Perini Finance & Property Mortgages in Germany · §34i GewO
Releasing equity · §34i GewO

Your equity for Spain is in Germany — already paid off.

The unencumbered property in Krefeld, Munich or Hamburg is the cheapest source of capital you have. Only the German bank does not want to know what happens with it in Spain — and the Spanish bank cannot see the German property. Purchases get lost in between.

Information

The short answer. An unencumbered or largely repaid property in Germany can be used as security — regularly up to 80 % of the mortgage lending value (loan-to-value), not the purchase price. The capital released is your equity for the purchase abroad. Both sides come from one hand with us: the German loan under §34i GewO, the Spanish or Portuguese financing via our BAFA notification.

The obstacle is not the value. It is the use of funds.

Most of the refusals we see have nothing to do with the property and nothing to do with credit standing. They have to do with a field on the application form.

Your bank knows the house. It is in their district, it is paid for, the value is beyond dispute. Ask for a loan for a kitchen, a roof or a solar installation and the conversation is done in twenty minutes. Say the sentence „I want to buy a flat in Alicante with it“, and the room goes quiet.

The reason is prosaic: many houses want to see residential use within Germany. A property abroad is, for the lending guideline, not a known purpose of funds — not forbidden, just not provided for. And what is not provided for is declined across the board, because no one in the house wants to take responsibility for it. The security is in Germany, it holds its value, and the case fails anyway.

On the other side stands the Spanish bank with the mirror-image problem: it cannot value, secure against or credit your house in Germany. It sees only the equity you bring.

This is where buyers lose money without noticing: they pay for the property abroad in cash from savings, because the equity release „did not work“ — and later find that financing an already paid-for property abroad after the fact is markedly harder than financing it at the time of purchase. The favourable moment does not come back.

What you need to know before you do the maths

  • Mortgage lending value, not market value. Security is given up to 80 % of the loan-to-value. The mortgage lending value regularly sits below the price an agent quoted you yesterday — plan your equity on that price and you plan it too high, and notice it at the notary.
  • The land charge stays where it is. The German property secures the German loan. The Spanish property secures the Spanish financing. Two securities, two legal systems, one project — they are not mixed, and that is precisely why it works.
  • The instalment runs from month one. The German loan is serviced even before the Spanish property has been handed over. This double burden belongs in the plan — it is the most common reason a sound structure fails on the household budget.
  • A remaining balance is no bar. The property need not be unencumbered. What matters is the gap between the remaining balance and the mortgage lending value — the room within it is your capital.
  • Timing. Releasing equity in Germany takes weeks; the Spanish valuation and approval do too. Run them one after the other and you lose the property. The simultaneity is the real work — and it fails when no one owns both halves.

Why this comes from one hand — and what that means legally

This is not a marketing phrase but a question of licence. For the German loan: §34i GewO (mortgage credit brokering). For Spain and Portugal: the BAFA notification for cross-border activity. Both permissions sit in the same house.

The difference becomes tangible the moment something does not run smoothly. Instruct two advisers and you have two people who each see half the case — and no one owns the gap between them. That is exactly where these purchases fail.

The Spanish side of this structure — loan-to-value limits, the tasación, purpose restrictions, what the Spanish bank actually sees — is on our Spanish domain: Release equity from a German property, buy in Spain (perini.es).

A note on scope: we broker the release of equity on an existing property in Germany. If your existing property is in another country, your bank or broker there raises the capital — we build the Spanish or Portuguese financing on top of it.

What actually drives your rate

The German loan is an ordinary mortgage — no special product and no surcharge for buying abroad. What determines your rate is not the destination country but the loan-to-value: use only half of the German property as security and you pay noticeably less than someone who goes to the limit. That is the lever you can work with, and it is in your hands.

We do not put figures on a public page here — the achievable rate depends on the property, the loan-to-value, the fixed-rate period and credit standing, and a number without your case behind it would only mislead. In an initial conversation you get a concrete representative example for your situation.

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Who this adds up for

Retirement

The house is paid off, the children have moved out

The property is unencumbered, the capital sits in the walls. Releasing equity turns it into a deposit for Spain — without the house having to be sold. The instalment is serviced from the pension, the property stays in the family.

Dual earners

Ownership in Germany, second home in the south

The remaining balance is low, the lending value markedly higher. The room in between finances the purchase on the Costa Blanca — and the German property stays untouched.

Investors

A portfolio in Germany, an addition abroad

Existing properties that have appreciated are hidden reserves. They can be lifted without selling — and without touching the ongoing tenancy.

FAQ

Frequently asked

My bank says it does not lend for a purchase abroad. Is that the legal position?
No. It is a decision of that lender's own credit guideline, not a law. Many houses require residential use within Germany; others view the use of funds differently. It is a statement about the house you asked — not about your case.
Does the German property have to be fully paid off?
No. What matters is the gap between the remaining balance and the mortgage lending value. That room is your capital — even if a land charge is still registered.
What is the mortgage lending value and why is it lower than my market value?
The mortgage lending value is the value the bank considers achievable over the long term — deliberately conservative, without market exaggerations. It regularly sits below the market value. Measure your equity by today's market value and you plan too high.
Can I finance the property abroad at the same time?
They are two financings but one project. The German loan releases the equity; the Spanish or Portuguese bank builds on top of it. We coordinate both — the German loan under §34i GewO, Spain and Portugal via the BAFA notification.
I have already paid for the property abroad in cash. Too late?
Not necessarily, but markedly harder. Refinancing an already paid-for, unencumbered property abroad after the fact succeeds only with a few houses and on tighter limits. Releasing equity from your German property remains open to you, though — talk to us before you tie up further funds.

Tell us what stands in Germany — and what is planned in Spain

With the remaining balance, a rough value of the German property and the target property, we can tell you whether the structure holds. Before you file an application anywhere.

Discuss your case