Which route to a German mortgage fits an expat investor: a bank, a national broker, an expat broker, a tied adviser or a full-service firm?

The short answer: five routes, and what each one is good for

Every German mortgage ends at a bank. What differs is who assembles your file, how many banks see it, in which language you are advised, and whether anyone has checked the property before the loan. An expat buying an investment property meets five routes, and each one is right for a different buyer.

• Direct to a bank. You open the application with one lender, often online, in German. One offer, no comparison, no adviser who knows how a Blue Card or a dollar salary is read by other banks.
• National mortgage brokers. Dr. Klein, Interhyp, Baufi24 and Hypofriend compare several hundred lenders and are paid by the bank on completion. English service varies by firm.
• Expat-specialist brokers. My Mortgage Germany, Perini and Finance for Expats build their business on English-speaking buyers, foreign income and residence titles, with the same bank-paid model.
• Tied advisers. Your German Mortgage is run by advisers of MLP, a financial consulting company; the mortgage sits next to insurance, pensions and asset management.
• Full-service investment firms. LDP Group and comparable firms do not broker the loan themselves; they source the property, run the calculation and the tax structure, and hand a complete file to a licensed broker. The loan is one step in a process rather than the product.

The rest of this page describes each route, names the providers we looked at on 19 September 2026 and quotes only what their own websites say. No ranking is implied. The section on LDP Group is written by LDP Group, and the limitations section says so again.

The decision table: who does what, and what stays with you

Direct to a bank: one offer, your file, your German

The oldest route is still open: walk into a branch or start online with a single bank. ING's mortgage page, fetched on 19 September 2026, describes a fully digital start: an online pre-check in nur 3 Minuten with an immediate result, a downloadable financing pass, continuation through the online banking login and document upload after a consultation call. The page does not state an English service, a residence requirement, a loan-to-value limit or a fee. That silence is the point of this route: the bank sells its own product to buyers it already understands.

For an expat the trade-off is simple. You save nobody's commission, because the broker is paid by the bank anyway, and you lose the comparison. A bank that reads a dollar salary conservatively will not tell you that another bank reads it differently. If your German is fluent, your income is in euros and your file is standard, this route works. If any of those is missing, the next four exist for a reason.

National mortgage brokers: the panel, free of charge to you

A German mortgage broker compares offers from a panel of banks, prepares the file and processes the application. The client pays nothing; the bank pays a commission on completion. Anyone who brokers consumer mortgages needs a licence under § 34i GewO (Immobiliardarlehensvermittler), which belongs on the imprint. Of the five national brokers below, only Hypofriend mentions a registration on the pages we fetched, with the Berlin IHK; the others may carry it on their imprint pages, which we did not read.

• Dr. Klein describes itself as one of the largest mortgage brokers in Germany with more than 600 advisers at 240 locations, about 600 banking partners and consultancy in English, and states that consultation and processing are free of charge for the client because the bank pays a commission. Its expat page says you do not need any knowledge of German or a German passport and addresses buyers regardless of nationality and residence status. No loan-to-value figure is stated.
• Interhyp describes itself as Germany's largest broker of private mortgages, with more than 500 lenders, more than 140 locations and more than 2.1 million financed clients, free of charge because the lender pays the commission. English service is not stated on the homepage.
• Baufi24 describes itself as an independent broker comparing more than 600 banks, with English-speaking experts and all relevant documents in English, an offer usually within 24 hours, and lists Blue Card holders, temporary residence permit holders, US citizens and investors from abroad among the buyers it serves. Commission from the bank, nothing from the client.
• Hypofriend describes itself as an independent mortgage and pension insurance broker registered with the Berlin IHK, comparing 750 lenders, paid by the lenders and not by the customer, with approval typically within 3 to 10 working days. Its page for tax foreigners is the most specific non-resident statement we found anywhere: a maximum loan-to-value of 60 percent, at least 40 percent of the price plus fees in equity, salaried employment only, residential property only, and the expectation that 80 percent of the expected rent covers the monthly payment.
• German Mortgage describes itself as an independent broker for expats comparing more than 750 lenders, 100 percent free and SCHUFA-neutral. Languages, licence and non-resident terms are not stated on the landing page.

