Bitcoin Forum

Can a foreigner buy a house in USA with bitcoins?

I am aware of that the foreigners can buy a house from USA and there isn't any restrictions. But how about bitcoins?

I know if the seller accepts it there won't be a problem but how about the government? Are they ok with that?

Normally, FED controls/monitors every USD transaction all around the world and they check if the money is clean (legally obtained) or dirty (terrorism, tax evasion, drug dealing etc) . Especially if you send the money to USA. Since they won't be able to control bitcoin transactions, how would they know if you are a drug dealer or a legal citizen in your country? Or do they  even care?

 The fed doesn't control every USD transaction. Not normally, not ever. 

What about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_Finance_Tracking_Program

I would park my money outside of America if you are thinking about real estate investing outside your said Country.
The current set up would make most people antsy about investing,due to the protectionist vibe coming out of the Trump camp.
The rules could change on a dime and you would be out of pocket.
Adding the bitcoin dynamic and you come across as a super sketchy individual to most average people. Meaning you are a foreigner trying to use bitcoin and it would set off multiple red flags for you. My guess is this is not the best option for you and it would most likely look like you are using the house to gain access to USD and circumventing the normal route of transaction. Like parking the bitcoin in a house and then pulling it into a bank later,you would be bypassing any scrutiny of bringing a large sum into the Country.

Honestly think its more headache than its worth and due to the Chinese property buying lately I expect things to get clamped down even harder in the future to restrict foreign ownership that is used to hide money or gain citizenship in the future.

I am a Trump supporter anyways. (He expressed himself clearly that he is only against illegal immigrants, not legal ones. I am counting on that.) I won't feel like a stranger, i hope. Unless they want to burn me :D Till they change the rules about the foreigner real estate buyers, i will consider buying a house from USA, and save it for my future holidays in my retirement days.

I think their will be legal paper work of that country before proceeding to buy any real estate property as every country has their own legal status of buying real estate, so if you follow all that procedures then you wont get any problem

What you said is totally true and i think anyone can buy any property from USA with all legal procedures but some country have their rules through which no one is owning the property but they are all government and only users can enjoy the property but cannot sale or claim the profit

Sometimes people say "the Fed" meaning the US Federal Government, but "the Fed" is only the Federal Reserve.
So xhomerx10 is correct in his original answer in this context.

If your question is that all financial transactions from outside the US is monitored and checked with other
international financial systems, then the answer is yes. In theory, if you have money in a bank account that is
associated with illegal activity and they have flagged it as such and then you attempt to transfer it overseas to
the US, it could be frozen and seized. If your funds are not flagged currently, but are in the future, the US will
then also freeze and seize within the US banking system.

If you have converted those "illegal" funds into bitcoin within your own country and then mixed those coins good
enough that the original links have been entirely disconnected, and then you transfer those bitcoins to a US property
owner for the purpose of purchasing their property, everything in theory should be fine as long as those coins future
use will be deemed as "clean" by regulated exchanges or other regulated wallets.

If the home seller learns later that their coins were dirty and unusable or becomes frozen in exchanges or etc, they
would be able to open a legal action against you and your new property due to fraud and other counts. If they win,
they will likely get their property back and you will be in a US jail and then ultimately deported back to the country
that has determined you participated with or in the original crime that allowed you to get the "illegal funds" and they
will charge and prosecute you there.

Ultimately, the US government will not care as long as you are not breaking any laws or participating in criminal activity.
The issue with bitcoins and physical property sales is whether those coins are bad or dirty and you transferred that
liability knowingly and whether the original property owner has remedies. If the coins are transferred for example, from
your coinbase account to the home sellers coinbase account, that would somewhat satisfy some of the issues since the
home seller could assume that coinbase checked those coins and determined they were clean before allowing them to be
transferred from your coinbase account.

Other issues to consider are the contract/agreement terms and the terms of sale for the property that needs to
incorporate bitcoin clauses and elaborations to protect all parties. It may be your only protection if a dispute arises.

Yes, purchasing a house in the USA with bitcoin is fine. Bitcoin is the most direct way to purchase property in the USA for international buyers. As consumer awareness grows it will likely become the standard for real estate transactions. We actually offer consulting and intermediary services for this exact scenario. You are on the right track OP.

You may be able to find one or two sellers in the entire country that would accept a Bitcoin payment.
But for the most part, you are still going to have to convert your BTC to fiat and pay that way.

Maybe someone has an idea for a business- paying for real estate with Bitcoin?

Anyone can buy a house in the US, but that may change your right to a visa. You go there with a tourist visa, you buy a house and suddenly you're not a tourist any longer. It's OK if you're over 50, as they will think it's a second home, but you have to be cautious.

As far as I know they can buy house before I just don't know with the new administration of Donald Trump but it seems he is just mad at those illegal migrants. So, if you have legal papers and migration in the USA then just talk to the owner or a seller if he do accepts bitcoin but if not then just teach him how to use bitcoin or simply convert your bitcoins into fiat.

