Hi, I'm from hong kong and not a US resident but I recently develop interests in purchasing a property in the US and have it rented out as investment, I can probably purchase via 2 ways:

(1) purchasing under my name - would like to check what taxes will I be subject to, will I incur withholding tax? And how does this work? Any other fees particularly attributable to my status as a foreign investor? How about getting a mortgage loan, should I get this from the US or from a bank in Hong kong, my friend advised I can get a mortgage with a US bank that has an office in Hong kong

(2) purchasing under my sister's name who is a US resident, kindly educate me, what charges, taxes and fees will then incur in this scenario.

Many thanks

You do not have to be a citizen to own property, there is a lot of property owned by non citizens, Since all of your credit is most likely in Hong Kong, yes doing business with a US bank that has officies in Hong Kong would most likely be easier.

I do not believe there is any tax difference between you owning and a citizen owning property, there will be filing fees, when you buy, and yearly property taxes. The amount of these taxes vary greatly ( very greatly) by location of property

Hi
Thank you so much for your reply. To my understanding, there will be withholding tax for no resident that is 30% which seems very significant and also is my concern... any idea on this area?

Thanks again

By the way, I'm thinking to purchase a property in LA...

Well LA has different laws than anywhere in the US.

I have sold several properties to non US citizens and to be honest no where on any paper work we ever did, does it even ask if you are a citizen

Is this tax on merely the transfer of funds to the US like some income tax ? But your best bet with LA, since they are very special laws
** LA bases their law on French code, not English Common law as the rest of the US, But a phone call and small payment to a real estate attoreny would be best.

Thaks for your reply, I actually saw that in this article:

500 Internal Server Error (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5361/is_199807/ai_n21424553)

Quesiton is, if it will save me from the extra fees and taxes by purchasing as foreigner (myself) or US resident (my sister)...

Findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5361/is_199807/ai_n21424553

Try again

You will have to pay 30% tax on your rental income in the US if you file as a non-us citizen. So even though being a non-US citizen will not affect the transaction, it will affect your bottomline once you make rental income