Foreign nationals buying US investment property usually discover their options the hard way, one rejection at a time. It helps to see the whole landscape first. There are four realistic ways to finance a US investment property as a non-US investor, and they differ sharply on the three things that matter: whether you get the same terms a US borrower would, how fast you can close, and whether the lender actually understands the cross-border path.
Here is how the four options compare, and where a business-purpose broker fluent in both markets fits.
Your four realistic options, compared
- US retail and private banks: built for borrowers with a US credit file, US income, and a US banking relationship. A foreign national with none of those is usually declined outright, or told to place a large deposit and wait months. Term parity is irrelevant because the answer is typically no.
- Local US investment lenders: they fund US-based investors on business-purpose terms well, but most have never structured a deal for an overseas borrower. You hit friction on US LLC formation, source-of-funds documentation, and remote closing, and the process stalls even when the deal is sound.
- Region-specific cross-border specialists: lenders and brokers focused on a particular home market (for example an Asia-focused desk) can be strong inside that market, but they are a poor fit for an investor in a different region, with the wrong time zone, the wrong banking relationships, and a process tuned to someone else.
- A business-purpose broker fluent in both markets: understands the US investment-lending side and the investor's home market, structures the loan to a US LLC, qualifies on the asset rather than US credit, and guides the LLC, banking, and source-of-funds steps. This is the option that delivers term parity and speed for a cross-border investor.
The three tests that separate them
- Term parity: do you get the same pricing and leverage a US borrower would on the same property, with no foreign-national rate premium and no reduced loan-to-value? Only options three and four can offer this, and only option four reliably offers it to an investor outside the specialist's home region.
- Speed: can you get a term sheet in 24 to 48 hours and close in roughly two weeks? Banks cannot; local lenders stall on cross-border steps; the right specialist broker can.
- Cross-border fit: does the lender understand US LLC formation, EIN, US banking, and source-of-funds for your specific home market, in your time zone? This is where a Europe-fluent broker beats both a US-only lender and an Asia-focused desk for a European or transatlantic investor.
Where Passy Capital fits
Passy Capital is the fourth option, built specifically for European and international investors buying US property.
- Same terms as a US borrower: no foreign-national rate penalty and no degraded leverage, with loan-to-value up to roughly 75 to 80 percent depending on the product and asset.
- Asset-based and business-purpose: the loan is made to a US LLC and qualified on the property and your liquidity, with no US credit score or US income documents required.
- A European founder who knows the process on both sides, so the LLC, banking, and source-of-funds steps are guided rather than left to you, in a compatible time zone.
- Fast: a clean file gets a term sheet in 24 to 48 hours and can close in roughly two weeks. Residential core of $1M to $5M across DSCR, bridge, fix-and-flip, and renovation, with larger deals placed case-by-case through a capital-partner network.
Bottom line
If you are a European or international investor, the bank will likely say no, a US-only lender will struggle with the cross-border structure, and a desk focused on another region will not be tuned to you. The option that funds you on the same terms as a US borrower, fast, is a business-purpose broker fluent in both markets. That is what Passy Capital was built to be.