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Bidding on a house in the Netherlands: how it works, from offer to keys

When bidding on a house in the Netherlands, you make the seller a proposal through their estate agent (makelaar): an amount plus conditions, such as a condition (voorbehoud) for your financing and a handover date. The seller accepts your offer, rejects it or makes a counter-offer. A verbal agreement is not yet a sale. The sale is only fixed once you both sign the koopakte (purchase agreement). After that you have three days to change your mind, the cooling-off period (bedenktijd).

Calculate my bid The bidding rules

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By Niek (data scientist, MSc) and Dion Smits · Updated on

When is your purchase fixed?

For a private buyer, under art. 7:2 of the Dutch Civil Code

  1. Not yet binding
  2. You make an offerYou can withdraw or change it
  3. You negotiateAgreement, rejection or counter-offer
  4. Verbal agreementNot yet a sale: the seller may accept a higher offer
  5. Binding
  6. You both sign the koopakteThe sale is fixed
  7. Three-day cooling-off periodPull out without a reason and without a penalty
  8. Transfer at the notary (notaris)You become the owner and get the keys

Ready to make an offer? Arrange this first

Anyone can make an offer, also without a buying agent (aankoopmakelaar). The selling agent (verkoopmakelaar) treats all buyers equally. That is in the code of conduct of the NVM, the largest association of Dutch estate agents7. Your offer consists of an amount and conditions. So know in advance what you can pay and which conditions you need. What else to look into, from the Kadaster (Land Registry) to the viewing, is in the tips for bidding on a house.

Ready to bid?

Tick what you have already arranged. For each point that is still open, you see what you can do.

6 of 6 points still open

Start with your financing: that decides how far you can go.

What goes in an offer on a Dutch home? An amount plus conditions

Under the NVM protocol, every offer contains at least the amount, the period in which the seller can respond, and your conditions4. You also negotiate the handover date and the items that stay in the house.

Example of an offer Switch a condition on or off
Amount
€385,000 kosten koper
Financing condition
Until six weeks after signing
If you do not get a mortgage within that period, you dissolve the purchase without a penalty.
Building inspection condition
Within two weeks of signing
If the inspection turns up major defects, you can dissolve the purchase without a penalty.
Condition on selling your current home
Until three months after signing
If your current home stays unsold, you pay for two homes at once, or you pull out of the purchase and pay the penalty.
Handover date
1 February 2027, earlier by arrangement
The day you get the keys.
List of items
Floors and curtains stay in the house
What stays, what goes and what you can take over8.
Valid until
Friday 5 p.m.
After that your offer lapses automatically9.

A made-up example. You agree the periods yourself, and they later go into the koopakte. Penalties and consequences as described by the Dutch notaries10.

The amount

What you offer depends on what comparable homes in the neighbourhood sold for and on what you can pay. How to work that out is explained in how much to bid on a house. Kosten koper (buyer's costs) means you pay the additional costs yourself, from your own money12.

Conditions (voorbehouden)

A voorbehoud, also called an ontbindende voorwaarde (dissolving condition), lets you dissolve the purchase without a penalty if something falls through within an agreed period. Common ones are financing, a building inspection, NHG (the national mortgage guarantee) and the sale of your current home10. With fewer conditions you carry more risk yourself. For the seller, that certainty counts as well as the amount.

How to make an offer on a house in the Netherlands, and how the seller responds

In the Dutch bidding process, you make your offer to the selling agent. Since 1 February 2026, NVM agents have to use an online bidding system, such as Move.nl, which records every offer in a biedlogboek (bid log). Prefer to have your offer entered for you? Then the agent puts it in6.

  1. Ask about the rules

    The agent tells you in advance which bidding method applies and until when you can bid. Those rules are the same for all buyers7.

  2. Make your offer

    With the amount, your conditions, the handover date and the period within which you want an answer. You get a confirmation straight away4.

  3. The seller responds

    With an agreement, a rejection or a counter-offer. With a counter-offer the seller names a different amount and you keep negotiating9.

  4. Negotiate until you agree

    You may raise your offer, change your conditions or stop. The seller may also stop, or ask you for your highest offer9.

Four bidding methods you will come across

The seller decides with the agent how the bidding works. The NVM protocol has four methods. Ask in advance which one applies, because that decides whether you can negotiate.

