My Offer Was Accepted on a House Abroad — Now What? The First 30 Days for American Buyers

Offers abroad are often accepted verbally or by email from the agent, and the next thing to land in your inbox is a preliminary contract ready to sign within 48 hours. This is the single moment to pump the brakes. Nothing good comes from signing a binding preliminary contract within 48 hours of an offer being accepted — and in civil law countries (Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Mexico, most of LATAM), the preliminary contract is binding in a way that the MLS-style "accepted offer" in the U.S. simply isn't.

Reply to the agent with a polite but firm email: "Thank you for confirming acceptance. Before we proceed to the preliminary contract, my lawyer needs to complete title and planning due diligence. Please send the property's cadastral reference / title number / Land Registry folio so we can begin." This accomplishes three things: it creates a written record of the acceptance, it asserts that you have a lawyer (which quietly signals you are not a naive buyer), and it gets you the identification number you'll need for every subsequent step.

If you don't already have an in-country lawyer lined up, the next 48 hours are when you hire one. See our bilingual lawyer guide for how to vet candidates. Do not use the agency's recommended lawyer. Do not use the notary as your lawyer. Hire your own.

Threads on r/IWantOut, r/expats, r/Spain, r/Italy, and r/ExpatFIRE are full of buyers who felt pressured and signed in week one, then spent the next three months trying to get out of a contract they didn't fully understand. The pressure is real, and usually comes from the seller's agent who is worried the buyer will cool off. That pressure is not your problem to solve. Your problem is buying the right house on the right terms.

The very first administrative thing to start is getting a foreign tax number, because many of the next steps depend on having one. Each country has its own name for it:

• Spain — NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero). Required to buy property, open a bank account, pay taxes. Apply through a Spanish consulate in the U.S. (cheapest and slowest — 2–8 weeks) or through your lawyer with a power of attorney in Spain (2–4 weeks). See the Consulate General of Spain in New York for requirements and our Spain visa article.
• Italy — codice fiscale. Free, issued by the Agenzia delle Entrate or at any Italian consulate. Can be done by POA. 1–2 weeks.
• Ireland — PPSN. Apply via MyWelfare.ie. Takes 4–8 weeks. Americans buying in Ireland without residency can sometimes defer PPSN until post-closing for tax registration, but having it earlier smooths out utility setup. See our Ireland no-residency article.
• Portugal — NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal). Required, obtained through a Portuguese fiscal representative or lawyer. 1–3 weeks.
• France — FR tax number. Generated when you first file a French return, but for property transactions the notaire handles tax identification at closing.
• Mexico — RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes). Required for any purchase in the restricted zone fideicomiso structure.
• Japan — In-jūsho-shōmeisho + Gaikokujin Tōroku. Not a tax number per se, but you'll need a certificate of address (jūminhyō) or an affidavit of residence. See our Japan language article.

Start this application day 1. It is often the critical path.

Day 1 also: email your in-country lawyer asking them to pull the title register for the specific property. In Spain this is the nota simple from the Registradores de España. In Italy it is the visura catastale and visura ipotecaria from the Agenzia delle Entrate. In the UK it is the title register from HM Land Registry. In Ireland it is the folio from Tailte Éireann. Cost is €10–€30 and turnaround is same-day or next-day. This single document is worth its weight in gold — it shows the current registered owner, any mortgages, any embargoes, and in Spain the cadastral surface area compared to the listing surface area. If the seller on the nota simple doesn't match the seller the agent introduced you to, stop the transaction immediately.

Day 3: if the title check looks clean, make the inspection call. Book a structural inspection with an independent surveyor for the earliest date that still fits within the preliminary contract's subject-to window. In the UK use the RICS Find a Surveyor tool; in Ireland the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland; in Italy a licensed geometra; in Spain an arquitecto técnico; in France a diagnostiqueur for the mandatory DDT plus an independent structural review.

Within the first week to ten days, the agency or the seller's lawyer will send you a draft preliminary contract. What this is called and how binding it is depends on the country — and this is where deals go sideways.

Spain: Contrato de arras penitenciales (Civil Code Article 1454). You pay a 10% deposit. If the buyer walks, the seller keeps the deposit. If the seller walks, they return double. Hard commitment. See our Spain closing timeline article.

Italy: Proposta d'acquisto irrevocabile followed by compromesso with caparra confirmatoria (Article 1385 Civil Code). Binding — loss of caparra or double back. See our Italian timeline article.

France: Compromis de vente or promesse de vente. 10-day cooling-off period for buyer under Article L271-1 of the Code de la Construction et de l'Habitation. After that, binding. 5%–10% deposit. See our French notaire guide.

Portugal: Contrato promessa de compra e venda (CPCV). 10%–20% deposit, binding with double-back penalty.

Ireland: No binding contract until solicitors exchange signed contracts. Until then, gazumping is legal. Fast-track the solicitor to contract-readiness.

