Expats in Germany

You live and work in Germany — and want to buy.

With a residence permit or EU Blue Card, a German mortgage is possible — residence and income in Germany count, and KfW funding applies. The decisive point is which bank accepts your residence status. Pick your situation.

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By your situation

With residence in Germany you are not a non-resident — you usually have full access to bank loans and KfW. The crux is the residence permit: some banks require permanent settlement, others also finance fixed-term permits. We know the difference and broker under §34i GewO.

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Mortgage with a residence permit

Fixed-term or permanent — which banks accept which permit.

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EU Blue Card

Property financing with a Blue Card — own home or buy-to-let.

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Buy-to-let for expats

A let flat as an investment with residence in Germany — the choice of banks.

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Frequently asked questions

Can I finance with a fixed-term residence permit?

Often yes. Some banks require a permanent permit, others also finance fixed-term ones — depending on remaining term, income and credit standing. We find the bank that accepts your status.

Am I entitled to KfW funding?

With residence in Germany, usually yes. KfW is tied to residence and project, not nationality. We integrate the funding into the financing.

What does the advice cost me?

Nothing. Advice and brokerage are free; we are paid by the financing bank. Brokerage under §34i GewO.

What is really being assessed

Not your nationality — your residence permit

There is no legal barrier to buying property in Germany as a foreign national. None exists. What narrows the field of lenders is something else entirely, and it never appears in a rejection letter.

The bank is lending for ten, twenty or thirty years. Your residence permit may run for three. Almost every declined application traces back to that mismatch. How a lender handles it is not a matter of law but of internal policy: some require permanent residence (Niederlassungserlaubnis), some accept the EU Blue Card, a few will assess a fixed-term permit on its merits — looking at the length of the employment contract and how sought-after the qualification is.

The four real obstacles

Where applications actually fail

Residence permit. As above. The EU Blue Card is the most common situation among our clients; it opens a usable field of lenders, but not the full one.
Fixed-term employment. In research, medicine and IT a fixed-term contract is normal. To an automated credit engine it is a knock-out. Lenders who understand the case look at the sector and the renewal practice, not just at the end date.
No Schufa history. If you have been in Germany for two years you have no negative entries — but no track record either. Some banks read that as a clean slate, others as a risk. An excellent credit history in your home country is simply invisible to a German lender.
Source of funds. Equity transferred from abroad must be documented under German anti-money-laundering law, traced back to its origin. This is the single most common reason an approved financing stalls shortly before completion. We prepare that evidence before the application, not after.

Doctors arriving from abroad hit all four at once. For them we have written a dedicated page: International doctor mortgage in Germany.

If you are paid in a currency other than the euro, or you are not tax-resident in Germany, a further layer applies — see our financing topics.

Let’s talk about your financing

Message me on WhatsApp or book a 30-minute call. The first check is free of charge.