NL Calculate my bid

Buying a house in the Netherlands without a buying agent (aankoopmakelaar): how to do it yourself

Buying a house without a makelaar is allowed: a buying agent (aankoopmakelaar) is not mandatory1. It usually saves you €2,000 to €4,0002, and you take over six tasks: setting the value, the structural survey, checking the living area, your offer, your conditions and the purchase agreement (koopakte). For each task you read below how to do it yourself, what it costs and what to watch out for.

Calculate my bid What you arrange yourself

€24.95Not satisfied? Money back

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

Buying without a buying agent, in short

  • Not mandatoryYou may search, bid and sign yourself. The notary arranges the transfer.
  • You save €2,000 to €4,000The usual fee of a buying agent.
  • The offer remains the biggest pitfallThe median buyer paid 3.9% above the asking price, a quarter more than 8.8%.

What a buying agent does, and how to arrange it yourself

A buying agent helps you search, comes to the viewing, estimates the value, negotiates and checks the purchase agreement1. Most buyers already search and view homes themselves. The six tasks below take the most time, and that is where you make the difference without an agent. Still unsure whether you want an agent? That choice, with the costs side by side, is in buying agent or bidding advice.

TaskHow to do it yourselfCost
Setting the valueRequest sale prices in the neighbourhood from the Kadaster, look up the WOZ value, or put five recent sales next to the asking price in the bidding advice report.€3.70 · free · €24.95
Structural surveyBook a surveyor yourself, before your offer or after it with a condition. With an agent you also pay for this yourself.€300 to €600
Living area (NEN 2580)Ask the selling agent for the measurement report and compare the asking price per m² with the neighbourhood.Free
BiddingMake your offer in writing through Move or by email, with the amount, conditions, transfer date and validity.Free
ConditionsPut financing, a structural survey and NHG in your offer yourself, with the amount and period.Free
KoopakteCheck the selling agent's standard purchase agreement, or have a lawyer look at it. Without agents, the notary draws it up.Free to €270

Cost of a buying agent: €2,000 to €4,000, with outliers from €1,500 to €5,0002. Survey: €409 at Vereniging Eigen Huis for a home up to 450 m³ volume6, elsewhere €300 to €500 on average7. Purchase agreement review: €270 at Vereniging Eigen Huis15.

Setting the value: what did buyers in the neighbourhood pay?

An agent looks at what similar homes in the neighbourhood recently sold for. You can get those figures yourself too. The asking price is no guide here: 31% of homes sold at or below the asking price, and the median buyer paid 3.9% above it3.

  1. Sale prices in the postcode area, from the Kadaster

    For €3.70 the Kadaster (Land Registry) gives you, for each home sold in a postcode area, the house number, sale date, purchase price and plot size4. So you see what the neighbours paid, though you do not see whether that home was renovated or what state it was in.

    Kadaster in Dutch, order block Koopsominformatie (sale price information) for 3.70 euros: comparison in a postcode area, insight into recent sale prices, useful when setting an offer, with the button Nu bestellen (order now).
    Kadaster, Koopsominformatie (sale price information), in Dutch, 22 October 2026.

  2. The WOZ value, free

    The WOZ value is the municipal valuation of a home for tax purposes. In the WOZ-waardeloket you see the WOZ value of every home5. Note the reference date: 1 January of the previous year5. The market has moved on since then, so use the WOZ value as a floor, not as the amount you offer.

  3. Five recent sales next to the asking price, in the bidding advice report

    The report finds five similar homes recently sold nearby and puts the asking price, the purchase price and the difference side by side. Those are the purchase prices from the notarial transfer, the same source as the Kadaster. See the sample report.

    Bidding advice report in Dutch, table of sale prices in the neighbourhood with five sold homes in Hilversum: for each home the asking price, the purchase price, the difference from the asking price (from 0.0 to plus 11.6 percent) and the sale date in May and June 2026.
    From the Dutch sample report for Karel Doormanlaan 378 in Hilversum: five sales nearby, with asking price, purchase price and difference. On a narrow screen without place and sale date.

