1) Get a Foreign Identification number: This is an NIE in Spain, NIF in Portugal, Numero Fiscal in France, and Germany needs the following:

Property Transfer Tax (Grunderwerbsteuer): You'll need a tax ID to pay the property transfer tax, which is a one-time tax based on the purchase price.
Annual Property Tax (Grundsteuer): You'll also need a tax ID to pay the annual property tax.

2) Make sure your passport has a year remaining on it. (If you are a US citizen you can renew online once you have 1 year left on your passport.

3) Open a bank account (We recommend with the help of a local lawyer)

4)If buying a property, reach out to mortgage brokers in the country you are interested in to get pre-approved.

5) I got a heloc on my home in the United States before moving so I wouldn't have to rush to sell my home.