MethodHow it worksCan you see other offers?
Bidding without a deadline You negotiate through the agent, in rounds. The seller responds to each offer with an agreement, a rejection or a counter-proposal. No
Inschrijving (sealed-bid sale) with a deadline You bid before a closing date. After that, the seller chooses who gets the home. No. The seller and the agent do see the offers straight away.
Closed inschrijving with a deadline Like an inschrijving, with one difference: the seller and the agent also only see the offers after the closing date. No
Open auction with a deadline Everyone bids in the online platform until the closing date. Yes, all offers are visible.

With a bidding deadline, the seller chooses after the closing date who gets the home. Every bidder hears in writing whether they got the home, and if not, why4. How a sealed-bid sale works in practice, also in Move, is explained in sealed bids in the Netherlands.

Bidding advice report €24.95

What amount do you put in your offer?

This page helps you set your conditions and deadlines. For the amount, the report works out per address how likely you are to get the home at every offer amount, backed by at least five sales from the neighbourhood. After payment your report opens straight away on the website.

Example: your offerChance of getting the home

  1. €352,33130%
  2. €361,68750%
  3. €372,16370%
  4. €388,24390%

From the report for Karel Doormanlaan 378 in Hilversum: asking price (vraagprijs) €350,000, expected sale price €361,687. View the sample report

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Bidding rules in the Netherlands when you bid on a house

Dutch law mainly sets out when a purchase is fixed2. How bidding works for NVM agents has been laid down since 1 February 2026 in the Protocol Transparant Bieden Woonruimte (Transparent Bidding Protocol)4.

In your favour Risk for you

  • Your offer only becomes binding when you sign the koopakte

    Even if the seller says yes, as a private buyer you are only bound once you and the seller have both signed the koopakte2. An email confirming the agreement, or a draft of the koopakte, does not count5.

  • Until the signature, the seller may accept a higher offer

    That also applies after a verbal agreement. According to the Hoge Raad (Dutch Supreme Court), the seller then does not have to pay you compensation5. If a higher offer comes in, the seller can hold a new round or continue with the new bidder4.

  • You may withdraw your offer as long as nothing is signed

    That is also possible after an agreement. An offer with an expiry date lapses automatically9.

  • After signing you have a three-day cooling-off period

    During those three days of bedenktijd you can pull out of the purchase without a reason and without a penalty. The seller has no cooling-off period9.

  • The agent does not tell you what others are offering

    The selling agent does not share offers already received, and treats all buyers equally7. If the agent is negotiating with several buyers at once, they say so, and they do not play you off against each other9. What to do when there are more buyers is explained in bidding when there are multiple offers.

  • Afterwards you can see all offers in the bid log

    Once the sale is final, you can view the log for one month, without the names of other bidders6. If you withdrew your offer earlier, you lose that access4.

Criticism of the new bidding protocol

Vereniging Eigen Huis, the Dutch homeowners' association, finds that the NVM protocol gives buyers too little insight, and wants the minimum requirements for the bidding process to be made law13. Watch the news item by De Telegraaf (7 minutes, in Dutch)

After the agreement: from koopakte to keys

After an agreement, the selling agent usually draws up the koopakte. From there, buying a house in the Netherlands follows fixed steps up to the transfer at the notaris, the civil-law notary who handles the transfer10. Choose a step to see who does what and which period applies.

93 days

That is how long a typical home took from Funda (the main Dutch listing site) to the transfer at the notary: the median of all sales from July 2025 to June 2026, calculated by Biedadviseur1. In Groningen it went faster, at 78 days.

  1. Signing the koopakte

    Who
    You and the seller. The selling agent usually draws up the koopakte. In Amsterdam the notary always does10.
    What you do
    You check the purchase price, the transfer date, your conditions with their deadlines, the penalty and the condition of the home.
    Tip
    Have the notary register the koopakte with the Kadaster (Land Registry). You are then protected for six months against a sale to someone else, the seller's bankruptcy and seizure of the home11.

What is in your own koopakte takes precedence. The periods above are what usually applies, according to the notaries, the Dutch government (Rijksoverheid) and the Juridisch Loket.

