Menu
Expat.com

Getting a loan for house abroad

Last activity 25 August 2020 by TominStuttgart

Post new topic

raylucas

Hello,

I need an advice on this hence I posted it here. I am thinking of getting a loan to build a house abroad, my home country precisely because I know I would own a house in a city with half of what people pay here to own a flat especially in the region where I live. Do you think this is applicable? One of the reasons for my decision is because of the fall in oil price, the EUR is of great value to our local currency.

I live here in Germany for almost 6 years. I don't have credit problems. I recently lost my work due to Corona but I will be starting a new position very soon. I have saved up some money which I think I would use to buy the land in the city and I think I would be needing roughly like a 140K EUR or thereabout for a 3 bedroom 6 flats.

What would you advise for a low interest loan? I look forward to hear your advice and suggestions.

Kind regards,

TominStuttgart

This is very very unlikely. Simply not how the system works. I doubt any bank would take the risk especially since the collateral for the loan is elsewhere. I doubt this would usually work even within the EU none the less for elsewhere. Such loans are done locally.

Cynic

I recall many years ago while living in Germany, we were planning our next move to Holland and couldn't get a mortgage from our German bank because the house was not in Germany.

raylucas

I thought as much but with the hope that working in a public place, married and not having credit problems would have helped. The parents of my wife decided we shouldn't be paying rent for the house we live in because it belongs to them, so trying to get another property here then doesn't make sense for me at the moment. Thanks for your reply Tom.

beppi

For a bank, what you have in mind would be an unsecured loan.
The interest rates for such are currently 6 - 8% per year - and that is if they decide that with your salary and other assets you can repay it easily. But f they suspect that you might run away to a foreign country (where they cannot pursue you), then they will refuse altogether.
A good question in this context is why you want to buy a house there?

raylucas

@beppi... An interest of 6-8% is very high I think. Why would I run away when I have a family here is the question so perhaps they won't think of that but I am not on their minds. A house there means I won't pay house rent for my parents ever again. And that also include my siblings who stay in the same roof with them. But since it's a block of 6 flats, the others would be rented and the rent would be used also to pay off the mortgage. End of the day I leave the property for my children just incase there's a day Germany is not functioning as good as it is at the moment.

beppi

Unsecured loans are also usually given only up to an amount that you can easily re-pay from your salary in a year or two. I assume the amount you want is higher than that?

raylucas

So you would advice I go for a loan at 6-8%. I have read people get it more cheaper. I am also not a fan of credit. I think I want more than that otherwise the whole idea does not make sense. E.g not getting the full loan means the house won't be completed at a certain time frame. Thanks for your advice.

beppi

I think you should do it the proper way: Get a mortgage in your home country from a bank which can estimate the value of the property, accept it as collateral and which knows the risks involved.
Alternatively, start construction when you have saved enough to not need a loan.

TominStuttgart

Like Beppi mentioned, the most logical thing is to get a loan in the country where the property would be. If it makes economic sense and you can pay the mortgage then why should they not loan you money?

But a foreigner living in Germany and wanting to buy property elsewhere is not the kind of risk a bank wants to take. If you were a multi-millionaire with world –wide property holdings it just might be different. But sorry, the rules for the rich and for the rest of us are not the same at all.

raylucas

Tom, I am laughing at the rules for the rich and for the rest of us are not the same. I would have love to get a loan in my home country but I think they will also not be willing to part away with their money if I am not residing at home. Its been 6 years since I left and when I visit, I stay not more than 2 or 3 weeks. I think I will have a hard time to convince someone who barely sees me or knows that I live abroad and be presenting him/her with some documents written in a foreign language he/her barely understood that I have a job and can afford to pay the loan within a stipulated time. What might work is giving the bank the documents of the land of which I plan to build as a collateral but I don't know if this will work because I haven't tried and I don't know the rules again anymore. And I also have to be on ground to get a loan and I doubt if a normal holiday time is enough. I will wait until my next visit and try my luck.

TominStuttgart

But a bank in Germany is NOT going to do that. Not that the property in Nigeria won't have a value but they have no reasonable way to use it as collateral against the loan. If the loan was defaulted on then they would have to hire a local lawyer and go through the local judicial system to try to claim the property. And who knows what their legal standing would be. No European bank is going to take this risk. At least a local Nigerian bank has experience with the local judicial system and the collateral is there.

Articles to help you in your expat project in Germany

All of Germany's guide articles