UK (England/Wales): Same as Ireland — no binding contract until exchange. Gazumping is legal until exchange. Scotland is different: offers are binding much earlier.

Japan: Baibai keiyaku sho (sale and purchase contract) with 10% tetsuke-kin earnest money. Binding with double-back penalty like continental Europe.

Mexico: Contrato de promesa de compraventa preceding the fideicomiso trust instrument.

Your lawyer's job is to read this contract word by word, in the original language, and ensure the following clauses are present:

1. Subject to satisfactory structural inspection by an independent surveyor within X days
2. Subject to clear title confirmed by buyer's lawyer, with any encumbrances to be discharged before signing
3. Subject to clear planning status — no illegal extensions, no open municipal violations
4. Subject to buyer obtaining tax number if not already held
5. Subject to mortgage approval if financing (specify the lender and amount)
6. Clear description of fixtures and fittings included in the sale
7. Clear timeline for deposit, balance, and final deed
8. Force majeure / deposit return provisions for cases outside the buyer's control

If the draft contract omits or waters down any of these, your lawyer pushes back. If the seller refuses to include the inspection clause, that is a hard signal that something is wrong with the property.

Once the preliminary contract is finalized and you and your lawyer are ready to proceed, the deposit wire is the next flashpoint. Deposit amounts vary — typically 5% to 20% of the purchase price depending on the country.

Where does the deposit go? Never, ever to the seller's personal bank account. The legitimate destinations are:

• Your lawyer's client account (escrow). In the UK, solicitors hold client money in a pooled client account regulated by the SRA Accounts Rules. In Ireland, the Law Society's Accounts Regulations provide equivalent protection. In Spain and Italy your abogado or avvocato holds funds in a cuenta de clientes / conto clienti.
• The notary's sequestered account. Common in France — funds are paid to the notaire's compte séquestre at the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.
• A regulated third-party escrow. Common in Mexico real estate (Stewart Title, First American Title Guaranty operate in Mexico) and for some UK new-build transactions.

What not to do. Do not wire to a seller's personal account. Do not wire to an agency operating account. Do not wire to a "holding company" in a country different from the property. Do not wire based on instructions received by email without phone verification. The UK's Solicitors Regulation Authority scam alerts page lists hundreds of fake firms that were spoofed in attempted email-intercept frauds — every year Americans lose money this way.

The anti-fraud protocol: the morning of the wire, call your lawyer at a phone number you obtained independently (from the bar association register, not the email signature), read the account number and IBAN back to them, and get verbal confirmation that those details are correct. Then wire. This single phone call has prevented more losses than any anti-fraud software.

Currency execution. Use an FX specialist like Wise, OFX, or Moneycorp rather than your U.S. retail bank, which typically takes a 2%–4% hidden spread on a six-figure transfer. The CFPB publishes consumer remittance transfer disclosures that are worth reading. On a €200,000 deposit, the FX savings are €3,000–€6,000. Real money.

FBAR trigger. The moment the funds land in your lawyer's client account, if they exceed $10,000 and you hold "financial interest" under the FinCEN FBAR rules, you owe an FBAR for that calendar year, even if the funds sit there for only a week. This is poorly understood and frequently missed. Note it on your tax calendar and consult a cross-border CPA.

With the preliminary contract signed and the deposit wired, you enter the "subject-to" window — typically 14 to 30 days during which the buyer can walk away if the inspection or planning checks reveal problems, and recover the deposit.

Structural inspection. The surveyor walks the property, photographs every room, tests systems, and produces a report. In the UK the standards are the RICS Home Survey Levels 2 and 3 — Level 3 is what you want for anything older than 50 years or with known issues. In Spain the equivalent is an inspección técnica del edificio or a private architectural report. In Italy, a relazione tecnica from a geometra. Costs run €400–€1,200.

What the report should cover:

• Structural: walls, roof, foundations, subsidence risk
• Dampness, wood rot, woodworm, termites (especially in the south of Europe)
• Electrical system and certification
• Plumbing, boiler, heating system
• Energy rating (EPC in the UK and Ireland, certificado de eficiencia energética in Spain, DPE in France)
• Planning compliance — does the building as-built match the cadastral record?
• Asbestos (France and UK older properties)
• Lead paint (UK, France pre-1949)
• Legal or illegal extensions

Planning due diligence. This is where many otherwise-clean transactions fall apart. Your lawyer contacts the municipal planning office (ayuntamiento, comune, mairie, câmara municipal, council) and requests records of building permits, extensions, and any open violations. In Spain this is the certificado urbanístico. In Italy the certificato di agibilità and the planimetria catastale cross-check against the current floor plan.

