Getting Ready for the Purchase
Buying real estate in the United States is not a complicated process. The following are step-by-step guidance for getting ready for the purchase:
1. Carefully read through all contents of this website. We have worked hard to provide you with concise and specific information, and hope that you will take the time to read and familiarize yourself with the process.
2. If you intend to make a cash purchase, you will need to provide proof of funds – it can be a letter from your bank showing your (the buyer’s) name and an account balance equal to or greater than the price you offered. The letter must be issued within 30 days. Proof of funds from a Chinese bank showing the account balance in RMB is acceptable, but it must be accompanied by an English translation of the letter. If you intend to take out a mortgage loan, please have a pre-qualification letter ready either from a US bank or from a mortgage company.
3. If you do not have a bank account in the United States, please open one. This account is used to collect rental payments from your tenants and to pay expenses associated with your property, such as property taxes, insurance premiums, homeowner association fees, utilities, property management fees, repairs and maintenance, etc.. For your and your tenant’s convenience, we strongly suggest that you open an account with either Bank of America or SunTrust (both banks have branches through Florida), and activate online payment function. We urge international investors to open such a bank account when you have a chance to visit the United States.
Purchase process:
1.Consultation:
please contact us to discuss your investment needs and goals. For example, the dollar amount you would like to invest, the price range, property type, age and size of property you are interested in, whether you plan to do long-term rental or short-term rental, etc.
2.Property Hunting:
based on your criteria, we will search property listings in the Disney World or greater Orlando area and email you all the listings that match your criteria on a regular basis for your selection. Once you have nailed down the properties you are interested in, you can either come to Orlando to view the property or request additional information to help with your decision. We can obtain information on the sales history, HOA (Homeowner Association) fees with services included, take more photos of the property to reflect the current conditions, and provide estimates of repair and/or renovation cost.
If you can clearly describe to us your search criteria, we are happy to set up an auto notification email account for you on MLS (website), so that you will receive an email with the property listing whenever a new property that matches your criteria comes onto the market. This website also allows you to search properties on your own. Click here to start your exciting house hunting now.
3.Making the Offer:
Once you have decided to bid on a property, please email us the following information: legal name(s) of the buyer(s) (name on your passport, driver's license or other photo IDs), your offering price, whether this is a cash transaction or a purchase with a mortgage loan, amount of deposit you intend to put down, and intended closing date. We will then prepared a contract with the information you provided and email it to you, along with other required documents. You will need to review and sign the documents and send them back to us either with a proof of funds letter (for cash offer) or a pre-qualification letter( for financing offer). We will then submit the offer on your behalf. If the seller (especially the bank seller) receives multiple offers, the seller will usually ask the bidders to submit their best offer, select the offer that the seller deems to be the best (not necessarily the highest offer), decline other offers and the bidding process ends.
4.Deposit & Home Inspection:
Once your offer is accepted by the seller, who then signs the contract, you are expected to send earnest deposit to the seller or the assigned title company (usually within 2 business days), and conduct a professional home inspection (usually within 7 days). The purpose of the home inspection is to ensure that the property does not have major issues such as structural defects, termites, serious mold or roof leaking. When purchasing foreclosure properties, the bank/seller will use an “as-is contract” only, which means the property is sold in as-is, where-is condition. The bank/seller will not do any repairs if problems are found, but you have the right to withdraw from the contract and request your earnest deposit be returned to you, should you decide not to move forward with the purchase. Therefore, it is important that you review the inspection report carefully and notify the seller in writing within the inspection period whether you intend to move forward with the purchase. Otherwise, you stand to lose your earnest deposit . If a regular contract is used, the seller is required to fix any problems found before delivering the property for closing.
5.Closing/Settlement:
In central Florida, it is customary practice for the seller to assign a closing agent or a title company to handle the closing on the property, and for the seller to pay for the owner’s title insurance policy. You can request to use the closing agent of your choice, but in that case, you will bear the cost of the title insurance policy. Prior to the closing, you need to work closely with your mortgage broker to get your loan approved. You also need to obtain a home insurance policy on the property. On the day of the closing, you will need to review and sign all closing documents in the presence of a notary public, wire closing funds or send a cashier’s check to the closing agent. If a lender is involved, your lender will wire the loan amount to the closing agent. Nowadays, physical attendance is usually not required for a closing to take place. Mail away closing has become the norm, as the seller, the buyer, the closing agent and the subject property are often located in different cities.
