Checklists for a German mortgage application

In short

Available checklists

Most rejections at the first bank are not about creditworthiness — they come down to missing or incomplete paperwork, and that gap is larger the further away the applicant lives. The full non-resident checklist below covers personal requirements (a German property as security, provable and stable income, clean creditworthiness, available equity), the personal documents banks ask for (valid passport, proof of residence abroad, residence permit where applicable, certified translations of foreign documents), and the income proofs specific to employed and self-employed applicants abroad. It comes as a free fillable PDF, so the paperwork is ready before the first conversation with a bank rather than assembled under time pressure afterwards.

What counts as sufficient proof differs by employment type: employees typically need recent payslips and an employment contract, ideally permanent rather than fixed-term, while the self-employed additionally need a proven earnings position over more than one financial year, since a single strong year is rarely enough on its own for a bank assessing income abroad. A temporary residence permit is not automatically a rejection reason — banks weigh it alongside the realistic prospects of renewal and the stability of the underlying income. Where documents are not in German, certified translations are usually required rather than informal ones, and the requirement can differ from bank to bank, which is exactly why a checklist prepared in advance saves a round trip.

Frequently asked questions