BreakThru Realty

Closing on a Florida Home From Abroad: Signing, Wiring and the Steps in Between

Notaries, consulates, online signing, powers of attorney and the wire that must go to the right account

The closing is the part of a Florida purchase that worries buyers abroad most, and it is the part the system handles best. Florida contracts are written with dates rather than meetings, the title company runs the closing rather than a lawyer in a room, and the law allows a buyer to sign from almost anywhere. What remains is sequence and care: the right documents signed in the right way, funds that arrive on time from an account the title company recognizes, and a few habits that keep your money safe from the fraud that targets wires. This page walks through it in order.

BreakThru Realty · Founder and Broker of Record: Tyson E. Sam, Florida License 3565210

Published October 24, 2026 · Reviewed by Tyson E. Sam, Founder and Broker of Record

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad

Find My Florida Home

Your first step: BreakThru International Buyer Plan

Buying in Florida From Another Country? Settle the Rules, the Money and the Paperwork Before You Choose a Home

Foreign citizens buy South Florida homes every day, and the ones who do it well settle three things first: which rules reach them, how the money will arrive and what they can sign from home. The plan starts with a consultation in your language about how you will use the home and how you will pay, and ends with a shortlist, a carrying cost review in United States dollars, and a closing you can complete without a second flight.

What you receive

  • A consultation in English or Spanish, with an interpreter arranged for Portuguese or French, about how you will use the home and how you will pay
  • A plain summary of the rules that reach a buyer from your country: the Florida ownership law, the tax identification you will need, and FIRPTA when you sell
  • A shortlist of homes and buildings whose rules allow your plans, including seasonal use and renting it out
  • A carrying cost review in United States dollars: property tax without homestead, insurance, flood, association dues and the services that run while you are away
  • Introductions to the professionals a foreign buyer needs: a lender who writes foreign national loans, a cross border tax adviser, an attorney and a title company that closes with buyers abroad
  • A tour and closing plan: live video tours now, one visit scheduled around the finalists, and the signing arranged for where you live

What happens next

  1. Tell us where you live, where you are looking, your budget in United States dollars, how you expect to pay and the language you prefer.
  2. A BreakThru agent replies within one business day to schedule your consultation.
  3. After the consultation, your agent prepares the rules summary, the shortlist and the carrying cost review, and introduces the professionals you need.
  4. You tour by video or in person when you are ready, and the closing is arranged around where you are.

Free and without obligation. Nothing you tell us is shared with a seller, and you sign a buyer agreement only when you are ready to tour.

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad · Find My Florida Home

How does a foreign buyer close on a Florida home without flying in? The documents are signed before a notary abroad with an apostille, at a United States consulate, in a remote online notarization session where the title company and lender accept it, or by a power of attorney granted to someone in Florida. Funds are wired in dollars to the title company's escrow account, confirmed by telephone before every wire.

The Contract and the Deposit

A Florida purchase begins with a written offer on a standard contract form that the seller accepts, counters or declines, and the signed contract sets every later date: the deposit, the inspection period, the financing deadline, the title review and the closing day. The deposit is wired to the escrow account of the title company or the attorney named in the contract within days of signing, so the account and the wiring instructions should be confirmed by telephone with the title company before any money moves. Electronic signature on the contract itself is routine and valid; the notarized documents come later, at closing.

The Inspection Period Done at a Distance

The contract gives you a number of days to inspect the home and decide whether to proceed, renegotiate or walk away with the deposit returned. Your agent attends the inspection with you on a video call so you can ask the inspector questions as they work, and the written report arrives the same day or the next. For a condominium the period is also when the association documents, the budget, the reserve study and any inspection reports are read, and when the association's own approval of you as a buyer begins. Insurance quotes for the actual address are requested in this window, because a surprise there is a reason to renegotiate before the period ends.

Signing: Notary, Consulate, Online or Power of Attorney

The deed is signed by the seller; the buyer signs the closing statement, the affidavits and, if there is a loan, the note and the mortgage, which must be notarized. A buyer abroad has four ways to do that. A notary in your country can notarize, with an apostille or consular authentication attached so the document is accepted here. A United States embassy or consulate can notarize by appointment. Florida permits remote online notarization, where a Florida notary verifies your identity and witnesses your signature over an audio and video session, if the title company and the lender accept it. Or you can grant a power of attorney to someone in Florida, prepared by the attorney in advance, who signs for you at the table.

Moving the Money

Closing funds are wired to the title company's escrow account, in United States dollars, and must be received before the closing day rather than on it, because international wires can take days and arrive in pieces. Plan the currency conversion with your bank or a currency specialist well ahead, since the amount is large and the rate moves. Some countries limit how much money may leave or require declarations, and some banks hold large outgoing wires for review; your bank tells you the rules, and the title company tells you the exact amount after the closing statement is final. A lender's funds, if any, arrive separately from the lender.

