Getting a loan through an Austrian bank

Richard Wright said:From what I recall, a colleague of mine who used to work with an Austrian firm never charged a dime for an initial assessment. Instead, they’d just wait until they had a handful of clients lined up in the same city. They would look over the paperwork sent beforehand to decide if it was actually worth their time to head out there for a site visit and a preliminary walkthrough...

In the end, those costs were simply rolled into the processing fee. 🤷

As for those people handing over cash for an appraisal without getting a single receipt or a shred of documentation? They shouldn't hold their breath waiting for that loan to go through. They should just take it as another expensive lesson learned.

The brokers don't even really handle the assessments themselves; that’s more of a bank thing. Brokers mostly just "work on intuition and gut feelings," 😁as Kirk would say.

It isn't great for the agents either. If you have solid clients, they can get a loan right here in the States, and honestly, many of the other folks won't even qualify back in Austria. So, if they aren't charging for those initial "assessments," they could spend an entire month gathering paperwork, snapping photos, making phone calls, paying for ads, driving all over town... and end up with zero dollars to show for it.

In my opinion, it's just not right when people aren't told straight up:
- Here are the requirements—if you don't stand a chance, just tell them immediately, for free, no strings attached.
- It's a fifty-fifty shot; my fee is this much regardless, but at least I can give the client some proof that their documents are currently under "review" at the bank.
- The loan gets approved—the agent charges a service fee plus gets a commission from the bank (which is obviously the best-case scenario for them).

It feels like most of the people looking for loans fall into that "no chance" category, and that's when these guys try to squeeze a few bucks out of them.

I’m with you on this—don't waste a single cent on some appraisal fee. It’s never going to actually solve anything for you.
No middlemen handle these valuations anyway. Usually, an actual banker from a big outfit like Chase or Wells Fargo shows up in person, takes one look at the property, and decides exactly how much credit they're willing to extend based on what they see.
They tend to lowball the value quite often, too, mostly because they know exactly how desperate people can get in this economy.
I’ve handled a few loans myself over the years, and I never paid a dime for appraisals—just the standard notary fees and those public filing costs. But honestly, that was only once I actually showed up in the States to collect the funds.
By the time they actually cut the check, the amount they handed over was significantly lower than what I expected.

And just one more thing,
a lot of people make a massive mistake when they start handing over paperwork to every single agency they can find
every single application you submit stays logged in the bank's system—it’s all digital now
take the banking system in Europe, for instance—all those major institutions are interconnected, regardless of which branch you walk into
if you get flagged or rejected at one bank, don't expect much luck elsewhere; it'll almost certainly be a rejection there too

Has anyone worked with Adam regarding mortgage loans over in the States? I saw an ad in the paper under Adam, mentioning they work with Nina. I’ve tried reaching out a bunch of times, but they aren't picking up their phones. If anyone has had any good or bad experiences, please let me know.

I honestly can't help but wonder if any of you have actually had any real experiences trying to secure a loan?
Personally, I was left completely disillusioned during my time in Santa Barbara. There is this outfit called Euro Partner LLC that presents itself on their website as Europartner D—which isn't even how they are listed in the official business registries as Euro Partner LLC—and they claim to find "fast" international loans specifically for us American citizens. It is nothing short of a total scam. For several months, this woman, M. M., just kept leading me on; I ended up handing over several thousand dollars because she kept insisting she "had" to travel to Austria to finalize my loan. In the end, she just brushed me off, saying she’d spent far too much time on me and that whatever I’d paid her was just a tiny pittance anyway. Honestly, it makes me wonder... if M. M. from Santa Barbara treats everyone looking for a loan the way she treated me, $2.00 she probably doesn't even need to bother trying.

😕

... I handed her a few thousand bucks ...
honestly 😕 😕

dustyhawk73 said:I honestly can't help but wonder if any of you have actually had any real experiences trying to secure a loan?
Personally, I was left completely disillusioned during my time in Santa Barbara. There is this outfit called Euro Partner LLC that presents itself on their website as Europartner D—which isn't even how they are listed in the official business registries as Euro Partner LLC—and they claim to find "fast" international loans specifically for us American citizens. It is nothing short of a total scam. For several months, this woman, M. M., just kept leading me on; I ended up handing over several thousand dollars because she kept insisting she "had" to travel to Austria to finalize my loan. In the end, she just brushed me off, saying she’d spent far too much time on me and that whatever I’d paid her was just a tiny pittance anyway. Honestly, it makes me wonder... if M. M. from Santa Barbara treats everyone looking for a loan the way she treated me, $2.00 she probably doesn't even need to bother trying.

😕

What exactly did you pay those $2000 for? Give me an estimate of what "😁" actually means. Did you even receive an itemized invoice for whatever service was supposedly provided?

Has a loan application even been submitted in AU? Do you have any documentation to back that up?

Give us the specifics.

Jonathan Ward59 said:I’m with you on this—don't waste a single cent on some appraisal fee. It’s never going to actually solve anything for you.
No middlemen handle these valuations anyway. Usually, an actual banker from a big outfit like Chase or Wells Fargo shows up in person, takes one look at the property, and decides exactly how much credit they're willing to extend based on what they see.
They tend to lowball the value quite often, too, mostly because they know exactly how desperate people can get in this economy.
I’ve handled a few loans myself over the years, and I never paid a dime for appraisals—just the standard notary fees and those public filing costs. But honestly, that was only once I actually showed up in the States to collect the funds.
By the time they actually cut the check, the amount they handed over was significantly lower than what I expected.

What percentage of the total amount did those processing fees eat up?

Can mortgage loans be used for things like expanding a small business—assuming you're putting up your own property as collateral—or are they strictly limited to buying or renovating real estate?

