Getting a German mortgage as a non-resident

What the law asks of the lender

Before a consumer property loan is concluded, the lender must check creditworthiness (§ 505a(1) BGB). For a loan secured on residential property, the contract may be concluded only if the check shows that it is probable that the borrower will meet the obligations under the loan. Banks are bound by the same rule in the Banking Act (§ 18a(1) KWG). If the net loan amount is later increased significantly, the check must be redone (§ 505a(2)).

The lender can use the borrower’s own information and, where necessary, information from credit-reporting bodies, but it must check the information appropriately, including, where needed, by inspecting independently verifiable documents (§ 18a(3) KWG). For a buyer who lives abroad, this is the point where practice differs most from a resident’s file: the documents (payslips, tax assessments, bank statements) come from another country. The law does not say which documents are accepted from which country; that is for the lender, so ask early which formats and translations it needs.

Contract and security

A consumer loan contract must be in writing and contain the information required by the introductory act to the Civil Code (§ 492(1)-(2) BGB). After conclusion, the lender must hand the borrower a copy, and, if a repayment date is set, the borrower can request a repayment plan at any time (§ 492(3)).

The usual security is a land charge (Grundschuld): a plot is burdened so that a specified sum of money is to be paid out of it to the beneficiary (§ 1191(1) BGB). A land charge arises on agreement and entry in the land register (§ 873(1)). See land charge (Grundschuld) for the mechanism. The charge is typically a document your bank asks you to have recorded by a notary; ask yours when.

Costs of the security

The land charge costs are statutory and based on its nominal amount. Calculated from the GNotKG as in force since 1 June 2025, a charge of €300,000 has a fee-table value of €635 (Tabelle B). The mortgage land charge is recorded at 1.0 at the notary and entered at 1.0 at the land registry, so €635 plus VAT at the notary and €635 at the registry; the notary’s VAT is 19%, which brings the notary item to €755.65. Registry fees carry no VAT line in the schedule read. The bank may impose its own charges; its fee schedule is not in any statute read here.

Alongside the loan costs, the purchase itself has fees; the calculation for a €400,000 home is in total buying costs and the purchase costs calculator.

Interest rates in context

The Bundesbank publishes average effective interest rates on new business of banks in Germany. For housing loans to private households with an initial rate fixation of more than five and up to ten years, the series (code SUD118) shows 3.76% for June 2026, 3.78% for July and 3.81% for August 2026. Treat it as a market indicator: it is an average over all borrowers and banks, not an offer to you, and the Bundesbank notes its statistics derive from a sample survey. For how rates work, see mortgage rates and the Bundesbank. A cost scenario of your own can be run in the mortgage calculator.

Leaving the loan

The borrower with a fixed rate may terminate the contract after ten years from full receipt with six months’ notice, in every case (§ 489(1) no. 2 BGB), and this right cannot be excluded or made harder by contract (§ 489(4)). A termination counts as not made if the borrower does not repay within two weeks after it takes effect (§ 489(3)). This matters to an expatriate who may leave Germany later: the loan can be ended on those terms. Details are in the 10-year right guide.

Foreign currency

Your income may be in pounds, dollars or another currency, while a German loan is normally in euros. The law texts read do not address currency mismatch, and the sources I read do not set out which lenders will lend against non-euro income. Compare the monthly payment in your own currency at several exchange rates before you commit.

Which professional to consult

A mortgage broker can compare lenders, including those that serve non-residents; the intermediary register (§ 11a GewO) lets you check a credit intermediary’s permit under § 34i on the register’s website, and you check it yourself. The notary records the land charge. A tax adviser can say how interest is treated if you will let the property. See the mortgage broker page.