Banks don't love lending to people they can't chase. That's the whole problem of the non-resident mortgage in one sentence: you live in one country, the property sits in another, and the lender has to decide whether payslips from a foreign employer are worth the collection risk. Some banks have made a business of saying yes. Most simply say no.
The good news is that the banks that do lend to foreigners cluster in a handful of markets, and several of them are exactly where international buyers want to be anyway. Spanish and Portuguese lenders approve non-resident loans by the thousand every year. UAE banks run whole departments for expat and overseas buyers. And in countries where bank finance is thin, developers have filled the gap with instalment plans that need no bank at all.
This guide walks through the four realistic ways to fund a purchase abroad, the terms non-residents are actually offered, how our main markets compare, the application itself, and the currency risk that catches more buyers than any rejection letter ever will.
Four ways to pay for a property abroad
Every cross-border purchase is funded one of four ways, and it's worth being honest about which one fits you before you talk to a single agent.
The first is a local mortgage in the country where you're buying. The loan is secured on the foreign property, usually issued in local currency, and underwritten against income you earn somewhere else. This is what the rest of this guide is mostly about.
The second is borrowing at home. If you own property in your own country with decent equity in it, a remortgage or home-equity loan there can raise the money, which you then take abroad as a cash buyer. Your own bank already knows you, the contract is in your own language, and sellers treat you as a cash purchaser, which buys you real negotiating power. The catch is obvious once you say it out loud: your family home is now carrying the risk of a holiday flat two thousand kilometres away.
The third is a developer payment plan. Standard practice in Turkey, the UAE and Thailand, where bank lending to foreigners ranges from limited to nearly nonexistent. You pay in instalments tied to construction milestones, sometimes with part of the price pushed years past handover. No bank, no income file, and no independent underwriter asking whether the project stacks up. That last part cuts both ways.
The fourth is cash, and it funds more international purchases than the other three combined. Not because every buyer is rich. A finished two-bedroom apartment ten minutes from the sea in Antalya or on the Cypriot coast can cost less than a garage in central London, and at those prices many buyers simply don't need debt.
What non-resident terms actually look like
Ignore the rates and ratios banks advertise to locals. Non-resident lending runs on a separate rulebook, and every line of it is tighter.
Start with the deposit. In most markets that lend to foreigners at all, banks will typically advance somewhere between 50% and 70% of the property's valuation, which means you're bringing 30% to 50% in cash. Compare that with the 10% to 20% a local buyer might put down. And the valuation matters: if the bank's surveyor values the apartment below the agreed price, the loan shrinks and the gap is yours to cover.
Purchase costs come on top. Transfer taxes, notary and registration fees, legal work: depending on the country these add anywhere from a few percent to low double digits, and lenders won't finance them. Your true cash requirement is the deposit plus all of that.
Loan terms are shorter than you may be used to, commonly 15 to 25 years, and most banks want the debt repaid before you turn somewhere between 70 and 75. A 55-year-old applicant is often looking at a 15-year term whether they like it or not, and a shorter term means a bigger monthly payment.
Rates are frequently variable. In the eurozone that usually means a margin over Euribor, so your payment moves when European rates move. Fixed deals exist, more in some markets than others, and non-residents sometimes pay a small premium either way. Treat every figure you're quoted as typical for now rather than a promise; pricing follows the rate cycle.
Then there's the paperwork, which is where most applications actually die. A lender assessing foreign income wants the full picture, translated and often apostilled:
- Two or three years of tax returns
- Recent payslips, or accounts if you're self-employed
- Six to twelve months of bank statements
- A credit report from your home country
- A list of existing loans and other commitments
Most banks run a debt-to-income test on top: your total monthly debt payments, the new mortgage included, generally can't pass roughly a third of your net income. Self-employed applicants get extra scrutiny everywhere, and income that's hard to document, such as cash earnings or irregular freelancing, may as well not exist.
One more European habit worth knowing about: many lenders require a life insurance policy alongside the mortgage, priced on your age and health. It's part of the real cost of the loan, and it's one reason approvals get harder past 60.
Get an agreement in principle before you fall for a specific apartment. It costs little, usually takes one to three weeks, and it turns you into a serious buyer in the eyes of every agent and seller you meet.
Which markets lend to non-residents
Here's how the countries we cover at HomeNSearch line up for a foreign borrower.
Spain and Portugal: the accessible pair
If you want a straightforward non-resident mortgage in Europe, Iberia is where the odds are best. Spanish banks have lent to foreign buyers for decades, the process is well worn, and a non-resident with clean documented income can typically borrow 60% to 70% of valuation over 20 to 25 years. You'll need an NIE, the foreigner's tax number, and usually a Spanish bank account before completion. Browse what that money buys on our Spain page.
Portugal runs close behind. Non-resident lending is routine, loan-to-value sits in a similar band, sometimes a notch lower, and the NIF tax number plus a local account are the entry tickets. Portuguese banks are particular about documentation quality, so a tidy income file speeds things up considerably. Our Portugal listings give a feel for prices from Lisbon down to the Algarve.
