European (Foreign) Home Buyers Flood the Los Angeles Real Estate Market !
June 20th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate
There IS a silver lining in our boo-hoo real estate market cloud! Europeans and other foreigners are swooping in and buying up Calfornia (especially Los Angeles) real estate at a beautiful discount!
Galavanting within the highest volume-producing real estate office here in California, we are witnessing the influx of (mostly high-end and luxury) home buyers coming in from London, Switzerland, Italy, Dubai, England, Germany, Ireland, Greece, China, Canada; many making all cash offers on high-end homes.  Â
The strength of the Canadian dollar, the Euro, and other foreign curencies, on top of a slowdown in the U.S real estate market, is making the United States an enticing place for foreigners to buy property.   Buying now while the dollar is weak and their currency is strong may still be more advantageous than waiting for the prices to drop in few months time. Of course, we don’t have crystal balls to be able to guarantee all suggestions, but generally speaking it’s hard to argue that right now, prime Los Angeles real estate is being offered at a tremendous discount for Europeans and other country’s residents.
ATTENTION!! REGARDING FINANCING FOR FOREIGN BUYERS
Typically, a foreign buyer will need to provide lenders in the US with the following to become approved for a mortgage:
- At least 50%-65% down payment
- Type of visa one is staying in the country with
- Provide a social security number if available
- What business entity is making the purchase
- Where the funds are coming from to make the purchase a.k.a. proof of funds
If you’re in need of speaking with someone expert at lending to foreign buyers, call us. There are only a few outstanding lenders in town who are experienced with the often complicated and process of funding a foreign buyer, let us refer you to the best.
