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Overbidding and your mortgage in the Netherlands: what do you pay yourself?

Can you finance an overbid with your mortgage? Yes, if the valuer values the home at your offer and your income allows it. In the Netherlands your mortgage is at most 100% of the home's value1. If the valuation comes out lower, you pay that difference yourself4, just like the buyer's costs (kosten koper)2. Over the past year buyers typically paid 3.9% above the asking price3. On an average home that is around €17,000.

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

Overbidding with a mortgage, in short

  • Borrow up to 100% of the home's valueThe valuation report decides that value.
  • You pay the buyer's costs yourselfOn average 4 to 6% of the home's value.
  • A typical overbid: €17,0003.9% above an asking price of €433,000.

Can you finance an overbid with your mortgage?

That depends on the valuation (taxatie). The bank lends you at most the value of the home1, and that value is in the valuation report4. If the valuer arrives at your offer, the overbid fits in your mortgage. If the valuation is lower, you pay the difference from your own money.

Valuation at or above your offer

  • The overbid is in your mortgage, as long as your income allows it1.
  • You then need your own money for the buyer's costs2.

Valuation below your offer

  • You cannot borrow the part above the valuation4.
  • You pay that yourself, on top of the buyer's costs2.

How often does the valuation match the purchase price?

More often than many buyers think. De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank, looked at valuations from 2012 to 2017. About a third came out exactly at the purchase price, and almost 60% were higher5. These are older figures, and every home is valued separately. So assume it may turn out fine, and make sure you can pay the difference if it does not.

Two limits decide how big a mortgage you get

The bank looks at your income and at the value of the home. The lower of the two is your maximum mortgage.

  1. Your income

    Statutory lending standards decide which share of your income may go to your mortgage costs1. A mortgage adviser works out which amount goes with that.

  2. The value of the home

    You borrow at most 100% of the home's value1. That value comes from the valuation report4.

Your offeryour maximum mortgageown money for the purchase price

The buyer's costs come on top. You cannot finance those with the mortgage12.

What about the extra borrowing room for making the home sustainable?

If you are going to insulate or install a heat pump, you may borrow more than the home's value for that1. That money is for those measures. You do not pay your overbid with it.

Worked example: how much own money a 3.9% overbid takes

Take a home with an asking price of €433,000. You offer €450,000, the national median of 3.9% above it3. Your income is high enough for a mortgage of €450,000. How much of the €17,000 overbid you pay yourself depends on the valuation.

Overbid of €17,000: what is in your mortgage, what do you pay yourself?

Valuation €450,000equal to your offer

Yourself: €0

Valuation €441,500halfway

Yourself: €8,500

Valuation €433,000equal to the asking price

Yourself: €17,000

The buyer's costs come on top

On average 4 to 6% of the home's value6, for this home €18,000 to €27,000. If you are under 35 and buy your first home for up to €555,000, you pay no transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting)7. That saves €9,000 here, because the rate is 2%7.

Own money in this example: €18,000 to €44,000

Work out how much own money your offer takes

Fill in your offer, the valuation you expect and the maximum mortgage on your income. Do not know that last one yet? Have a mortgage adviser calculate it.

Your mortgage
€441,500
Own money for the purchase price
€8,500
Buyer's costs (estimate)
€18,000 to €27,000
Own money in total
€26,500 to €35,500

Your mortgage stops at the valuation.

An indication based on the 2026 rules, not mortgage advice. Your mortgage is at most the lowest of your offer, the valuation and the amount on your income1. Buyer's costs: 4 to 6% of your offer6, and 2 to 4% if you pay no transfer tax7.

How much own money does a typical overbid take in your municipality?

If the valuation stays at the asking price, you pay the whole overbid yourself. How much that is differs a lot per municipality3. In Utrecht it is over €60,000, in Meierijstad nothing.

Overbid in euros at the median purchase price and the median overbid per municipality, July 2025 to June 2026
MunicipalityMedian purchase priceOverbidOverbid in euros
Utrecht€555,000+12.8%€63,000
Amsterdam€551,100+7.3%€37,500
Groningen€378,906+10.1%€35,000
Nijmegen€455,000+8.1%€34,000
Leiden€475,500+5.6%€25,000
Haarlem€525,750+4.9%€24,500
The whole Netherlands€450,100+3.9%€17,000
The Hague€420,000+3.6%€14,500
Rotterdam€390,500+3.5%€13,000
Eindhoven€474,000+1.9%€9,000
Meierijstad€485,0000.0%€0

Worked example with the median purchase price and the median overbid per municipality, sales from July 2025 to June 20263. The two medians belong to different homes, so the amount is a guide figure. All 50 municipalities are in overbidding in the Netherlands; the municipality pages, also by neighbourhood and home type, are in Dutch.

How to get from such a figure to an amount for your home is explained in how much to bid on a house

Overbidding without your own money: when does it work?

Your overbid can fit in your mortgage. You cannot finance the buyer's costs12, so you need savings for those. For the overbid itself there are more routes.

  • The valuation comes out at your offer

    Then the overbid is in your mortgage, if your income allows it4. You do not know that for sure beforehand, because the valuation only follows after your offer.

