I have been thick in the house hunt in the Netherlands the last few weeks/ couple months! It has been an exciting process and I have learned a lot along the way. The first timing buying a house is always a big step and in a foreign country solo even more so as there are quite a few differences vs buying a place in the US. At the time of this posting, I will have officially closed on my very own place!
If you want to see pictures or to send me mail you can message me for my address! But, otherwise I won’t share any real photos of the listing etc. because #internetsafety.
7 unique things about house hunting in Amsterdam vs the US
- Competitiveness- I know that the US housing market has gotten more competitive in the last couple years, but I think Amsterdam might still be worse. Sometimes, places are so popular you can’t even get a viewing if they already have 50+ viewing scheduled. You really have to check the Netherlands’ version of Zillow called Funda.nl first thing in the morning to see any new listing and then call that morning to make sure you can even tour it.
- List price vs selling price– This might be the hardest pill to swallow, but unfortunately, the list price on a place is the floor price and it will likely go for much much more. I toured many places that ended up being sold for 100k over asking….. that is crazy! It makes it difficult when you think that a place is in budget and then it goes for 125k over asking. A 125k difference is the difference between in budget and out of budget. So you basically, have to look at places at least 50K below your budget to have some wiggle room to overbid.
- Mortgages- Everyone has always said that it is really good value to buy in Amsterdam vs rent, but I didn’t really understand what people meant by that until I met with a Mortgage broker! I also realized for comparison how much more expensive it is in the US haha.
- There is a lot of tax benefit here where you actually pay the mortgage. There is a “gross” and “net” amount of your mortgage. You pay your mortgage at the end of the month and then 2 weeks later you get money automatically back in your bank account for a taxes. For example, if you buy a place for 450k and mortgage the full amount then you can expect a mortgage to be about 1650 on average the first 5ish years. It technically goes up about 20 euros every year, so that is an average! But this is in contrast to in the US where if you buy a place for 450K you typically need to put 20% down and then the estimated monthly payment is $3,166. Almost double!! 1650 vs 3166 is a crazy difference! I think this is why it is so difficult to compare cost of living here vs the US. Salaries are typically much higher in the US and income taxes are much higher in the Netherlands but it very much an apples to oranges comparison.
- Double Payments & Interest- I was always told in the US that you have to put 20% down for a mortgage. I know that isn’t always the case as a first time home buyer, but in the Netherlands you can mortgage the entire cost no problem and even mortgage some for renovation costs if you want! As long as the appraisal comes back to the cost of your offer then you are good to go to mortgage the entire cost! Plus, interest rates are quite a bit lower here- mine will roughly be 3.8% fixed for 10 years with a 30 year mortgage. Quite a standard going rate.
- Offer deadlines- Expanding on point 1 about the competitiveness of the housing market, typically how it works is that places have viewings over the course of a few days and then set an offer deadline. For example, viewings Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, Tuesday with offers due noon on Wednesday. Then, everyone that is interested in the place will need to put in an offer by Wednesday at noon and they will typically just go with the highest (likely 50-100k over asking). It gets messy, because typically the strategy is to put in your email offer at 11:58 because you don’t want your price/offer to be used as leverage and shared with other potential buyers. Most relators will basically call within the 10 minutes before the deadline to get the vibe & intel and see if there is a price that you need to beat.
- Makelaar Mafia- My manager coined this term and I can’t help butthink about it haha. Basically, the realtors or “makelaar” in Dutch hold all of the power because the list prices don’t mean much. You really need a relator to understand what to bid and how much a place will actual sell for. It isn’t easily findable how much places sell for here like in the US so you need someone to guide you on the pricing strategy. Plus, all of the relators or makelaars are kind of friends because the city is so small so they try to help each other out, etc. so feels a bit like a mafia haha.
- Land Lease- fun fact, if you didn’t know that Amsterdam is below sea level and basically built on wooden polls throughout the city. It is common in Amsterdam to not own the land that your apartment/house is on but to basically “rent” the land from the city. This can be important to look at when buying a place as there is a broad range of pricing. Typically, it isn’t too much money, but if not agreed on in advance it could be a lot. For example, such as 300 euros a year negotiated till 2055 is fine. Sometimes you can buy off the land and then you don’t rent it but own it and then the listing will say “own land.” Oh the interesting things you learn in buying a place here!
- Cooling off period– I don’t know the exact process in the US, but here in the Netherlands for example, you have a lot of rights as the buyer. Basically, up until 3 days after signing of the purchase agreement contract you can change your mind for any reason! For example, the place I ended up buying I put an offer in on and was outbid (by quite a bit), but came in as the #2 bid. The original buyer decided to change their mind and decided to go with another place. Because it is so competitive and often apartments get many many bids it isn’t uncommon for people to put in a bid and then change their mind. For example, over the course of about 6 weeks I toured 15 places and got my apartment on my 5th offer! That means I didn’t get 4 other places. My mentality has always been that the apartment that is meant for me will happen ❤ and it really worked out that way!
- “Removeables”- In the US, from my understanding anything that is attached to the place is included. In the Netherlands, that isn’t the case so you need to be mindful. The Dutch are well known for their frugalness (aka being a bit cheap). For example, the seller can take appliances, flooring, light fixtures, etc. with them and not be included in the sale. I tried to include in the light fixtures because honestly that just seems like a hassle to deal with, but they were going to add another €500 which they aren’t worth so I will be installing my own light fixtures!
- Signing at the notary- in the Netherlands, you have 2 appointments at the notary. The first is to sign the purchase agreement and then the second is the transfer or what we call in the US “closing” where you get the keys. One thing I thought was funny is that the first appointment was mostly done in English as the notary and my relator walked me through everything. Then, for the 2nd appointment I needed to have a translator present. For the translation I wore headphones to get everything live in English. Seemed a bit theatrical since everyone speaks English and they translated for me in the first appointment, but it is the requirement!
In conclusion, it is an exciting time and I can’t wait to buy furniture, decorate, explore the neighborhood, and enjoy my new place. I am not sure how long I will live in the Netherlands for, but excited for this next era of my life💕
❤ Melanie
Smiles from Miles Away 