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Real Estate
For Every Real Estate Deal, The Right Approach
Expert counsel in tax law, international law, corporate law, immigration law and regulatory law.
Contact UsDecades of Experience to Close the Deal
Our domestic and international lawyers have decades of commercial real estate experience, including as published authors, frequent lecturers and panelists at conferences and seminars, and law professors. We also are experienced real estate litigators, bringing strong negotiation and risk mitigation skills to every transaction.
Harris Bricken draws on its deep attorney knowledge base in tax law, international law, corporate law, immigration law, and regulatory law in the context of your business’s real estate transactions and disputes. We can help you close the deal.
United States
The U.S. real estate market has historically been perceived as a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty. Today, low-interest rates and taxes, a relatively stable U.S. economy, and the liquidity and transparency of the domestic real estate market have contributed to an acceleration of activity– including a record amount of foreign investment. We regularly handle real estate transactions in California, Washington, and Oregon for both domestic and international clients.
If you are a foreign individual or company looking to establish a presence in the U.S., you will face many of the same issues as U.S. citizens and companies, including:
- Finding the best location and negotiating the best price
- Acquiring the property while minimizing legal and business risk
- Navigating complex regulatory structures
- Structuring sensible financing
- Making strategic entity decisions and minimizing tax liability
- Obtaining necessary permits and licenses for construction and operation
- Dealing with zoning, restrictive covenants, and encumbrances
- Finding and enlisting construction, title, and other service providers
- Preserving anonymity when possible
Key Considerations
Our attorneys can help you choose the best vehicle and posture for owning real estate based on your specific goals. Key considerations typically include the type of property you want to acquire, how long you want to hold it, and the income you expect it to produce.
For foreign investors, ownership through a U.S. or foreign corporation can mean double taxation on dividends, but this penalty may be outweighed by certain advantages of the corporate form. Those advantages may include: low taxation in your home country, immigration opportunities, and various estate and gift tax advantages.
Both domestic and foreign investors will want to consider U.S. state and local tax implications, as well as federal tax mitigation and deferral techniques. Every transaction is unique, just like every piece of land. We can help you get it right.
Spain
If you are considering investing in real estate in Spain, we can help you close your transaction and navigate the bureaucratic hurdles that can make the process daunting. Our office in Barcelona makes us perfectly suited to help you leverage the best real estate opportunities.
In addition to conducting thorough due diligence on your targeted property, we can help you negotiate and draft the necessary contracts, expedite rental, touristic, or business permits, and provide the legal advice you need so your purchase closes successfully.
Our expertise covers the entire conveyance transaction and beyond, including issues regarding ownership, finance, taxes, and estate and inheritance issues. We will guide you through the transaction and help you resolve possible pitfalls in advance. We work with a vast network of trusted local and international professionals and we can put you in contact with Spain’s top realtors, bankers, and architects. We also assist in navigating Spanish bureaucracy and preparing all documentation, in closing transactions successfully in front of Spanish public notaries, and in getting title registered.
Our Services in Spain
- Due diligence on real estate investment opportunities, whether you are interested in office buildings, hotels, warehouses, or land, including zoning and land use regulatory restrictions
- Analysis of the investment and its financial feasibility, including tax planning
- Legal and tax advice on the vehicle of investment and its structure
- Setting up your Spain entity for the real estate purchase and securing your company’s Spanish tax ID
- Legal services related to the purchase transaction, including negotiating and drafting of contracts and reviewing public notary deeds
- Reviewing regulatory compliance, including confirmation of necessary documentation and processing of required permits, particularly tourist and rental permits
- Negotiating and drafting rental contracts
- Financial management of the real estate investment in Spain; and assistance in opening a bank account and assisting with anti-money laundering clearances and financing
- Assist with non-resident income tax and wealth tax returns
- Immigration law, including Spain Golden Visas
- Real estate litigation and alternative dispute resolution
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Our Clients' Successes
“Harris Bricken expertly guided us through the formation of our company. They continue to assist with necessary registrations and compliance with numerous regulations. They were able to promptly answer all our many questions and provide understandable options, explanations and practical advice. We expect to continue to use Harris Bricken on a regular basis as our company expands. They were also able to introduce us other professional experts. We would not hesitate to recommend Harris Bricken to any companies in need of legal advice.”
