Loan-to-value and down payment for a mortgage in Germany
The loan-to-value ratio decides everything else about a mortgage in Germany when you live abroad: how much the bank lends, and at what rate. Non-residents are held to a lower ratio than domestic borrowers — how much lower depends on the institution.
The condition is the whole sentence
The bank lends against its valuation, not against what you pay. Where the two align, the arithmetic is simple. Where the valuation comes in lower, the loan shrinks — and the difference has to be found in cash, on top of the purchase costs.
| Valuation = price | Valuation 10 % below price | |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | €400,000 | €400,000 |
| Bank valuation | €400,000 | €360,000 |
| Loan at 80 % | €320,000 | €288,000 |
| Cash needed for the price | €80,000 | €112,000 |
| Purchase costs (transfer tax, notary, registry, agent) | on top, and generally not financeable | |
Model calculations without guarantee. Not binding offers. Terms vary depending on credit profile, property and bank. No tax or legal advice.
Why the guidebook figure is not exactly wrong
It describes what happens when you approach the wrong bank. Most lenders apply an internal cap for non-residents, and it often does sit at 50 or 60 %. Some will not lend to non-residents at all. If your German bank quotes you a high equity requirement, you have learned what that bank does — not what the market does.
Finding the lenders that do not treat non-residents as an exception is the work. Which ones those are belongs in the conversation, not on a website.
Non-residents: the overviewHow long it takesDiscuss your case