The panel sizes are the providers' own claims and overlap heavily: the same 400 to 750 German lenders sit behind most of these panels. A second broker rarely finds a bank the first one could not reach; what differs is how the file is presented.

Expat-specialist brokers: the same model, built for your file

Three firms describe themselves primarily through the expat case rather than through the panel. Their value is not a different bank list but experience with the parts of an expat file that a general adviser handles badly: a probation period, a residence title with an end date, income in another currency, a tax assessment from another country.

• My Mortgage Germany describes itself as a certified mortgage intermediary under § 34i Abs. 1 S. 1 GewO supervised by the Berlin Gewerbeamt, with more than 400 lenders and native English speakers, serving expats, EU citizens, Blue Card holders, international clients and SOFA agreement residents from an office in Berlin. Its fee model is not stated on the homepage.
• Perini Finance and Property describes itself as an independent broker under § 34i GewO regulated by the IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein, register number D-W-132-ZUCB-95, based in Krefeld and working nationwide, comparing more than 650 banks, with advice in German, English and Russian, and the commission as a rule paid by the bank. It names buy-to-let, non-residents and Germans abroad as cases it handles and states that for foreign-currency income a discount of 10 to 50 percent is applied to the income. That is the only published haircut figure we found.
• Finance for Expats describes itself as lender-neutral multilingual financial guidance with more than 650 banks and financing partners, in English, German, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi and Kannada, and names Blue Card holders, non-EU buyers, foreign income earners, self-employed expats and new arrivals as profiles it serves. On fees it hedges: for many mortgage cases the process is free because compensation may come from the financing partner. Loan-to-value and non-resident terms are not stated on the loans page.

Tied advisers: the mortgage as one product among several

Your German Mortgage describes itself as not only a mortgage broker but trusted advisers from MLP, which it calls Germany's leading independent financial consulting company, with more than 400 banks, 25 years of experience and more than 12,000 consultations with international clients from Berlin. It is compensated by the lender. It also offers asset management, real estate and insurance, and states that 100 percent financing excluding purchase fees is available to Blue Card holders with select banks, the only maximum-financing figure any provider on this page publishes. Non-resident terms are not stated.

The route is legitimate and the advice can be good. The thing to know going in is the incentive: an adviser whose firm also sells pensions and insurance will ask about pensions and insurance. If you want only the loan, say so at the start.

KfW: a supplement drawn through your bank, not a route of its own

KfW does not lend to you directly; every KfW loan is applied for through the bank that finances the purchase, which is why it appears on Baufi24's lender list rather than as a competitor. For a rented existing flat the relevant programmes are the energy renovation loans, and the application must be in before the notary date, because the purchase contract counts as the start of the project. The family home-ownership programmes require that you live in the property yourself, so they do not apply to a buy-to-let purchase. Our KfW page for foreign buyers sets out the programmes, the income tests and the open questions, including the antragstopp of programme 455-B since 31 July 2026 and the higher limits of programme 308 since 3 August 2026.

The full-service route: the loan file arrives complete

LDP Group is not a bank and not a broker. Financing is one of four steps in an investment service: the property is sourced and priced, the renovation or conversion plan and the tax structure are fixed, and only then does the file go to FM Zinswerk, an independent broker comparing more than 400 banks. LDP prepares the file, compares the offers with the client in English and coordinates bank, notary and seller until payout, typically about four weeks to approval. The client pays no fee for this; the bank pays the broker. LDP's own § 34i GewO licence is in preparation, and until it is granted LDP coordinates rather than brokers.

What this route does not do: finance buyers who live outside the EU, finance new-build developments, or arrange owner-occupied home loans without an investment case. Residents of Germany and of other EU countries of any nationality are the clients it is built for. If you already own the property you want to finance, or want only a loan, one of the brokers above is the shorter path.

The difference between this route and going to a broker directly is not the broker. It is that the bank sees a building with a purchase calculation, a rent forecast and a structure instead of a wish, and a complete file is what shortens the four weeks. Details on how LDP coordinates financing.

