Procedure of banks when purchasing an existing property

I hope this topic fits into the forum here; if not, the thread can be quickly closed again.

Some of you may already know that we will sell our current house to pay for our new house. I have now received some information from potential buyers that I cannot assess or that surprise me, namely that banks apparently/allegedly have such a strong influence on the purchase of an existing property.

Allegedly, the bank wants ...

... calculation of the living/usable area
... a measured floor plan of all floors, sectional drawings
... to come by with a bank employee or an appraiser (I don't remember exactly)

The calculation of the living/usable area and the measured floor plan of all floors must not be done by oneself; a company is supposed to do that.

... Furthermore, the bank of a prospective buyer says, without having seen the house or being informed about the renovations/refurbishments, without any information about equipment etc., that our house is worth "xyz" euros.

Are you familiar with this as well? This "interference" of the bank in the contract negotiations or the requirements for the seller to provide documents for the bank is completely unknown to me. I only know it this way, that one (as it is with my husband and me) discloses one's salaries, income, savings accounts, insurances, etc., and either one gets a loan or not. When we bought our house, we informed the lending bank about our salaries etc., and that was it. Which house we buy, with which square meters in which rooms, never interested them.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Yes, the banks need all these documents and inspections/reports are not unusual either. How professional, for example, a floor plan has to be, I can't tell you. Don't you have the documents at home yourselves?

... Don't you have the documents at home yourselves?

No, we don't. When we bought the house, we did not receive such documents either, and as mentioned, our bank did not want to see them. Thanks for your information. That basically means that the interested party cannot decide whether they are allowed to buy a specific house, but rather the bank or the appraiser, or am I misunderstanding that? So we cannot rely on the purchase commitment of an interested party, is that correct?

I have also heard that banks want to know every detail about a property and even conduct inspections. Other banks do not require this.

So we cannot rely on a buyer's commitment, is that correct?

Yes, unfortunately.

Allegedly the bank wants ...
... calculation of the living/usable area
... dimensioned floor plans of all floors, sectional drawings
... to come by with a bank employee or an expert (I don’t remember exactly)
The calculation of the living/usable area and the dimensioned floor plans of all floors may not be done by oneself either; that should be done by a company.

These are the usual documents you should also have yourself. All available in the building file.

Furthermore, the bank of a prospective buyer, without having seen the house or being informed about the renovations/refurbishments, without any information about the equipment, values our house at "xyz" euros.

That is also normal, an approximate mortgage lending value determination.

Do you also know this? To me, this "interference" by the bank in the contract negotiations or the requirements for the seller to provide documents for the bank is completely unfamiliar.

It is a completely normal procedure. The bank MUST check the property and creditworthiness.

That basically means, though, that the prospective buyer cannot decide whether he may buy a certain house but rather the bank or the expert decides—or am I misunderstanding? So we cannot rely on the purchase commitment of a prospective buyer, is that correct?

Yes, of course, that is how it is. At least indirectly, since the buyer can only buy if he has the money—equity or financing. If the banks say "no," then he simply cannot buy. That is always the case; if there is no money in the account, you cannot spend it. Whether house, kitchen, car, or vacation.

So we cannot rely on the purchase commitment of a prospective buyer, is that correct?

You can rely on the interest. Whether the customer can buy is shown by the bank’s financing confirmation.

Overall, the procedure as you described it is quite normal and nothing special.

You can also calculate the living space yourself. Floor plans are necessary, that’s how it is. Get the [Bauakte].