Buying a house in the Netherlands as an expat: what nobody tells newcomers

I am Jiri, an estate agent in Maastricht. Most of what is written for expats about buying a Dutch home is written by people who want to sell you a mortgage or a buying service, so it stops where the interesting part begins. This is the version I give friends who have just arrived: what is true for everyone, what is different for you, what it costs, and the one route that almost nobody tells newcomers about.

Can a foreigner buy a house in the Netherlands?

Yes, without restrictions. There is no rule that limits buying a home to Dutch or EU citizens, no extra tax for foreign buyers and no permit to apply for. What limits you is the mortgage. A Dutch lender looks at your income, your employment contract and, if you are from outside the EU, your residence permit; the lender wants to see that you can keep paying for as long as the loan runs. Most lenders accept a fixed-term contract if your employer states in writing that it intends to extend it, and some are stricter than others. That is why the first appointment is not with an agent but with a mortgage adviser who works with international clients: they know which lender fits your passport and your contract, and they give you a written maximum before you look at a single house.

The one financial difference that does favour you: Dutch mortgage interest is deductible from income tax for the home you live in, which makes a mortgage cheaper than the headline rate suggests. Your adviser works it into the figure.

What a house really costs

Two things surprise almost every newcomer. The first is that a Dutch bank lends at most the market value of the home, as set by an independent valuer, not the price you agreed to pay. If you bid above the valuation, the difference comes from your savings. The second is that the buyer pays the buyer's costs, kosten koper, on top: two percent transfer tax for a home you will live in yourself (first-time buyers under 35 pay none below a price limit that is set each year), plus the notary, the valuer, your mortgage adviser and, if you use one, a buying agent. Those costs also come from savings, because they are not part of the home's value.

So your budget is not "what the bank lends". It is what the bank lends on the valuation, plus the savings you can spare for the buyer's costs and for anything you bid above the valuation. Work that out with the adviser before the first viewing, and write the number down. Bidding happens with a deadline and other buyers in the waiting room, and that is exactly when people stretch their own limit.

The market you are entering

In the second quarter of 2026, 71 percent of existing homes in the Netherlands sold above the asking price, according to the NVM, the largest association of estate agents. On average buyers paid 4.8 percent over it (Huispedia), with large differences between regions: 7.7 percent in the province of Utrecht and 2.1 percent in Zeeland, and in the city of Utrecht 13.6 percent. The same quarter brought more homes onto the market than any quarter since 1995, and the NVM spoke of more room to negotiate. So the market is not what it was in 2022, but in the cities expats choose it is still a seller's market. The figures per quarter, what they mean in euros, and how to decide what you bid are in overbidding in the Netherlands.

What the asking price is: a choice of the seller and the agent, not a valuation. A home priced low draws more viewers and more bids; a home that has been for sale a while draws fewer. Look at what comparable homes in the same street sold for, which the selling agent will usually tell you if you ask, and at the valuation, not at the percentage.

The steps, from viewing to keys

You can view and bid without a buying agent: the selling agent must present every bid to the seller, whoever it comes from. Many expats still hire one, for the negotiation in a second language or because they cannot view on weekdays; what that costs and when it is worth it is in do you need a buying agent in the Netherlands.

A bid is usually made in writing, with your conditions: subject to financing, subject to a structural survey, and the completion date you want. Bidding without a financing condition makes your bid stronger and binds you to the purchase even if the bank lends less than you thought; the standard contract then carries a penalty of ten percent of the price. Drop that condition only when your financing is certain, never because an agent says it will not work otherwise.

When the seller accepts, a notary or the selling agent draws up the written purchase agreement, the koopovereenkomst. Only when both of you have signed it is there a sale; a verbal yes binds nobody in the Netherlands. As a private buyer you then have three days to withdraw without giving a reason. Within a few weeks you pay a deposit, usually ten percent, or give a bank guarantee. The valuer values the home, the adviser arranges the loan, and on the completion date you sign the deed of transfer at the notary's office and get the keys.

Apartments, ground lease and the association

Most homes sold in Amsterdam, and many in the other cities, are apartments. Each comes with a VvE, the association of all owners in the building, which is responsible for the roof, the facade and the foundations and is legally required to save for maintenance. Ask for the last two years of minutes, the reserve fund and the maintenance plan; a building that has saved nothing while the roof is due will send each owner a bill.

In Amsterdam, and in parts of The Hague and some other cities, the land under the home belongs to the municipality and is leased to the owner: erfpacht. The terms are in the deed and differ per home; the yearly ground rent counts as a cost when the lender works out what you can borrow. Ask for the lease deed before you bid. And in a house built before about 1970 in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Haarlem or Zaandam, ask about the foundations: many stand on wooden piles, and repair runs into tens of thousands of euros.

If you may leave again

Buying usually pays off after about five years, because the buyer's costs take time to earn back. If you may be posted elsewhere sooner, two rules matter. Several cities protect cheaper homes against buy-to-let: for up to four years after buying, renting the home out needs a permit from the city. And most Dutch mortgages are for homes the owner lives in, so renting it out later needs the lender's consent. Check both before you buy, not after.

The route before Funda

Everything above describes buying a home that is listed. In the neighbourhoods expats like most, a good share of homes never get that far: they go to a neighbour, to someone on a local agent's list, or to the person who wrote to the owner a year earlier. The Dutch call the agent's version stille verkoop, silent sale. You can get onto those lists by emailing a few selling agents in the streets you want with who you are, your budget and your adviser's confirmation. And you can go one step further back, to the owner before any agent is involved, with a short personal letter. Writing to a Dutch homeowner is legal and more common than you think; a letter is not an offer and binds you to nothing. How both routes work is in how to buy an off-market house in the Netherlands, and a letter you can send as it is, in English and in Dutch, is in the letter templates.

That is what I built DoorLetter for. You choose the address, write in your own words why, and we print the letter and PostNL delivers it with a code the owner can use to read it online and reply anonymously, also a year from now. The first letter is free.

City by city

What is different per city is in the city guides: Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Haarlem, Leiden, Delft, Amstelveen, Groningen and my own Maastricht. The average sale price of every municipality since 1995, from the CBS, is on house prices per municipality.