Jing,

As far as wiring the money is concerned just have her overseas bank wire the
money. You obviously want to pick up a good exchange rate when the dollar
is weak in comparison to the currency you currently have the funds in. The
wiring costs are insignificant (probably about $25 to $50 depending on your
bank) when in comparison to the $200,000 you are wiring. Make darned sure
that you know the routing number of the bank you are sending the money to,
the account name, the account Number, the mailing address etc. It's a good
idea to check with the overseas bank the exact exchange rate you will be
getting (look at www.oanda.com for a guide). When I did this I wrote to my
bank and asked them to hold the money in the foreign account and transfer it
only when they received my confirmation phone call, which they were happy to
do (gave me the chance to double-check the exchange rate had not gone bad
overnight). They may not be prepared for your mother to transfer such a
large amount of money to an account in your name! (I don't know I'm just
guessing).

As regards whose name the house is purchased under. IF it is her money and
being purchased under your name, this maybe considered a 'gift' to you in
which case there maybe major tax implications (check with your Tax advisor).
As a green card holder there shouldn't be any reason as far as I know why
she shouldn't own a house in the USA. However when she comes to sell it I
'believe' I am correct in saying that the escrow company has to withhold
some of the proceeds until any capital gains taxes have been paid (again
check with your Tax Advisor). This house will be considered investment
property if your mother owns it because she will not have lived in it for 2
of the past 5 years when it comes to be sold and hence any proceeds will be
subject to capital gains tax. If you own it and live in it then capital
gains taxes will not apply when it is sold.

Please take all this with a touch of salt, I am rather old you know and I
could be mistaken, but in summary....don't worry too much about doing a wire
transfer just make sure you get a reasonable exchange rate and have the
details you will need like account numbers correct . Also check on the
implications of what you are doing with a good Tax advisor.

Good Luck.
Mark


"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...

"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...

On Thu, 24 Jul 2003 23:27:21 GMT, someone wrote:


Ooh this is gonna set off all the drug dealer/terrorist/money laundering
alarms....

No reason why it should. The laundering occurs at the stage where
cash gets into the banking system. The suspicion comes when someone
is trying to move or spend a large amount of cash (as in physical
currency). Legitimate money moves by banks and wire transfers which
can be audited. It is not that big a big deal.


Typical small-town
bank will likely be clueless on how to handle this.

Any bank should "know how" to receive a wire transfer!!!!!

-v.