An overseas property mortgage: two routes your own bank rarely knows
“We do not lend abroad” is rarely an assessment of your case. It is a description of an institution that can neither value nor charge a property across the border. The question is therefore not whether it can be done — but which of the two routes it goes through.
In short
How do you get a mortgage on an overseas property?
Two routes: a lender in the destination country that takes the overseas property itself as security, or capital raised at home against a property you already own and then deployed abroad as equity. An ordinary high-street bank usually offers neither.
No property at home needed
No. Without it the route runs through a destination-country lender — for Spain a non-resident mortgage of up to 70 % of the lower of purchase price and tasación. Owning a property at home only opens the second route.
30–40 % of the price plus purchase costs
Through a Spanish bank as a non-resident, usually 30–40 % of the price plus purchase costs (roughly 10–13 % in Spain), which no lender finances. In Portugal the IMT alone has been a flat 7.5 % for non-residents since 25 May 2026.
Will a German bank finance a property abroad?
Most will not. German high-street banks lend against what they can value and register — a property in Spain or Portugal is neither. Borrowing through Germany therefore usually means pledging a German property as security; the overseas property itself does not carry the loan. The second route is a lender in the destination country: Spanish banks typically lend non-residents up to 70 % of the lower of purchase price and tasación. Which route works depends on income, property and stated purpose — not on the postcode. The two routes can often be combined: part of the equity from lending against a German property, the rest from the local bank at the destination. We assess which combination offers the lowest overall cost and the best chance of approval.
A lender in the destination country, or capital raised at home
A high-street bank at home secures loans against an overseas property only in the rarest of cases. That leaves two routes: a lender in the destination country that takes the property itself as security, or capital you raise at home against property you already own and then deploy abroad as equity. An overseas property mortgage therefore originates either in the destination country or at home — just not where most people ask first. That the destination lender assesses strictly is not distrust of foreigners: enforcing a security across borders is disproportionately more difficult for them.
| Lender in the destination country | Capital raised at home | |
|---|---|---|
| Security | the overseas property itself | a property you already own at home |
| Who is assessed | you as a non-resident, to local standards | you, at your own bank |
| How you appear to the seller | subject to finance | as a cash buyer |
| Valuation of the property bought | tasación by the bank | none required |
| Paperwork | translated, to destination-country standard | domestic standard |
The two routes can also be combined. In detail: Spanish or German bank? · using a German property as security.
What a mortgage for overseas property is assessed against — and why it takes longer
Without local tax residency the bank has no direct access to domestic credit records or to the income documentation it is used to. Foreign payslips, tax assessments and employment contracts have to be translated and placed on a Spanish scale instead. Spanish banks also weigh the country of origin differently: income from within the EU is generally accepted more readily than income from outside it. None of that makes a case impossible — it makes it slower, and it rewards anyone who assembles the file before a property is found rather than after.
The mortgage readiness check places your situation in the frame in a few minutes, including the lever that helps most.
What has to come out of your own pocket
Purchase costs are financed by no lender, in either country. In Spain they run to roughly 10–13 % of the purchase price depending on region and property type; in Portugal the IMT alone has been a flat 7.5 % for non-residents since 25 May 2026, plus imposto do selo. Realistic planning for a Spanish purchase therefore starts at 30–40 % equity plus those costs in cash. Full breakdown: purchase costs calculator.
Frequently asked questions about financing property abroad
How does a mortgage for an overseas property differ from one at home?
Can I get an overseas property mortgage without already owning property?
Which lenders finance property abroad?
Does the overseas property itself count as security?
How much equity do I need for an overseas property?
Is an overseas mortgage more expensive than a domestic one?
Does the same apply to Portugal as to Spain?
Am I too old for an overseas mortgage at over 60?
Which of the two routes fits your case?
A first consultation without obligation — in English, German, French, Spanish or Russian.