What this tells you

Whether the asking price is in line with what the neighbourhood sells for, and how much buyers paid above or below it. What you then offer depends on your chance of getting this one home. How to choose that amount is explained in how much to bid on a house.

Arranging a structural survey

A buying agent comes to the viewing and looks out for defects. Without an agent, the structural survey (bouwkundige keuring) is your check: defects you could have seen at the viewing are at your expense18. You pay for the survey yourself, with or without an agent.

  1. Book a surveyor yourself

    At Vereniging Eigen Huis, the Dutch homeowners' association, a survey costs €409 for a home up to 450 m³, and you get the report within 48 hours6. You can only book as a member, which is €38.75 a year6. Other surveyors charge €300 to €500 on average7. The volume in m³ is on Funda under Surface areas and volume.

    Vereniging Eigen Huis in Dutch, rates for a structural survey by volume of the home: 0 to 450 m3 409 euros, 451 to 700 m3 471 euros, 701 to 900 m3 533 euros, 901 to 1100 m3 595 euros, including VAT.
    Vereniging Eigen Huis, rates for a structural survey, in Dutch, 22 October 2026.

  2. Choose: survey before your offer, or after it with a condition

    If you survey before your offer, you build the repair costs into your amount7. No time? Then bid subject to a structural survey and agree a maximum amount of repair costs: if the survey comes out above it, you may pull out of the purchase7. At the end of 2025, 55% of buyers bid without this condition8, so weigh up what it does to your chance. More on this under conditions.

  3. When a survey pays off most

    For homes built before 1990, for renovations of unknown quality and for visible overdue maintenance7. For an apartment, major maintenance falls under the owners' association (VvE), so look mainly at the VvE documents7. Your mortgage lender can require a survey, for example if the valuer sees overdue maintenance7.

Checking the living area (NEN 2580)

The number of square metres on Funda partly decides what you offer: the asking price per m² is the figure you compare homes with. NVM agents must measure that area according to the measurement instruction9, based on the Dutch standard NEN 258010. This is how you check it.

  1. Look on Funda under Surface areas and volume

    There you find the usable living area, separate from external storage, plot and volume9. Only the living area counts for the price per m². Below you see how Funda shows it.

    Funda in Dutch, block Oppervlakten en inhoud (surface areas and volume) of a home: living area 126 square metres, external storage 8 square metres, plot 186 square metres, volume 428 cubic metres.
    Funda in Dutch, listing of a home in Groningen, 22 October 2026. In English: Surface areas and volume.

  2. Ask for the measurement report

    In doubt? Ask the selling agent for the measurement report or the floor plan with dimensions. You may trust that the stated area was measured according to the measurement instruction; a standard disclaimer in the brochure does not change that, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled on 13 July 201810. If the stated area is wrong, the agent can be liable10.

  3. A difference is not settled by default

    Article 6.11 of the NVM purchase agreement says that a difference between the stated and the actual area is not settled9. If the square metres are decisive for you, agree something else and have it put in the koopakte9.

Making your offer without an agent

You make your offer to the selling agent, who works for the seller. The agent may say nothing about other people's offers and treats all bidders equally20. So set your maximum beforehand, and put your offer in writing.

Move.nl in Dutch, a submitted offer showing, among other things, a financing condition, transfer date, validity of the offer and mortgage statement yes. Amount and address made unreadable.
An offer by Dion in Move, without a buying agent. Amount and address made unreadable. Move is in Dutch.

  1. In writing, through Move or by email

    Many agents let you bid online in a bidding system such as Move: you fill in your amount, conditions and transfer date and send the offer yourself12. If the agent works without a bidding system, you email your offer. That way it is clear what you offered and when.

  2. What goes in your offer

    The amount, your conditions, the transfer date you want and how long your offer is valid11. A statement from your mortgage adviser about what you can borrow shows the seller that your financing is in place21. How to build such an offer is explained in bidding on a house.

  3. The amount: compare with the neighbourhood, not with the average

    Nationally the median buyer paid 3.9% above the asking price, the top quarter more than 8.8%, and 31% bought at or below the asking price3. That spread is so wide that a national percentage tells you nothing about this home. So calculate with the sales nearby, per address below.