The non-resident question, route by route

The published statements contradict each other, and that is worth knowing before you start. Hypofriend caps tax foreigners at 60 percent loan-to-value and adds salaried-only and residential-only conditions. Perini names non-residents and Germans abroad as clients and publishes a 10 to 50 percent haircut on foreign-currency income without a loan-to-value figure. Dr. Klein says it serves buyers regardless of residence status without naming terms. Baufi24 lists investors from abroad. Our own non-resident financing page collects broker statements between 50 and 80 percent and notes that not one of them comes from a bank.

• If you are a German tax resident with euro income, every route is open and the choice is about language and service, not about eligibility.
• If you are resident in Germany but paid in another currency, the specialists that publish a policy on it (Perini's haircut, Hypofriend's rules) tell you more before the first call than a general broker will.
• If you live outside Germany, start from the 50 to 60 percent band, expect fewer banks and a premium, and ask any provider for its written non-resident terms before sending documents. Hypofriend's tax-foreigner page is the most explicit public statement; Perini is the only broker that names the case on its expat page.
• If you want the property found, priced and structured as well as financed, the full-service route applies only if you live in Germany or another EU country.

How to check any provider on this page, including us

• The imprint. A § 34i GewO licence with the supervising IHK and a register number, as Perini and My Mortgage Germany print on their pages. A firm that only coordinates should name the licensed broker, as LDP names FM Zinswerk.
• Who pays. Every broker here says the bank pays. Ask whether any case is charged to you, and when; Finance for Expats' wording, many cases, is the honest version of a rule that is not absolute.
• The written non-resident policy. If your residence or currency is not standard, a provider that cannot send you a page about it will learn about your case at your expense.
• Named people. Perini names its owner and its broker on the page; a six-figure loan should have a person attached to it.
• A refusal list. A provider that states whom it does not serve, as LDP does for buyers outside the EU, has a position you can check against.

Limitations and what we do not know

• Every statement about a named provider comes from one or two pages of that firm's public website, fetched on 19 September 2026 and read as published. We did not contact any of them, did not test their service and did not read their terms or imprints. Offers, panels, fees and licences change; check the site on the day you decide.
• Where a page does not state a fee model, a language, a licence or a non-resident policy, we wrote not stated. That means the page we read does not say it, not that the firm lacks it.
• Two fetches failed on the day: the KfW programme overview and Commerzbank's mortgage page. The KfW paragraph therefore rests on our own KfW page and its sources, not on a fresh read.
• LDP Group wrote this page. The section on LDP uses LDP's own service facts as of September 2026, which no outside party has audited.
• No ranking is implied. A resident with euro income and fluent German may be best served by the first route; the page exists so that you know which one you are in.

What would change this answer

• A change to any named provider's website that adds or removes a service line, a fee statement, a licence or a non-resident policy, which we check when the page is reviewed.
• A change to § 34i GewO or to the Immobiliardarlehensvermittlungsverordnung that alters who needs a licence to broker or coordinate a mortgage.
• LDP's own § 34i GewO licence being granted, which would move financing from coordination with FM Zinswerk to in-house brokerage.
• A bank publishing its own non-resident loan-to-value policy, which would replace the broker figures this page relies on.

Last reviewed September 19, 2026. Reviewed by Nicholas Runtic and Abdelrahman Maged, co-founders of LDP Group, before publication and at every review date. We review this page every quarter and re-fetch each named provider's page before the review; if you are reading it more than three months after the date above, treat the provider descriptions as dated.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Dr. Klein, Mortgage in Germany for expats (fetched 19 September 2026)
• Interhyp, homepage (fetched 19 September 2026)
• Baufi24, Mortgage in Germany for expats (fetched 19 September 2026)
• Hypofriend, homepage (fetched 19 September 2026)
• Hypofriend, mortgage requirements for tax foreigners (fetched 19 September 2026)
• German Mortgage, homepage (fetched 19 September 2026)
• My Mortgage Germany, homepage (fetched 19 September 2026)
• Perini Finance and Property, expats and international (fetched 19 September 2026)
• Finance for Expats, mortgage and loan advisory (fetched 19 September 2026)
• Your German Mortgage by MLP, homepage (fetched 19 September 2026)
• ING, Baufinanzierung (fetched 19 September 2026)
• § 34i GewO, licence for real estate loan intermediaries
• LDP Group, mortgage financing coordination with FM Zinswerk
• LDP Group, KfW programmes for foreign property buyers
• FM Zinswerk, mortgage broker