Cyprus and Greece: possible, with patience
Both countries have banks that lend to foreigners, but the sector is smaller and the answer depends more on the individual bank, and sometimes the individual branch, than it does in Spain. Expect more conservative loan-to-value, slower underwriting and a heavier documentation burden. Greek banks spent years rebuilding after the financial crisis and remain choosy about non-resident files, though things have loosened. In both markets, buyers who can't wait often just close in cash.
The UAE: lending built on salary criteria
Dubai and Abu Dhabi have an active mortgage market for foreigners, including buyers who don't live in the Emirates. Approval is built around salary: banks set minimum monthly income thresholds and look hard at how stable your employer or business is. Non-residents get lower loan-to-value than UAE residents, and pricing differs too, but the process is fast by European standards and the banks are used to international files. See our UAE page for the market itself.
Turkey and Thailand: where payment plans fill the gap
Mortgages for foreign buyers exist on paper in Turkey and barely at all in Thailand, and in practice few international purchasers use them in either country. The financing culture is different: developers carry the credit instead. Interest-free instalment schedules during construction are normal in Turkish and Thai new-build projects, occasionally stretching two or three years past handover. That's genuinely useful financing. Just remember nobody at a bank has double-checked the developer, so your lawyer's due diligence on the project, the land title and the escrow arrangements has to do that job.
The application, step by step
Details vary by country, but a non-resident application follows the same skeleton almost everywhere.
- Sort your local tax number and, where required, a local bank account. In Spain that's the NIE, in Portugal the NIF; most countries have an equivalent.
- Assemble the income file: tax returns, payslips, statements, credit report, translated as required.
- Apply for an agreement in principle, directly or through a broker who handles non-resident cases.
- Find the property and agree the price, telling the seller you're buying with finance.
- The bank commissions its own valuation. The loan is set against the lower of price and valuation.
- Review the formal offer: rate type, term, insurance requirements, early-repayment fees.
- Complete before a notary, as most civil-law countries require, and register the mortgage against the title.
From first documents to keys, six to ten weeks is a fair expectation if your paperwork is clean, longer if translations and apostilles drag. Where local practice allows it, have your lawyer write a financing condition into the purchase contract so your deposit survives a rejected application. Spain, for one, doesn't include this by default. Plenty of buyers have lost deposits assuming it did.
The currency mismatch nobody prices in
Here's the risk that outlasts the application: you earn in one currency and owe in another. A euro mortgage paid from a British salary, a baht instalment plan funded out of euros. The loan doesn't care what the exchange rate does. Your budget will.
Run the numbers on a 10% move, because 10% moves happen. If your home currency weakens 10% against the loan currency, your monthly payment effectively rises 10% without the bank changing a thing. Over a 20-year term you'll live through swings like that more than once, in both directions.
You can soften it. Borrowing in the currency you earn in is the cleanest fix, where a lender offers it. A payment buffer of six to twelve months held in the loan currency absorbs shocks. For the transfers themselves, specialist FX providers offer forward contracts that lock a rate months ahead, which matters most on staged payments to a developer. EU rules also oblige lenders to warn foreign-currency borrowers about this risk, and some contracts carry a right to convert the loan if the rate moves past a set threshold. Ask whether yours does.
When the bank says no
Rejections are common in non-resident lending and often say little about you. A thin self-employed income file, the wrong passport for that bank's internal policy, a property type the lender dislikes: any of these sinks an application on its own. What matters is the next move.
Sometimes the answer is a different bank, because criteria vary widely inside the same country, and a broker who lives on non-resident cases earns the fee here. Sometimes it's a bigger deposit: at 50% down, a bank that refused you at 30% may look again. Borrowing against your home turns the problem into a domestic one your own bank can solve. Developer plans replace the bank entirely in the markets built for them. And occasionally the honest answer is to buy something cheaper, in cash, in a market where prices make that realistic, instead of stretching for debt on terms that punish you.
If you're weighing several of these options against each other, talk to us. HomeNSearch works across thirteen countries, and part of the job is matching buyers to the markets where their budget and their financing actually fit, before anyone books a viewing trip.
FAQ
Can I get a mortgage abroad without living there?
Yes, in the right countries. Spain, Portugal and the UAE all have established non-resident lending, and Cypriot and Greek banks consider foreign applicants case by case. You'll need documented income, a local tax number and a deposit of 30% to 50%. Turkey and Thailand rarely lend to foreign buyers; people buying there use developer instalments or cash.
How much deposit do I need for an overseas mortgage?
Plan on 30% to 50% of the price, since non-resident loan-to-value typically runs from 50% to 70%. Purchase costs come on top and no lender finances those. A buyer holding 40% of the price in cash, plus costs, is a realistic candidate almost everywhere that lends to foreigners.
Which country is easiest for a non-resident mortgage?
Among the markets we cover: Spain and Portugal, with the UAE close behind for buyers who clear the salary thresholds its banks apply. All three process foreign applications routinely rather than treating them as exotic exceptions.
Is a developer payment plan better than a mortgage?
It's easier to get and needs no income file, and instalments during construction are often interest-free. The trade-off is risk: no bank has vetted the project, and your money is exposed until the property is finished and titled. A mortgage puts the bank's valuation and legal checks on your side. Use payment plans with a good lawyer and a developer whose completed projects you can walk through.
