Foreign investment in US real estate is increasing even as political strife grows
Ongoing political and geopolitical turmoil is continuing, but foreign investment in US real estate continues to increase. One industry executive believes that investors see the US as a safe market, making it a target for foreign investors looking to build generational wealth.
Yuval Golan (pictured top), founder and CEO of Waltz, said that despite domestic and international tensions, investment in US real estate is still in high demand internationally, especially in more affordable markets.
“Every time you read of any instability in a developed or developing country, people will buy hard assets,” Golan told Mortgage Professional America. “What are the hard assets? Us, real estate and gold.”
Golan said the clients they typically work with are either people who don’t live in the United States but want to invest in real estate there, or people who the Trump administration would likely see as valuable to the national economy.
“The type of client profile, they're permanent (residents) and top performers in the US, which is 20%,” Golan said. “But 80% of them are sophisticated investors. They don't live in the US. They're not worried about it. And it's not the typical person who would get deported. These are lawyers and people who, if they were Americans or US-based, would have an 800 or 850 credit score.
“It's people with money. So, if you remember, President Trump announced the golden visa rule. These people would be eligible for 0-1A visas, golden visa, or E-1 visas.”
Because they are investing money in the US, they likely wouldn’t be concerned with potential United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids or deportations.
“These are the immigrants that America wants to have, because they produce for the economy,” he said. “They enhance the GDP. They create places for Americans to live in. Some people can't afford a home, but once you have an investor who buys a home, a person can afford to rent a home.”
Largest investments coming in Ohio, Florida, Texas
Waltz's data from foreign investor transactions show that they are interested in more affordable markets, such as Ohio, Florida and Texas.
Investors from different countries were interested in different states. The state of Florida was favored by 85% of Brazilian and 60% of Colombian investors. Texas was picked by 83% of Mexican investors. Ohio and Florida were the choices of Canadian and Israeli investors, at around a 40% rate.
Golan said before interest rates rose, investors could buy higher-priced houses throughout the United States and know their payments would be covered by tenants.
“When interest rates were very low, our buyers looked for investment opportunities,” Golan said. “If you invest in real estate, you would like your tenant to pay most, if not all, of your principal, interest, taxes, insurance and HOA. So, when you have a very low interest rate, you could buy up to a $700,000 property. That would pay for itself. But when the interest is 7% to 8%, the maximum you could buy is anywhere between $250,000 to $500,000 if you want to max out your LTV.”
With higher property values and interest rates, investors turned to places where they could still find good properties for a more reasonable price.
“So, the investors are saying, ‘Let me find properties that are $150,000 to $500,000,’” he said. “If that's a long-term rental with returns of 8% to 10% a year, you can get that in places like Ohio and Texas, as well as in Florida, on the outskirts, not in Miami. And they look at those affordable markets while investing in USD, because it's the world's dominant currency that we believe in and are building our financial future.”
Golan said some investors are interested in buying properties in the United States to relocate or to house students studying in American schools. If Waltz can’t help them, it refers them to partners who can help them with those loans.
“People still are very interested in buying, moving to the US, being educated in the US, investing in the US, sending their kids to the US,” Golan said. “I was based in China, and a lot of parents, what they do is they buy a 2-, 3-, or 4-bedroom for their kid who's going to go to high school or university, and then they rent out the other rooms to their classmates. This is how they pay their monthly fees.”
Pandemic technology boom helped foreign investors
Getting a foreign investment loan used to be far more difficult. However, when online mortgage technologies became the norm during the pandemic, it helped foreign investors, who in some cases never needed to step foot inside the country to buy property.
Golan said these systems made a huge difference for people like him, who were born and lived outside the United States.
“If you have a high credit score, the system is built for you,” Golan said. “But us, we don't have any credit score at all, and we come with a weird passport or a weird language, but we might be working for the same journal in Israel that has a different name, or we work for Google, or we are an investment banker or a lawyer, but the regulators look at us really weird.”
One of the biggest challenges lenders face when dealing with foreign customers is the regulations put in place to avoid any illegal activities. Waltz helps both foreign and domestic customers obtain all of the required documentation to conduct business in the United States.
George Missiha, a mortgage broker for GM Brokerage Home Loans, advocates for brokers to learn second languages to better serve diverse communities, noting many immigrants face challenges with complex mortgage language. https://t.co/v2pqas0OEC
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) June 10, 2025
“They’re afraid of anti-money laundering, and they're afraid of KYC, know your customer,” Golan said. “So I said, okay, let's speak to all these agencies. Let's see all the services these people need, like a bank, entity, formation, foreign exchange and a loan, and just map this out so everyone feels comfortable about it. We’ll take all the friction from the clients and our partners to streamline their entire process into one.”
Waltz is also a direct originator who provides debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans to clients. If all goes well, they can close clients remotely. He said the streamlining of the process has been so successful that domestic customers have also started using Waltz for mortgage investment loans.
He said that even in the aftermath of the 2008 housing crisis, foreign investors were still ready to invest in the country. With interest rates still considerably lower than in other countries, especially in Latin America, Golan said foreign investment will continue to be strong despite geopolitical issues.
“Foreigners truly believe in America,” he said. “In 2009, when the market crashed, foreigners invested in America because we believed in America. America is a blue-chip market, and whenever America fails, the entire world fails. So, that means everything is going to fail. That makes sense. They love investing in America, and they keep on investing in America even during times of turmoil and uncertainty.”
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