Proposed Bill Would Incentivize Foreign Buyers of Real Estate

October 20, 2011

It’s no secret that the Miami real estate market has experienced a dramatic turnaround over the past two years due in large part to an overwhelming interest from foreigner buyers. A bipartisan bill introduced into the Senate earlier today would provide an additional incentive for foreigners to pour further capital into the U.S real estate market. The bill, the Wall Street Journal reported, would grant residence visas to foreign buyers who make a cash investment of at least $500,000 on residential real estate located throughout the U.S. The residence visa would allow a foreign buyer to bring a spouse and any children under the age of 18 into the country but would not allow them to work unless a regular work visa is obtained. Furthermore, once the property is sold, they would no longer be able to legally stay in the country.

If passed into law, this would be a tremendous boon for the South Florida real estate market. While a visa incentive likely won’t encourage further investment by most foreign buyers, it would encourage wealthy foreigners living in countries with political instability to purchase here. With that thought, two countries immediately come to mind – Venezuela and Argentina. This would be an almost ideal solution for the wealthy there.  It should go without saying that a disproportionately high number of people from those two countries would choose a city like Miami – “the gateway to the Americas” – if they were to take advantage of the visa incentive.