Answers to any questions you might have. Parker & Williams wants to inform you as good as possible, but you may still have questions. That’s why we have already answered the most frequently asked questions for you. Is the answer to your question not listed? Please contact us via the contact form or give us a call.
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Frequently Asked Rent Questions
Frequently Asked Buy Questions
Amsterdam is a (bike) friendly, lively, international, young, colorful, ambitious and very social city. A great city to live in for students, starters, professionals and families.
Currently about 862.965 people (and counting) are living in Amsterdam with 180 different nationalities. The number of expats is constantly changing, approximately 130.000 expats are living in Amsterdam!
Wooden clumps, tulips, bikes, stroopwafels, bitterballen, canals, Kingsday (27th of April), bikes, windmills, cheese and of course Delfts blue. Experience the Dutch customs yourself during your stay!
Bikes, canals, Rijksmuseum, The Gay Pride Parade, Anne Frank House, ‘Over the Edge’ (Europe’s highest swing), red light district, coffeeshops, Artis, diamonds, Ajax, houseboats and many more to explore by yourself!
Amsterdam is spread over 8 city districts, each with its own characteristic neighborhoods. Amsterdam-Centrum, Amsterdam-Noord, Amsterdam-Westpoort, Amsterdam-West, Amsterdam Nieuw-West, Amsterdam-Zuid, Amsterdam-Oost and Amsterdam-Zuidoost.
Yes, you can. You need a Dutch address and a secure job to apply for a mortgage. Buying a house can take a variable amount of time though. The time it takes to secure your home varies according to multiple factors such as the market at the time of your arrival – and of course your specific requirements, wishes, and personal financial situation. You will need a mortgage initially – and applying for this can take some weeks. The following processes after you have been granted your mortgage will take at least another few weeks. Surveyors, Notaries, Valuators and other services are involved. Working with these partners can take time, so we would recommend at least securing a temporary housing contract for between 3 months – 1 year, to make sure that you give yourself ample room to breathe during the process.
The Amsterdam rental market is made up of the social housing sector (60%) and the liberated housing sector (40%). The social housing sector is only accessible if you’ve been living and registered in Amsterdam for at least 10+ years. This leaves the liberated housing sector. Due to this divide, the supply doesn’t always match the demand which creates a very dynamic and ever changing housing market. At the moment it is a landlords market for the lower budget apartments because there’s more competition but it is a renters market for apartments above the €2.000 mark. Apartments can be on the market ranging from 2 working days for the popular low budget apartments to weeks and sometimes even months for the more high end ones.
In The Netherlands, the tenant of a property will have to pay “municipality taxes” for the water levy and the waste charges. On a yearly basis the total charges are about € 350 to € 450 euro.
It is important to mention in advance if you have pets to avoid disappointments. As pets are not allowed in all properties but by knowing it, we can focus on finding the right property for you and your pet. Usually when you have a pet, the deposit is set to 2 months’ rent and sometimes a special pet clause can be added to the rental agreement.
A free sector apartment is an apartment that has passed the liberated rental threshold. The threshold is based on a point system and currently is 143 points. The size of the apartment, energy label, location, value, spaces and other things all stand for a certain amount of points. All points added up give the amount of points for the apartment. By passing the threshold the landlord is free to decide what the rental price of the apartment is.
Depending on your preferences you can find an apartment between 1-3 weeks. Most apartments only come online 4-6 weeks before they are available for rent. Don’t start your search too early to avoid disappointment!
A diplomatic clause was initially used for landlords who wishes to live in their apartment themselves after the rental period has expired. Nowadays this clause can be added in the rental contracts to give tenants the option to terminate the lease prematurely. The diplomatic clause will mention that the tenant can only terminate when he or she is fired, resigns or is relocated at least 75 kilometers from their current residence.
1. The rental price is adjusted annually based on the consumer price index monthly prize draw according to the consumer price index (CPI), series all households, in the most recent time basis, published by the Central Bureau of statistics (CBS), for the first time, one year after the effective date A landlord may increase the rent once every 12 months. Most landlords increase the rent every year on the 1st of July. The landlord must inform the tenant in writing at least 1 month in advance that the rent is going up.
The difference between a temporary contract and an indefinite contract is the end date. Temporary contracts have a specified end date whereas indefinite contracts have not. After the temporary contract ends, action is required from the landlord in order to extend the lease. If a temporary contract gets extended, it will automatically turn into an indefinite contract. An indefinite contract does not end unless the tenant terminates. With an indefinite contract, the landlord does have the right to set a minimum term. During this minimum period the tenant cannot terminate the lease.
When you register your address with the municipality you will be charged municipality taxes. Municipality taxes are taxes for the usage of the public systems like the sewage, water, drainage, garbage systems. There are two different categories for the taxes. The single household category which adds up to €477,00 per year and the multiple person household which is about €680,00 per year.
The landlord is not allowed to enter the apartment without permission. The landlord has to request permission from you every time for access to the apartment.
Some landlords require a gross salary minimum of 2-3 times the monthly rent. In case you don’t have this, proof of savings or a guarantee is sometimes sufficient.
For a single person household, you will be charged about €500,00 per year for municipality taxes. For a multiple person household, you will pay around €750,00 per year.
The deposit can range from 1 months for an unfurnished apartment to 2 months for a furnished apartment. In case you don’t meet some other criteria from the landlord they can charge up to 3 months.
