Second Home Abroad

For a mortgage loan, your house is the bank’s security. If you can’t repay the loan, the bank has a backup plan to (in a worst-case scenario) sell your house. But what happens if you want to buy a house in France or Italy, for example?

A Belgian bank will not accept your house abroad as collateral. It’s too far removed for them. You will need to take out a mortgage on your house in Belgium. This can be tricky if you already have a large outstanding loan. You will be able to borrow much less unless your house is largely paid off.

Specifically, with such a “second-rank” mortgage, you will usually only be able to borrow what you have already repaid. No more. Unless… there are other options, but it’s best to discuss these with us.

If you go through a foreign bank, they will have no problem securing the loan with the foreign property. But the issue will be your income. If you only have income in Belgium, it is not “seizable” from abroad if things go wrong. Bankers don’t like that. Your loan application in another country will only be successful if you also earn money there.

• Which countries? Most banks accept a purchase in the European Economic Area, which includes all EU countries plus Norway and Iceland (and Liechtenstein for the millionaires). Your bank will be more comfortable with our neighboring countries, Spain, Italy, and Portugal. They are somewhat familiar with those areas.
• New construction? No, that’s tricky. A bank needs to be able to monitor the construction invoices, which is challenging in Greek or Portuguese. Renovations will also be difficult to finance.
• Paperwork? The bank needs to understand what you are buying. A sales agreement in French or English is usually not a problem. For other languages, you will need a certified translator.
• Notary here or there? Both, if you borrow here. It’s also a matter of communication: the bank will transfer the money to a Belgian notary who will then transfer it to a colleague abroad.
• €40,000 extra? Through hypotheek.winkel, you can always borrow more. For example, borrowing extra for renovations abroad. You could also use that money to furnish your apartment on the Costa Del Sol.