Investing in US from Europe - Advise and steps

[Vicente Blanco]

Hi everyone,

I am writing from Madrid (Spain), I want to start with my first rental property in the US, but I need some advise, as far as know, the steps I need to follow are:

- Create a LLC

- Find an agent

- Find a property manager

- Find an accountant and,

- Open a US bank account

Anyone could help /advise in order make find the right team to work with? Do you know any company that can help me with all the steps? 

Any other European investor that previously made all the steps ?

BR

[Colin G Murphy]

Hello @Vicente Blanco

I live in Tampa Florida now but I have a Spanish wife and we lived in Madrid for many years. I bought, renovated and sold many US homes from a home office in Pozuelo. Like @Katherine Robbins said, you need to narrow things down to a particular city and once you´ve done that, then dig into the best agents & property managers to help you.

You can open a bank account when you go to personally visit (it is very difficult to open a US account remotely). Don´t let the travel restrictions stop you because your property manager can withhold your income for the first 3-6 months if you need time to get that organised. 

You can find an accountant after you have made your first purchase - there are several who specialise in filing tax returns for non US residents and I can recommend some. An accountant can also talk to you about the pros and cons of LLCs (a C Corp might be a more efficient vehicle for a non US resident depending on how much you want to invest and how long you want to keep funds in the US). In my experience, opening any entity to hold a couple of rentals is often an unnecessary expense. There is plenty of time to move assets into an LLC down the line if you have sound reasons for doing so. I have sold property to investors in 30+ countries and the vast majority of them bought with cash in their own names and got a decent insurance policy with liability coverage.

Also, you haven´t mentioned finance, but it is extremely difficult for non US residents to secure on individual rental properties. There are more options for large purchases (commercial loans) and vacation homes. 

Suerte!