Most landlords request a cash deposit, though you can always ask if they are ok with a bank guarantee. A bank guarantee is used with some bigger real estate owners and project developers, so it is not unheard of.
A Mortgage is a long-term loan borrowed from a mortgage provider (a bank or pension fund), this is used to make payments on a property. You will pay off the mortgage (plus interest) in monthly instalments. Make sure you keep up with your mortgage repayments, otherwise the mortgage lender has the option of taking possession of the property and selling it on an execution sale.
In the Netherlands we have two main mortgages, the Annuity mortgage and Linear mortgage. With the Annuity mortgage, if you have a fixed interest on the loan, your repayments will remain the same, but the ratio of interest to capital changes. With the Annuity mortgage, if you have a fixed interest on the loan, your repayments will remain the same, but the ratio of interest to capital changes.
As a rule of thumb, you can calculate max 5 times your gross annual income, however this is dependent on several factors, if you have other financial commitments and loans, they will consider this into your calculation. The bank also wants to know what the property value is before offering you the loan, to ensure you don’t over borrow. In 2018 they will lend to a limit of 100% of the property value. This number will go down by 1% per year for the next 4 years.
The interest rates differ with the type of mortgage you are acquiring. Your mortgage broker will know more about the different types of rates, though as of time of writing (May 2018) the mortgages rates vary between 2,5% – 3,5%.
No – the listing price on Funda is the offer price. What this means, is that that is the initial offering. In the current Amsterdam market, people overbid by fairly high amounts.
However rare, it is indeed also possible to underbid. Your agent will look at the value of the property and base your offer on it instead of the offer price. What are buyers’ costs? Buyers cost consist of all the costs that are incurred in the process of securing a property. These costs can add up to 6% of your purchase price and consist of things like transfer tax (2%), notary costs, agency costs, cost for the valuator, surveyor and interpreter.
First, we will put you in touch with a mortgage broker, and mortgage adviser to make sure you know what you can borrow and spend on the market. The next step is the housing search. Funda.nl has most if not all properties that come on the market, so we will start the search together. We will schedule viewings based on your feedback and accompany you to them. When you have shown interest in a property we will do area and property research to advice you as best as possible. We will then draft the offer and help with the negotiations. After having your offer accepted, we will arrange for a valuator, technical inspector and notary. We will accompany you to all meetings, review the contracts together, and make sure the property is handed over to you in a good condition.
Yes, you can. You need a Dutch address and a secure job to apply for a mortgage. Buying a house can take a variable amount of time though. The time it takes to secure your home varies according to multiple factors such as the market at the time of your arrival – and of course your specific requirements, wishes, and personal financial situation. You will need a mortgage initially – and applying for this can take some weeks. The following processes after you have been granted your mortgage will take at least another few weeks. Surveyors, Notaries, Valuators and other services are involved. Working with these partners can take time, so we would recommend at least securing a temporary housing contract for between 3 months – 1 year, to make sure that you give yourself ample room to breathe during the process.
We advise you to keep in mind that you can expect extra costs of approximately 6% on op of the final sale price of your home. These are called the buyers costs and are explained above.
Most likely, the landlord and agent will move forward with your offer. The deal however is only finalized once the provisional purchase contract has been signed (please note this is not the case if you buy a property through a company).
When looking to buy a home, we recommend obtaining a temporary rental apartment (with a flexible 1 month notice period from the start date of the lease) first. As soon as you get a temporary or ‘fixed term’ contract, you can break the lease with just one calendar month of notice. This is the best option if you are looking to buy, as it gives you relative flexibility. Temporary contracts can be agreed for any period of time – for example 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, or even 2 years. This model of contract also gives you flexibility in the event that you have an offer rejected, for example – or for example, if the renovation work you are pressing to complete before you move in to your new home is delayed. It is good to be aware that you will not be granted a mortgage whilst registered at a company address. If you have an initial period specified in your rental agreement (for example one year initial with the possibility to extend indefinitely thereafter), then you will recive a financial penalty for breaking the lease early. The penalties vary per lease agreement.
For this very reason, we advise you to pay for a technical inspection of the house prior to purchase. We will set an appointment up with a trusted Dutch technical inspection firm. Some things are not visible to an untrained eye!
It is difficult to determine the exact value of a property according to its features and sqM. We will do our due diligence, look at properties sold in the past and can give you an indication of what the property is worth. We furthermore work with great partners who will take on the valuation process with care. What does it mean when a notary does an investigation on the land registry? The notary is involved in the legal process of the transaction and will therefore do research on several things before registering the mortgage deed and purchase/handover contract.
You must obtain written permission from your mortgage provider, but as a rule of thumb this can’t be done without permission. This is because it weakens the mortgage lenders position in a foreclosure situation.
Yes, we do. Feel free to reach out to us via our buying page on our website
The door of our office, in the beautiful Oud-Zuid next to the Vondelpark, is always open and we make great coffee. Don’t get left with questions and get expert advice from our certified brokers.
Address
Parker & Williams Real Estate Services
Van Eeghenlaan 1
1071 EL, Amsterdam
Telephone number
+31 20 675 02 02
E-mail address
info@parkerwilliams.nl
KvK/ BTW
Chamber of Commerce: 73384372
VAT number: NL 8595.02.193.B.01
