Purchasing property in FL?

[petunia]

Any Canadians with info on buying a house/condo in Florida? I'd love any info available. I have heard you cannot have a mortgage, you must buy the property straight out when buying in the US? We would want it as a vacation property/short term rental when we didn't need it. Thanks.

 

[lisalonglash]

Any Canadians with info on buying a house/condo in Florida? I'd love any info available. I have heard you cannot have a mortgage, you must buy the property straight out when buying in the US? We would want it as a vacation property/short term rental when we didn't need it. Thanks.

I did a quick google for you:

http://www.milliondollarjourney.com/canadians-buying-property-in-florida-the-tax-issues.htm

http://www.ruthbethem.com/Canadian-Florida.htm

http://inside-real-estate.com/ecoin.../07/canadians-purchasing-property-in-florida/

 

[shaycamp21]

Thank you for the articles. We are also looking into purchasing property in FL too and would be interested in hearing about any Canadian Disers actual experience in purchasing (and maintaining) property in FL. Thanks.

 

[disneyred]

Any Canadians with info on buying a house/condo in Florida? I'd love any info available. I have heard you cannot have a mortgage, you must buy the property straight out when buying in the US? We would want it as a vacation property/short term rental when we didn't need it. Thanks.

wow. this is news to me........not everyone can buy property outright cash, with no mortgage 1

 

[lizzyb]

You can get a mortgage down there it is just very difficult to do so. I believe the down payment is around 30%

 

[minnie56]

VERY difficult to get a mortgage there these days, best option if the cash isn't available is to put a mortgage against your own home here in Canada.
The banks there just about want your firstborn ...which really given how lax they had been and the mess they got into I am not surprised!

 

[Northstar]

Also check into the legal implications of renting it out. That turns it into an income-generating, business property, which means you'll pay taxes on the income. It may affect your homeowners' insurance. Also, strictly speaking, you can't do any work on the property yourself if you're a Canadian on a visitor's visa in the U.S.

I think a lot of people hire a property management company to look after the property, find renters, collect the money, clean after renting, and so on.

 

[minnie56]

I think doing work on your own home wouldn't worry most people...but you do have to have a licence to rent out etc...it can be pretty involved.

 

[mom_rules]

There are tax implications for Cdns renting out a US property. You have to file both a Cdn and a US tax return. There are several property management companies that not only will look after the maintenance of the place while you are not there but also will take care of renting it out for you-all at a fee. Home insurance on a rental property is very high. I agree, it's much easier to arrange your financing in Canada and go in with "cash".
If you plan on personally only using it a month or so a year you might be better off with either a condo apartment-type place or buying DVC.

 

[minnie56]

I second buying a condo, making sure first that people are current with their HOA fees and too many units aren't sitting empty. The building could be 'reassesed' and the monthly dues can climb significantly to offset..

 

[mom_rules]

I second buying a condo, making sure first that people are current with their HOA fees and too many units aren't sitting empty. The building could be 'reassesed' and the monthly dues can climb significantly to offset..

Agree! Helps if there is a bit of vibrancy to the complex. Good upkeep, lots of tenants..

 

[TaniaU]

Great thread timing. My husband and i were talking about this yesterday!

 

[mom_rules]

Here are a few tax things for Cdns to consider (our accountants and lawyer warned us)-Residents of Canada are taxed on their worldwide income and therefore:

May owe capital gains taxes on appreciation from purchase price to selling price on owned US properties
If US property is owned at death, it is deemed to have disposed of it at fair market value – with impact on capital gains and estate taxes
Rental income from investment or vacation properties, after expenses, is also taxable in Canada AND possibly the US, the dreaded “double taxation”

Both Canada and the US require tenants to withhold 25% and 30%, respectively, of the gross rental income from their properties owned by non-citizens. This is just one example of “it’s what you don’t know that can hurt you”. You need to know that lack of knowledge of the law can have serious consequences and penalties. Both countries have forms and process that can help to mitigate or minimize this requirement.
For Canadians, there are withholding tax, capital gains and estate tax ramifications related to owning, renting and selling US properties.

 

[krazy4crusing]

If you are purchasing a home or condo with the intent to rent it out you also need to read the HOA rules and regulations because there may be a stipulation about owner occupancy. We have found several homes/condos that are unavailable for purchase if you are not a US citizen or are not going to be living in the home full time. Orlando has a high crime rate and many seedy areas, look at the area of the home you want to purchase carefully at different times of day and on different days of the week ie a Friday/Saturday night compared to Weds afternoon.

