Using your own money towards a mortgage

The key points in short

You want to buy a home and you need to get your financing sorted. In exceptional cases you can buy the property entirely with your own money, meaning you don't need a mortgage at all. This is rare, however, and often not the most tax-efficient solution either. More commonly, you might want to put in some of your own funds alongside a mortgage when buying a home.

1. Calculating a mortgage with savings

You can factor your own savings into your mortgage calculation by simply subtracting the amount you want to put in from the total financing you need. Say you want to buy a home for €250,000. On top of the purchase price there are around 6% in buying costs, bringing the total to €265,000. If you have €50,000 of your own money, you only need to take out a mortgage of €215,000. This lowers your monthly costs and also reduces the risk of your property going underwater if its value drops.

2. Calculating a mortgage with a gift

If you receive a gift, you can use that money towards buying a home. It works in a similar way to savings, since the gift is essentially also your own money. Say you receive a gift of €25,000 on top of your own savings. You'd then only need a mortgage of €190,000. Relative to the property value, that gives you a loan-to-value ratio of 76%. Because you're borrowing less than 80% of the property value, some banks won't charge you the maximum interest rate surcharge, making it a relatively affordable way to finance your home.

3. Calculating your mortgage costs

You can calculate your mortgage with your own money to find out the maximum amount you can finance. If, for example, you can borrow €200,000 based on your income, you can add your own savings and any gift on top of that. Also keep an eye on the monthly costs you'll face, so you can be confident you'll be able to afford the payments in the long term. You can calculate your mortgage online using your own money to see what your options are.

4. Calculate your mortgage with your own money

Want more information about a mortgage calculation or want to know how much you can borrow alongside your own savings? Fill in the mortgage calculator.