Three Continents Foods LLC
This law firm was a huge help as our company went through the process of commercial licensing in the California cannabis industry. They have helped us with a variety of legal issues in a timely fashion, while clearly communicating with us throughout the process. Everyone we’ve worked with at Harris Bricken is an expert in their field and we have always felt that we were in good hands through our legal representation.
Wil Crummer, CEO PRO Farms
Legal stuff is always scary. And I’ve had to play offense a couple times, begrudgingly. To have Harris Bricken have my back? It made things a lot less prickly. They quickly walked me through my options, and were refreshingly consistent in their communications, timing and billing. I’ve been lucky to stay out of the legal side of things my whole career, thankfully. When things went a little wrong, Harris Bricken quickly made things right.
Aaron Draplin, Founder Draplin Design Co.
I am impressed with this law firm. They answered all my questions regarding cannabis businesses and the California cannabis framework, and they have helped me with a variety of legal issues in a timely fashion, while always clearly communicating with us throughout the process. They also redirected me to other quality people for my business needs. Everyone I worked with at Harris Bricken is an expert in their field, and I was in good hands throughout my legal representation.
Corey T., CEO Thinc Cubed, LLC
I have been working with the lawyers at Harris Bricken for more than 20 years both as a business owner and as an executive at a large east-coast health system and that is because they have always efficiently provided high level and clear international law advice. Most recently, Harris Bricken provided legal support on many matters related to procuring medical products worldwide. Their support was particularly helpful to during the onset of COVID, when there was a big need for securing PPE quickly, all while navigating complicated international and domestic legal requirements. Harris Bricken’s team of international lawyers helped by conducting rapid-fire due diligence on potential suppliers, navigating the legal logistics for getting product from overseas and through U.S. customs, and drafting contracts to protect against various sorts of horribles. They did this by essentially providing what amounted to 24/7 service. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Dan Pak Hospital Supply Chain Executive
Harris Bricken has represented our company in the legal cannabis industry for years. Harris Bricken has advised us in a wide variety of legal matters, and they are truly experts in their field. I would highly recommend Harris Bricken to anyone with questions about cannabis law, or any legal matters. They have been great for our Company, and will continue to guide us as our industry evolves
Matt Hurt, COO Cannabis Nation
You won’t find a better partner than Harris Bricken when trying to navigate the complex world of healthcare regulations. They not only give sound and reliable legal advice, but they are also very responsive and are able to guide you in a way that helps you reach your business objectives as well.
Joseph Axelrod, General Counsel Irwin Naturals
When we started the process of building a ‘seed to sale’ cannabis company in Oregon, we saw the need for expert legal counsel. The cannabis sector is fraught with potential peril at every turn, and we wanted the best legal advice we could find. After talking to several firms and individuals, we feel extremely fortunate to have chosen Harris Bricken as our legal counsel.
Tony Theiss, CEO and Co-Founder Redbarn Cannabis
We use Harris Bricken on all our international legal matters, including on our international litigation matters. We have over the last few years been involved in a couple big international legal disputes and Harris Bricken’s international dispute resolution team provided us with expert legal assistance on both matters. They were always very careful to explain to us what they were doing and why and what their actions would likely cost us in legal fees. Most importantly, we did extremely well on both cases and I have no doubt Harris Bricken was a big factor in that.
Kevin English, CEO We Are Camp
We have used Harris Bricken for legal help related to our international manufacturing. The lawyers with whom I worked had extensive familiarity with the international legal issues involved in our various projects and offered us key insights. I particularly appreciated how they always quickly and efficiently do what they say they will do and always within their cost estimates.
Andrea Barona Valladolid, Senior Legal Counsel Fairphone
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