Bidding advice report €24.95

The offer an agent would calculate for you, per address

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. That is the part of an agent's work that is hardest to do yourself without figures. 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

Searching...
No addresses found.
{{ item.label }}
{{ fundaNotice }}
Address for this Funda link: {{ linkedAddress }}

Your request for {{ selected.label }} is ready above.

Your request is ready above.

Continue with your request

Choosing conditions: your way out if something goes wrong

You name a condition (voorbehoud) in your offer, and it then goes into the koopakte as a resolutive condition13. Without a condition you are bound to the purchase after the cooling-off period, and you usually pay 10% of the purchase price as a penalty if you pull out anyway14.

Conditions you arrange yourself

  • Financing: usually 6 to 8 weeks, for the amount you borrow22. Everything about it in financing condition.
  • Structural survey: with a maximum amount of repair costs above which you may pull out of the purchase7.
  • NHG: if you only want the mortgage with the National Mortgage Guarantee (Nationale Hypotheek Garantie)13.

The standard purchase agreement has a fixed text for all three, with room for the amount and end date13.

What you risk without a condition

  • If your mortgage falls through, the seller can claim 10% of the purchase price14. At €400,000 that is €40,000.
  • If the roof or the foundations turn out to be bad, you pay for the repair yourself18.
  • After the 3-day cooling-off period the purchase is final17.

At the end of 2025, 40% of buyers bid without a financing condition and 55% without a survey condition8. So a condition costs you chance, and no condition costs you certainty.

Arranging and checking the koopakte

Once your offer is accepted, the selling agent usually draws up the purchase agreement (koopakte) using the standard purchase agreement15. A buying agent normally checks it for you. Now you do this yourself.

  1. Check the koopakte line by line

    Your details and the seller's, the address and cadastral details, the purchase price, the transfer date, who chooses the notary, the deposit or bank guarantee of usually 10%, your conditions with amount and end date, and clauses such as an age or asbestos clause15. The agreement comes with a list of items: what stays and what goes15.

  2. Have a lawyer look at it if you are unsure

    Vereniging Eigen Huis reviews your purchase agreement for €270 and explains it15. That is a fraction of a buying agent's fee, for the part where you have the most legal questions. The koopakte is in Dutch, so for expats this can be worth it.

  3. Sign, and use your 3-day cooling-off period

    After your signature you have 3 days to change your mind, from the day after you receive the signed agreement17. You may then pull out of the purchase without giving a reason17. Read the agreement once more, calmly, during those days. More in the cooling-off period.

  4. The notary does the rest

    The notary can register the purchase agreement with the Kadaster, which protects you for up to six months if the seller were to sell the home to someone else after all16. On the transfer date you sign the deed of transfer and the mortgage deed and get the keys14.

Buying from a private seller, without an agent on either side

If you buy from family, an acquaintance or someone selling on their own, there is also no selling agent to draw up the koopakte or fill in the questionnaire. You then take this over as well.

  1. Have the notary draw up the koopakte

    Without agents, you ask the notary to draw up the purchase agreement, with your price, transfer date and conditions16. Ask beforehand what that costs; rates differ per office.

  2. Request ownership information from the Kadaster

    For €3.70 you see who the owner is and whether there is a mortgage or attachment on the home19. That way you know for sure the seller may sell, and what the notary will have to pay off.

  3. Ask the questionnaire's questions yourself

    Normally the seller fills in the NVM questionnaire about leaks, renovations and defects18. Without an agent you ask those questions yourself, in writing, and have a structural survey done. Also look at easements, ground lease (erfpacht) and the zoning plan, because your duty to investigate applies to those too18.

  4. Set the price with figures, not with feelings

    Between people who know each other, the price is sensitive. Sale prices in the neighbourhood, from the Kadaster or the report, give you both the same starting point4.

