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A fintech company that promises to make it easier for foreign investors to claim a piece of American real estate has formally launched with $100 million in pre-selected investor applications already submitted, it announced.
Waltz promises to use its software-enabled workflow to reduce the time and number of administrative hurdles non-citizens face when looking to invest in the U.S., stating it can be done less than 30 days. The company is starting operations in nine states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.
Yuval Golan, founder and CEO of Waltz, said in a statement that buying real estate should be as easy as buying anything else on the internet.
“Investing in anything nowadays takes just a few clicks, unless you’re a foreign citizen investing in U.S. property,” Golan said. “Based on my own experiences attempting to invest around the world and in the U.S., I wanted to make the process for non-citizens as straightforward and simple as possible to access this blue-chip housing investment market.”
The process starts with finding a suitable investment opportunity and working alongside their assigned real estate agent and a mortgage broker. In some cases, parties will work with an organization that provides both.
The remote, consumer-facing mobile and web experience involves LLC creation, the establishment of an EIN (employer identification number), legal identity verification, and even a selected real estate representative and mortgage pre-approval letter.
“Investors are then set up with a U.S. digital bank account to receive rental income, pay property taxes and to reduce withholding,” the release stated. “Expensive currency conversion fees and unpredictable exchange rate fluctuations are also eliminated.”
Waltz will promote mortgages for foreigners, which can be for as much as 70 percent loan-to-value because it’s based on use as an investment property. All other necessary steps — inspection, appraisal, title search and other escrow services — are built into Waltz’s remote purchasing model. Many of these processes were pushed to automate during the COVID era, when so few steps of the traditional home transaction were handled in person.
The company also makes connections to domestic property managers, tax professionals and other necessary service providers.
Waltz conducted two funding rounds to date totaling $24 million. A seed round closed in early 2022 and a Series A in March of 2024, according to the release.
“Now, investors can just Waltz in, Waltz out, and they immediately start their journey of turning the wealth they built into the future they dream of, while we manage the compliance, legal, banking and regulatory side of the process,” Golan said.
