New to Real Estate · Long Island, NY · Member since 2020 · 14 posts · 5 votes
Hi All,
Looking to gain some insight on short term rentals internationally, specifically Spain and Italy. Would love to chat with anyone who has done this already and or wants to just chat how amazing other parts of the world are.
Curious to understand the implications of purchasing internationally, the steps, pros and cons.
Investor · Barcelona & Valencia (Spain) · Member since 2017 · 322 posts · 177 votes
5y
Hi @Michael DiNuzzo, investing internationally in Spain is not that different from investing as us from out of Spain. The only thing to have in mind is that as a foreigner you can not borrow the same amount as residents can (70% vs 80%), the distance and therefore having a strong management set up in place, and the tax consequences from out of the US as (if I am not mistaking) you are always bound to pay your taxes in the US as an American citizen.
All other details like contacts (agents, contractors, architects, banks, mortgage brokers, etc) we can help you with as we are active with multiple projects in the Barcelona/Valencia area.
Rental Property Investor · Tucson AZ / Nice FR / Washington DC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y
I would recommend talking to Henley & Partners, they help with resident-by-investment, aka golden visa. It would help you focus cost, plus add a passport to your portfolio. Spain I think it’s currently €500k, while Greece is €250k, and and St Kitts and Nevis is €200.. I think Mexico was around $150k last I looked at buying.
As mentioned, you won’t have the same buying power with banks as you do in the US. In the EU they basically run credit via bank deposits, their credit cards are more like debt cards. HSBC can help you get checking accounts setup in almost any country.
We are taxed on our world wide income in the US, but that’s not that big of deal, as we have treaties with other counties to help avoid double tax, and you can always setup up IBC in Cook Island, or St Kitts & Nevis, thus off shoring the income earned outside of the US, if you bring it home you will have to pay taxes on it. You will need a good CPA for all this, because the IRS loves people who have tax haven access.
Vacation homes are nice, but you won't find the same ROI you get here in the US, and houses can sit for a long time before selling. Personally I would stick with US vacation destinations before I would go after AirBnB in another country.