airbnb kind is only allowed in areas with specific tourist zoning. Most residential communities require leases of seven months or longer.
• Signing the contract without reading the delivery terms. On a home under construction the date is an estimate, and the contract defines what happens if it slips. You want to know that before, not after.
• Not asking for the second-year tax estimate. The first bill is usually calculated on the vacant lot. The jump comes later.

This guide is general market information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Before you decide, confirm your situation with an accountant and an attorney licensed in the United States. Prices, rates, HOA and CDD dues and builder incentives change without notice and should be confirmed in writing.