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United States · USD

Real estatein the United States

There is no US-wide property code. A New York co-op board, a Miami condo insurance file and an Austin property-tax bill are three different machines wearing one flag. Title insurance is normal; a continental notaire is not. sivrce opens six metros — New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin and Seattle — because that is where the foreign-buyer questions actually land.

MiamiLos AngelesChicagoAustinSeattle
County records path
HOA & insurance checked
3D map
50state codes — there is no one US market
Titleinsurance, not a notary, protects the buyer
FIRPTAwithholding hits foreign sellers, not buyers
No SSNneeded to take title as a foreign buyer
What a purchase really costs

$750,000 home in New York

Local transfer tax, buyer share (1%)
$7,500
Owner's title insurance (≈0.5%)
$3,750
Lender, escrow & appraisal (≈1%)
$7,500
Attorney, recording & prepaids (≈0.3%)
$2,250
Cash needed at closing
$771,000

≈ +2.8% over the price. There is no national property code. Transfer tax is a city and county question — New York adds a buyer mansion tax above $1m, Chicago charges the buyer 0.75%, Texas charges nothing and takes it back in annual property tax. Since the 2024 NAR settlement, buyer-agent compensation is negotiated in writing rather than assumed from the listing.

Rentals run on rules

The rent side, in three lines

  • Deposit caps, notice periods and eviction timelines are state law — one to two months is common, but New York and Florida are not the same statute.
  • Rent stabilization is local: New York City has it, Miami and Austin sit under state preemption against it.
  • Insurance is the variable that reprices a building — Florida wind and flood can move faster than the asking price.

HOA and condo documents are the yield. Read the reserve study and the special-assessment history before the inspection.

Cities

Six metros, six closing customs

The buyer-side transfer tax is the fastest way to see how local this market is: 1%+ in Manhattan, 0.75% in Chicago, zero in Austin and Seattle where the seller pays instead.

Foreign buyers can hold fee simple everywhere on this list, with no federal restriction and no Social Security number required to take title. FIRPTA withholds on foreign sellers, not on buyers. Buyer-agent compensation is negotiated in writing since the 2024 NAR settlement rather than assumed from the listing.

Transfer tax is a city question. New York adds a buyer-side mansion tax above $1m; Chicago charges the buyer 0.75%; Texas charges nothing and collects it back annually in one of the highest effective property-tax rates in the country. Seattle and Los Angeles put the transfer tax on the seller instead.

HOA and condo documents are the yield, and insurance is the variable that reprices a building overnight — Florida wind and flood, California wildfire and the FAIR Plan. Do not import Georgian cadastre habits: the US runs on county records and title plants.

FAQ

Do I need a US Social Security number to buy?
No. You need a closing attorney or title company, a way to wire cleared funds, and an ITIN later if you rent the property out. The deed does not require an SSN.
Which costs actually hit the buyer?
Title insurance, lender and escrow fees, recording and prepaids — roughly 1.5–2% — plus whatever transfer tax your city puts on the buyer side. The seller's costs, including the brokerage fee, are a separate ledger.
Is this Zillow for the whole country?
No. It is a sivrce country hub with unique per-metro copy. The live Georgian catalog stays on sivrce.ge.

All markets: sivrce.com · Georgia marketplace: sivrce.ge · Prices and availability are published only when a verified listing exists. Market currency: USD.