Buying property: bank loans and guarantees

Updated on Thursday 14 February 2019

There are various kinds of loans which are granted by banks. The amount depends on the borrower's resources.

Inquire

Bank loans

Refunds can thus be backed by:

  • Fixed interest, conclusively calculated for the entire loan duration.
  • Variable interest, indexed or dependent on interbank variations, capped or not.

Some so-called “zero-interest” loans do not possess any interest; They are reserved for low income and their amount is limited.

Generally speaking, repayment deadlines include the capital and the interest. These are amortizable loans.

But there is a loan with a different system: the “in fine” loan; during the term of the loan, you only repay the interest.

Therefore, the capital is only reimbursed once at the end of the term. This system has a significant tax benefit for heavily taxed people. To balance the capital, it is possible to build up savings associated with an investment product backed by life insurance.

Banking guarantees

The bank that lends you money may ask you for several types of guarantees:

  • It may be an absolute guarantee, either from a specialized organization, or from someone close to you who shall vouch for repaying the so-called loan.
  • But, it may also wish to have a guarantee on real estate. It could be a privilege of the moneylender, a mortgage, or both.

These guarantees are taken for a period which corresponds to the term of the loan plus one year. These then disappear automatically, one year after repaying the last installment.

If the loan is repaid before the maturity (in the event of a sale, for example) it will be necessary to remove the registration taken from the land registration service. A discharging document from the registration will be drawn up by the notary.