The single most common finding: the property was extended without permission 15 years ago, the seller thought they had "legalized it," and in fact they hadn't. The legalization process is expensive and uncertain, and until it's done the property can't be easily deeded. Your options then are: (a) walk away and recover the deposit under the subject-to clause, (b) negotiate the price down to reflect the cost of legalization, or (c) require the seller to legalize before the final deed. Never take a seller's word that "it's no problem, everybody does it."

Community / HOA arrears. In Spain and France, condo buildings have a comunidad de propietarios or syndic de copropriété that collects maintenance fees. Arrears transfer with the property — you inherit the seller's unpaid fees. Your lawyer requests a certificado de estar al corriente de pago from the community president showing the seller has no outstanding balance. Never skip this step.

If you are financing, week 3 is when the mortgage application becomes critical. Most European lenders offer non-resident mortgages at 60%–70% LTV to Americans, with rates slightly higher than what residents get. Key lenders that actively work with American buyers in 2026: BBVA Spain, CaixaBank, Santander, Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas International for multi-country, AIB Ireland, Barclays UK, and Bank of Ireland UK.

Non-resident mortgage processing typically takes 30–60 days, which is why starting in week 3 (not week 1) sometimes slips past the closing date. In some countries the preliminary contract can be amended to extend the mortgage contingency — in others, not.

Mortgage currency. If you're earning in USD and borrowing in EUR or GBP, you have FX risk. See IRS Section 988 — currency gains on mortgage principal are taxable to U.S. persons. Talk to a cross-border tax advisor about the structure.

Buildings insurance. Required in most countries from the day of the final deed. Arrange in week 3 or 4 with a specialist broker for foreign owners. Spain: Línea Directa, Mapfre. Italy: Generali, Allianz Italy. France: AXA, MAAF. UK and Ireland: Aviva, AA Insurance. Buildings insurance for foreign owners typically costs €250–€600/year for a standard property.

Final walkthrough or video walkthrough. A few days before closing, have your buyer's agent or lawyer do a final walkthrough on your behalf — phone camera, every room, every system, current meter readings, confirm that fixtures promised in the contract are still present. This is the last chance to catch the "oh, we took the washing machine" or "actually the garden shed is the neighbor's" surprises.

Closing statement review. Your lawyer sends you a draft closing statement — the list of all payments and receipts at the notary: purchase price, transfer tax, notary fee, registration fee, lawyer fee, agency fee, pro-rated property tax, community fee credit. Read it line by line. Confirm the numbers match your engagement letter and the tax calculations match the local rates. Transfer tax errors are common — in Spain, ITP varies by region (6%–10%), in Italy it's 2% first home / 9% second home calculated on valore catastale, in France it's 5.8% plus the April 2025 DMTO increase. See our country-by-country articles for the exact numbers.

Not every deal makes it to closing. Here are the common failure modes in the first 30 days and how to handle them.

Failure: title search reveals undisclosed mortgage or lien. Your lawyer notifies the seller in writing that the deposit cannot advance until the lien is discharged. Most legitimate sellers will discharge and proceed. If the seller can't discharge, you walk and recover the deposit (assuming the subject-to-title clause was included).

Failure: inspection reveals structural damage. Options are renegotiate, require seller to repair, or walk. Negotiation leverage is highest right after the inspection report is delivered. Put the request in writing with cost estimates from independent contractors.

Failure: planning search reveals illegal extension. Same three options. If the seller won't legalize or reduce the price to reflect the legalization cost, walk away. Do not close on an illegally extended property — the problem transfers to you and becomes your legalization headache.

Failure: mortgage approval denied. Most preliminary contracts in France and Spain include a financing contingency that returns the deposit if the mortgage is denied despite a good-faith application. Document everything: the application, the denial letter, the timeline.

Failure: seller wants to renegotiate upward. This is gazumping (legal in Ireland and England up to exchange, illegal in most of continental Europe after the preliminary contract). Your response depends on country. In Spain, Italy, France, Portugal the preliminary contract binds both sides — the seller cannot renegotiate unilaterally, and if they try, you are entitled to specific performance or double-back damages. In Ireland and England, you are unfortunately exposed until exchange of contracts.

Failure: agency disappears with the deposit. This happens rarely but it happens — which is why the deposit should never go to the agency in the first place. If it did, report to the country's property services regulator (PSRA in Ireland, Ministry of Commerce in Mexico, RICS in the UK, etc.) and file a criminal complaint. Recovery is slow and uncertain.

Your leverage clock. From day 1 to the day the preliminary contract is signed, you have the most leverage — you can walk and lose nothing. After the preliminary contract but before the subject-to window expires, you have moderate leverage — you can walk on a valid ground and recover the deposit. After the subject-to window expires, your leverage is mostly gone and you are legally committed.

Use the first 30 days well. Everything that looks negotiable on day 5 becomes non-negotiable on day 45. Experienced international buyers treat the first week the way a chess player treats the opening — slow, deliberate, setting up the position — and the last week like the endgame where everything has already been decided.