  • You have equity in your current home

    If you sell your home for more than your mortgage, you can use that equity (overwaarde) for the overbid4.

  • Your family helps

    A gift or loan from your parents can count as your own money. The extra tax-free gift for buying a home no longer exists since 1 January 20249. Ask a notary or adviser how to arrange it.

  • Do not offer more than you can pay

    If you bid without a financing condition and the financing falls through, pulling out of the purchase usually costs 10% of the purchase price10. And if prices fall after a high overbid, you can be left with negative equity (a residual debt) when you sell4.

How to set your maximum offer before you bid

In four steps you know which amount you can really pay, even if the valuation disappoints.

  1. Have your maximum mortgage calculated

    A mortgage adviser works out what you can borrow on your income1. Take that amount with you when you start bidding.

  2. Count your savings and subtract the buyer's costs

    What is left, you can use for an overbid above the valuation.

  3. Add those two together

    Maximum mortgage plus free savings is your upper limit. For example: €440,000 plus €15,000 means a maximum of €455,000.

  4. Compare your offer with sales nearby

    If your offer is well above what similar homes sold for, take into account a valuation below your offer and keep savings aside for that.

Bidding advice report €24.95

How much should you overbid on this home?

The report looks at at least five sales from the neighbourhood per address and works out how likely you are to get the home at every offer amount. That way you see before you bid whether your offer is in line with what similar homes sold for. 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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Questions about overbidding and your mortgage

Can you finance an overbid with your mortgage?
Yes, if the valuation comes out at your offer and your income allows the mortgage. You borrow at most 100% of the home's value1 from the valuation report4. If the valuation is lower than your offer, you pay the difference yourself.
Can you overbid without your own money?
The overbid can fit in your mortgage if the valuation comes out at your offer4. You do need your own money for the buyer's costs, because you cannot finance those12.
How much own money do you need when overbidding?
The buyer's costs, on average 4 to 6% of the home's value6, plus the part of your offer above the valuation4. At the national median of 3.9% above an asking price of €433,000, the overbid is about €17,0003. If the valuation stays at the asking price, you pay that amount yourself. Work it out for your offer.
What if the valuation is lower than your offer?
Then you borrow up to the valuation and pay the difference with your offer from your own money, on top of the buyer's costs4.
Can you use equity to overbid?
Yes. If you sell your current home at a profit, you can use that equity for the overbid or the buyer's costs4.
Does overbidding work differently with NHG?
The rule stays the same: you borrow at most the home's value1. With the National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG) there is also a maximum of €470,000 in 2026, or €498,200 if you finance energy-saving measures8.
What are kosten koper?
The buyer's costs: the costs on top of the purchase price, such as transfer tax7. On average 4 to 6% of the home's value6, and you cannot borrow them with your mortgage2.

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 once lost a home to another bidder himself.

    More about Dion

Updated on . This page explains how overbidding and your mortgage fit together and is not mortgage advice.

Sources (10)
  1. Nibud, Hypotheek afsluiten (in Dutch, from the Dutch National Institute for Family Finance Information): the mortgage is at most 100% of the home's value, purchase and renovation costs cannot be financed, with an exception for energy-saving measures, and statutory lending standards and housing cost ratios decide how much you can borrow on your income.
  2. Wijzer in geldzaken (Dutch Ministry of Finance), Tips voor het kopen van je eerste woning (in Dutch, 2026): your mortgage may not be higher than the value of the home, and you do not borrow the buyer's costs.
  3. Overbidding: own calculation by Biedadviseur.nl, sale price compared with the last asking price for sales from July 2025 to June 2026. National median +3.9% at a median purchase price of €450,100. Figures per municipality in overbidding in the Netherlands.
  4. De Hypotheker, Overbieden bij huis kopen (in Dutch): you finance at most 100% of the home's value, the valuer decides that value, you pay a lower valuation yourself, you can use equity for the overbid, and too high an offer can leave a residual debt if prices fall.
  5. NOS, Woningtaxaties systematisch te hoog en onbetrouwbaar (in Dutch, 13 March 2019): research by De Nederlandsche Bank into valuations from 2012 to 2017, with a valuation equal to the purchase price in about a third of cases and a higher one in almost 60%.
  6. De Hypotheker, Kosten koper (in Dutch, 2026): on average 4 to 6% of the home's value, and no transfer tax for first-time buyers under 35 for homes up to €555,000.
  7. Radar (AVROTROS), Hypotheekregels veranderen in 2026 (in Dutch): first-time buyer exemption for buyers aged 18 to 35 up to a home value of €555,000, otherwise 2% transfer tax.
  8. Volkshuisvesting Nederland (Dutch government), NHG-grens stijgt naar €470.000 (in Dutch, 8 October 2025): €498,200 with energy-saving measures.
  9. Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration), Belastingvrije schenkingen voor een koopwoning (in Dutch): the one-off increased gift for an owner-occupied home no longer exists since 1 January 2024.
  10. KNB (Royal Dutch Association of Civil-law Notaries), Een huis kopen. Hoe werkt dat? (in Dutch, October 2025): conditions and the penalty if you pull out of the purchase after the cooling-off period.

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