Investing in French Real Estate from the United States
You live in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Miami. Your income is in dollars, your daily life is American, but your assets are something you want to keep anchored in France. Preparing a return, securing a property for your children, building savings in euros away from the volatility of financial markets: the reasons French nationals and French-speaking residents of the United States invest in French property are precise and strategic.
The six-to-nine-hour time difference depending on your coast, the impossibility of visiting a property quickly, and the banking constraints linked to US tax status are concrete realities, but they are not insurmountable obstacles. For more than twenty years, Homelike Home has been supporting expatriates and international buyers who purchase in France from abroad, with a tailored search mandate, in-person pre-visits, detailed reports and video calls scheduled around your planning constraints. You stay in the United States; we handle the ground work.
Here is what you need to understand in order to invest from the United States in an effective and secure way.
Why invest in French real estate when you live in the United States
The American real estate market is dynamic but expensive, with mortgage rates that have shifted significantly in recent years and prices in major cities that make ownership increasingly difficult. In this context, France offers a serious wealth-building alternative: a regulated market, solid legal protection, and rental demand that is structurally higher than supply in major cities.
Regional metropolises like Lyon and Marseille allow you to target gross rental yields of between 4.5% and 6%, with vacancy rates often below 1.5% in high-demand zones. Paris delivers a more contained gross return of around 3 to 3.5%, but with long-term capital appreciation that is hard to dispute.
Your income is in dollars. Building a portfolio in euros represents genuine currency diversification and a natural hedge against exchange rate volatility. If your life plan includes a return to France in the medium or long term, or if you want your children to have somewhere to live during their studies in France, real estate is the most concrete tool available for building that foundation.
Franco-American taxation: the most important point to anticipate
This is without doubt the most specific complexity for US-based residents, and it must not be overlooked. As with investing in French real estate from Dubai or from other countries, the tax framework requires careful upfront planning.
A more demanding tax situation than in most countries
Unlike residents of many other countries, American citizens and green card holders are taxed by the United States on their worldwide income, regardless of where they actually live. This means your French rental income must be declared both in France and in the United States. The Franco-American tax treaty provides mechanisms to prevent effective double taxation, primarily through a foreign tax credit, but the dual filing obligation remains and requires guidance from a tax advisor familiar with both systems.
On top of this comes the FBAR obligation (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) if you hold one or more French bank accounts whose combined balance exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year. Non-compliance exposes you to significant penalties.
The LMNP scheme from the United States: still relevant, but needs framing
The non-professional furnished rental status (LMNP) under the réel tax regime remains one of the most effective tools for reducing your taxable base in France. The accounting depreciation of the property, works and furnishings brings French taxable income to zero in the majority of cases. However, this outcome must be coordinated with your American return, where depreciation rules differ. A bicultural accountant is essential to optimise the structure on both sides of the Atlantic.
Bare ownership (nue-propriété): a strategy particularly suited to US residents
Buying in démembrement is of particular interest to US residents who want to avoid any declaratory complexity in France. By transferring the usufruct to an institutional lessor for fifteen years, you receive no rental income during that entire period: there is therefore nothing to declare in France or the United States in relation to this asset. You buy at a discount of 30 to 40% on the market price and recover full ownership of an appreciated property at the end of the period. It is a clean wealth accumulation strategy with no intermediate tax friction.
Which investment strategy to prioritise from the United States
Long-term furnished rental (LMNP)
This is the most common strategy for expatriates seeking to generate regular rental income. A well-located furnished apartment in a university city or a dynamic metropolis lets easily, with a very favourable French tax treatment thanks to depreciation. The condition is to delegate property management entirely to a professional on the ground. This delegation is non-negotiable from the United States: you cannot manage rental emergencies from a time zone nine hours away.
Unfurnished letting should be avoided. Rental income is taxed in France at a minimum rate of 20%, to which social levies of 17.2% are added, with no depreciation allowance. The gap with LMNP is significant over a ten-year horizon.
Off-plan new build (VEFA)
Buying off-plan suits profiles who want to minimise remote management constraints. The ten-year structural guarantee, the absence of immediate renovation works and recent construction standards reduce uncertainty during the first years. Notary fees are lower than for existing properties. The drawback is a slightly lower gross yield and delivery timelines that need to be factored into your planning.
Older properties with renovation potential
This is the strategy with the highest appreciation potential, particularly in markets where renovated properties resell at a significant premium. It also allows you to optimise LMNP depreciation by incorporating the cost of works. It is, however, the most demanding to manage from the United States: without a property hunter in France or a delegated project manager present on site, the risks of cost overruns are significant. Professional local support is non-negotiable here, from property selection through to works completion.
SCPIs: entering the market without any management burden
SCPIs (French real estate investment trusts) allow you to invest in French real estate with an accessible entry ticket, no direct management and immediate diversification across several hundred assets. Returns run around 4 to 5% net, paid quarterly. Be aware, however, that SCPIs also carry a Franco-American tax dimension. Prior advice from an expert in both systems is recommended before subscribing.
Bare ownership
As mentioned above, this is the cleanest strategy from a tax standpoint for a US resident. No management, no income to declare for fifteen years, and long-term wealth accumulation with an attractive entry discount. Ideal for high-income profiles who do not need immediate liquidity on the French side.
Homelike Home, your point of contact in France
For more than twenty years, Homelike Home has been supporting non-resident buyers who want to invest in France without being on the ground. We work exclusively on your behalf, as a search agent, with no ties whatsoever to sellers or developers. Learn more about our end-to-end process works in practice.
Here is how a project from the United States unfolds. We frame your project together, taking into account your actual objectives: rental return, preparing a return to France, a property available for your children, or simply building a euro-denominated portfolio. We then carry out physical visits on your behalf and send you comprehensive reports with photos, videos and our critical analysis of each property. We organise video calls on time slots compatible with your time zone so you can picture yourself in the property and ask your questions. When a property fits, we negotiate the price in your name. The deed can be signed by proxy at the notary’s office, with no need to cross the Atlantic.
We operate across the whole of France, with property hunters in every major city in our network: Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Nantes and beyond.
Contact our team to start a first no-commitment conversation, at a time that works for you.
