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Buying property in Germany as a foreigner: the English guide 2026

Updated: 2026-07-19 · Reading time: 13 min · ImmoLens editorial team

Can you buy a house or a flat in Germany without a German passport? Yes, without any restriction. German law does not tie property ownership to citizenship or to a residence permit: EU citizens, non-EU citizens and even buyers who live abroad can all own German real estate outright, including the land it stands on. There is no approval procedure of the kind Switzerland, Denmark or parts of Austria apply to foreign buyers. What actually decides whether the purchase works is not your nationality, it is financing, the notary process and the taxes. This guide walks through all three in English.

1. How buying property works in Germany

The German process differs from the UK or US model in one central point: nothing is binding until both sides sign in front of a notary. A signed offer, a handshake, even a paid reservation fee create no obligation to sell or buy. The typical sequence:

• Find the property and view it, usually via the big portals or an estate agent (Makler).
• Get a financing certificate (Finanzierungsbestätigung) from a bank. Sellers take offers seriously only with one.
• The notary drafts the contract. The notary (Notar) is a neutral state-appointed lawyer, not your advocate and not the seller's. When a business sells to a consumer, the law requires that you receive the draft at least two weeks before signing (§ 17 Abs. 2a BeurkG), so you have time to read and ask.
• The notary appointment. The notary reads the entire deed aloud and must be satisfied that you understand it. If your German is not sufficient, § 16 BeurkG requires a translation, in practice a sworn interpreter, whom you pay (typically a few hundred euros). Some notaries in the larger cities certify directly in English.
• Priority notice and payment. After signing, the notary registers an Auflassungsvormerkung, a priority notice in the land register that blocks the seller from selling twice. Only when it is registered and the other conditions are met does the notary tell you to pay. Payment goes directly to the seller's account; an escrow account with the notary (Notaranderkonto) is the exception, not the rule.
• Keys at payment, ownership later. Possession, use and risk transfer when the price is paid. The formal change of ownership in the Grundbuch (land register) follows weeks to months later, once the transfer tax is paid. That delay is normal and the priority notice protects you throughout.

2. What it costs on top of the price

Germany's closing costs are high by international standards: 5.5 to 12.1 percent of the purchase price come on top, depending on the federal state and on whether an agent is involved. They must be paid from your own funds, because German banks do not finance them.

On a €400,000 flat the difference between Bayern (3.5 %) and Nordrhein-Westfalen (6.5 %) is €12,000 in transfer tax alone. The full breakdown with worked examples is in the closing-costs guide, and the free closing-costs calculator computes the exact figure for every federal state.

3. Getting a mortgage as a foreigner

This is where nationality-adjacent reality kicks in. Banks do not care about your passport, they care about where your income arises and where you live. Three situations, three very different outcomes:

The German-specific mechanics of the loan itself are the same for everyone: fixed-rate periods of 10 to 15 years (average 10-year rates in 2026: 3.2 to 3.8 percent), a repayment rate (Tilgung) you should set at 2 percent or higher, and a negotiated right to extra repayments (Sondertilgung). All of it is explained in the mortgage guide and the equity guide.

4. Subsidies: KfW does not ask about your passport

Germany's state development bank KfW funds owner-occupiers with low-interest loans and grants, and the programmes are tied to the property and its use, not to citizenship. If you buy in Germany and live in the property, you can apply like anyone else. The application always runs through a bank operating in Germany, never directly, so in practice you need a German financing bank anyway. Which programme fits which case (KfW 124, the family programme 300, the Jung kauft Alt programme 308 with loans up to €180,000 from 3 August 2026, and the renovation programme 261) is covered in the KfW guide in English.

5. Taxes: while you own, when you rent out, when you sell

• While you own: the annual Grundsteuer (property tax), set by the municipality. For a typical family home it commonly runs to a few hundred euros per year.
• If you rent the property out: the rental income is taxable in Germany even if you live abroad (limited tax liability). Most countries' double-taxation treaties assign the taxing right to Germany as the country where the property sits; check the treaty with your home country.
• When you sell: § 23 EStG sets the famous ten-year rule. Sell a rented property within ten years of buying and the gain is taxed at your income tax rate. Hold it longer than ten years and the gain is tax-free. Owner-occupiers are better off still: living in the property in the year of sale and the two preceding years makes the sale tax-free regardless of the holding period.

6. The vocabulary you will actually encounter

7. The five mistakes foreign buyers actually make

• Budgeting like at home. Forgetting the 5.5 to 12.1 percent closing costs, which banks will not finance.
• Treating the notary as their lawyer. The notary is neutral. Nobody in the room negotiates for you; if you want advocacy, bring your own adviser.
• Signing without understanding. Skipping the interpreter to save a few hundred euros on a six-figure contract. § 16 BeurkG exists for a reason: use it.
• Paying before the appointment. Reservation fees, "deposits", advance payments: none of these are part of a proper German purchase.
• Ignoring the building's paperwork. For flats: the Teilungserklärung, the last owners' meeting minutes and the maintenance reserve tell you about special levies long before the seller does. What to check on site is in the viewing guide.

Sources and status

Status: 19 July 2026. Legal anchors checked against the statutory texts at gesetze-im-internet.de (§ 16 BeurkG, translation at the notary) , § 17 BeurkG (two-week draft period) , § 23 EStG (ten-year rule) and §§ 656a ff. BGB (agent commission) . The notary process is described by the Federal Chamber of Notaries at notar.de . Transfer tax rates are state law and current as of July 2026. Bank lending practice for non-residents varies by institution; the equity figures above describe the common range, not a guarantee.