# Buying property in california



## dave68 (Aug 28, 2011)

My father who lives in the UK, is looking at buying a property in California. Does anyone have any information on how best to proceed?


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Identify where you would like to buy; contact local Realtors in the area (found by Googling); identify some properties you might be interested in; fly over to take a look; sign a contract if you see something you like and hand over the money upon completion of the contract. You are most unlikely to get a good mortgage not being a US resident or someone with any credit history, so have the cash ready.

Then be prepared to spend more money on the upkeep of the place.

The fact that you own property in the US does not give you the right to live full time in the US. You will be able to spend 90 days at most if you are eligible for a B2 visa (non working/non immigration visa).


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## RealMonkey (Jun 12, 2011)

dave68 said:


> My father who lives in the UK, is looking at buying a property in California. Does anyone have any information on how best to proceed?



Hi, yes I can help with this. I work for Alain Pinel Realtors, based in California.
Do you want to send me a private message and I can help you from there?


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Crawford said:


> Identify where you would like to buy; contact local Realtors in the area (found by Googling); identify some properties you might be interested in; fly over to take a look; sign a contract if you see something you like and hand over the money upon completion of the contract. You are most unlikely to get a good mortgage not being a US resident or someone with any credit history, so have the cash ready.
> 
> Then be prepared to spend more money on the upkeep of the place.
> 
> The fact that you own property in the US does not give you the right to live full time in the US. You will be able to spend 90 days at most if you are eligible for a B2 visa (non working/non immigration visa).


VWP allows for up to 90 days; B2 for up to 180 days


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

twostep said:


> VWP allows for up to 90 days; B2 for up to 180 days


Whoops, of course you are correct. Sorry for the mistake.


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## britannia (Oct 4, 2011)

*property*



dave68 said:


> My father who lives in the UK, is looking at buying a property in California. Does anyone have any information on how best to proceed?


try these 2 websites i work in real esate and they are a good guide prices are good at present but depending on where you want to live they can be a bargain or rediculious 
remax
Zillow


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## britannia (Oct 4, 2011)

britannia said:


> try these 2 websites i work in real esate and they are a good guide prices are good at present but depending on where you want to live they can be a bargain or rediculious
> remax
> Zillow


Whats good about the USA is that if you want to succeed you can. we came here 8 yrs ago with enough money to buy our house and a bit left over . we have both worked hard (and long)to get our son through high school. and promote our small buisness. we now have some rental property and are doing very well thank you . I doubt we could have achevied that in good old blighty.
There is no where better to live than england on a nice summer day but it dosent happen that much so now its southern california


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## RealMonkey (Jun 12, 2011)

dave68 said:


> My father who lives in the UK, is looking at buying a property in California. Does anyone have any information on how best to proceed?


The entire house buying system is very different in the US compared to the UK. In the UK you register with lots of different agents, negotiate your own price and use a solicitor to do the paperwork.

The main differences in California are:



You work with one agent (Realtor) who shows you properties and negotiates on your behalf. As a buyer, there is no fee. They are paid from the sellers sale price.
The agent does all the drafting of contracts and obtains disclosures, of which there are a lot. E.g disclosures for lead based paint, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, to name just a few. You can expect a couple of inches of paperwork to sign!

The agent opens "escrow" , usually with a title company. This is where you deposit your money. They hold it as a neutral party whilst you do your inspections and due diligence. A normal deposit is around 3%. 
You can put contingencies into the contract, so you can get out of it if you can't get a loan, or you find something in the inspection you don't like. A good agent will negotiate off the agreed price if there is something which is unearthed in the surveys, which had not previously come to light. Once you have removed your contingencies regarding survey etc, that is when it becomes binding, and you may lose your deposit then.
The title company registers the title to the property in your name. You can buy insurance to ensure you have 'good title' to the property. 
There is no stamp duty, but there is an annual property tax, which is approximately 1.2% of the sales price, each year. 
On top of that you will have costs for garbage (sorry, I mean rubbish), electricity, water, gas, telecoms, house insurance, earthquake and flood insurance if you decide to purchase these.

A typical transaction can be very quick. With no mortgage, you could be in your new home within 10 days if you wanted to. 30 days is the norm however.

I hope this helps. It is a very brief overview and I am happy to answer any further questions you may have, or provide guidance wherever in the US you are moving.


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## Cholmondley (Oct 6, 2011)

*Mortgage for uk residents...*

Just came across this question Dave... I have a friend here who works for HSBC in San Francisco and they offer mortgages to expats or non-US residents who have no credit rating here. Worth tallking to them for full info and advice. email me at chumsthebums at yahoo dot com if you'd like her contact info.


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## dave68 (Aug 28, 2011)

Update: we are now looking at money being sent over from the uk to purchase a house. But we are not sure how that will work with the irs. A friend has told us that if the money is sent to myself as a loan we will not be liable for tax. But as a gift we would.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

dave68 said:


> Update: we are now looking at money being sent over from the uk to purchase a house. But we are not sure how that will work with the irs. A friend has told us that if the money is sent to myself as a loan we will not be liable for tax. But as a gift we would.


Not sure who is telling you this, but it doesn't sound like you're getting very good advice.

Loan or gift, money coming over from the UK is not subject to income tax unless it is income to the person receiving it. The banks will need to know the source of the money and the reason it is being transferred for reporting purposes, but there should be no taxes involved.

If the money is a loan to you to buy a personal residence, you'll be able to deduct the interest payments as you repay the loan - but in that case be sure to document the loan and the repayment schedule if the money is coming from a friend or family member. You'll need that information in order to deduct the interest paid.

But in your original post you said it was your father looking to buy property in California. If you're buying the property for him, you'll need to look into things like signature authority, etc. But owning property will have no income tax consequences for him if he's not resident in the US. (Property taxes are another thing altogether...)
Cheers,
Bev


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## dave68 (Aug 28, 2011)

*Property*



Bevdeforges said:


> Not sure who is telling you this, but it doesn't sound like you're getting very good advice.
> 
> Loan or gift, money coming over from the UK is not subject to income tax unless it is income to the person receiving it. The banks will need to know the source of the money and the reason it is being transferred for reporting purposes, but there should be no taxes involved.
> 
> ...


I live in california. I married a local girl last august. We are looking at buying the property we are currently renting. Since my father is a uk resident and will not be coming out until next october there is no possibility of him taking out a mortgate. Transfering the money from the uk is a possibilty but we are not sure how it will be affected by taxes here.


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