Mortgage in Spain for German buyers: which bank finances the purchase?
Germans are among the largest groups of foreign buyers in Spain — and the only group for which both sides of the financing can be arranged from one source: the Spanish mortgage and, if needed, capital from a property in Germany. Advice in German or English.
Can I get a mortgage to buy property abroad if I live in Germany?
Yes. A German buyer living in Germany gets a Spanish non-resident mortgage from a Spanish bank, typically up to 70 % of the lower of purchase price and valuation. The bank reads your German tax returns and payslips and asks for a SCHUFA report. A property in Germany can add capital, up to 80 % of its lending value.
Mortgage in Spain for Germans: Spanish bank, German bank, or both?
A mortgage in Spain for German buyers comes from a Spanish bank; a German property can add capital on top.
Who finances the Spanish property? A Spanish bank, against the Spanish property itself — up to 70 % of the lower of purchase price and tasación for non-residents. German banks generally do not take a Spanish property as security.
What can a German property add?
Capital. An existing German property can be charged up to 80 % of its lending value; that money covers the shortfall and the purchase costs, or lets you buy in Spain as a cash buyer.
What does the Spanish bank check in Germany? Your German tax returns and payslips, the SCHUFA report — you have no credit history in Spain — and your German loans, which count against the 35 % debt-to-income limit.
Spanish mortgage, German capital — or the combination
You can take a Spanish mortgage only, raise capital against your German property and buy as a cash buyer, or combine both so the German property carries the shortfall and the purchase costs.
- Spanish mortgage only. Up to 70 % of the lower of price and tasación; equity and purchase costs of around 10 to 13 % come from your own funds.
- German property as security. Capital against your German property, up to 80 % of its lending value and free in its use. The Spanish property stays free of charges — you buy as a cash buyer, with no financing condition and no tasación risk.
- The combination. The Spanish bank finances the property, the German property carries the shortfall and the purchase costs. The German property does not need to be unencumbered; the new lending ranks behind an existing mortgage.
Documents, SCHUFA and the traps specific to German buyers
The Spanish bank checks your SCHUFA instead of a Spanish credit history, counts German loans against the 35 % debt-to-income limit, finances the lower of purchase price and tasación, and needs the NIE before the contract.
- SCHUFA instead of a Spanish credit history. Spanish registers (CIRBE, ASNEF) only show what happened in Spain. The bank checks where your history is — in Germany. The data copy under Article 15 GDPR is free.
- German loans count. A German home loan, car finance or leasing is charged against the 35 % debt-to-income limit in Spain — a comfortable position at home can look tight to a Spanish bank.
- The valuation, not the price. A Spanish lender finances the lower of purchase price and tasación; a gap between the two comes out of your own funds. NIE before the contract. Without the Spanish tax identification number there is no purchase and no mortgage.
A German-speaking broker, registered in Germany and with the Banco de España
The brokerage runs under the licence of Olga Nikushkina (§34i and §34c GewO, German intermediary register D-W-132-ZUCB-95), entered with the Banco de España as an EU mortgage credit intermediary under code D559. Siegfried Perini has advised on the ground in Spain since 2019. Per case we approach 30+ of 45 banks; the fee is 1 % of the loan arranged, paid only if the financing completes.
Frequently asked questions
Mortgage in Spain for Germans: Spanish bank, German bank, or both?
A mortgage in Spain for German buyers comes from a Spanish bank; a German property can add capital on top.
Who finances the Spanish property?
A Spanish bank, against the Spanish property itself — up to 70 % of the lower of purchase price and tasación for non-residents. German banks generally do not take a Spanish property as security.
What can a German property add?
Capital. An existing German property can be charged up to 80 % of its lending value; that money covers the shortfall and the purchase costs, or lets you buy in Spain as a cash buyer.
Let us look at your case
A first conversation costs nothing, and our fee — 1 % of the loan actually arranged — is only ever due if the financing completes.
Related pages
Netherlands & Belgium
Why your home bank will not finance a Spanish purchase.
How we are paid
Mortgage advisor in Spain: our fee is 1 % of the loan actually arranged, payable only on success. No IVA, no upfront payment, no handling charge.
German property as security
Buy a house in Spain with capital raised against an unencumbered German property — from one desk. The obstacle is not the value; it is the loan purpose.
Spanish mortgage plus German top-up
Spanish mortgage plus German top-up: 70 % LTV from the Spanish bank, the remainder and purchase costs secured against your German property.
Spanish bank or German bank?
International mortgage for your Spanish property: Spanish or German bank? Interest rates, processing time, equity, language barrier — a direct comparison.
Content by Siegfried Perini — local brand representative since 2019, active in real estate since 1992, entered in the German intermediary register (§ 11a GewO) as a person directly involved in brokerage and advice. Point of contact for German-speaking buyers in Spain and Portugal. Brokerage by Olga Nikushkina, mortgage credit intermediary under § 34i German Trade Regulation (GewO); in Portugal through a locally licensed intermediary.