"Jing" wrote in message
om...
hi,
recently my mom is thinking about buying a house at the states, but
she is actually living oversea. she wants to buy a townhouse for my
sister and me to live. she has green card and my sister and me are
u.s. citizen. what's the best way to wire money from oversea to buy
house without hassle fees ? she is thinking about to wire $200,000.
and shoud we buy house under her name or our name? thanx for all ur
help...

Ooh this is gonna set off all the drug dealer/terrorist/money laundering
alarms.... I'd look for a home country bank that has offices in the states
(or a 'corresponding bank' agreement with a stateside bank), either to
handle the money transfer, or the handle the closing with an overseas check
drawn against a dollar account wherever the money is. Typical small-town
bank will likely be clueless on how to handle this. As to whose name to put
the house in, that is a seperate issue that your mother's
financial/tax/inheritance advisors will have to answer- the best course of
action depends on many variables. If the house is put in JUST your name,
paid with offshore cash, that will set off all sorts of money laundering and
tax evasion alarms, and you can almost count on a visit from IRS.

Standard disclaimer- IANAL, or a CPA, but had to deal with many of the same
issues going the other direction when my mother retired back to 'the old
country' to recover the family properties the USSR stole back in the 40s.
Fortunately, her stateside bank was owned by the same guy who owned a local
multinational company, so that bank actually had people who knew how to move
money across borders.

aem sends...