Vacation home in Finland - Non EU Citizen

[SuomenKenraali]

I am quite familiar with Finnish systems, but it is still a bit unclear what would be required to buy a place in Finland as a vacation home being a non EU citizen.. I am aware that I cannot stay longer than 90 days at a time without special approval. But, is there something required of me before purchasing a property? Or should my only concerns be tax related?

Also, if I wanted to later rent out the home in my absence, what would be the legal requirements to do so?

Any help is much appreciated..

[Rip]

No restrictions as such for buying property if you're a foreigner or non-resident. Nobody is forced to sell you, but is also unlikely to refuse your money if you have it available. Like anybody else afterwards, you need to get the title registered and pay taxes (small real estate tax will be annual), [EDIT] pay possible utility bills, see that any building is left in in suitable state winter etc.

If you rent it out then the practicalities are the same as if you were local, just more difficult in practice if you don't live here (an agent can do them for a fee). Without checking I think you'd need to pay the normal local tax for the income and then had to also report it to IRS (which would then decide you'd paid enough already).

[SuomenKenraali]

No kiddin'?
Surprised there's not anything more required. I guess coming from the states one would expect to have to jump through hoops for something like this.
Thank you for the clarification! Excellent!

[SuomenKenraali]

I'd imagine the money would have to already be present or have something arranged with a bank in my country. Couldn't see Finnish bank lending to a foreigner who's not a citizen or permanent resident..

[Rosamunda]

Plenty of Russians have property in Finland these days. A friend of mine who moved to Canada had a big house on the coast in Espoo and sold it to Russians who were not resident in Finland.

I think you're right about the loans. You won't get one from a Finnish bank. And you might not get one from a US bank either on collateral located in Finland, so you might have to put up something else to secure the loan. And don't forget FATCA, you have to declare the rental income in the USA even if you pay tax on it in Finland and the cash never leaves Europe.

[SuomenKenraali]

Very true! These wouldn't be much of a concern, it's of course to be expected.
Hmm.. future plans may be a bit easier than I originally thought!

I think i'll have to look a bit deeper into how exactly the mortgage process would work. Not necessarily the loan, but the payment due each month. I believe the payment system is a bit different than, for example: 30 year fixed mortgage in the states.

[Tiwaz]

Assuming you get loan from bank, they want you to have account with them as well. And agree on interest rate.
From that account, every month on certain date the payment is gone.

You can choose mainly either having fixed duration for loan or fixed montly payments.
Fixed duration has the monthly payment increase or decrease as interests change.
Fixed amount has the duration of loan live according to interest rates.

Some of the loan could be tied to fixed interest, but mostly they are 6-12 month euribor or bank's own interest (usually follows euribor somehow, not as good as euribor).

Not really much more to the loans here.

[foca]

all that was said is true. when it comes to paying you tax for renting out the property it is quite easy. local tax authority sends you an annual tax return, where you should disclose how much rent you got. the rate is flat. there are many agencies that rent such properties for holydaymakers, including cleaning , road maintenance, and fire wood supply. and they are quite honest usually

[SuomenKenraali]

Highly appreciated guys!