Finding property in the Netherlands is not really the issue, there are real state agents, news paper announcements and of course the famous webpage funda.nl. But buying a house in the Netherlands is only about finding your dream home. It goes far beyond that. Below a few tips for finding that dream home of yours:
- Do online research in funda.nl and select more tan a few options that you’d like to visit. In my experience getting a buying real state agent is not necessary, you can do the research yourself and set appointments yourself.
- In parallel, talk to your bank and financial institutions such us mortgage advisors to find whether or not you are eligible for credit and to what extent that will be. That way you know what your reach might be and you will have already the financial institutions running all sort of exercises on your eligibility which will save time later in the process. As new rules for mortgages are occasionally introduced check them often. Here is a link to Dutch mortgage rules.
- Visit a few houses and understand the market value of the property you want to buy. How do you determine market value? Search for similar houses in the neighbourhood and similar neighbourhoods and see what Price they are asking and how fast they are removed from funda. You can always call the makelaar and ask at what Price approximately wa sit sold. Tip: check the kadaster as it will give you the real Price for what the property has been sold.
- If you like something make an offer that is in line with market value. In my opinion, it’s always good to be conservative with the offer and feel the water rather tan go to high. If you get a good laugh from the Makelaar that might be an indication that your price is not too crazy low. If you get a: “no way, i want a serious offer” and a rather insulted reaction, that might be your key signal that you went too low. Nonetheless, it’s always worth trying and in a market economy it does not hurt to make an offer.
- Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate… I can’t make it more clear. Never give in too easily and try to push the makelaar more to your desire price.
- In parallel, get all documents together. Your first consultation with the bank and mortgage advisors should have already given you a hint on what you will need.
- With the acceptance of your offer, you will sign a buying agreement with the buyer, this is a private document and does not need a notarial deed. With this document you can finally Apply for a mortgage.
- Submit all necessary documents to your mortgage provider.
- You will have an appointment at the notary to sign the property transfer deed with the seller and the mortgage with the bank on the same day. The notary handles the money transfer. Due to the corona situation, notaries are requesting a power of attorney to do the whole transfer without you having to go to their office. This is free and saves tons of time.