Mortgages in Greece for non-residents: what banks actually lend, what it costs, and the alternative most buyers use
Greek banks do lend to foreigners — at a lower share of the value, a shorter term, a higher rate and a slower pace than you are used to. What they ask for, what the valuation does to the sum, why the Golden Visa cannot be borrowed, and why most foreign buyers end up raising the money at home.
The short version is that a Greek mortgage for a non-resident is possible, slow and expensive, and that most of the foreign buyers I know who needed to borrow did so at home and arrived here with euros. The long version is worth reading before you ask a Greek bank, because the answer the bank gives depends on what you ask for, and the thing that quietly decides the sum is not the price you agreed but the number the bank’s surveyor writes down.
I am not a mortgage adviser and rates move monthly. This is the shape of it in 2026.
Borrowing in one minute. Greek banks lend to non-residents at roughly 50–70% of their own valuation, over about 15–20 years, at a rate above what residents pay and without the first-home incentives. Approval takes months and a thick file from home. The loan is a share of the valuation, not of the price — a low valuation is the surprise. The Golden Visa cannot be financed; the qualifying sum must be your own money. The buying costs of 8–11% are never lent. Most foreign buyers borrow at home instead and come as cash buyers, which is faster and usually cheaper.
What Greek banks will do
They will lend to a foreigner. That has been true since the capital controls lifted, and the big banks have departments for it. What they will not do is treat you like a local. A resident with Greek payslips was being offered up to 80% of value in 2026, with promotional fixed rates for first homes; a non-resident with foreign income is offered a smaller share — 50–70% of value is the range you hear, with the higher end for the strongest files — over a shorter term, at a rate that carries a risk premium, and with none of the first-home reliefs, which require residence.
The share is of the bank’s valuation, not of the agreed price. The bank sends its own surveyor, whose number is the most conservative in the transaction, and if that number is below your price the gap comes out of your pocket. On a house you agreed at €300,000 that the bank values at €260,000, a 65% loan is €169,000, not €195,000. This is the mechanism that catches people.
What the file looks like
Tax number, Greek bank account, passport, proof of address. Then the income: two or three years of tax returns, payslips or pension statements, employer letters, bank statements, existing debts, and for the self-employed the accounts. Then the property: title, the engineer’s certificate, the energy certificate, the topographic plan. Much of it in certified translation. The credit officer will ask for more once the file is read, and the answer will take weeks each time. Pre-approval in days is a thing banks advertise to residents with Greek income; for a non-resident, plan in months.
A practical consequence: you cannot sign a pre-contract with a completion date six weeks out on the strength of a mortgage that has not been approved. The deposit is at risk if the loan is refused or comes in short. Sort the finance before the deposit, which is the same advice as in the article on paying for the house.
What it costs
Arrangement and file fees, the bank’s legal check, the bank’s valuation, the prenotation of mortgage registered against the property, and the usual costs of the purchase on top, none of which can be borrowed. The rate itself is the part to compare. Greek rates had come down through 2025 with the ECB’s, and residents were seeing fixed-for-three-years products with low headline numbers; non-residents get a narrower shelf at a higher price. Ask for the offer in writing with the effective annual rate, and put it next to what a lender at home would charge on a loan secured on your existing home. The second is usually cheaper.
Two things a Greek mortgage cannot do
It cannot fund a Golden Visa: the qualifying investment must be the applicant’s own money, and borrowed funds do not count toward the threshold. And it cannot be arranged on a property that fails the bank’s checks — an unregularised extension, a plot without a lawful road, a title with an heir missing. The bank’s lawyer and engineer run their own checks, which is the one advantage of borrowing here: a second set of professionals with every incentive to find the problem.
The alternative most buyers use
Remortgage at home. A lender in your own country already knows your income, your credit history and your language; the rate is the domestic rate; the process is the one you have done before; and you arrive in Crete as a cash buyer, which makes sellers and agents friendlier and removes the Greek valuation from the equation. Then the money crosses as described in the article on paying. The trade-off is real: the debt sits on your home, not the Cretan house, and if the Cretan house is the thing that goes wrong, your home is the security. For a holiday home that is a decision; for a permanent move where the home country house is being sold anyway, it is usually the obvious one.
Who should still borrow here
Someone moving here permanently, with income that will be Greek or at least recognised by a Greek bank; someone who does not own a home elsewhere to borrow against; someone buying a new build from a developer who has an arrangement with a bank that has already valued the complex. And someone who wants the bank’s checks as a second line of due diligence, and is prepared to pay for it in time.
The honest downside
You will be offered less than you expected, for longer than you wanted to wait, at a rate you could beat at home, against a valuation you did not agree with. The file is large, the translations are real money, and the credit officer’s questions arrive one at a time. If the bank says no late in the process, the deposit is the thing at risk. Greek banks are not being difficult with foreigners; they are being careful with everyone, and a non-resident is simply more to check. Know that before you let a completion date depend on it.
Disclosure: Honest Crete does not sell or list property. Enquiries sent from this section go to a licensed estate agent, not to us; the full statement is below. Nothing in this article names a developer, a property or a professional, and it never will.
Worth it if you are moving here for good, you have no home abroad to borrow against, and you can wait for the approval before you commit to a date. Skip it if you own a home at home — borrow there, come as a cash buyer, and keep the Greek side of the deal simple.
Can a foreigner get a mortgage in Greece?
Yes. Greek banks lend to non-residents, EU and non-EU, but on tighter terms than to residents: typically 50–70% of the bank's own valuation rather than 80%, terms of around 15–20 years, a higher rate, and an approval process that runs months. You need a tax number, usually a Greek account, and a thick file of income evidence from home.
How much deposit do I need for a Greek mortgage as a non-resident?
Plan on at least 30–40% of the price in your own money, and more if the bank's valuation comes in below the price you agreed — the loan is a share of the valuation, not of the price. Plus the 8–11% buying costs, which cannot be borrowed.
What documents does a Greek bank want from a foreign borrower?
Passport and AFM, proof of address, your last two or three years of tax returns, payslips or pension statements, bank statements, details of existing debts, and the property's papers. Everything in a language the bank accepts, often with official translations. Expect the list to grow once a credit officer reads the file.
Are Greek mortgage rates higher for non-residents?
Usually. Residents in 2026 were being offered fixed and variable products with rates that had come down with the ECB's; non-residents are priced with a risk premium and get fewer of the promotional products, and first-home incentives do not apply. Ask for a written offer and compare it with a loan secured on your home abroad.
Can I use a mortgage for the Golden Visa?
No. The qualifying €800,000 must be the applicant's own funds; borrowed money does not count toward the threshold. You may borrow for other property, but not for the investment that earns the permit.
What do most foreign buyers in Crete do instead?
Raise the money at home — remortgaging a property they already own, or a lender in their own country that understands their income — and arrive in Greece as a cash buyer. It is faster, cheaper in rate and fees, and it removes the valuation risk from the Greek side of the deal. The trade-off is that the debt sits on your home, not the Greek house.
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