Case reports: financing with an overseas link
Real, anonymised case reports from my work — how financings succeed that first banks initially reject. People, places and individual figures have been changed to protect privacy; each case is an individual case and not a guaranteeable statement for other projects.
From practice
Financing with a residence in Spain
An investment property in Düsseldorf despite living in Spain — three rejections, then the commitment.
To the case report → Commuter · CHF incomeIncome from Switzerland
A home near Freiburg with income from Switzerland — the place of residence was not the problem.
To the case report → Residence DubaiFinancing with a residence in Dubai
An international career in Dubai and German property — no contradiction.
To the case report → Residence USAFinancing with a residence in the USA
Why a six-figure US income alone is not enough — and how it succeeded anyway.
To the case report → Netherlands · InvestmentAn entrepreneur from the Netherlands
Two rejections, then a Dutch entrepreneur financed his investment property.
To the case report → Switzerland · DentistA Swiss dentist finances in Germany
Despite excellent creditworthiness, no financing at first — and why.
To the case report → USA · Source of fundsA US investor & the source of funds
Not the money, but the origin of the money became the real hurdle.
To the case report → France · Variable incomeA pilot with variable income
A flat in Munich despite fluctuating pilot pay.
To the case report → Italy · EntrepreneurAn entrepreneur from Italy
Why German banks read Italian balance sheets differently — and how it succeeded.
To the case report → India · Skilled workerA software developer from India
Why a top salary alone does not guarantee financing.
To the case report → LuxembourgA couple from Luxembourg
Why even bank employees can fail with their own financing.
To the case report → Austria · ChiemseeA family from Austria
A detached house on Lake Chiemsee — why residence mattered more than income.
To the case report → United Kingdom · BrexitA job in London, a home in Germany
Brexit and a job in London — almost the end of the home-ownership dream.
To the case report → Dubai · Tax-freeTax-free income from Dubai
Tax-free income, high savings, two rejections — then Munich worked out.
To the case report → Singapore · Employee sharesA manager from Singapore
Why employee shares almost caused the financing to fail.
To the case report → Japan · Fixed-term contractAn engineer from Japan (fixed-term)
Why a fixed-term contract almost ended the home-ownership dream.
To the case report → South Africa · No SCHUFAEmigrants without a SCHUFA record
Why a missing SCHUFA record was not the real problem.
To the case report → Brazil · DoctorA heart surgeon from Brazil
Why the German employment contract alone was not enough for the bank.
To the case report → Israel · Start-up exitAn entrepreneur from Israel, Munich
Why a seven-figure account balance alone does not guarantee financing.
To the case report →A rejection tells you about the bank, not about you
Almost everyone who reaches this page has been through the same thing: they approached a bank, were turned down, and drew the wrong conclusion — that the purchase is not financeable.
It almost never is. A rejection means that one particular lender could not fit one particular case into its rules. Those rules are not a law of nature. They are an internal policy, and they differ so widely between houses that the identical constellation produces a refusal at one bank and an approval at the next.
For internationally mobile buyers this matters more than for anyone else, because the reasons for refusal are usually structural rather than financial: which law governs the contract, whether your residence permit outlasts the fixed-rate period, whether your income can be documented in a form a German bank recognises, whether your equity can be traced to its source.
What a single case shows — and what it does not
- Anonymised, but not invented. Names, places, professions and individual figures are changed so that no one is identifiable. The structure of the case — the obstacle, the route around it, the order of the steps — is not.
- Not a prediction for your case. Creditworthiness, the property, your residence, your income type and the timing all decide. What worked in one case can fail in an apparently similar one because of the third detail. That is why any engagement starts with an assessment, not with a promise.
Pick the field closest to your own situation. If none fits, that is not a rejection — the hardest cases are usually the ones without a category yet.
Your case not here yet?
Almost every situation with an overseas link is solvable. Describe your situation to me — the initial call is free.