Questions about bidding on a house in the Netherlands

Is an offer on a house binding in the Netherlands?
No. An offer, and even a verbal agreement, does not bind you yet. As a private buyer, the sale is only fixed once you and the seller have signed the koopakte (purchase agreement), and after that you have a three-day cooling-off period2. Only a seller who sells houses professionally usually cannot back out after an agreement9.
How soon do you hear back after an offer?
With a bidding deadline, you hear after the closing date, once the seller has chosen. Every bidder then gets a written message4. Without a deadline, you set a period in your offer yourself: after that date your offer lapses automatically. The seller may also leave your offer unanswered9.
How many times can you make an offer?
There is no fixed maximum: the NVM protocol leaves the number of offers per bidder open. Without a bidding deadline you negotiate in rounds, until you or the seller stops. In an inschrijving (sealed-bid sale), the rules the agent gives everyone in advance apply, so ask about them before you bid.
Can you withdraw an offer on a house?
Yes, as long as you have not signed the koopakte (purchase agreement), even if the seller had already agreed9. After signing, you can pull out without a penalty during the three-day cooling-off period. After that it usually costs 10% of the purchase price, unless a condition protects you.
What does a counter-offer from the seller mean?
With a counter-offer the seller rejects your offer and names a different amount. You are then negotiating: you can accept the counter-offer, bid again, change your conditions or stop9. If you accept it, you have a verbal agreement. The sale is only fixed once you both sign the koopakte (purchase agreement).
Can you still bid on a house that is under offer?
Yes. As long as the koopakte (purchase agreement) has not been signed by both parties, the agent passes a new offer on to the seller. The seller can then hold a new bidding round, keep negotiating with you or reject your offer4.

Who wrote this, and where the information comes from

We were both looking for a house and got stuck at the same moment: the offer. A buying agent felt too expensive, and as if agents were arranging things among themselves. Read our story.

  • Niek

    Niek

    Data scientist (MSc) · co-founder

    Spent ten months on the calculation model behind every report, and calculated how long a home takes from Funda to the transfer.

  • Dion Smits

    Dion Smits

    Online entrepreneur and marketing specialist · co-founder

    Wrote the explanations on this page.

When I bid on my dream home, I did not even know when an offer becomes binding or what the agent is allowed to tell you. This page is the explanation I wish I had read back then.

Dion SmitsCo-founder

Updated on . This page explains how bidding works and is not legal advice.

Sources (13)
  1. Time from Funda to transfer: Biedadviseur.nl's own calculation, the median of transfers at the notary from July 2025 to June 2026.
  2. Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek), article 7:2 (in Dutch): a private buyer's purchase of a home is in writing, with a three-day cooling-off period.
  3. Rijksoverheid, Hoeveel bedenktijd heb ik na het kopen van een woning? (in Dutch): when the cooling-off period starts and ends.
  4. NVM, Protocol Transparant Bieden Woonruimte (in Dutch, mandatory for NVM agents since 1 February 2026): the four bidding methods, what goes in an offer, withdrawing, awarding the home (art. 3.1 and 3.2) and offers after an agreement (art. 3.3).
  5. NVM, Bieden op een huis (in Dutch): verbal agreement, signing and the Supreme Court ruling on a higher offer.
  6. NVM, Biedlogboek (in Dutch): online bidding, and who can view the bid log and when.
  7. NVM, appendix to the Erecode (in Dutch): the agent does not share offers and treats all buyers equally.
  8. NVM, Het aankoopproces in 8 stappen (in Dutch): list of items and the final inspection before the transfer.
  9. Juridisch Loket, Bod op huis (the Dutch legal aid desk, in Dutch): withdrawing, expiry date, counter-offer, negotiating with several buyers and the penalty after the cooling-off period.
  10. KNB, Een huis kopen. Hoe werkt dat? (the Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries, in Dutch, October 2025): koopakte, deposit, conditions, mortgage and transfer.
  11. Kadaster, Akte inschrijven bij koop van een huis (in Dutch): registration of the koopakte and of the deed of transfer.
  12. Nibud, Hypotheek afsluiten (the Dutch budget information institute, in Dutch): maximum mortgage and buyer's costs.
  13. De Telegraaf, video of 22 December 2025 (in Dutch): criticism of the NVM protocol by Vereniging Eigen Huis.

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