Follow-up financing (mortgage refinancing)

Follow-up financing (Anschlussfinanzierung) is the new loan for the remaining debt that is still outstanding when the fixed-rate period ends.

Three options:

1. Prolongation (extension):

• Simply extend with the same bank
• Little effort, but: the rate is often not the best
• The bank sends an offer approx. 3 months before expiry

2. Refinancing (switching banks):

• Move the loan to another bank
• Often a better rate (new-customer terms!)
• Costs: €200–500 for transferring the land charge at the notary
• Almost always worthwhile if the difference is 0.2 percentage points

3. Forward loan:

• Lock in the follow-up rate up to 5 years before expiry
• Costs a premium (approx. 0.01–0.03% per month of lead time)
• Makes sense if you expect rising interest rates

Tip: ALWAYS compare! A 0.3% interest difference on €200,000 remaining debt over 15 years = approx. €9,000 in savings.