From when is the financing confirmation legally binding for the bank?

The bank advisor said he has not yet requested a credit check from [Schufa], but he would only do so once we had the approval for the house. A partial proof of equity was still missing, as well as documents about the property, which the real estate agent, as mentioned, could not or would not provide; without these, the bank could not be more specific. For example, the bank wanted a certified expert to estimate and list the costs if there was a renovation requirement over €50,000. Also, a calculation of the living area and who knows what else, in order to properly assess the property. But there was no time for that. Since I was only informed on Friday afternoon that this was not sufficient for the seller, nothing could be done anymore. If I had been told on Thursday, I might have been able to achieve something with another bank. I had assumed that this would be enough. To me, it sounded quite binding. But well, by then it was too late for inquiries with others.

Thanks for the rough indication of how it should sound. But I don’t think we would have gotten something like that. After all, we still didn’t know how high the renovation requirement was.

I would be bothered by the passage that the credit check has not yet been carried out.

Because that keeps every door open for the bank, which clearly emphasizes the non-binding nature.

A binding financing commitment reads in essence:

Dear XY, we are pleased to provide you with amount A (under conditions B) for financing.

If applicable, supplemented by: This commitment is subject to the review of the property serving as collateral for the loan.

This eliminates the self-influenced risk of not getting financing.

Exactly such a letter I also received from the bank. It took two days. It was not targeted at a specific property and I could use it multiple times.

So the sellers of the mentioned property wanted a "more concrete financing plan" specifically for this house; tailored exactly to this house.

Well, on Thursday we have a consultation appointment with one of the major loan brokers, then maybe the next property will go faster. It's just very frustrating because this was the only house so far that we were really interested in even after the viewing.

It's really fascinating what brokers/sellers make a fuss about with the written confirmation.

Our broker actually wanted that too. He was from the Sparkasse; but in our case, the financing from them was rather hopeless.

We then contacted an "independent" broker who calculated everything.

Then our financial broker called him to say that he/ or the bank xx would handle everything with us. Strangely enough, that was enough. A week later, the bank's appraiser only went through the property.

So next time, let the banks/intermediaries pester the broker.

Basically, nothing is binding anyway until the ink at the notary is dry.

The broker said the bank advisor could call him anytime, but he wouldn’t tell him anything different either. So no calling me or anything...

Exactly. Until the notarized purchase contract and on the bank’s side until the signed loan agreement, nothing is really binding anyway.

Our house bank said they wouldn’t be more specific anyway before a final review because they don’t want to make themselves legally vulnerable with wording that’s too definite. But nothing was to be expected from the broker either; he had enough other interested parties and no reason to help us further with, for example, the missing construction description. He knew he would get his 7.14% from someone else for whom he wouldn’t have to do anything... everything’s so annoying.

So the sellers of the mentioned property wanted a "more concrete financing plan" specifically for this house; specifically tailored to this house.

But that doesn't work - there are always people who have expectations that you simply cannot meet.