There are three main decisions you need to make for your mortgage in Germany: First, there is the question of how long you want to fix the interest rate, then how quickly you will repay your loan, and finally how much equity you want to invest.
Fixed interest rate
The longer you fix the interest rate, the more security you have in planning your mortgage loan. However, you also have to accept higher costs, because the longer the fixed interest rate, the higher the interest rate that the bank will call. With a short fixed interest rate period, on the other hand, you benefit from a lower interest rate. But you take a risk as a higher loan balance remains at the end of the fixed interest rate and you may have to take out significantly higher refinancing for it. Repayment period
Regardless of the interest rate, the faster you repay your mortgage, the lower your financing costs will be, as you will only pay interest on the remaining loan amount. Vice versa, the slower you repay your loan, the higher your financing costs will be.
How fast you repay your mortgage loan depends on the amount of your monthly rate and additional repayments you may make. In Germany, most banks offer the option of additional repayments between 5% and a maximum of 10% per year. The more equity or savings you bring in, the lower your loan-to-value ratio LTV and hence the interest rate at which the bank grants you your mortgage. Typically, banks lower the interest rate gradually in 5% steps of the LTV. In other words, a higher down payment means a lower LTV and a lower interest rate, and vice versa, a lower down payment means a higher interest rate due to a higher LTV.