In what countries can American's (expats) own real estate?

[rainonacongadrum]

Lately I've been thinking it would be cool to live overseas and play poker. In what countries can American's (expats) own real estate without having to be married to a local or split 50/50 with a local? Also, if you're American and own property overseas I would be interested in hearing your story.

[WhoIam]

Would you consider owning property through a shell company to be "ownership?"

[diamonddawg]

I own in Spain and it was a bit of a PITA to buy, but I had a good mortgage broker who also handled whole sales process. If you are really interested in details, I can pm you (its painfully complex). On the whole though, it's easy-ish, safe, and my taxes on said property (in Barcelona) are looooow.
On another note, one of my best friends owns in Fiji and they are having a coup, so even though place is owned freehold, its all messed up down there and selling unlikely.
General note: all in all, if you are doing construction, you want to be close to said property. I bought in Sept 06, started major renov in Nov 06 and its NOT DONE YET on a fricking 60m sq flat. FTW!

[WhoIam]

Diamond, what kind of visa does this entitle you to? Does this make it easier to stay for extended amounts of time in other EU countries? Could I, for example, buy a shack in some village but rent an apartment in Barcelona to actually live in?

[Josem]

I assume Americans are able to buy land inAustralia.

[cbloom]

Ah, I'm super interested in the same thing.

How do Americans get to own land in EU countries?

One thing I have found is that owning in Mexico is easy as long as you're 50km off the coast, which might spoil the point. Owning in Costa Rica is very easy, but is in fact so easy that the prices are close to USA prices (well, maybe not beachfront equivalent but it ain't cheap) and most of your neighbors will be American.

[goodgrief]

Not so, my friend. Tons and tons of them will be Canadians. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

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Owning in Costa Rica is very easy, but is in fact so easy that the prices are close to USA prices (well, maybe not beachfront equivalent but it ain't cheap) and most of your neighbors will be American.

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[Jim Kuhn]

I thought in Mexico you could not 'own land' but rather bought it with a 99 year lease. After the lease expired I thought it went back to the government.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

[diamonddawg]

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How do Americans get to own land in EU countries?

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Diamond, what kind of visa does this entitle you to? Does this make it easier to stay for extended amounts of time in other EU countries? Could I, for example, buy a shack in some village but rent an apartment in Barcelona to actually live in?

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First, the easy answer re: how to own in EU countries:
1) find a property - each country is different and I can only speak for Barcelona, but first I spent a summer there and thought looooong and hard about whether or not this was the right place for me. Then I began searching the websites like loquo.com and idealista.com as well as the old method that they have there of searching by foot in the area you want. They do not have multi-listing in Barna like we have in places like LA so it is excruciating to try to deal with a real estate agent - each individual storefront, even if connected in title to another (like Technocasa, etc etc) all have SEPERATE listings - no sharing!! Oh, and there are no buyers agents. Any agent who say that they will work for you as a buyers agent is a lying scumbag (they will just try to steer you to some property that they are the agent on - even if it is NOTHING like what you want)
2) find a mortgage broker. I assume every country has them, but in Barcelona my guy saved my hide. He took care of everything, including carrying the "black money" to the closing (I was terrified of carrying nearly 80K euros on my person in the city streets as I am not balla).

Next, the visa question: No, it does nothing at all to get me a visa. However, the importance of visas in Spain is irrelevant. Frankly, and this sounds a bit nationalist (or racist??), as a Caucasian American with suffcient funds, they leave you the heck alone. They are too busy in Spain chasing after the illegals from Africa (who land in boats on the Canary Islands and then beg for asylum - its a mess), Pakistan, Eastern Europe (non-EU) that they don't give a damn about me. Or likely you.
However, if you feel the urge to get a visa, you would need to get an attorney (again, I speak only to Spain), prove financial means (about 10K in bank) and then you would get a non-labor visa. It's a pain in the butt and I had it lined up to get had to blow it off as the process takes SO long that when it was time to go to court, I was out of town for work (in the US). However, re: the non-working visa, I understand from my friends in Spain who do have it that, once you get it, you just whisk through the renewal process each year via email.

Regarding buying a shack in a village and rent a flat in Barcelona, again, that won't make a difference in a visa - that process is wholly seperate. I have a artist friend who is a painter and she has never owned, always rented and after 8 years still has a non-labor visa. Frankly, the way the real estate market is going in Barcelona with rents versus owning, you would do better to own.

A heads up about owning, though: to buy, if you aren't going to pay all cash (you balla! you!) and you take out a mortgage, it is def not like in the USA. Again, I had a mortgage broker who was fantastic and I still had to pay:
1) 20% down payment to the bank
2) 10% "collateral" to the bank that will be released in 3 years from my mortgage start date (with like 7% interest more or less added on - it's invested)
3) 10% in "fees" to close the loan, pay the escrow company etc etc (this is the biggest scam in the univers, imo and in fact the legislature in Spain is slowly moving to try to limit these fees - I would not hold my breath though, as the banks are bastards there)
3) 1.5% in a fee on the price of my mortgage to my mortgage broker (who as I said, worked like a combo real estate agent and money guy)
Oh, and don't even get me started on my contractor, who though he is doing a fantastic job aesthetically, was supposed to have my place done by February 2007. Yup, it's not done yet. *sigh*

If you are hot and heavy to buy in Barcelona or immediate surrounds, PM me for my guy's numbers/email.