Questions about buying a house without a makelaar

Can you buy a house in the Netherlands without a buying agent?
Yes. A buying agent (aankoopmakelaar) is not mandatory1. You search and view homes yourself, set the value yourself, make your own offer and check the koopakte yourself. The notary arranges the transfer, with or without an agent14.
Is buying a house without a makelaar cheaper?
You save the buying agent's fee, usually €2,000 to €4,0002. The other costs remain: the notary, transfer tax, a structural survey of around €300 to €60067 and the valuation for your mortgage. If you overbid without a clear view of the value, you lose the saving anyway. So compare with sales in the neighbourhood first.
Can you bid on a house yourself without an agent?
Yes. You make your offer to the selling agent, often through an online bidding system such as Move or by email12. In your offer you put the amount, your conditions, the transfer date you want and how long your offer is valid11. The selling agent works for the seller, so set your maximum yourself beforehand.
Who draws up the koopakte if there is no buying agent?
Usually the selling agent, using the standard purchase agreement15. You check it. If the seller also sells without an agent, you ask the notary to draw up the koopakte16. For certainty, have a lawyer at Vereniging Eigen Huis review the contract for €27015.
How do you know what a house is worth without an agent?
Look at what similar homes in the neighbourhood recently sold for. At the Kadaster you buy the sale prices of a postcode area for €3.704, in the WOZ-waardeloket you see the WOZ value for free5, and the bidding advice report puts five recent sales nearby next to the asking price. The asking price itself says little: 31% of homes sold at or below the asking price, and the median buyer paid 3.9% above it3.
Do you need a structural survey without an agent?
It is not mandatory, unless your mortgage lender asks for it7. Without an agent, the survey is your main check on defects: defects you could have seen at the viewing are at your expense18. A survey costs around €300 to €60067.
What is NEN 2580 and why does it matter to a buyer?
NEN 2580 is the Dutch measurement standard behind the measurement instruction that NVM agents must use for the living area on Funda910. You may trust that the stated area is correct, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled in 201810. Ask for the measurement report if in doubt, and know that a difference is not settled by default, unless you agree that in the koopakte9.
How do you buy a house from a private seller without an agent?
Agree the price and conditions, and have the notary draw up the koopakte16. Request ownership information from the Kadaster (€3.70), so you know who the owner is and whether there is a mortgage or attachment on the home19. Have a structural survey done and ask the seller the questionnaire's questions yourself, because you have a duty to investigate18.

About this page

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

    Niek spent ten months on the calculation model behind every report. He calculated the overbidding figures on this page.

    More about Niek
  • Dion Smits

    Dion Smits

    Online entrepreneur and marketing specialist · co-founder

    Dion wrote the explanations on this page. He bid without a buying agent himself, and once lost a home to another bidder.

    More about Dion

Updated on . This page explains how to buy a house without a buying agent and is not legal or mortgage advice. Third-party prices checked on 22 October 2026.

