Can You Use a Mortgage or Loan for the Greek Golden Visa?

The qualifying amount cannot be mortgaged. The €250,000, €400,000 or €800,000 that earns the permit must be your own investment, moving from your account to the seller's Greek account. Practitioners have long treated loans from foreign banks as acceptable inbound funds, but the lawyer is required to check whether the money is borrowed (IMI Daily, 31 August 2026). Sources differ on loans from Greek banks and on financing the part of the price above the minimum, so confirm your own plan before you sign.

What the rule says in short

• No mortgage on the qualifying amount. IMI Daily states that the amount for the tier "cannot be mortgaged".
• Funds move directly. The usual route is from the buyer's own account to the seller's Greek account. Developers now build without bank loans, so this is how most purchases from developers are paid.
• The lawyer checks the source. The lawyer must establish whether the funds are borrowed or your own savings. Keep the paper trail; see the documents checklist.

Loans from a foreign bank

A loan taken in your home country is widely described by Greek practitioners as acceptable, because the funds still arrive from abroad. The same report quotes an Athens lawyer who says nobody on the Greek side goes looking for the loan behind the transfer. That is a statement about practice, not a rule: the lawyer's duty to verify the source still applies, and a lender may register a charge on the property you are buying, which is the one thing the rule forbids. Agree the collateral with your lawyer before taking the loan.

Where sources disagree

Question	What sources say
A Greek bank loan for the minimum amount	Several law-firm Q&A pages say it is not possible; one says it works if the property stays free of encumbrances. Most are from 2021 or earlier.
Financing the part above the minimum	One Greek agency guide says the statutory minimum must be paid from your own funds but any excess value may be financed by a loan.
Paying in instalments	Some pages say the minimum must be paid in full at signing; others describe payments under a preliminary contract.

These are agency blogs and lawyer Q&A pages, not the text of the law. We found no official guidance that settles them, so treat the table as a list of questions for your lawyer.

How other programmes treat loans

The same IMI Daily report compares programmes, which helps to see how common this rule is:

• Cyprus: the investment must be made with funds from abroad, so a Cypriot loan cannot meet the threshold.
• Portugal: the rules bar borrowing the minimum from a Portuguese bank; foreign loans are not addressed.
• Italy: loans and mortgages are not permitted.
• Malta: personal funds only.
• Turkey: the property must be free of any mortgage or lien.

Practical steps

1. Decide before you reserve whether any part of the price will be borrowed, and tell your lawyer.
2. Never allow a mortgage or charge to be registered on the property for the qualifying amount.
3. Keep statements, the loan agreement and transfer receipts together.
4. For a purchase from a developer, see how the payment schedule works in buying property in Greece remotely and check the full cost.

Sources: IMI Daily, "Can You Finance a Golden Visa Investment?" (31 August 2026); lawyer Q&A pages and agency guides as described above. Informational, not legal advice.