The international buyer's guide to Miami

Please note: this guide is general information for international buyers — not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Always consult your CPA, attorney, or licensed advisor about your specific situation.

Buying in Miami as a foreign national

You do not need to be a U.S. citizen, hold a green card, or carry any particular visa to buy real estate in Florida. Foreign nationals can own property here outright — in their own name or through an entity — and take title on the same legal footing as a resident. Owning a home is a property matter, separate from your immigration status: a purchase does not grant a visa, residency, or a path to citizenship, and you need none of those to complete one.

Miami is one of the most international housing markets in the country. According to the January 2026 Miami REALTORS international report, international buyers accounted for 15% of South Florida's dollar volume — about $4.4 billion. It is also a deeply multilingual market: 7 of the top 10 buyer origins are Spanish-speaking, together roughly 52% of the international share. In practice that means the professionals, contracts, and closing process here are used to cross-border transactions — you are not the exception.

What this guide does is walk you through the process end to end, so the parts that feel unfamiliar from abroad — financing without U.S. credit, the taxes, closing remotely — feel routine by the time you make an offer.

The purchase, step by step

Every purchase follows the same arc, whether you fly in for it or handle it from another country.

1. Get your team and budget in place. Line up a bilingual realtor, decide how you'll pay (cash or a foreign-national loan), and — if you're financing — get a lender's pre-approval so your budget and your offer are credible.
2. Search with the full cost in mind. Price is only part of the monthly picture in Florida (more on that below).
3. Make an offer. Your realtor prepares a written offer with your price and terms. Once the seller accepts and both sides sign, you have a contract.
4. Open escrow and put down a deposit. A neutral escrow or title company holds your good-faith deposit. Nothing is paid to the seller directly at this stage.
5. Do your due diligence. This is your window to inspect the property, review the condo or HOA documents, confirm the flood zone and insurance, and — for condos — read the building's financials and reserve studies. If something doesn't check out, your contract's contingencies protect you.
6. Clear title and close. A title company confirms the seller can convey clean title, prepares the closing statement, and coordinates the transfer. On closing day, funds move, the deed records, and the home is yours.

You can do all of this from abroad. Documents are routinely signed before a notary and, where needed, a power of attorney lets a trusted person or your attorney sign the closing papers on your behalf. Many international buyers never set foot at the closing table — a remote closing is normal, not exotic.

Paying cash vs financing as a foreign national

Roughly half of international buyers pay cash: according to the January 2026 Miami REALTORS international report, 51% of their purchases were all-cash. Cash is simple — no lender timeline, no appraisal contingency — and it can make an offer more competitive.

Financing is open to you too. Foreign-national mortgage programs exist specifically for buyers without U.S. residency or a U.S. credit history. Because the lender has less of the usual paperwork to lean on, the terms tend to differ from a domestic loan: down-payment requirements are typically higher, and rates and conditions vary by lender and by your profile. Rather than quote numbers that won't match your situation, the honest answer is to get a written quote from a lender who does foreign-national loans — your realtor can point you to a few, and you compare.

A few practical notes:

• No U.S. credit history is not a dealbreaker. Foreign-national lenders underwrite around it, often using reference letters from your home bank instead.
• Documentation matters more than usual. Expect to show the source of your funds and translated financials; starting early keeps the timeline calm.
• Cash now, finance later is a common play — some buyers pay cash to win the deal, then explore financing afterward.

The costs international buyers should plan for

Beyond the price, budget for the real cost of owning in Florida — and get an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) in motion early, since you'll likely need one for tax filings and at resale.

• Closing costs — title, recording, and related fees paid at closing. Your title company can give you a written estimate for your specific purchase.
• Property taxes — set by the county and reassessed after a sale.
• Insurance — home insurance and, depending on the FEMA flood zone, flood insurance. These vary property by property and are always an estimate until a carrier quotes you.
• HOA or CDD — condos and planned communities carry monthly dues, and some newer communities add a CDD assessment on the property-tax bill.

You can see our clearly labeled monthly cost estimates on every listing, and if you're weighing a future sale, our home-value tool helps you frame the numbers. The point isn't to memorize figures — it's to look at the whole monthly picture, not just the sticker price, before you commit. Every cost estimate you see, including ours, is a starting point, not a quote.

FIRPTA, explained for future sellers

FIRPTA — the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act — is the one tax rule every international buyer should understand up front, because it applies when you eventually sell.

Under IRC §1445, when a foreign person sells U.S. real estate, the buyer (as withholding agent) must withhold 15% of the gross sale price and remit it to the IRS. Note the word gross: it's a percentage of the full sale price, not of your profit. The withholding is not a final tax — it's a prepayment against what you may owe, reconciled when you file a U.S. tax return, and you may recover part of it.

Why does this matter to you as a buyer? Two reasons. First, planning: you'll want your ITIN and records in order long before you sell, so the process is smooth. Second, there are procedures to apply for reduced or adjusted withholding in certain cases — the details depend entirely on your circumstances, which is exactly the kind of thing to review with a CPA well ahead of a sale, not at the closing table.

Why condos dominate international purchases — and what to check

Condominiums are the most common choice for international buyers: according to the January 2026 Miami REALTORS international report, 51% preferred a condo, and international buyers made up 49% of new-construction and pre-construction sales. Condos are lock-and-leave, professionally managed, and often the natural fit for a second home or an investment held from abroad.

They also come with building-level due diligence that a single-family home doesn't. Focus on the building's fundamentals — as objective facts about the property, never a judgement about who lives there:

• Reserves and financials. Ask for the association's budget and reserve balances. Healthy reserves reduce the odds of a surprise special assessment.
• The Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) and milestone inspection. Florida's condo-safety laws (SB 4-D and HB 913) require older, taller buildings to complete a SIRS and milestone inspections. Ask for the building's SIRS filing status and the inspection reports — whether they're done, and what they found, is a concrete data point you can weigh.
• Rules and rental policy. Read the declaration and bylaws, especially any rental restrictions if you plan to rent it out.
• Pending litigation or assessments. Ask whether any are open.

For pre-construction, the same diligence applies to the developer, the deposit structure, and the projected budget. A good realtor and a real-estate attorney read these documents with you.

The team you need

A cross-border purchase goes smoothly when the right people are in place from the start:

• A bilingual realtor who works with international buyers and can coordinate the whole timeline — and, given how multilingual this market is, communicate clearly in your language.
• A real-estate attorney to review contracts, condo or HOA documents, and title, and to help with a power of attorney for a remote closing.
• A CPA familiar with foreign-owner taxation — FIRPTA, ITINs, and how ownership fits your tax picture at home and here.
• An ITIN acceptance agent to get your taxpayer number in place early.

You don't have to assemble this alone. Part of a realtor's job is to connect you with vetted attorneys, lenders, and tax professionals who do this every day.

Ready when you are

Wherever you're buying from, the process is more familiar than it looks — and you don't have to navigate it in a second language or a different time zone by yourself. Nilyan works with buyers across borders and will walk you through each step, in English or Spanish, at your pace and with no pressure.

Start by browsing homes and their monthly cost estimates, get a read on values with our home-value tool, or simply reach out — Nilyan replies personally.

Please note: this guide is general information for international buyers — not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Always consult your CPA, attorney, or licensed advisor about your specific situation.