On a $20,000 transfer, I ended up walking away with $17,900
That covers everything—bank fees, contract prep, the wire, notary costs, all that junk
Basically, every single expense was baked in

You can spend it on whatever you want
It’s straight cash in your hand

Jonathan Ward59 said:On a $20,000 transfer, I ended up walking away with $17,900
That covers everything—bank fees, contract prep, the wire, notary costs, all that junk
Basically, every single expense was baked in

You can spend it on whatever you want
It’s straight cash in your hand

Loans aren't exactly cheap entertainment, are they? It looks like those so-called "processing fees" amount to over 10% on an amount like that.

Does a bank really draft a custom contract for every single client just to charge them for it?

Don't they just use a standard template?

Look, I didn't exactly have the cash sitting around to cover the contract notarization and translation fees upfront—so yeah, I just put it all on my credit line
The notary and the lawyer both sent over their invoices for that specific amount
Between the processing fees and the bank charges, you're looking at about 6%
If you just handle the translation and notary costs yourself, they only dock you that 6% fee

And within that 6%, the bank covers the travel to the States, shipping all the paperwork back to the US, and I think about 2% of that is just straight-up loan processing fees

dustyhawk73 said:I honestly can't help but wonder if any of you have actually had any real experiences trying to secure a loan?
Personally, I was left completely disillusioned during my time in Santa Barbara. There is this outfit called Euro Partner LLC that presents itself on their website as Europartner D—which isn't even how they are listed in the official business registries as Euro Partner LLC—and they claim to find "fast" international loans specifically for us American citizens. It is nothing short of a total scam. For several months, this woman, M. M., just kept leading me on; I ended up handing over several thousand dollars because she kept insisting she "had" to travel to Austria to finalize my loan. In the end, she just brushed me off, saying she’d spent far too much time on me and that whatever I’d paid her was just a tiny pittance anyway. Honestly, it makes me wonder... if M. M. from Santa Barbara treats everyone looking for a loan the way she treated me, $2.00 she probably doesn't even need to bother trying.

😕

In my opinion, admins should be wiping these kinds of posts off the board entirely. Either redact the company name to initials or something else...
Look, when someone makes their very first post just to launch an unprovoked, baseless attack on a business, it's completely pointless.
I could easily set up a dozen fake profiles right now and claim my competitors are stealing clients' money, or call one guy a liar and the next one an idiot...
I'm telling you this from the perspective of someone who has spent years of blood, sweat, and tears building a brand for my own company, so these little "venting sessions" really get under my skin.
It doesn't even matter whether her story is subjective or objective. She claims she paid them a few thousand dollars, then turns around and trashes them while complaining to *us*!?!?!

😠

If anyone happens to have a reliable contact, please shoot me a message.
Does this need to go through an American representative, or can I just deal with them directly?

From what I gather, you can't just go at it directly since you aren't an American citizen
—that's the hurdle. That’s why they employ representatives to push those loans through the system
—essentially acting as middlemen who work right for the banks
.

Jonathan Ward59 said:From what I gather, you can't just go at it directly since you aren't an American citizen
—that's the hurdle. That’s why they employ representatives to push those loans through the system
—essentially acting as middlemen who work right for the banks
.

Actually, you can do it directly—I helped a buddy out with this without any hiccups at all. I even got some solid advice on exactly which branch to hit up and specifically who to talk to personally.
The loan was all set within about a month, back when we did it last year.
I actually reached out to the bank again recently for someone else, and the terms were better (I think I mentioned those details a few posts ago), but nothing came of that second attempt because the property we wanted to use as collateral wasn't "appealing" enough for them.

Maria James40 said:Actually, you can do it directly—I helped a buddy out with this without any hiccups at all. I even got some solid advice on exactly which branch to hit up and specifically who to talk to personally.
The loan was all set within about a month, back when we did it last year.
I actually reached out to the bank again recently for someone else, and the terms were better (I think I mentioned those details a few posts ago), but nothing came of that second attempt because the property we wanted to use as collateral wasn't "appealing" enough for them.

I was given a contact too, but the woman I'm supposed to deal with is out sick. About two weeks ago, they told me they didn't think she'd be back for at least another week. Now, what's the deal? Even the person who worked directly with her isn't giving me much.
I'll try calling again this week and see where that gets me...

Help! I’m trying to land a mortgage through Chase. We’re putting up a property in San Jose as collateral. My husband and I both run our own small businesses, but we basically pay the bare minimum on taxes/contributions, and honestly, we haven't been super consistent with it. I’ve already wasted months dealing with two different brokers who just dragged their feet with endless excuses until nothing came of it. Now, we actually really need this loan, so if anyone knows a solid professional who can actually get things moving, please let me know. I see some of you guys managed to pull off your mortgages, so any leads would be huge. Thanks in advance! Just one more thing—the property paperwork is totally clean and has zero liens on it.

Is there such a thing as a "legal" broker in the US, and how do I actually track them down?

Is it actually possible to snag an SBA loan for commercial space? Like, say, a woodworking shop that’s already pretty well-equipped?

Jonathan Ward59 said:I’m with you on this—don't waste a single cent on some appraisal fee. It’s never going to actually solve anything for you.
No middlemen handle these valuations anyway. Usually, an actual banker from a big outfit like Chase or Wells Fargo shows up in person, takes one look at the property, and decides exactly how much credit they're willing to extend based on what they see.
They tend to lowball the value quite often, too, mostly because they know exactly how desperate people can get in this economy.
I’ve handled a few loans myself over the years, and I never paid a dime for appraisals—just the standard notary fees and those public filing costs. But honestly, that was only once I actually showed up in the States to collect the funds.
By the time they actually cut the check, the amount they handed over was significantly lower than what I expected.

Hey everyone, could someone please share the address or phone number for the contact who helped you secure your loan?? Thanks, George