Foreign (European) Investment in the USA

[Clément Gryp]

Hi all, 

I'm a Belgian Real Estate Broker working for Cushman & Wakefield (Belgium) and I am absorbing as much knowledge as I can about investing. I am comparing opportunities in my home country with opportunities in the USA and I believe the latter offers more in terms of risk/rewards.

Example in Belgium:

In a median city you can buy a decent small apartment (700 sq feet) for ± 280.000 EUR (+ 10% costs and registration rights) = 308.000 EUR (=$358.820). Furtheremore such a place would rent for about 700 - 800 € / month (815.5 - 932 $ / month) . Usual mortgage period (20 years). Down payment in Belgium (20%). Cap rate in this case (3%!!!) 

You can see why i'm hesitant to invest my 250k EUR in Belgium

I have been going to the USA (mostly florida) yearly for about 25 years and I want to start investing there. But there seem to be a couple of hurdles for foreign investors. Could you help me in understanding and solving these obstacles?

• Financing:
  • Can a foreign resident get financing (mortgage) from banks in the USA?
  • What would the down payment need to be?
  • Would anything be easier if I start an LLC in the USA?
  • Do I need to buy it all cash?
    • Can I then get it insured?
    • And use this property as equity for my next deal?
• Immigration:
  • I have read that investing in real estate as a non-resident may cause issues at immigration levels (they don't like it)? 
• My goal is not to repatriate money from the USA. It is to start a sustainable investment business in the USA with the idea of living there.
• Do I need to get a green card before even considering investing in the USA?
• Do I need to look for a partner?

Any tips and advice you can give me shall be immensely appreciated.

Kind regards,

Clément