Wire Fraud and How to Avoid It

Criminals target real estate closings by sending emails that look like they come from the title company or the agent, with new wiring instructions. The instructions are the fraud. Confirm the account by calling the title company on a number you already have, never on a number in the email, before every wire, and treat any change to instructions as false until confirmed by voice. Never send funds to an agent, a seller or an individual, only to the escrow account named in the contract. A wire sent to a fraudulent account is rarely recovered, which is why this short section is the most important one on the page.

After Closing: Keys, Records and Rent

When the title company has every signature and every dollar, it records the deed with the county, disburses the funds and releases the keys, which your agent collects and holds until you arrive or hands to your home watch service or property manager. Keep the closing statement, the deed and the title policy with your tax records; the foreign owner who sells one day needs them, and the FIRPTA calculation starts from the price on that statement. If the home will be rented, the property manager and the association approval should be arranged before closing so the home earns from the first month rather than the third.

How BreakThru Runs a Remote Closing

Your agent sets the contract dates with the time zones and the courier times in mind, confirms with the title company at the start how you will sign, and arranges the attorney, the lender and the association approval on one calendar. We close with title companies that handle buyers abroad routinely and that will take a verification call at an hour that suits your country. Every wire is confirmed by voice. Nothing about a closing from abroad is exotic to a title company that does them; the work is in sequencing it so no date slips because a document was in the wrong country on the wrong day.

Questions you may be asking

Can a foreigner even buy property in Florida?
Yes. Citizenship and residency are not required to own real estate in the United States, and a foreign owner has the same property rights as anyone else. One Florida law restricts purchases by people domiciled in a short list of countries, and the plan tells you plainly whether it reaches you.
We do not have United States credit or a bank account.
Most international buyers start that way. Lenders who write foreign national loans work from documents in your home country rather than a United States credit file, and a bank account and a taxpayer identification number can be opened as part of the process. Consult a mortgage lender early; many buyers simply pay cash instead.
We cannot travel for every step.
You should not have to. Your agent tours homes on live video, attends the inspection with you on the line, and the closing documents can be signed abroad before a notary, at a United States consulate, by remote online notarization where the title company allows it, or by a power of attorney.
What about taxes when we sell one day?
FIRPTA requires the buyer of a home from a foreign seller to withhold a share of the price for the IRS, as a deposit against the tax on the gain. There are exceptions and a certificate that can reduce it. The plan explains it in outline; a tax adviser who handles nonresident owners plans it with you before you buy.
We would rather do this in our own language.
Then we will. Spanish speaking agents are on staff, and for Portuguese or French an interpreter joins the consultation and the tours. The contracts are in English, as Florida law and the title company require, and your attorney explains them in your language.

Plan My Florida Purchase From Abroad

Tell us where you live, where in South Florida you are looking, how you expect to pay and the language you prefer. A BreakThru agent replies within one business day to schedule your consultation, in English or Spanish, with an interpreter arranged for Portuguese or French.

Call or email the brokerage directly: (786) 914-1017 · sales@breakthrurealty.com

Questions International Buyers Ask

Do I have to be in Florida to close?
No. A buyer can sign before a notary in their own country with an apostille or consular authentication, at a United States embassy or consulate, through a remote online notarization session where the title company and lender accept it, or by granting a power of attorney to someone in Florida. Funds are wired to the title company's escrow account.
What is remote online notarization?
A method Florida law permits in which a Florida notary verifies your identity and witnesses your signature over a recorded audio and video session, from wherever you are. The title company and, for a financed purchase, the lender must accept it for your documents. Where they do, it replaces the trip to a consulate.
How do I send the money safely?
Wire it only to the title company's escrow account named in the contract, after confirming the account by telephone on a number you already have, and treat any email changing the instructions as fraud until confirmed by voice. Send it days before closing, because international wires can take time. Never wire funds to an agent, a seller or an individual.
Can someone sign for me?
Yes, under a power of attorney prepared by the attorney in advance and executed the way the title company requires, which usually means notarized and, if signed abroad, authenticated. The person you appoint signs the closing documents in Florida on your behalf. Lenders have their own rules about powers of attorney, so ask early if there is a loan.
What happens if a date in the contract slips because I am abroad?
Dates in a Florida contract matter: missing the financing deadline or the closing day can put the deposit at risk. The answer is to set realistic dates from the start, allowing for couriers, time zones and the lender's timeline, and to amend the contract in writing if something changes. Your agent manages that calendar with the title company.

The Service

Rules, Taxes and Money

Buying From Your Country

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