Buying from abroad
Power of attorney, remote notarization, and buying a Florida home without boarding a plane
The single most common question we hear from buyers abroad isn't about prices or neighborhoods. It's simpler and more fundamental: do I really not have to be there? The answer is no, you don't — and not through some workaround, but through two well-established legal tools that Florida real estate practice uses every day: the power of attorney (POA) and remote online notarization (RON). This guide explains what each one is, how a fully remote closing actually unfolds, and where the genuine friction points are, so you can plan around them instead of discovering them mid-transaction.
The two tools, in plain language
A power of attorney is a document in which you (the "principal") authorize a specific person (your "agent" or "attorney-in-fact") to sign specific documents on your behalf. In a real estate closing, that's typically a narrow, transaction-specific POA: it names the property, the transaction, and what the agent may sign — nothing broader. Florida law recognizes properly executed POAs, and title companies work with them routinely; the key practical requirement is that the title company and (if there's a loan) the lender approve the POA's form in advance, not on closing day.
Remote online notarization goes one step further: instead of authorizing someone else to sign, you sign — on camera. Florida authorized RON by statute in 2020. A commissioned online notary verifies your identity through credential analysis and knowledge-based checks, watches you sign electronically in a recorded audio-video session, and applies an electronic notarial seal. For many buyers, the entire closing package is signed this way from a laptop in Bogotá, São Paulo, or Mexico City.
Which one you'll use — or whether you'll combine both — depends on your lender, your title company, and the documents involved. Cash purchases are the most flexible; financed purchases add lender document requirements that sometimes still favor a POA held by someone local, or wet-ink signatures at a U.S. consulate for specific documents. This is exactly the kind of thing your team should confirm in week one, not week six.
The remote closing, step by step
Details that matter inside those steps
A few details inside those steps matter more than buyers expect:
The deposit and the wire. Your earnest money goes to a title company escrow account — a regulated, third-party account — and your closing funds arrive by international wire. Plan the wire early: international transfers can take several business days, banks in some countries require documentation for outbound transfers, and closing dates don't move gracefully. Always confirm wire instructions by phone with the title company using a number you verify independently; wire fraud targeting real estate closings is a real and well-documented risk, and no legitimate party will ever pressure you to skip verification.
Identity documents. RON platforms verify identity with a passport and knowledge-based authentication. If your name appears differently across documents (a common issue with compound Latin American surnames), flag it to the title company early so the documents are drafted consistently.
The consulate fallback. For the specific documents where a lender insists on ink, U.S. embassies and consulates offer notarization services by appointment. It's the slowest path — appointments can take weeks in some cities — which is another reason the document plan gets settled at the start.
What your agent does while you're not there
Buying remotely doesn't just mean signing remotely — it means someone competent is your eyes on the ground. In our practice that includes video walkthroughs of candidate properties (unedited, room by room, including the unglamorous parts), attending the inspection and walking you through the report on a call, coordinating the closing calendar across time zones, and doing the final walkthrough the day of closing. New construction, which is a growing share of what our buyers choose, adds builder-side steps — design selections, construction milestones, the builder's final walk — that all translate well to video.
The honest limit: no process replaces judgment. What a remote process does replace is geography — the judgment still has to come from somewhere, which is why the choice of your representation matters more, not less, when you're buying from 3,000 miles away.
What this means for your planning
Three takeaways if a remote purchase is in your future: settle the signing method (RON, POA, or hybrid) with your title company and lender in the first week; build wire timing into your closing calendar with margin; and treat document consistency — names, passport, funds documentation — as a task, not an afterthought.
If you want to see how this fits your specific situation, tell us what you're looking for — it takes twenty seconds, and remote buyers are most of what we do. For the financing side of a foreign-national purchase, our financing guide covers down payments, ITINs, and what lenders actually ask for.