American real estate features:

1. Property rights in the United States are privately and permanently owned.

The most essential difference between China and the United States real estate property is the ownership. China property ownership is public ownership and the buyer has up to 70 years of living right after buying a house; The United States property is private and permanent ownership: once purchased, including the sky above the house, the house itself and the land beneath it (each state has slightly different definition of owned sky height and land depth) will always belong to the house owner.

2. U.S. house prices are subject to market regulation and the price is not unreasonably high.

Today, the average U.S. house median price is $ 226,000, which means about half of the properties are below 1.5 million Renminbi (Chinese currency) . This price in many cities in China is so approachable. With the same price, buying a house in the United States can be more than three times larger than in China. In other words, buying the house with same area at ​​the United States only needs to pay a third of the price of buying a Chinese house.

3. U.S. real estate policy is complete, the legal environment is well established and property rights are protected

After several decades of development and improvement, the real estate in the United States has gradually formed a relatively sound and mature law system and market. For example, the United States real estate information is public. Buyers can go to government website to view all the details of their interested real estate. All transaction information, including the actual price, tax, transaction date, transaction conditions, must be clearly reported, which effectively avoided or reduced the bubble of real estate. In addition, the U.S. government protects homeowners property rights as well as the interests of  both buyers and sellers in real estate transactions, which are relatively fair and transparent.

4. US real estate can get a higher rental rate of return.

In renting and investing in U.S. real estate, there is a steady appreciation of the value of the property and a higher rental return.

5. The United States has a variety of real estate types so buyers can freely choose as per their  investment purposes.

US real estate types are divided into 1 single-family or townhouses, 2 apartment buildings, 3 multi-family houses, 4 commercial buildings, 5 commercial or residential land. Each type is located in different regions or cities and match different investment purposes. No matter for investment, studying abroad, or senior living, buyers can find their suitable types of real estate.

The United States real estate buy-sell transaction is legally defined and protected.

Any real estate market can not be born with complete definition and system. A hundred years ago, the real estate market in the United States was also stumbled with disputes and countless problems. In general, two key issues in real estate transactions are whether property rights are clearly sellable and whether transaction funds are safe. In order to deal with the above issues, the real estate market in the United States was gradually developing and so was property insurance companies developed by real estate lawyers. They provide buyers with surveys, property insurance, financial supervision, registration transfer and other services to ensure that property rights are safe and reliable and can be legally traded, like a personal guard to protect the rights and interests of home buyers. Even if buyers met really trouble, they were able to get back the money in the worst case, which greatly protected buyers’ rights and interests . The processe detail are as follows:

Property verification:

Investigate the owner’s property record, i.e., the history of property rights transfer; meanwhile investigate if the property ownership having any debt, such as owed property tax, unpaid property management fee and city government tickets. If there is an issue, it must be solved in order to transfer the property right. If the seller is not willing to solve the issue identified, then the buyer can interrupt the contract and the deposit can be returned to the buyer.

Property insurance:

If property rights have no issue, the property company will provide property insurance, responsible for property rights transfer between buyers and sellers. The property company is an independent insurance company. Once the property rights have some issue or accidents, the property companies will take risks and provide compensation.

Provide third party account:

In order to maintain the fairness of the real estate transaction, most state governments often prohibit the deposit from being controlled by the buyer’s real estate agent or seller’s broker.  Otherwise, in the event of seller’s default, the seller’s broker will find a variety of reasons to refuse to refund. And if the deposit controlled by buyer’s agent and the buyer defaults, the buyer’s broker will also find reasons to refuse to hand over the deposit. Therefore, the deposit controlled by independent third-party property companies, so if disputes appear, the deposit can be quickly returned to the party it should belong to.

Property transfer process:

All ownership transfer procedures are handled by an independent third party or property company. When the buyer and seller sign the documents required for transfer respectively, the buyer pays the principal payment in the form of Cashier Check to the property company (not sellers) or third-party regulating company. If purchased by mortgage, the lender bank is required to wire-transfer loans to the  property company’s account, until then the real estate transaction is truly completed. According to the relevant provisions of the sale contract, property company then deduct costs, such as commission, property insurance, miscellaneous transfering fees, and pay the rest to the seller.  Many sellers obtain the money within a few hours after the property transfer complete.  This fundamentally put an end to let real estate agents involve in and control of money.

You can still buy real estate in the United States even if you are not a citizen or a green card holder.

The United States is a mature market economy country and welcomes foreign investors. At the same time, the law is transparent and open, and the buying process is relatively simple and straightforward than any other countries; anyone can buy U.S. real estate, and you can complete a house purchase deal as long as you have a valid passport. Even if you do not have a U.S. visa, you can complete the transaction by e-mail . If you use cash (or bank deposit) to buy, then you can buy without any restrictions, but if you want to get a loan to buy by mortgage, you need to apply for the loan and can use your native country legal income to apply for a U.S. loan.

Theoretically, you do not have to go to the United States to buy a house, but it is for your best to open your own offshore bank account in advance so that you can purchase with the funds in that account, even if you do not come to the United States. Today, most banks accept online signiture. As long as you have email address,  you can sign electronically so wherever you are, you can buy a house in the United States. Of course, it will be the best if you can personally select and inspect the house.

The documents and information that required for house purchase in U.S.

If a buyer purchases personally, a valid passport is enough. If a buyer authorizes others to buy,  Power of Attorney is needed and a copy of the buyer passport. The power of attorney needs notarization. The trustee, with a power of attorney, can use the funds under the buyer’s bank account to purchase, sign purchase contract and other legal documents and process property transfer on buyer’s behalf.

Property that Foreigners purchase are a permanent owned property, just as Americans. The property document will include the name of property owner,  the property acquired time and location, the land area and the size of the building.

In the United States,  the process of purchasing a house involves multiple procedures, complicated and rigorous. As a result, it reduces the fraud in real estate transfer, default rate to a minimum. Although the process is complicated, brokers in the U.S. need to obtain state real estate licenses in order to serve for clients. The overall professional level and ethics are relatively high.  If you can choose a responsible and experienced broker as your buyer’s broker, you are worry free for the house purchase.

Broker commission

In the United States, both buyers and sellers’ broker commissions are paid by the seller, i.e., buyers do not bear the responsibility to pay commission. Usually when the transfer is done, the commission will be paid fully by the seller with the agreed commission rate.  In New York State, in renting market, the commissions are paid by tenants equivalent to one month’s rent.

Buying a house in U.S. is a commercial activity and obtaining a green card belongs to the jurisdiction of the USCIS. Currently, investing in the United States can not directly obtain a green card.

According to the U.S. Immigration Law, U.S. green cards can be obtained through EB5 investment immigration. The requirements of applying for EB5 investment immigrants in the United States are as follows:

Applicants must invest 500,000 U.S. dollars in investment projects within U.S. and create at least ten job opportunities directly or indirectly; Applicants must be over the age of 14; Applicants need to prove that the investment money is legal income; The applicant has no criminal record; Applicants do not have any major infectious diseases, such as AIDS, Seika virus.

the main applicant, main applicant spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 can apply together. No specific business background, education degree and English communication capability required for applicants and no asset requirement either.