They don't control or monitor every USD transaction, at all. Otherwise you wouldn't see crime with it. They just tax people for the most part, to be honest.

As for money entering the USA, there are some laws but they don't really worry all that much from what I know. They will be able to figure out you bought a house and they will tax the recipient. The only issue I could see stemming from this would be convincing the banks that you can buy it.

I think I heard of a person in America that advertised to sell a house for bitcoins. I don't know if he found a buyer but it seemed like a good idea.

We do. Search real estate in the Announcement forum.

i dont think foreigners will buy house in usa  now cause of the new policies going to implement on the illegal immigrants but not the legal ones .well i would suggest u to save the money for  the future during ur retirement so that u can buy a house at that time nd leave a happy life . kudoos :)

As of current date Bitcoin is not a usa approved currency. So buying in it is not legal at all. Secondly a court of USA had rejected it, so buying it in btc will only get you more legal problems. Plus since btc is not accounted for you could have the tax authorities coming down on you hard in USA and your country. Try and get your btc changed to usd. Find a way to bring it in your books, legal way of course and then go for it. Why create so many problems.

OP, be careful. I am pretty sure this will ring some warning bells, making the authorities investigate your transaction. There is a case for them to try to prove that you are doing this for money laundering purposes. The safer path is to sell your Bitcoins for USD first then make the purchase.

What transaction? I haven't done anything yet as I don't even own so much coins. I am just asking and collecting informations. It seems nobody has wondered those before. If it alarms some people in USA it is fine I don't care at all. This will force their hand to make a law for bitcoin. And that's good.

I learnt many  valuable  information from everyone above. Especially the tourist visa thing is priceless. Which visa type should i be applying for, if the tourist one isn't an option? Residency permit?

If the origin of the money is traced to crime, the transaction will be cancelled and you will be without a house or property. I would suggest that you buy through regulated exchanges, because they adhere to KYC/AML regulations and suspect transactions will get flagged before the property is bought.

The third party payment processor will also convert the money to fiat, so your seller will not have to deal with Bitcoin. You cannot launder money through Bitcoin, when you buy property, because anonymity is void through these types of transactions. < Too much paperwork and legal matters >

Yes, a foreigner can buy a house in the USA with bitcoin,if the seller agrees to use bitcoin.

But you will have convert some of the bitcoins into fiat to pay for some transaction fees and taxes.

You will have to proove the origin of the bitcoins,i guess.

I dont know where to buy but im sure you can buy a house using your bitcoins in US. If you can weed using bitcoin, im sure you can have house with bitcoin. Just know exactly the location but i know some hotels and restaurants which accepting bitcoin as payment. You can also ask someone to sell their house for bitcoin. Thats a bit easier than searching here.

 Very interesting and even a little sad.  I guess you are never truly free.  All transactions over a set amount are reported in most countries but not to the fed.

I do not live in US which means i have never seen someone buy a house by Bitcoin. I know that bitcoin can buy a lot of things on the internet and now people are trying to develop a system which accepts bitcoin on the outside world. Mostly, people buy small stuff by Bitcoin such as tea, candy, paying tax, fees as well as some smartphones.

But isn't buying a house involves a lot of paper work and then they will see that you are not a citizen and thus have no right to buy a house in the USA? I mean I don't know for sure about the USA but where I live it's impossible to legally buy a house if you are not a citizen.

Well people seems to be buying real estate with bitcoins --> https://www.bitpremier.com/5-real-estate and also http://www.ibtcrea.org/

People are not just buying small things my friend.  ;) --> https://99bitcoins.com/10-most-expensive-items-you-can-buy-with-bitcoins/

Do you know about this one? ---> http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/06/autos/tesla-bitcoin/ ... It blows your mind right.. Bitcoin is Money.  ;D

I don't know the right answer for that, as people here are not normally real estate dealers. However their is a quick fix to your problem if your are really looking to buy a house with Bitcoin, You convert it to USD. Having Bitcoin be converted to Fiat will make you buy a house using your earnings with Bitcoin. Amd also you will have a hard time looking for people who will be accepting bitcoin as a mode of payment for big money transactions that is.

For me personally, I wont want my money outside my country of residence not to talk of United States of all country? With all their scrutiny and laws, I better put my money somewhere else. And if I must, I would rather find a way to bring it in rather than Bitcoin because the next thing I would see is I am now on watchlist of FBI, CIA, Secret Service and host of others.

For anyone interested in reading further on this topic, please visit the link below. It is from the National Association of Realtors:

Can A Person Who Is Not A U.S. Citizen Buy Real Estate? (http://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/can-a-person-who-is-not-a-citizen-buy-real-estate/)

i agree with you sure....

There's no problem in not being a citizen. In some places, it's very common. In Florida, there are buildings and even some neighborhoods where most landowners are foreigners. But owning a house doesn't give you the right to live there permanently, nor to work.

I think this is not a problem, you need to Bitkoiny in real money to buy a house :D