House Buying in Germany - Legal Affairs for Non EU

Is there any collective wisdom out there on non-EU nationals buying property in Germany? Is it possible, and do we have the same rights etc? I´ve heard that the rules vary from country to country, for example in Spain, it´s quite easy to own property - they have a large expat community there which brings the state a fair amount of revenue..But what about Germany??

Shouldn't make any difference to you on the practical levels - whether you'll incur any extra tax at home I don't know, but I doubt it. Be careful though when it comes to your last will and testament - you may need a new one to cover your German property.

Adding on to this thread, does anyone know what my chances are as an American to get a German bank to help me finance a home purchase? If I have half the purchase price? A quarter?

People have been warning me that as an American I won't have a chance, because I'm too high risk - apparently Americans could just run off to the US and never be found again by the German bank. Is this true? I've financed a car through GE Money Bank before, but I think they are definitely an exception - not like the Hausbank.

Any personal experience/tips greatly appreciated.

Well, I bought a house (I'm American) with my German boyfriend and the different banks we spoke with did not have a problem with me being American at all. What counts is the usual stuff, your job(how long, how stable), your income, your debts). Borrowing money here is a little different. We borrowed almost 100% of the purchase price so if someone tells you that you need a huge chunk of money to put down, they're lying. However, different banks could have different criteria. Best bet is to look online on the real estate web sites under the financing stuff and talk to one of these banks or brokers (they work with several banks trying to get you the best deal). You'll find out real quick whether or not it is a possibility. What's the worst thing that could happen if you ask? (so what if they laugh!!)

That's very interesting, thanks for that. Until now (obviously haven't gone to the banks yet) all I've heard is negative. I suspected that it was bs because it seems like a simple risk calculation.

Would you mind telling me what bank it was that you used? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to blast it across the net.

as i'm sure was said in a similar thread (i think this is it - House Purchasing - Why is everyone so adverse?, don't look on buying a house as a short-term (ie 5 years or so) money earner. house prices remain almost flat here, so you won't make the gains that you possibly could in the UK or in the US. until i lost my job a few months ago, my wife and i were seriously looking at buying a house but that's because we're here for a long stretch.

read through that thread, it should give you food for thought.

We used DiBa but that is only because at the time that we bought our house, they had the best offers. It changes weekly.

But, yes read through that previous thread (someone linked it above) - it has very good information.