Most foreign buyers of US property choose between two structures: holding title personally, or through a US LLC. The decision is usually framed as a question of liability. The larger consideration, and the one more often missed, is estate tax — because a non-resident holding US real property in their own name has a federal estate tax exemption historically set at US$ 60,000, against millions for a US person.
What personal ownership looks like
Buying in your own name is simpler and cheaper. There is no entity to form, no annual filing for the entity, no registered agent to pay. For a single property bought for personal use and held conservatively, it can be entirely adequate.
Three exposures come with it. Liability from the property attaches to you personally. The asset sits in your name for probate purposes in a foreign jurisdiction. And the estate tax exemption that applies is the non-resident one, not the resident one.
A US citizen or resident has a federal estate tax exemption in the millions. A non-resident alien holding US-situs assets has had an exemption of US$ 60,000, with rates above it reaching the 40% band. US real property is US-situs.
What an LLC changes
A US limited liability company holds the title; you hold the membership interest. Liability arising from the property is, in principle, contained within the entity. Transferring ownership later means transferring membership interests rather than re-deeding property, which simplifies succession and partial sales.
A single-member LLC is normally disregarded for US income tax, so rental income flows to you and is reported as if you held the property directly. The structure does not, by itself, reduce income tax.
Whether it changes the estate tax position depends on how the entity is structured and on treaty position. A single-member LLC alone is frequently not sufficient to remove US-situs treatment — which is precisely why this question belongs with a cross-border adviser rather than with a sales brochure.
What an LLC costs
Formation in Florida involves a state filing fee, plus a registered agent — an annual cost. There is an annual report to file with the state. Most lenders will finance a property held in an LLC, though terms and documentation differ from personal borrowing, and some require personal guarantees from the members.
Against those costs sit the liability containment and the succession flexibility. For a single modest property the arithmetic can favour personal title; for multiple properties, or where heirs are a live consideration, it usually does not.
The question that actually decides it
Not "which is better" but "what happens to this asset if I die holding it". If the answer involves heirs in another country facing a US federal estate tax bill on a property they cannot readily sell, personal title has a cost that does not appear in any closing statement.
That is the comparison worth making. Everything else — the formation fee, the registered agent, the annual report — is small by comparison.
A caution on how this is sold
Structuring is routinely oversold. An LLC is not a tax shelter, does not reduce US income tax by itself, does not confer immigration status and does not automatically solve the estate tax exposure. Anyone presenting it as a solution to all four is describing something that does not exist.
It is a liability and succession tool with real but bounded benefits, and real annual costs. Decide it with a cross-border CPA who knows both your home jurisdiction and the US side.
Sources
- IRS — estate tax for nonresidents not citizens of the US
- IRS — limited liability company (LLC)
- IRS — FIRPTA withholding
General information, not tax or legal advice. Outcomes depend on residence, treaty position and structure. Confirm with a cross-border CPA and attorney before transacting.
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