Sources (22)
  1. Vereniging Eigen Huis, Wel of geen aankoopmakelaar nodig? (in Dutch): a buying agent is not mandatory; without an agent you set the home's value yourself, negotiate yourself, plan a structural survey yourself and check the purchase agreement yourself, and the costs of a buying agent are not tax-deductible.
  2. Trustoo, Kosten aankoopmakelaar 2026 (in Dutch): most buyers pay €2,000 to €4,000, with outliers from €1,500 to €5,000.
  3. Overbidding: own calculation by Biedadviseur.nl, sale price compared with the last asking price for transfers at the notary from July 2025 to June 2026: median 3.9% above the asking price, the top quarter more than 8.8% above it, and 31% of homes at or below the asking price. Explained in how much to bid on a house.
  4. Kadaster, Koopsominformatie (in Dutch, from the Dutch Land Registry): for €3.70 per postcode area the house number, sale date, purchase price and plot size of homes bought by private buyers since 2003.
  5. Dutch government (Rijksoverheid), Hoe weet ik wat de WOZ-waarde van mijn huis is? (in Dutch): the WOZ value of homes is free in the WOZ-waardeloket, with 1 January of the previous year as the reference date.
  6. Vereniging Eigen Huis, Bouwtechnische keuring (in Dutch, October 2026): €409 for a home up to 450 m³, rising to €595 up to 1,100 m³, report within 48 hours, meets the NHG standards, booking only as a member (€38.75 a year).
  7. Knab, Bouwkundige keuring: wanneer is het verstandig? (in Dutch, 7 January 2026): €300 to €500 on average, most useful for homes built before 1990 and for renovations of unknown quality, survey before your offer or after it with a resolutive condition and a maximum amount of repair costs.
  8. De Hypotheker, Rust op de huizenmarkt: minder bezichtigingen en biedingen (in Dutch, 16 January 2026, based on NVM figures): at the end of 2025, 55% of buyers bid without a structural survey condition and 40% without a financing condition.
  9. NVM, Meetinstructie: het bepalen van de gebruiksoppervlakte (in Dutch): NVM agents must measure according to the industry-wide measurement instruction, those are the figures on Funda, the stated area is an indication, and article 6.11 of the NVM purchase agreement states by default that a difference is not settled, unless buyer and seller agree otherwise.
  10. Dirkzwager, Hoge Raad bevestigt: makelaar aansprakelijk wegens onjuiste vermelding woonoppervlak (in Dutch, 31 August 2018, on Supreme Court ruling of 13 July 2018, ECLI:NL:HR:2018:1176): the NVM measurement instruction is based on NEN 2580; a buyer may trust that the stated living area was measured according to that instruction; a standard disclaimer in the brochure does not change that.
  11. NVM, Protocol Transparant Bieden Woonruimte (in Dutch, mandatory for NVM agents since 1 February 2026): what goes in an offer, such as amount, conditions, transfer date and validity, and that the agent treats all bidders equally.
  12. Snelder Zijlstra Makelaars, Bieden via Move (in Dutch, 25 September 2026): how you as a buyer make an offer online yourself in Move, with amount, conditions and transfer date.
  13. Vereniging Eigen Huis, Ontbindende voorwaarden: dit zijn de belangrijkste (in Dutch): you name conditions in your offer; the standard purchase agreement has fixed texts for financing, NHG and a structural survey; without a condition you usually pay a penalty of 10% of the purchase price.
  14. KNB (Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries), Een huis kopen. Hoe werkt dat? (in Dutch, October 2025): purchase agreement, deposit or bank guarantee of usually 10%, conditions, the penalty of usually 10% if you pull out without a condition, and the transfer at the notary.
  15. Vereniging Eigen Huis, Wat zet je in een koopovereenkomst? (in Dutch): usually the selling agent draws up the purchase agreement using the standard purchase agreement; what is in it (details, purchase price, transfer date, 10% deposit, resolutive conditions, clauses, list of items); a purchase agreement review by a lawyer costs €270.
  16. Knab, Voorlopig koopcontract: dit moet je controleren voor je tekent (in Dutch, 17 July 2026): in a sale without agents you can ask the notary to draw up the purchase agreement, and the notary can register the purchase agreement with the Kadaster, which protects you for up to six months.
  17. Dutch government (Rijksoverheid), Hoeveel bedenktijd heb ik na het kopen van een woning? (in Dutch): 3 days, from the day after you received the signed purchase agreement, without giving a reason.
  18. NVM, Onderzoeksplicht (in Dutch): the seller reports what they know (duty of disclosure), the buyer investigates themselves: defects you could have seen at the viewing are at your own expense, and that also applies to easements, ground lease, the zoning plan and the soil.
  19. Kadaster, Informatie over je nieuwe woning (in Dutch): ownership information (€3.70): who the owner is and whether there is a mortgage or attachment on it; sale price information (€3.70); mortgage information (from €3.70); home report (€21.50).
  20. NVM, appendix to the Erecode (in Dutch): the agent acts for their client, treats all buyers equally and shares no information about other people's offers.
  21. Borger Smith, 7 tips voor bieden op een huis (in Dutch, May 2024): send a statement from your mortgage adviser with the amount you can borrow, plus their contact details.
  22. Hypotheek.nl, Slimme tactiek bieden huis: 9 tips (in Dutch, 9 July 2026): a financing condition up to the amount you borrow, with a worked example.

Without an agent, but with the figures from the neighbourhood

Paste the Funda link or type the address. You see your chance of getting the home at every amount, backed by sales from the neighbourhood.

  • €24.95 one-off
  • Secure payment with iDEAL or card
  • Your report online right away
  • Not satisfied? Money back