Selling your home when your loan becomes too heavy
When paying off your home no longer works, you mainly want to know where you stand. You are not the only one, and there are more options as long as you talk early. Here you read what you do first, where you find help and what a sale in consultation with your bank means.
Contact your bank as early as possible: looking for solutions together can avoid a forced sale (Wikifin, checked on 28 October 2026). A forced sale can only take place after seizure and after a conciliation attempt before the attachment judge. Help with debts you find at the OCMW, the public social welfare centre of your municipality, or at a CAW, a general welfare centre (Vlaamse overheid).
What is your home worth?
First see what your home is worth. Then start preparing early and without obligation: free, for as long as you like.
What do you do first if you can no longer pay your loan?
Contact your lender as soon as possible, preferably before you miss a payment. Wikifin recommends informing your bank and looking for solutions together, so that you can draw up a plan and avoid a forced sale (Wikifin, February 2026).
Do not respond to offers to pay off your debts with a new loan. Wikifin advises against taking out new loans to repay other debts.
Prepare the conversation, then you stand stronger:
Your income and fixed expenses per month, and what has changed and for how long.
Your current loans, with the outstanding balance and the monthly instalment of each.
What you propose yourself: temporarily paying less, another arrangement or a sale.
A first idea of what your home is worth.
Part 2
Which solutions can your bank propose?
Every situation is different, and for every change to your contract your bank has to agree. Some contracts allow renegotiating parts, and you can refinance your loan with a new loan. Costs may be attached to that (Wikifin, February 2026).
If you refinance with the same bank, since 10 June 2024 it may no longer charge a reinvestment fee, and the file costs are limited to € 75 (Wikifin, February 2026).
Ask for every proposal on paper, with what it costs you per month and in total. If in doubt, take it to a debt counsellor before you sign.
Part 3
Where do you find help with debts?
Whoever needs advice and guidance with budget problems can go to the OCMW (the public social welfare centre) or to a CAW (a general welfare centre). All OCMWs and many CAWs are recognised as institutions for debt mediation. Eerste Hulp Bij Schulden and budgetwijzer.be help you find a service in your area (Vlaamse overheid, the Flemish government).
That help can take different forms:
Budget guidance: you manage your budget yourself, with the support of a social worker (Vlaamse overheid).
Budget management: a social worker temporarily takes over your banking, receives your income and pays your fixed costs and debts; you receive living money (Vlaamse overheid).
Debt mediation: you are guided in repaying your creditors (Wikifin, May 2026).
Collective debt settlement: a court procedure for structural debts that you cannot repay within a reasonable period. You file a petition with the labour court of your district, and the OCMW or a CAW can help to draw it up. The procedure is not free, but what the debt mediator may charge is legally capped; if you cannot pay that, the Fund for Combating Over-indebtedness can step in (Vlaamse overheid).
Part 4
What happens if you no longer pay?
It helps to know how it proceeds, even if you want to avoid exactly that. According to Wikifin (February 2026):
You may owe penalties and default interest, if your loan contract provides for them.
Your name is passed on to the Central Individual Credit Register of the National Bank, which makes a new loan more difficult later.
The bank can call on its guarantees: the mortgage on your home, seizure of your wages or possessions, and any guarantors.
A forced sale can only take place after seizure and after a conciliation attempt before the attachment judge. Only if that conciliation fails can the bank have your home sold.
Part 5
Why can selling yourself in consultation be a way out?
If your loan is no longer bearable in the long term, a sale that you organise yourself, in consultation with your bank, can be a way out. You then have a say in the timing, the asking price and the buyer, and your bank knows where it stands. Agree the plan before you put the home up for sale.
In a sale you first use the sale price to pay off your creditors, so that the buyer receives the home without a mortgage. The notary sees to that and uses the sale price for it; the costs of having the mortgage cancelled are yours (the notaries’ model sale agreement).
If the sale price does not fully cover your loan, you need your bank’s agreement to sell the home free of mortgage. The model sale agreement therefore makes the sale dependent on the agreements of the bank and of every other creditor with a security on the home, at the latest at the deed. So consult your bank in advance about a sale below the outstanding amount.
If you repay your mortgage loan early, the bank can charge a reinvestment fee of at most three months’ interest on the amount you repay, if your contract provides for it (Wikifin, February 2026).
Part 6
What if the proceeds do not cover everything?
The proceeds go first to the bank with the mortgage. If there are several loans on your home, they are repaid in the order in which they were registered: that is called the rank of the mortgage (Wikifin, February 2026).
If the proceeds are lower than your debts, the difference remains a debt that you continue to pay off. In an example from Wikifin a home is sold for € 0,000, while there are € 5,000 in debts on it: € 5,000 then remains to be paid.
Agree with your bank, and if that helps with a debt mediator, how you pay off that remaining amount, preferably before the deed is there. That way you know where you stand after the sale.
Part 7
How do you prepare a sale without extra pressure?
A sale requires the usual documents: an EPC (energy performance certificate) before the home is put up for sale, an asbestos certificate for a home from before 2001 by the sale agreement, a soil certificate and an electrical inspection (Vlaamse overheid, OVAM). Those certificates cost money; ask for quotes and plan them in consultation with whoever helps you with your budget.
A free valuation based on the address, such as Hoobler’s, gives you a first idea of the value to discuss with your bank. It is a starting point, not an official valuation, and you are not tied to anything.
If you decide to sell, you can build a sale dossier for free at Hoobler and sell yourself or with a realtor. Take the time you need, and do not let yourself be rushed by those who promise you quick money for your home.
If you live in Brussels or Wallonia, there too municipalities offer debt mediation via the OCMW (Wikifin). The Flemish rules for certificates do not apply there; ask your notary which documents you need.
Frequently asked questions
Answered briefly.
Can the bank simply sell my house if I no longer pay?
No. A forced sale can only take place after seizure and after a conciliation attempt before the attachment judge (Wikifin, February 2026). Contact your bank before that point to look for a solution together.
May I sell my house if my loan is higher than the sale price?
Yes, but then you need your bank’s agreement to sell the home free of mortgage (the notaries’ model sale agreement). What remains of your debt after the sale, you continue to owe (Wikifin). Agree in advance how you pay off that remaining amount.
Where do I find help with debts in Flanders?
At the OCMW of your municipality or at a CAW; all OCMWs and many CAWs are recognised for debt mediation (Vlaamse overheid). Eerste Hulp Bij Schulden and budgetwijzer.be help you find a service in your area.
What does it cost to repay my mortgage loan early?
The bank can charge a reinvestment fee of at most three months’ interest on the amount you repay early (Wikifin, February 2026). In addition you pay the costs of having the mortgage cancelled.
Do I end up in a register if I do not pay off my loan?
Yes. In case of arrears your name is passed on to the Central Individual Credit Register of the National Bank, which makes a new loan more difficult later (Wikifin, February 2026).
A free valuation based on the address helps you prepare the conversation with your bank. You are not tied to anything and decide yourself whether and when you sell.