Information For Canadian Buyers
Investing in a second home at Sun City Shadow Hills, or anywhere in the desert is fairly simple for a Canadian citizen. Our goal is to make the process simple and straightforward for our clients. We regularly assist Canadian buyers in finding excellent real estate opportunities.
Canadian buyers generally don’t need a U.S. Social Security number, just a valid passport. There are a few forms that we will help you complete, but the process overall is straightforward and fairly simple. An attorney is usually not needed, since our team is trained to process all the escrow papers. If you plan to rent your local property, producing U.S. income, you will need to obtain a U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) from the United States IRS, which can be done online. The ITIN is used for reporting of income purposes only.
Home Owners Association Compared To Strata Ownership
A Home Owners Association (HOA) is similar to Canadian Strata's. At Sun City Shadow Hills your monthly HOA dues include use of the community clubhouses, fitness facilities, dining areas, tennis, clubs and discounted golf. Sun City Shadow Hills HOA dues also include gated security and maintenance of community common area landscape.
Here's What Numerous Canadians Are Taking Advantage Of:
- Historically low real estate prices in the United States
- A perfect sunbelt location for your dream home away from home
- The best inventory selection of homes and condos in many years
- A strong resort rental market for owners wishing to rent their property
- A strong Canadian Dollar
- No GST or HST sales taxes on real estate transactions or agent services
- There is no Realtor fee when you buy a property as the seller pays this service fee
- The desert cities of La Quinta, Palm Desert and Indian Wells offer discounted golf and social programs when you own property or get a resident card in those cities
Property Taxes In The Palm Springs Area
Annual property taxes in Riverside County are set at a rate of 1.25% of the appraised value of the property. The new appraised value will be set at your purchase price, even if the previous value was higher. Annual property taxes are divided into two payments and paid semi-annually. If you are purchasing a property via a loan you can request that your lender add the property taxes to your loan amount each month (called impounding taxes) with the lender then paying the property taxes for you.
Some communities in the desert may also add a supplemental tax called Mello-Roos, which funds new infrastructure for the communities. Sun City Shadow Hills in Indio is not in a Mello-Roos area. At the time of this writing the only supplemental tax for Sun City Shadow Hills is an additional $400 annual property tax that Indio voters approved to provide additional support to their Fire, Police and public safety services.
Canadian Buyer Loan Programs
Mortgages are available here for Canadian buyers. In fact, financing your Sun City Shadow Hills home might just be a good option during times when your bank accounts don’t receive good interest rate returns.
When financing, a buyer will just need to establish a U.S. bank account before submitting an application. The financed property must also be a second home or investment property – not a primary residence. We have several good mortgage company referrals for Canadian buyer loan programs. Please don't hesitate to call for more information (loan programs are subject to change by lenders).
- No social security number required for Canadians
- No credit scoring – no credit report
- No U.S. residence required
- 50% down payment
- Minimum loan amount of US $200,000
- Full documentation
- No pre-payment penalty for early payoff
- Second home only
