Canadian start Real Estate Development firm in US
Curious about the best way to go about this. I’m a Canadian who owns a general contracting company in Toronto. We’re looking to build spec houses for profit, but the feasibility does not exist in Ontario (gov will take 25% of $1M sale price on completed home erasing all profit - I wish I was exaggerating). After speaking with local agents, contractors, town employees, engineers in certain markets in NY and OH, the numbers work well. Here are the questions:
Do I even need any sort of visa to facilitate this business? We would be buying raw land and employing local sub trades to construct the house. Would I be considered “working” if I had to be crossing the border weekly to supervise and check on progress, meet with contractors, etc? My gut tells me yes, because I’d be acting almost like a general contractor - although I know Canadians buy rental houses, renovate them (work) and then continue to rent them out at higher rates.
If I need a visa, would the purchase of a lot (raw land), engineering costs, development/permit fees paid to county, start of construction (tree clearing, excavation, grading, septic work) be considered the “investment” I need for E2?
Would my best bet be purchasing an active general contracting company in NY or OH and consider that my investment? As I understand you need to purchase the business before E2 application, so would I be able to cross the border and meet with owners, conduct due diligence etc without problems? I’d ideally like to be truthful to border officers and not state I am travelling.
Would I be better off looking into the L1A visa instead? Whether I establish a franchise of my Canadian GC company in the states, or buy an American GC company and franchise it? Then transfer myself as an employee?
Sorry for the long post! Any advice is appreciated.