We are purchasing a home or condo in Florida and have found most of the realestate agents we have worked with to be unmotivated and unprofessional. I also got the feeling that the agents and sellers were not happy selling to Canadians, they seem to feel that we are taking advantage of them during this time of economic distress and would rather deal with Americans.


Be Wary!

 

[iluveeyore]

DH and I have been talking about this ad nauseum for over a year now, and want to retire and live down there for six months out of the year in about 5-10 years. I work from my laptop, so no issues with green card, etc, as long as we have enough to live off of. We have looked into perhaps just buying a large trailer/RV and parking it for months - lots of nice RV parks we have found that allow long-term rental of spaces, so this seems like a really good option for us instead of the headaches that purchasing a condo might entail. Plus, we can just drive our trailer back to Canada, and if we aren't able to own a home up here when we retire, we can just park it at one of our kids' houses!

 

[papertraveller]

Here are a few tax things for Cdns to consider (our accountants and lawyer warned us)-Residents of Canada are taxed on their worldwide income and therefore:

May owe capital gains taxes on appreciation from purchase price to selling price on owned US properties
If US property is owned at death, it is deemed to have disposed of it at fair market value – with impact on capital gains and estate taxes
Rental income from investment or vacation properties, after expenses, is also taxable in Canada AND possibly the US, the dreaded “double taxation”

Both Canada and the US require tenants to withhold 25% and 30%, respectively, of the gross rental income from their properties owned by non-citizens. This is just one example of “it’s what you don’t know that can hurt you”. You need to know that lack of knowledge of the law can have serious consequences and penalties. Both countries have forms and process that can help to mitigate or minimize this requirement.
For Canadians, there are withholding tax, capital gains and estate tax ramifications related to owning, renting and selling US properties.

This is excellent advice. We owned a U.S. property for about a decade, and had to file tax returns in both countries. It wasn't that much of a hassle in the beginning, but it was once we sold the place and had to settle capital gains taxes owing in both countries. It didn't help that the IRS then got our accounts confused. That problem took 18 months to resolve.

If you are purchasing a home or condo with the intent to rent it out you also need to read the HOA rules and regulations because there may be a stipulation about owner occupancy. We have found several homes/condos that are unavailable for purchase if you are not a US citizen or are not going to be living in the home full time. Orlando has a high crime rate and many seedy areas, look at the area of the home you want to purchase carefully at different times of day and on different days of the week ie a Friday/Saturday night compared to Weds afternoon.

We are purchasing a home or condo in Florida and have found most of the realestate agents we have worked with to be unmotivated and unprofessional. I also got the feeling that the agents and sellers were not happy selling to Canadians, they seem to feel that we are taking advantage of them during this time of economic distress and would rather deal with Americans.


Be Wary!

This also excellent advice. Scarcely months after we bought our condo, the HOA increased the dues substantially because a number of units were significantly behind in their fees.

We also had this experience with an agent who actually refused to make the offer that we wanted. We stuck to our guns, and as it turned out, the sellers were willing.

And if I may offer one other piece of advice, I recognize that PPs have suggested hiring a firm to manage the rentals etc. on the owner's behalf. This will eat significantly into your income, but that's not a bad thing.

The problem arises when you head south for your vacation with golf and relaxing on your mind, and the first stop you have to make is Home Depot for all the stuff you need to fix. I estimate that three days out of every two week vacation we took was spent working on repairs and maintenance of our condo.

And while we did do a small amount of rentals, we soon discovered that it simply wasn't worth it. One renter didn't like our furniture or lamps (!); one thought that because there was bleach in the closet, that must mean it was to be used on the floor, and managed to bleach the carpet as well. Others were delightful and left us treasures and gifts from their home states.

This can be a great decision, but like all major ones, always best to do with your eyes open!

 

[CanadianPaco]

Great thread timing. My husband and i were talking about this yesterday!

Us too... DH and I were talking about it on the long weekend!

 

[shaycamp21]

We are purchasing a home or condo in Florida and have found most of the realestate agents we have worked with to be unmotivated and unprofessional. I also got the feeling that the agents and sellers were not happy selling to Canadians, they seem to feel that we are taking advantage of them during this time of economic distress and would rather deal with Americans.


Be Wary!

So does anyone know how to find a good agent or know of a good agent? Through my research I have also found that there are companies here that help Canadians find property in FL, is it better to go with something like this rather than finding an agent in FL. Right now I have an agent whom I found on the internet who emails me property listings in FL and has been sending me listings for the past year though not sure if he is "good" or even trustworthy. Just want to find someone that is not going to take advantage of us and dont want to end up buying in the wrong areas.