购房前的准备
相对而言,在美国佛罗里达奥兰多投资购买房地产并不复杂,购房前需要做以下的准备:
1. 仔细阅读本网站所有内容。我们已经尽力使本网站内容简明扼要,更具有针对性和更具体,希望您能抽出时间阅读。
2. 如果是现金购房,请准备一份资金证明(proof of funds),证明你有足够的现金购房,上面要有购房者的名字,余额要等于或大于房价,最好是30天以内开出的,中国的银行开的人民币资金证明是可以接受的,但要求有英文。如果是用贷款购房,请准备一份由银行或者贷款公司开的贷款资格批准证明(pre-qualification letter)。
3. 开设一个美国的银行账户。这个银行账户主要用于您接受租客的租金和您支付与投资房相关的费用, 比如房地产税,房屋保险费,社区管理费,水电费和物业公司的管理费,修理费等,为便于租客,尤其是长期出租房的租客,定期支付您的租金,我们建议您在Bank of America 或者SunTrust开设银行账户,并建议开通网上支付功能。所以,美国以外的投资人,一定要记住在有机会来美国的时候,去Bank of America 或者SunTrust 开设一个银行账户。
购房程序:
1.咨询:与我公司房地产经纪人联系,商讨您的购房投资需求,比如,购房数量,房价的范围,房型,新旧程度,购房后是用作长期出租还是短期出租,等等。
2.选房:按照您的需求,我们会用电邮的方式,定期发给您符合您要求的所有在市场上的房源,供您挑选。在您选择出感兴趣的房屋后,如果您能来奥兰多,我们会安排看房,如果您不能来,我们会为您提供关于这个或这些房屋更多的信息,比如,出租收入的预测,该房子的历史成交记录,该社区提供的服务和社区管理费,房子的状况和照片,估计修理或翻新的费用。
如果您能非常清楚地告诉我们您的选房标准,我们还可以在中佛州房地产协会的网站上为您单独设立一个具有自动通知功能的帐户,这样一旦有符合您要求的房屋上市,您就会在第一时间收到一个包括这个房屋信息的电子邮件。本网站还提供您主动搜房的功能,请点击这里,马上开始搜房。
3.填写购房出价合同(offer)参加竞标:在您锁定要购买的房屋后,请用电邮的方式告诉我们购房人的名字(护照,驾照或其他身份证上的名字),您愿意购买的价格,是用现金购房还是用贷款购房,订金数量,过户日期等等。我们据此填写购房出价合同,连同其他文件电邮给您,您将文件打印出来签字后,连同您已经准备好的资金证明或贷款资格批准证明一起发给我们,就可以参加竞标了。在竞标过程中,如果卖方(尤其是银行时)接到不止一个出价时,卖方的还价一般就是要求您和其他买方提交最好的出价,然后卖方再从中选择一个最好的,竞标结束。
4.交定金和房屋检查:一旦您的出价被卖方接受,合同经买卖双方签字生效后,您就要将订金交到过户公司,并在合同规定的时间(一般是7天)内安排房屋检查,阅读检查报告,确认房屋没有建筑结构问题,白蚁,严重霉菌和漏雨等问题。目前在购买银行法拍屋时,银行普遍要求使用无修理条款的合同(AS-IS CONTRACT),这种合同规定卖方不会对房屋进行任何修理,房屋就按现在的状况成交,但是您有权利在合同规定的检查期限内检查房屋,如果不满意房屋的状况,可以取消合同,要回订金,所以,一定要在检查房屋期限内,用书面的形式通知卖方,是否继续购买,否则会损失订金。如果使用的是普通合同,当然可以按照合同要求卖方在过户前修理检查报告中列出来的问题。
5.过户:在佛罗里达奥兰多地区,习惯上过户手续一般由卖方选择的过户公司办理。您可以要求选择自己信任的过户公司,但这样做买方就要承担本应由卖方承担的购买产权保险费用。您需要做的就是办理贷款申请,购买房屋保险,阅读过户文件,签字,将首付款用电汇或现金支票的形式交到到过户公司。