Updated October 2026 · Every figure sourced and dated
U.S. property rules, written for people who do not live there.
What a non-resident actually has to do to buy, hold, rent out and sell a home in the United States. Every number here is traceable to its publisher and its date.
Every figure traced to its publisher
- IRSInternal Revenue Service
- NARNational Association of Realtors
- RFRedfin
- NOAANational Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin.
- IIIInsurance Information Institute
- C100Committee of 100
Four moments, four sets of rules
Most of what goes wrong for a foreign owner is not the purchase. It is what the United States asks of you afterwards: a withholding rule at sale that takes a share of the price rather than of the gain, an annual filing that exists only because you used a company, and an estate tax threshold that is a small fraction of the one a U.S. person gets.
Start here
Buying as a non-resident
Owning in your own name or through an LLC, getting an ITIN, getting an EIN without a Social Security number, and what each choice adds to your filing load.
Tax on rental income
The default is 30% withheld on gross rent with no deductions. The election under section 871(d) changes that, and it has conditions and deadlines.
FIRPTA withholding on sale
15% of the amount realised, withheld by the buyer. The exceptions, the $300,000 and $1,000,000 thresholds, and the certificate that reduces it.
Financing without U.S. credit
What is publicly documented about foreign national lending, why the headline U.S. mortgage rate does not apply to you, and what we could not verify.
Estate tax: the $60,000 problem
A non-domiciled owner is exposed on U.S. assets above $60,000, not the figure U.S. residents get. Fifteen countries have a treaty that changes this. Most do not.
State by state
Median price, insurance cost, rent regulation, eviction notice periods, deposit caps and the state laws that restrict purchases by nationality.
State finder
Where are you buying?
Prices, insurance, landlord rules and nationality restrictions change at the state line. Pick a state to open its page.
- Page published
- Not covered yet
Tools
Work out the numbers before you call anyone.
Two quick tools built on the rules in the guides. They illustrate the published rules and are not a calculation of your own liability.
Withholding on a sale
What the buyer must hold back when a foreign person sells.
General rate: 15% of the amount realised, the price, not the profit.
Which forms, at which stage?
The federal forms a non-resident owner meets, in the order the money moves.
- W-7
Application for an ITIN, the tax number an individual without a Social Security number uses on U.S. returns.
- SS-4
Application for an EIN, the number an LLC or other entity needs. Can be obtained without a Social Security number.
- W-8ECI
Given to the tenant or agent to certify that rent is effectively connected income, so the 30% gross withholding does not apply.
- 1040-NR
The U.S. income tax return a non-resident individual files to report rental income.
- 5472
Information return for a foreign-owned single-member LLC, filed with a pro forma Form 1120.
- 8288
Filed by the buyer to report and pay over the FIRPTA withholding.
- 8288-A
The statement of withholding the seller uses to claim the amount back on their return.
- 8288-B
Application for a withholding certificate, to reduce or remove the withholding in advance.
- 706-NA
The U.S. estate tax return for the estate of a non-resident, non-citizen decedent.
Your nationality changes the answer
Two people can buy the same house on the same day and face different rules. Three things decide it: whether your country has an income tax treaty with the United States, whether it has an estate tax treaty, and whether the state you are buying in has passed a law restricting purchases by nationals of certain countries.
That last category moved fast. One tracker counted 26 states with 63 such laws as of 13 August 2026, with eight lawsuits running.
Source: Committee of 100, state property ownership restrictions database, updated 12 August 2026Because this area is in active litigation, each state page gives the statute, the date and the current court position, and says plainly where we could not confirm one.
Questions
The short answers.
Each answer is a summary of a guide, where the rule is set out with its source and date.
Ask your own questionCan a non-resident legally buy property in the United States?
Federal law does not generally stop a foreign person from buying U.S. residential property. A number of states have passed laws restricting purchases by nationals of certain countries, and several are being challenged in court. Each state page sets out the statute and its current status.
Read the full rule and its sourcesHow much is withheld when a foreign owner sells?
Under FIRPTA the buyer generally withholds 15% of the amount realised, which is the price, not the gain. The rate is 10% if the buyer will live in the property and the price is $1,000,000 or less, and nothing if the buyer is an individual who will live in it and the price is $300,000 or less.
Read the full rule and its sourcesHow is rent from a U.S. property taxed for a non-resident?
By default, 30% of the gross rent is withheld with no deductions. An election under section 871(d) lets the owner be taxed on net income instead, at graduated rates, by filing a return. It has conditions and deadlines.
Read the full rule and its sourcesDo I need an ITIN or an EIN?
An individual who files a U.S. return without a Social Security number needs an ITIN, applied for on Form W-7. An LLC needs an EIN, applied for on Form SS-4, which can be obtained without a Social Security number. Owning through an LLC also brings an annual Form 5472 filing.
Read the full rule and its sourcesWhat happens to the property if the owner dies?
For an owner who is neither a U.S. citizen nor domiciled in the U.S., U.S. estate tax can apply to U.S. assets above $60,000, a far lower threshold than U.S. residents get, unless an estate tax treaty with the owner's country changes it.
Read the full rule and its sourcesCan I get a mortgage without U.S. credit history?
Some lenders offer foreign national loans, priced and underwritten differently from standard U.S. mortgages, usually with larger down payments. Nearly half of foreign buyers pay cash.
Read the full rule and its sourcesHow this site handles numbers
A figure without a source is a liability on a site about other people’s money. So the rule here is mechanical: every rate, threshold, price and premium carries the publisher, a link and a date, and anything we could not confirm at a reliable source is left out and listed by name.
Pages carry a block titled What we could not verify. It is there because the gaps are real and you are better off knowing where they are than reading a confident guess.